
''Der Pionier'' ( en, The Pioneer) was one of two official organs of the radical socialist
Free Association of German Trade Unions
The Free Association of German Trade Unions (; abbreviated FVdG; sometimes also translated as Free Association of German Unions or Free Alliance of German Trade Unions) was a trade union federation in Imperial and early Weimar Germany. It was foun ...
(FVdG).
With its founding in 1897, the FVdG also started the newspaper ''
Einigkeit
''Die Einigkeit'' (German for ''The Unity'') was a German newspaper, which appeared from 19 June 1897 to 8 August 1914. It was the organ of the radical socialist Free Association of German Trade Unions (FVdG). Its original editor was Gustav Kessl ...
'' (''Unity'') as its official organ. As the FVdG, came into conflict with the
Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) more and more from 1903 on, anarchists, especially
Fritz Köster
Fritz Köster (2 February 1855 – 1934) was a German anarchist editor and trade unionist.
Born in Rodenberg, Hesse (now in Lower Saxony), Köster was active in the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) starting in the early 1880s. He moved to ...
and
Andreas Kleinlein
Andreas Kleinlein (1864–1925) was a German anarchist. He came into contact with anarchist ideas through his travels to France. He was active in the musical instrument-maker union in Berlin and a founding member of the Free Association of German T ...
gained influence in the union federation. After the SPD and the FVdG completely severed relations in 1908, the founding of another organ directed against the press of the SPD to convince workers to leave the party and join the FVdG was considered. The question was discussed at the FVdG congresses in 1908 and 1910 and the unionists decided to start ''Der Pionier''.
The first issue appeared in the fall of 1911 and the newspaper was published on a weekly basis from there on. As it was edited by the anarchist Fritz Köster, ''Der Pionier'' used a much more aggressive tone than ''Einigkeit''. By 1912, it had a circulation of 4,500 copies.
During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, which the FVdG rejected, both ''Einigkeit'' and ''Der Pionier'' were suppressed. On 5 August 1914, ''Der Pionier'' published article written by Max Winkler and
Fritz Kater
Fritz Kater (12 December 1861 – 20 May 1945) was a German trade unionist active in the Free Association of German Trade Unions (FVdG) and its successor organization, the Free Workers' Union of Germany. He was the editor of the FVdG's or ...
, the head of the FVdG. This article reaffirmed the FVdG's antimilitarism in the face of the SPD-affiliated unions' collaboration with the German state. This became ''Der Pioniers last issue.
[Thorpe 2000, pg. 197–198.]
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Newspapers established in 1911
Publications disestablished in 1914
Defunct newspapers published in Germany
Defunct weekly newspapers
Socialist newspapers
German-language newspapers
Weekly newspapers published in Germany
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