Blutmai

Blutmai
Part of political violence in Germany
Berlin Police dismantle a barricade erected by communists
Date	1–3 May 1929
Location	Berlin, Germany
Methods	Police brutality and political violence
Parties
Communist Party of Germany Roter Frontkämpferbund Berlin Police (under Social Democrat control)
Lead figures
Ernst Thälmann Albert Grzesinski Karl Zörgiebel
Casualties and losses
Deaths: 33 unaffiliated civilians killed Injuries: ~200 Arrests: 1,200+ Injuries: 47

This article is part of a series about Ernst Thälmann
Family and early years Imprisonment and execution Reichstag elections Constituent for Hamburg May 1924 December 1924 1928 1930 July 1932 November 1932 March 1933 Leader of the KPD 1928 1930 July 1932 November 1932 March 1933 Early political career SPD USPD German Revolution of 1918–1919 3rd World Congress of the Comintern German October Hamburg Uprising 1925 German presidential election Chairman of the Communist Party of Germany Marxism–Leninism Stalinism Social fascism Roter Frontkämpferbund Conciliator faction Wittorf affair Blutmai Antifaschistische Aktion 1932 German presidential election Legacy Thälmann Battalion Ernst Thälmann Company Pioneer Organisation sessions Ernst Thälmann (film) Ernst Thälmann Island
v t e

Blutmai (English: Bloody May, lit. 'Blood May') was an outbreak of political violence that occurred in Berlin from 1 to 3 May 1929.

It occurred when the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) held May Day marches in defiance of a ban on public gatherings in Berlin ordered by the city's police chief Karl Zörgiebel of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). The Berlin Police responded with an immediate and harsh crackdown. Often without regard to whether the persons involved were demonstrators or bystanders, they forcibly and sometimes violently dispersed the crowds that formed. As the day progressed, street battles developed between the protestors and the police, who used firearms and armoured cars. The violence lasted until the afternoon of 3 May, mostly in the working-class neighbourhoods of Wedding and Neukölln.

An estimated 33 civilians, none of whom were involved with the KPD, were killed, 200 injured, and over a thousand people taken into police custody, many of whom were also not involved in the initial KPD rallies.^[1] Only 66 of those arrested were charged and 44 convicted. Ten policemen were hurt badly enough to be hospitalized, although none of them suffered from a gunshot wound. In spite of a considerable outcry in the left and liberal press, and angry scenes in the Reichstag, no action was taken against the Berlin Police.

The events of Blutmai deepened the split between the SPD and KPD, the two major left-wing parties of the Weimar Republic, making a united stand against the growing strength of far-right parties more difficult.