Mainstream
Mainstream, VOL LVIII No 52, New Delhi, December 12, 2020
Gandhi’s Declaration Of Civil Disobedience Movement In 1930, German Social Democracy, and Franz Josef Furtwängler | Nirode K. Barooah
by Nirode K. Barooah
[ While almost the whole German popular press denounced the Indian Civil Disobedience movement under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi in 1930 Franz Josef Furtwängler (1894-1964), the International Secretary of the General German Trade Union Federation (ADGB) tried to persuade his fellow Social Democrats and Trade-unionists to understand Gandhi and the Indian Freedom movement on the ground of anti-imperialism. Furtwängler who had toured India during 1926 27 as a member of the Anglo-German delegation of Textile Union met Gandhi and many other leading Indian personalities including the top trade union leaders. He was convinced that Indians were ripe enough for self-government and argued that the fact that Great Britain was then governed by a Socialist (Labou