Formation of the German Agricultural Workers' Union and Its Development in Eastern Elbian Prussia until 1914

Abstract

The trade union organization of rural workers in Germany lagged far behind that of industrial workers. In eastern Elbia it was especially weak until 1914, owing to exceptional legislation (restrictions on coalitions since 1854, domestic service regulations, contract breach law), the Junker manorial system, and the opportunistic stance of the factory workers' union. The result was a structural weakness of the rural proletariat as a class, which Rosa Luxemburg diagnosed in 1906 in her pamphlet Mass Strike, Party and Trade Unions.
This article analyzes the formation and development of the German Agricultural Workers' Union from 1890 to 1914, with special attention to eastern Elbia: the political and legal obstacles to agricultural labor organization, the intra-union struggle between the opportunistic union majority and revolutionary forces, and the results of union work in the individual Prussian provinces.
The study draws on the minutes of party and union congresses (Königsberg Provincial Party Congress 1907, First General Assembly of the German Agricultural Workers' Union 1912), on the annual reports of the union for 1912-1913 and 1914-1919, and on the contemporary party press (Vorwärts, Der Proletarier, Stettiner Volksbote).
The analysis shows that the union founded in 1890 effectively neglected agricultural workers: in 1907 it counted only 2,160 rural members out of 133,412 total. A breakthrough to an independent agricultural workers' union came only in 1909-1912 after tenacious intra-union conflict. In eastern Elbia the union fell far short of its potential despite partial successes (wage movements in Pomerania and Silesia, piece-rate increases). The nationalist refusal to issue Polish-language leaflets reveals the opportunistic limits of the union leadership. With 20,276 members at end of 1913, the union was numerically weak. The Burgfrieden policy of 1914 brought about its effective assimilation into a welfare and support body.