''Volkswacht'' ('People's Guard') was a
social democratic
Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...
newspaper published in
Danzig, Germany (present-day
Gdańsk
Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
, Poland) from 1910 to 1919.
Initially, ''Volkswacht'' was published weekly.
As of 1913, it was published twice weekly.
In 1914 it was converted into a daily newspaper.
The newspaper masthead carried the slogan ''Organ für die werktätige Bevölkerung in Westpreußen'' ('Organ of the toiling population in
West Prussia
The Province of West Prussia (; ; ) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and from 1878 to 1919. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1773, formed from Royal Prussia of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonweal ...
').
It was issued as a publication of the
Free Trade Unions.
''Volkswacht'' was founded in September 1910.
August Bebel
Ferdinand August Bebel (; 22 February 1840 – 13 August 1913) was a German socialist activist and politician. He was one of the principal founders of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
Bebel, a woodworker by trade, co-founded the Sa ...
wrote an editorial for the inaugural issue of the newspaper.
Due to financial difficulties 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 ...
(SPD) had lacked an organ of its own in Danzig for a long time.
The new publication was maintained by funds from the central party leadership 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 ...
.
worked as editor of ''Volkswacht'' 1910–1912.
Gustav Schröder took over as editor after Crispien.
The newspaper played an important role in spreading social democratic ideas in the region.
The readership of ''Volkswacht'' was at pair with the bourgeois ''
Danziger Zeitung''.
On political issues the article material largely consisted of reprints from the SPD central organ ''
Vorwärts
( ; "Forward") is a newspaper published by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Founded in 1876, it was the central organ of the SPD for many decades. Following the party's Halle Congress (1891), it was published daily as the success ...
''. The ''Volkswacht'' editors focused more on writing about local matters.
During the First World War, ''Volkswacht'' was placed under preventive censorship.
Julius Gehl
Julius Gehl (4 July 1869, Bromberg, Province of Posen – March 1945, Danzig) was a German social democratic politician. Gehl served as the Chairman of the West Prussian District League of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).Handbuch de ...
became editor of ''Volkwacht'' in 1917 with
Walter Reek
Walter Arthur Reek (26 January 1878 – 12/19 May 1933), was a social democrat politician in Germany and the Free City of Danzig. He was a member of the Weimar National Assembly, the Danzig Volkstag parliament and mayor of Neuteich (Nowy Staw). ...
heading the press commission.
The readership of ''Volkswacht'' increased after the outbreak of the
November Revolution.
In 1920 ''Volkswacht'' was replaced by ''Danziger Volksstimme'' ('People's Voice of Danzig').
References
{{Reflist, 30em
External links
Volkswacht archive at FES
German-language newspapers
Newspapers published in Germany
Social Democratic Party of Germany
Socialist newspapers