Present at the foundation

Wilhelm Weitling, the First German Communist
by Roland Boer

'The founder of German Communism' is how Engels describes Wilhelm Weitling (Engels 1975 [1843], p. 402).¹ It is not a name that comes immediately to mind when considering the origins of modern communism, but he, a diligent student of the Bible, was an early comrade of Marx and Engels and deserving of greater recognition for his role in the movement. He is usually known through his interactions with Marx and Engels, yet he was a communist before them, founder of the League of the Just (Bund der Gerechten) that Marx and Engels joined and turned into the Communist League and signatory to early statements by the executive of the First International. My own interest lies in the intersection between Weitling's communism and the Bible. So I shall offer a vignette of his life, thought and action, drawing out those elements that were to feed into the full-fledged communist movement....

full article here: http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/boer211010.html