Spartacists

Spartacists (German, Spartakusbund), group of revolutionary German socialists formed in 1916 by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht. Originally it was a left-wing faction of the Social Democratic party, the leadership of which the Spartacists attacked for supporting the German war policy during World War I. Maintaining that support of the war was a betrayal of Socialism, the group advocated joint action by the workers of the warring countries to end the fighting and overthrow the capitalist system. The group acquired the name of Spartacists when Liebknecht signed a series of revolutionary anti-war articles with the pen name Spartacus, the name of the leader of a famous slave revolt in ancient Rome.

After the establishment of the German republic in November 1918, under Friedrich Ebert, the moderate leader of the Socialist party, the Spartacists remained outside the new government. They pursued a policy of violent opposition to the government, and at a meeting held from December 30, 1918, to January 1, 1919, the Spartacists were reorganized as the Communist party of Germany. In January 1919 the Spartacists staged an uprising, centred in Berlin, which was put down by government troops, who arrested and murdered Liebknecht and Luxemburg.