Burgfrieden

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Burgfrieden - literally "peace of the castle" - is a German term used for the civil truce the Social Democratic Party of Germany and other socialist organizations such as the Free Trade Unions associated with the SPD agreed to during World War I. The trade unions refrained from striking, the SPD voted for war credits in parliament and no critique of the government's policies were published. There were several reasons for the Burgfrieden politics: the socialists, themselves, believed it was their patriotic duty to support the government in war, they were afraid of government repression should they protest against the war, and they hoped to attain more influence in German society by cooperating with the government.

The only SPD member of parliament to vote against war credits in the second session was Karl Liebknecht. In the third session on March 20, 1915, Otto Rühle joined him. During the course of the war the number of SPD politicians opposed to the war steadily increased. Their resistance against the Burgfrieden politics led to the expulsion of Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg, Clara Zetkin, and others from the SPD. These went on to found the Spartacist League, the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD), and the Communist Party of Germany (KPD).

The only trade union to refuse the Burgfrieden was the Free Association of German Trade Unions (FVdG), which would later become the Free Workers' Union of Germany (FAUD).^[1]