Franz Mehring

German politician, journalist, and historian, born in Schlawe, Poland. A left-wing extremist of the Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD) from 1891, he helped found the radical Marxist Spartakusbund with Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht in 1916.

Franz Erdmann Mehring (born 27 February 1846 in Schlawe, Pomerania, died 29 January 1919 in Berlin), was a German publicist, politician and historian.

He worked for various daily and weekly newspapers and over many years wrote lead articles for the weekly magazine Neue Zeit.

From 1871–1874, Mehring worked for the Correspondence Office in Oldenburg, writing reports on sessions of the Reichstag and the local parliament.

Mehring left Die Waage after an argument with Sonnemann and in 1884 became chief editor of the liberal Berlin Volks-Zeitung newspaper.

In 1891 Mehring joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).

Mehring was a strict dogmatic Marxist.

Between 1902 and 1907 Mehring was the chief editor of the Social Democratic Leipziger Volkszeitung newspaper.

During the First World War Mehring began to distance himself from the SPD. In 1916 the left-wing Marxist revolutionary Spartacist League was founded and Mehring was one of its main leaders alongside Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg.

Franz Mehring wrote a Marxist analysis of the actions of Swedish warrior king Gustavus Adolphus, claiming the Thirty Years' War had little to do with religion (the official explanation) and everything to do with economics (the Marxist explanation).