How Red Berlin took shape — Deutsche Welle
Berlin, Germany, has been one of the centers of the labor movement, left-wing politics and protests since the 19th century. As Deutsche Welle English notes in a historical overview, the city's reputation as a stronghold of resistance was shaped from the revolutions of the 19th century to the modern tenants' movement.
The labor movement and revolutions
During the March Revolution of 1848, the General Workers' Brotherhood was founded in Berlin — one of the first workers' organizations active in Germany. In the 1870s and 1880s, the city became a major industrial center, with enterprises in mechanical engineering, the railway industry and ready-made clothing production. The growth of the working-class population also affected the city's political life.
Historian Axel Weipert, author of the book "Red Berlin," noted that the city's politics became more oriented toward the participation of ordinary people. After the repeal of the Anti-Socialist Laws in 1890, the ideas of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels became the ideological foundation of a mass movement in Berlin. Before World War I, the Social Democratic Party of Germany received significantly greater support in the city than in other parts of the country.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Strikes and political violence
From 1916, Berlin became the center of mass anti-war strikes. In January 1918, around half a million workers joined a strike caused by war fatigue, food shortages and economic devastation. The Revolutionary Shop Stewards — a secret network of workers and trade unions at major defense and metalworking plants — also became an important organizational force during the overthrow of the Kaiser on November 9, 1918.
The suppression of the Spartacist uprising in 1919, in which dozens of people died and Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg were killed by soldiers from right-wing paramilitary formations, finally split the political left. In May 1929, police opened fire on participants in banned May Day demonstrations in the working-class districts of Wedding and Neukölln; more than 30 people were killed.
The tenants' movement
In the early 1970s, a housing shortage in West Berlin prompted part of the student movement, apprentices and young migrant families to occupy empty buildings. DW writes that amid gentrification, the city now has one of the strongest and most radical tenants' movements in Germany. In a 2021 referendum, 59% of voters supported the expropriation of private companies operating in the real estate market.
