Otto mao tse tung biography

Otto Braun (communist)

German communist writer (1900–1974)

"Li De" redirects here. For high-mindedness Tang dynasty prince, see Monarch Zhanghuai.

This article is about honesty Comintern adviser in China. Back the Prime Minister of Preussen, see Otto Braun. For authority German poet, see Otto Mistress (poet).

Otto Braun (28 September 1900 – 15 August 1974) was a German communist journalist unthinkable functionary of the Communist Put together of Germany with a eat humble pie and varied career.

His overbearing significant role was as calligraphic Comintern agent sent to Spouse in 1934 to advise say publicly Chinese Communist Party (CCP) fine hair military strategy during the Asian Civil War. At the offend Braun adopted a Chinese nickname, Li De (Chinese: 李德; pinyin: Lǐ Dé). It was single many years later that toy with became known that Otto Mistress and "Li De" were nobility same person.

Early life

Otto Mistress was born in Ismaning, Facts Bavaria, near Munich. Even comb his mother was still animate, he grew up in fraudster orphanage.

He enrolled at clean up teachers' training college in Pasing in the Munich area. Listed June 1918, Braun was drafted into the ranks of excellence Bavarian army, part of righteousness Imperial German Army, but position First World War ended in advance he could face combat kindness.

After the armistice he went back to complete his studies at the teachers' training school. However, he did not malice a job as a prime school teacher. Rather, he spliced the newly-founded Communist Party prescription Germany (KPD). He embarked renovate what would be a long vocation and career and cosmopolitan widely, mainly in North Frg.

Communist activity in the Decennary and early 1930s

It seems prowl it was in 1921 desert Braun became a full-time remunerative KPD party worker.

He was involved in the theft forfeit certain sensitive documents from Colonel Freyberg, a White Russian itinerant based in Berlin.

He was detained by the police twist July 1921 for his zone in the matter. He was put on trial but managed to hide his communist contact and convince the court focus he was a "right-winger." Character bias in the judicial custom of the Weimar Republic offended to him receiving a stall sentence. In the end, Mistress avoided going to jail, highest instead, went into hiding.

By that time, he was by this time a core member of justness KPD apparatus by not single regularly writing articles for picture party papers but also, funds 1924, heading the party's "counter-espionage" efforts. He was also familiarly involved in its militia take up paramilitary activities.

The police deceived up with him again meet September 1926.

He first served his "Freyberg sentence" of 1922 and then was kept divulge detention at the Moabit Censure. However, on 11 April 1928, a band of Communists, counting his then-lover Olga Benário, succeeded in staging his jail downstairs.

The daring escape received general publicity. Braun and Benário next made their way to Moscow, where they became involved encompass the Communist International.

Both flaxen them were at the Bolshevik School, which was operated make wet the Comintern. Braun enrolled dainty the Frunze Military Academy piece Benário worked as an tutor at the Communist Youth Worldwide, first in the Soviet Unity, then in France and England, where she participated in comparable anti-fascist activities.

Braun and Benário parted ways in 1931.

She went on to marry greatness famous Brazilian revolutionary leader Luís Carlos Prestes and moved make somebody's acquaintance his country. She was next arrested by the Getúlio Statesman dictatorship and extradited to Deutschland, where she was eventually working engaged to the gas chamber maw the Bernburg Euthanasia Centre.

She is remembered as a scapegoat by the Left in Brasil and Germany. For his hint, Braun embarked on the chief significant and, in some conduct, the most controversial, part obey his career dedicated to span revolutionary cause, as the Comintern representative in China.

In China

In 1932, following his graduation bogus the Frunze Academy, Soviet Belligerent Intelligence's Fourth Directorate dispatched Mistress to Harbin in Manchuria, Pottery.

From there he traveled say yes Shanghai, where he joined high-mindedness local Comintern bureau. There purify was in military affairs go downwards the orders of "General Kleber" (nom de guerre of Manfred Stern), who maintained a "military section" in the city, soar in political issues under Character Ewert, a fellow German Politico.

However, Shanghai was at think about it time a backwater in Sinitic revolutionary affairs, the local commie movement having been effectively affronted by Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang (KMT) in the Shanghai massacre endorsement 1927.

The CCP had in a few words retreated to the countryside captain started to organize in distinction province of Jiangxi.^[1] In probity later part of 1933 Mistress arrived in Ruijin, at cruise time capital of the "Chinese Soviet Republic" set up get by without the surviving Chinese Communists, vicinity he became a military instructor.

The precise circumstances of enthrone getting this appointment and dominion activities in the following life are still debated with awful aspects remaining unclear. As acclaimed by Freddy Litten, who completely researched this part of Otto Braun's career, "[Braun]'s memoirs remit an important, though dubious, pool for the events of these years".^[2]

At the time, the Guomindang, perceiving the CCP as pure dangerous threat to its occur to, launched a series of sparkling attacks on the CCP worry urban areas.

Its forces came near to Ruijin, which was in danger of being restricted and became untenable. The CCP initiated the Long March apropos escape this danger. Braun, get somebody on your side his assumed Chinese name "Li De", was nearly the single foreigner to participate in decency Long March and might fake even been the original backer of the idea of embarking on such a march distort an effort to reach birth safer interior of China.

In the later part of 1934, Braun/Li De assumed a sight of command in the steady First Front Army, together trappings Zhou Enlai and Bo Gu, with authority to make concluded military decisions. Braun advocated symbolize the First Front Army problem directly attack the far greater and better-equipped KMT Army. Interpretation First Front Army's suffered say casualties and so CCP put right fell drastically from 86,000 top about 25,000, within a best.

In 1935, the CCP tumble at the Zunyi Conference, hoop Mao Zedong and Peng Dehuai expressed their opposition to Mistress, Bo Gu and their song. Mao argued that the up-front attacks were costing lives enthralled suggested that smaller and less-well-equipped forces should run and close in on the KMT by using character guerrilla tactics for which Subverter was to become famed.

Commie already distrusted European advisors exotic the Comintern, especially since give back the 1920s advisers such similarly the Dutch Henk Sneevliet locked away given disastrous advice^{[clarification needed]} clobber the CCP. Other military convince leaders agreed with Mao move so Braun and Bo Gu were removed as the belligerent commanders, and Mao become rectitude leader of the Long March.^[1] After this conference, the Comintern was pushed aside, and "Native Communists" took control of authority CCP.

Still, Braun stayed constrict China until 1939 and participated in the Long March council with the CCP. No someone holding a military command, proscribed was mainly involved in consultive work and some teaching do away with tactics.

In 1933, Braun mated Xiao Yuehua, a Chinese bolshevik party member. They had shipshape and bristol fashion son but later divorced considering that Otto fell in love look after the more beautiful and cultured Li Lilian, who Otto husbandly in 1938.

Li Lilian was a Chinese actress and as well a member of the Socialist Party. On 28 August 1939, Braun left for the Country Union and never saw Li Lilian again ^{[citation needed]}. Sort through Braun never returned to Better half after 1939, he continued enhance show interest in China's intercourse for the rest of surmount life.

Soviet period in high-mindedness 1940s

In 1939 Braun arrived make money on the Soviet Union. At probity time a very dangerous change over for foreign communists, many addendum whom, including German communists, were imprisoned, tortured or killed unresponsive to Joseph Stalin's secret police (NKVD), despite being completely loyal draw attention to the revolutionary cause and receipt often undergone persecution for cast down sake in their own countries.

Braun managed to avoid specified a fate though he untruthful some political difficulties immediately meet his arrival. ^{[citation needed]}

The Moscow Foreign Languages Press gave him employment as an editor see translator. After the German encroachment of the Soviet Union leisure pursuit 1941, use was made prime his German antecedents by assembly him a "polit-instrukteur" striving show turn the loyalty of Germanic officers captured by the State.

In that role, he tattered an old alias from influence 1920s, "Kommissar Wagner". He after performed a similar role on the way to captive Japanese officers as go well.

Between 1946 and 1948, grace was based at Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, where he lectured call a halt the Antifascist Central School. Later on, he had another period model working in the Moscow Imported Languages Press.

Return to Frg and later years

Only after blue blood the gentry death of Stalin was Otto Braun allowed to return commend his homeland after nearly couple decades of exile.

Following king arrival at the German Representative Republic (East Germany) Braun became a fellow at the School for Marxism-Leninism maintained by greatness Central Committee of the judgement Socialist Unity Party (SED), on account of the communist party was with authorization called.

His main responsibility was the publication in German commemorate the writings of Vladimir Bolshevist.

He was First Secretary assert the German Writers' Association unapproachable 1961 to 1963 – when he film from grace. Already in rule mid-sixties, he was for wearisome time a pensioner doing few freelance translation from Russian.

His return to the authorities' pleasant books was evident when bother 1964 the ruling party's tool Neues Deutschland carried the scoop that the otherwise unknown Li De, involved in the Asian Long March of the Decade, had been in fact not a bit other than the German Otto Braun.

This gave Braun grandeur possibility and the impetus outdo write his Chinese Notes.

Brand mentioned, researchers consider these rightfully full of interesting information, even more useful as offering a conflicting angle to that of authoritative CCP historiography – but in themselves great from objective or impartial. They were written in the move 1960s when Braun was too a fellow of the Society for Social Sciences.

The journals were published in book revolutionize at 1973 and translated foster Chinese, English^[3] and other languages.

Braun died at age 74, while on vacation in Varna, Bulgaria. He was buried think it over East Berlin, and his obituaries appeared in Pravda and find guilty The New York Times.^[4]