Arthur Rosenberg (19 December 1889 – 7 February 1943) was a German

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

historian, writer, and politician. He served in the Reichstag from 1924 to 1928.

Biography

Early years

Arthur Rosenberg was born on 19 December 1889 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

to an assimilated Jewish merchant family from the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

, though he was baptized as a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

. He excelled at the Askanisches Gymnasium before studying at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in

with Otto Hirschfeld and

Eduard Meyer Eduard Meyer (25 January 1855 – 31 August 1930) was a German historian. He was the brother of Celticist Kuno Meyer (1858–1919). Biography Meyer was born in Hamburg and educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums and later at the unive ...

. Rosenberg established himself as an expert in Roman constitutional history and held a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

(1911) in ancient history and

archeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeolo ...

.Branko Lazitch with Milorad M. Drachkovitch (eds.), ''Biographical Dictionary of the Comintern.'' Revised Edition. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1986; pp. 401-402. In 1914, Rosenberg proved to be a conformist representative of the German academy, believing in the "ideas of 1914," and signing nationalist petitions. He then was drafted into the army, working for the Kriegspresseamt, the public relations office of the army.

Political career

After Germany's defeat in 1918 and his demobilization from the army, Rosenberg joined the new Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD).Pavel Broiué, ''The German Revolution, 1917-1923.'' John Archer, trans. Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2006; pp. 982-983. He went on to join the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (, ; KPD ) was a major Far-left politics, far-left political party in the Weimar Republic during the interwar period, German resistance to Nazism, underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and minor party ...

(KPD) in 1920. Rosenberg emerged as an important theoretician for the dissident left wing of the KPD in their ongoing factional struggle with the party leadership headed by

Heinrich Brandler Heinrich Brandler (3 July 1881 – 26 September 1967) was a German communist, trade unionist, politician, revolutionary activist, and political writer. Brandler is best remembered as the head of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) during the par ...

and August Thalheimer. He was regarded as one of the top leaders of the party left in the city of Berlin and was an advocate of the theory that the KPD should pursue a revolutionary offensive against the Weimar state. The left wing gained control of the KPD in April 1924 and Rosenberg was elected a member of the governing Central Committee of the party as well as a delegate to the 5th Congress of the Communist International and a member of the

Executive Committee of the Communist International The Executive Committee of the Communist International, commonly known by its acronym, ECCI (Russian acronym ИККИ - for ), was the governing authority of the Comintern between the World Congresses of that body. The ECCI, established by the Fo ...

(ECCI) that same year. Rosenberg denounced the

Dawes Plan The Dawes Plan temporarily resolved the issue of the reparations that Germany owed to the Allies of World War I. Enacted in 1924, it ended the crisis in European diplomacy that occurred after French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr in re ...

as a plot by American capitalists to take control of the German economy. However he rejoiced that the Plan would "drive the last nails into the coffin of the German Republic". He said the Communists were ready to give the Republic the final shove so that it would "meet the fate that it deserves". When further factionalism swept the German Communist Party, Rosenberg maintained an ultra-left wing line as part of a factional group that included Werner Scholem, Iwan Katz, and Karl Korsch.E.H. Carr, ''A History of Soviet Russia (Volume 7): Socialism in One Country, 1924-1926: Volume 3, Part 1.'' London: Macmillan, 1964; pg. 322. This group fell into disfavor in Moscow from June 1925, however. In electing a new Central Committee the German party was invited by ECCI "to have no fear of drawing into the work the best elements from former groups not belonging to the Left" — an effort to further undercut Rosenberg's factional group. Despite the criticism, Rosenberg was named a delegate to the 6th Enlarged Plenum of the CI in February 1926, at which he participated. Expulsions of the left wing of the KPD followed in 1927, but Rosenberg was not himself one of those subject to such treatment. Nevertheless, he quit the KPD in April 1927, moving from the political realm to the field of scholarship. He taught at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

and served as the head of an organization called the League of Rights of Man.

Years of exile

When the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

came to power in 1933, Rosenberg was dismissed from his university post due to his Jewish ethnicity. Rosenberg emigrated first to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

before moving on to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. From 1934 to 1937 he taught history at the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

. He proceeded to the United States in 1937 to take a professorship at

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

, where he taught and wrote until the end of his life.

Death and legacy

Arthur Rosenberg died 7 February 1943 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The right-wing German speaking newspaper 'New Yorker Staats-Zeitung und Herald' called his death a "hurtful surprise".New Yorker Staats-Zeitung und Herald. 10 February 1943

Footnotes

Works

* ''Imperial Germany: The Birth of the German Republic, 1871–1918.'' Oxford University Press (1931), translation by Ian Morrow (*1896), original: ''Die Entstehung der deutschen Republik'', Berlin, 1930 * ''A History of Bolshevism: From Marx to the First Five Years' Plan.'' (1932) * ''Fascism as a Mass Movement.'' (1934) * ''A History of the German Republic, 1918–1930.'' (1936) * ''Democracy and Socialism: A Contribution to the Political History of the Past 150 Years.'' (1938)

Literatur

* Karl Christ: ''Römische Geschichte und deutsche Geschichtswissenschaft.'' München 1982, , p. 177–186. * Mario Keßler: ''Arthur Rosenberg. Ein Historiker im Zeitalter der Katastrophen (1889–1943).''[Böhlau-Verlag, Köln/Wien 2003, . **Kurzfassung (vorlaufend): ''Im Zeitalter der Katastrophen. Arthur Rosenberg (1889–1943). Im Spannungsfeld von Wissenschaft und Politik.'' VSA-Verlag, 2002, , 39 S. *
Rosenberg, Arthur
'. In: Hermann Weber, Andreas Herbst: ''Deutsche Kommunisten. Biographisches Handbuch 1918 bis 1945.'' 2., überarb. und stark erw. Auflage, Karl Dietz Verlag, Berlin 2008, . * Jürgen von Ungern-Sternberg: "Rosenberg, Arthur." In ''The Dictionary of British Classicists.'' Bristol 2005, Bd. 3, pp. 836–838. * *Francis L. Carsten, "Arthur Rosenberg: Ancient Historian into Leading Communist," ''Journal of Contemporary History'', Vol. 8, No. 1. (Jan., 1973), pp. 63–75.

External links

at marxists.org
Mario Kessler, ''Arthur Rosenberg (1889-1943): History and Politics between Berlin and New York''Phillip Stetzel on Arthur Rosenberg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenberg, Arthur 1889 births 1943 deaths Brooklyn College faculty German Comintern people Communist Party of Germany politicians Members of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Germany German people of Jewish descent German Marxists German revolutionaries Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic Writers from Berlin Humboldt University of Berlin alumni German male non-fiction writers 20th-century German historians German Army personnel of World War I