biography
pronunciation:
[vayner]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1906–90)
|
| biography:
| German politician, born in Dresden, E Germany. One of the most controversial and influential politicians in post-war social democracy in Germany, during the Weimar Republic he was anarchist youth officer and secretary to Erich Mühsam. He joined the Kommunistiche Partei Deutschlands (KPD) (1927–42) and became secretary of the Revolutionary Trade Union Opposition (1929) and member of the Sachsen Landtag (1930–1). He worked for the banned KPD (1933–5) in Germany and abroad, and in Moscow with the Komintern (1937), but broke with Communism during his stay in Sweden (1944). After the War he returned to Germany, and in 1946 joined the Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD), became a member of the Bundestag (1949–83), SPD parliamentary party deputy chairman (1958–73), and holder of other party posts. A supporter of Adenauer's NATO and European policies, he helped form the Grand Coalition of 1969–9. He influenced Willi Brandt's resignation from his post as chancellor in 1974. |
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