The Communist Party of Switzerland (; KPS) or Swiss Communist Party (; ; PCS) was a communist party in

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 ...

between 1921 and 1944. It was the Swiss section of the

Communist International The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internationa ...

(Comintern).

History

The Communist Party of Switzerland was founded in March 1921, in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, by dissidents from the left wing of the

Social Democratic Party of Switzerland The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (, SP; ), also called the Swiss Socialist Party (; , PS), is a List of political parties in Switzerland, political party in Switzerland. The SP has had two representatives on the Federal Council (Switzerl ...

and a communist group formed in the aftermath of

World War I 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 ...

Fritz Platten Fritz Platten (8 July 1883 – 22 April 1942) was a Swiss communist politician and one of the founders of the Communist International. Early life Platten was born in the village of Tablat, now part of St. Gallen, on 8 July 1883, to an Old Catho ...

was a central leader in the new party. The party drew most of its support from

urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

s in

German-speaking Switzerland The German-speaking part of Switzerland ( ; ; ; ) comprises about 65 percent of Switzerland (North Western Switzerland, Eastern Switzerland, Central Switzerland, most of the Swiss Plateau and the greater part of the Swiss Alps). The variety ...

, most notably the cities of

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; ; ; ; ), historically known in English as Shaffhouse, is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of Schaffh ...

and Zürich. It counted six thousand members upon its foundation, of which 15% were women. Through subsidiary organizations, the party gathered support from various groups, such as the unemployed,

women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...

and intellectuals. From the late 1920s to early 1930s, the Communist Party's political program underwent

Stalinization Stalinism (, ) is the totalitarian means of governing and Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1927 to 1953 by dictator Joseph Stalin and in Soviet satellite states between 1944 and 1953. Stalinism in ...

. A major turning point occurred in 1930, when the expulsion of

Walther Bringolf Walther Bringolf (1 August 1895 – 24 March 1981) was a former President of the National Council of Switzerland (1961/1962). He was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland and was a long-time mayor of Schaffhausen (1933–1968). ...

led to the split of nearly the entire

section into the

Communist Party Opposition The Communist Party of Germany (Opposition) (), generally abbreviated as KPO or KPD(O), was a communist opposition organisation established at the end of 1928 and maintaining its existence until 1939 or 1940. After the rise of Adolf Hitler and the ...

, which merged into the Social Democrats five years later. The number of party members and voters decreased progressively, though the adoption of popular front tactics in 1935 led to a slight increase in membership. Nevertheless, anti-communist laws adopted by a number of

cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, th ...

, as well as party policies such as abandoning

anti-fascism Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

(following the

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact and the Nazi–Soviet Pact, was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Ge ...

) and supporting the Soviet invasion of Finland led to a decline in popularity. In November 1940, the Communist Party was banned by the Swiss government for its support of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the non-aggression pact between the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. The ban had been preceded by the outlawing of

communist propaganda Communist propaganda is the artistic and social promotion of the ideology of communism, communist worldview, communist society, and interests of the communist movement. While it tends to carry a negative connotation in the Western world, the te ...

and activities in Switzerland in August. On 12 June 1941, all four communist members of the National Council were removed from office. The party continued to operate illegally with about 350 members until 1944, when it merged with the

Swiss Socialist Federation The Swiss Socialist Federation (, abbreviated FSS) was a political party in Switzerland. Founding The FSS emerged from a split in the Swiss Socialist Party in 1939. On September 16, 1939, the Swiss Socialist Party expelled Léon Nicole and the p ...

to form the

Swiss Party of Labour The Swiss Party of Labour (; ; ; ) is a communist party in Switzerland. History The party was founded in 1944 by the illegal Communist Party of Switzerland. On 21 May, the constituent conference of the Basel Federation of the party was held. ...

Role in the Comintern

Despite its small size, the Swiss Communist Party played an important role within the Comintern. After 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) was banned by the Nazi government, in 1933, its leadership in

Southern Germany Southern Germany (, ) is a region of Germany that includes the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, which includes the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia in present-day Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, and the southern portion of Hesse ...

went into exile in Switzerland and was sheltered by the Swiss communists. The party also gave financial aid to some KPD officials and shelter to some of the German-based Comintern press agencies. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, the party contributed to the

International Brigades The International Brigades () were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front (Spain), Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Bri ...

by assisting the mobilization of volunteers from

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and other countries.

Election results

At the national level, the Swiss Communist Party had its best electoral performances in the 1920s. In 1928, with 19,7% of the popular vote, it won 25 seats in the

Grand Council of Basel-Stadt The Grand Council of Basel-Stadt () is the legislature of the canton of Basel-Stadt, in Switzerland. Basel-Stadt has a unicameral legislature. The Grand Council has 100 seats, with members elected every four years. Members of the canton's execu ...

, the cantonal legislature of

Basel-Stadt Canton of Basel-Stadt or Basel-City ( ; ; ; ) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of three municipalities with Basel as the capital. It is traditionally considered a " half-canton", the other half being B ...

. At the federal level, the party received its highest vote share in the 1939 election, the last it contested, winning four seats in the National Council, the lower chamber of the Federal Assembly; it was never elected into the Council States (upper chamber).

National Council

References

{{Authority control

Defunct communist parties in Switzerland Banned communist parties Political parties established in 1918 Political parties disestablished in 1944 1921 establishments in Switzerland 1944 disestablishments in Switzerland