The Party Academy Karl Marx (Parteihochschule Karl Marx) was an academy (Hochschule) that was founded in 1946 in the Soviet occupation zone. During the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), it was subordinate to the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party. Teaching ceased on 30 June 1990.
During the reign of the Socialist Unity Party, the Academy was the highest institution of Marxist-Leninist education, above the Bezirksparteischulen (regional party schools) and Kreisparteischulen (district party schools). The main alternative was studying at the Party Academy of the CPSU in Moscow.
Initially, the institution was subordinate to the Section for Agitation and Propaganda in the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party. From 1983 to 1990, the Secretary for Ideology and Culture was responsible.
During its existence, the academy offered studies and classes to more than 25,000 students. Among them were more than 1,200 students from socialist countries that had friendly ties with the GDR. Studies offered were Marxist-Leninist throughout. Numerous publications, both scientific and propagandist, were released. Members of the Socialist Unity Party and its organizations were delegated to studies of either one or three years duration, finishing as Diplom-Gesellschaftswissenschaftler (equivalent to a Bachelor in Social Sciences). Distance Studies were possible as well.
From 1946 to 1948, the institution's domicile was Liebenwalde near Oranienburg, then from 1948 to 1955 Castle Hakeburg (later guest house of the Socialist Unity Party). Notable teachers during these early years included Wolfgang Leonhard and Carola Stern. [1] For 25 years from 1955 the academy was located in Berlin. Finally, from 1980 to 1990, it was dispersed across various institutes around Hakeburg again.
During the run-up to reunification the Academy was dissolved. The critical date was 30 June 1990 after which the institute's approximately 150 professors, teachers and teaching assistants, the remaining students and approximately 300 support workers were dispersed.
The principal of the Academy had the rank of a Central Committee Department head and was usually a full member of the Central Committee.
Period | Principal |
---|---|
May 1946 — March 1947 | Willi Kropp |
Carl Bose | |
March 1947 — Januar 1949 | Paul Lenzner |
Prof. Rudolf Lindau | |
March 1947 — 12 September 1950 | Prof. Rudolf Lindau |
12 September 1950 — 23 June 1983 | Prof. Hanna Wolf |
23 June 1983 — 14 November 1989 | Prof. Kurt Tiedke |
14 November 1989 — 30 June 1990 | Prof. Dr. Götz Dieckmann |
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology that became the largest faction of the communist movement in the world in the years following the October Revolution. It was the predominant ideology of most communist governments throughout the 20th century. It was developed in Russia by Joseph Stalin and drew on elements of Bolshevism, Leninism, Marxism, and the works of Karl Kautsky. It was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, Soviet satellite states in the Eastern Bloc, and various countries in the Non-Aligned Movement and Third World during the Cold War, as well as the Communist International after Bolshevization.
A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Comintern after its Bolshevisation, and the communist states within the Comecon, the Eastern Bloc, and the Warsaw Pact. After the peak of Marxism–Leninism, when many communist states were established, the Revolutions of 1989 brought down most of the communist states; however, Communism remained the official ideology of the ruling parties of China, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, and to a lesser extent, North Korea. During the later part of the 20th century, before the Revolutions of 1989, around one-third of the world's population lived in communist states.
Mikhail Andreyevich Suslov was a Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as Second Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1965, and as unofficial chief ideologue of the party until his death in 1982. Suslov was responsible for party democracy and power separation within the Communist Party. His hardline attitude resisting change made him one of the foremost orthodox communist Soviet leaders.
The Bulgarian Communist Party was the founding and ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 1990, when the country ceased to be a socialist satellite state of the Soviet Union. The party had dominated the Fatherland Front, a coalition that took power in 1944, late in World War II, after it led a coup against Bulgaria's tsarist regime in conjunction with the Red Army's crossing of the border. It controlled its armed forces, the Bulgarian People's Army.
Sidney Hook was an American philosopher of pragmatism known for his contributions to the philosophy of history, the philosophy of education, political theory, and ethics. After embracing communism in his youth, Hook was later known for his criticisms of totalitarianism, both fascism and Marxism–Leninism. A social democrat, Hook sometimes cooperated with conservatives, particularly in opposing Marxism–Leninism. After World War II, he argued that members of such groups as the Communist Party USA and Leninists like democratic centralists could ethically be barred from holding the offices of public trust because they called for the violent overthrow of democratic governments.
Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, and social transformation. Marxism originates with the works of 19th-century German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marxism has developed over time into various branches and schools of thought, and as a result, there is no single, definitive "Marxist theory". Marxism has had a profound effect in shaping the modern world, with various left-wing and far-left political movements taking inspiration from it in varying local contexts.
The Socialist Party of Bangladesh is an anti-revisionist Marxist-Leninist communist party in Bangladesh. The party was founded by Comrade Khalequzzaman on 7 November 1980. In 2013, a group of members under the leadership of Mubinul Haider Chowdhury broke away from the party and formed the Socialist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist) over disagreement on recognition of the thought of Shibdas Ghosh and Ganajagaranmancha.
Hal Draper was an American socialist activist and author who played a significant role in the Berkeley, California, Free Speech Movement. He is known for his extensive scholarship on the history and meaning of the thought of Karl Marx.
In Marxist philosophy, the dictatorship of the proletariat is a condition in which the proletariat, or working class, holds control over state power. The dictatorship of the proletariat is the transitional phase from a capitalist to a communist economy, whereby the post-revolutionary state seizes the means of production, mandates the implementation of direct elections on behalf of and within the confines of the ruling proletarian state party, and institutes elected delegates into representative workers' councils that nationalise ownership of the means of production from private to collective ownership. During this phase, the organizational structure of the party is to be largely determined by the need for it to govern firmly and wield state power to prevent counterrevolution, and to facilitate the transition to a lasting communist society.
A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country, sometimes referred to as a workers' state or workers' republic, is a sovereign state constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of socialism. The term communist state is often used synonymously in the West, specifically when referring to one-party socialist states governed by Marxist–Leninist communist parties, despite these countries being officially socialist states in the process of building socialism and progressing toward a communist society. These countries never describe themselves as communist nor as having implemented a communist society. Additionally, a number of countries that are multi-party capitalist states make references to socialism in their constitutions, in most cases alluding to the building of a socialist society, naming socialism, claiming to be a socialist state, or including the term people's republic or socialist republic in their country's full name, although this does not necessarily reflect the structure and development paths of these countries' political and economic systems. Currently, these countries include Algeria, Bangladesh, Guyana, India, Nepal, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka and Tanzania.
Erich Grützner was an East German Trades unionist and a senior official in the country's ruling SED (party).
Fritz Müller was an official of East Germany's ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany . He headed up the Central Committee's important Cadre department between 1960 and 1989.
Horst Bartel was a German historian and university professor. He was involved in most of the core historiography projects undertaken in the German Democratic Republic (1949–1989). His work on the nineteenth-century German Labour movement places him firmly in the mainstream tradition of Marxist–Leninist historical interpretation.
Günter Heyden was a German professor of philosophy and a sociologist. Between 1969 and 1989 he was the director of the East Berlin basedInstitute for Marxism–Leninism.
Bernd Meier was a German politician (SED/PDS) and official of the FDJ. He served as first party secretary of the party leadership ("Bezirksleitung") for the Frankfurt (Oder) region and then as a member of the national parliament (Volkskammer) during the eventful run-up to reunification.
Dietmar Keller was an East German politician (SED/PDS) who served as Minister for Culture in the Modrow government. After reunification he sat as a member of the German parliament ("Bundestag") between 1990 and 1994.
Lothar Mosler was a mainstream East German historian who arrived at his university career through the political route. Between 1953 and 1961 he served as director of the Franz Mehring Institute for training teachers in Marxist-Leninist Sociological Studies, which was a core base module for students at the Karl Marx University of Leipzig. Between 1958 and his retirement in 1978 Prof. Mosler taught the History of the German Labour Movement at the university.
Hermann Ludwig Rudolph Duncker was a German Marxist politician, historian and social scientist. He was a lecturer for the workers' education movement, co-founder of the Communist Party of Germany, professor at the University of Rostock, and rector of East Germany's trade union academy.
The Friedrich Engels Military Academy was the first military institution founded in East Germany and the highest leveled military teaching and research institution. Located in Dresden, the academy was the center of military science of East Germany.
Kurt HermannTiedke was a German politician and party functionary of the Socialist Unity Party (SED).