The Lensch-Cunow-Haenisch group was a political faction within the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

founded in 1915 by anti-revisionist Marxists who despite previously opposing participation in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

now supported it. Its name comes from the three principal protagonists: Paul Lensch,

Heinrich Cunow Heinrich Cunow (11 April 1862, in Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Schwerin – 20 August 1936) was a German Social Democratic Party politician and prominent Marxist theorist. Cunow was originally against the First World War in 1914 but he changed his vi ...

and

Konrad Haenisch Benno Fritz Paul Alexander Konrad Haenisch (13 March 1876 – 28 April 1925) was a German Social Democratic Party politician and part of "the radical Marxist Left" of German politics. He was a friend and follower (''Parvulus'' in his own words) of ...

. They followed the initiative of

Parvus Alexander Lvovich Parvus, born Israel Lazarevich Gelfand (8 September 1867 – 12 December 1924) and sometimes called Helphand in the literature on the Russian Revolution, was a Marxist theoretician, publicist, and controversial activist in the ...

in advocating a German victory as a positive step for international social democracy. They mobilised Marxist arguments behind the war effort. In 1907 Parvus had been a critic of German imperialism, publishing ''Colonial Policy and the Breakdown'' during the

1907 German federal election Federal elections were held in Germany on 25 January 1907.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p762 Despite the Social Democratic Party (SPD) receiving a clear plurality of votes, they were hampered b ...

, often referred to as the Hottentot Election.

References

Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians World War I {{Germany-party-stub