Rote Fahne, Die

Rote Fahne, Die

 

(The Red Flag), a German newspaper (1918–39) founded by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg on Nov. 9, 1918, as the organ of the Spartacus League. On November 18 of that year it became a daily, and on December 31 the central organ of the Communist Party of Germany. Rote Fahne advocated the party’s transformation into a mass revolutionary party, the purging of opportunist elements, and the creation of a united working-class front to combat the revival of German militarism and the rise of fascist reaction. With the establishment of the fascist dictatorship, the newspaper was banned, in February 1933. Until 1935 it was published clandestinely in Germany. It was transferred to Prague in 1935 and to Brussels in October 1936. It was published until the autumn of 1939.