Communist Party of Belgium

The Communist Party of Belgium (Dutch: Kommunistische Partij van België, or KPB; French: Parti Communiste de Belgique, PCB) was a political party in Belgium from 1921 to 1989. The youth wing of KPB/PCB was known as the Communist Youth of Belgium. The party published a newspaper known as Le Drapeau Rouge in French and De Roode Vaan in Dutch.

Communist Party of Belgium
Dutch: Kommunistische Partij van België
French: Parti Communiste de Belgique
AbbreviationKPB-PCB
Historical leadersJoseph Jacquemotte
Julien Lahaut
Louis Van Geyt
FounderJulien Lahaut
FoundedSeptember 3, 1921 (1921-09-03)
Dissolved1989 (1989)
Merger ofCommunist Party
Belgian Communist Party
Succeeded byKommunistische Partij
Parti Communiste
HeadquartersBrussels
NewspaperDe Roode Vaan (Flemish)
Le Drapeau Rouge (French)
Youth wingCommunist Youth of Belgium
Paramilitary wingPartisans Armés (1940-43)
Membership (1965)11,000 (peak)
IdeologyCommunism
Eurocommunism
Political positionFar-left
International affiliationComintern (1919–1943)
Cominform (1947–1956)
European Parliament groupCommunist and Allies Group (1973–1989)
Colours  Red

History

The Communist Party of Belgium was formed at a congress in Anderlecht, Brussels on 3–4 September 1921. KPB/PCB was formed through the unification of two groups, the Communist Party led by War Van Overstraeten and the Belgian Communist Party led by Joseph Jacquemotte, following a split from the Belgian Workers Party. At the time of its foundation, KPB/PCB had around 500 members.[1] KPB/PCB became the Belgian section of the Communist International. The party gained parliamentary presence in 1925, as both Van Overstraeten and Jacquemotte were elected to the Chamber of Representatives. By 1935 KPB/PCB had 9 deputies in the Chamber and 4 members in the Senate. In 1938 it had a membership of about 8,500.

During the Second World War, the party had to go underground during German occupation. The party was also closely affiliated with the Partisans Armés, a resistance group during the occupation, however in 1943 much of the party leadership was arrested by German forces. After the end of the war, the party was strengthened and obtained 25% in the parliamentary elections. The party participated in a coalition government with the socialists and the liberals from 1946 to 1947.

On 18 August 1950 the party chairman, Julien Lahaut, was assassinated.

In the mid 1960s the U.S. State Department estimated the party membership to be approximately 9,890.[2]

KPB/PCB lost its parliamentary presence in 1985.[3]

In 1989 KPB/PCB was divided into two separate parties, Kommunistische Partij in Flanders and Parti Communiste in Wallonia.

Several foreign communist parties, American, British, German, French and Dutch, had branches in Belgium.[4]

Chairmen of KPB/PCB

General Secretaries of KPB/PCB

Notable members

Communist burgomasters (mayors)

Election results

Election year Votes Seats Change
Number Percentage
1925 34,149 1.64%
2 / 187
Steady
1929 43,237 1.94%
1 / 187
9 1
1932 64,552 2.90%
3 / 187
Increase 2
1936 143,223 6.06%
9 / 202
Increase 6
1939 90,856 4.65%
9 / 202
Steady
1946 300,099 12.69%
23 / 202
Increase 14
1949 376,765 7.49%
12 / 212
9 11
1950 234,541 4.75%
7 / 212
9 5
1954 184,108 3.57%
4 / 212
9 3
1958 100,145 1.89%
2 / 212
9 2
1961 162,238 3.08%
5 / 212
Increase 3
1965 247,311 4.77%
6 / 212
Increase 1
1965 247,311 4.77%
6 / 212
Increase 1
1968 170,625 3.30%
5 / 212
9 1
1971 91,726

67,487


159,213

1.74%

1.28%


3,02%

4 / 212
1 / 212
5 / 212
[a]
Steady
1974 107,481 2.04%
2 / 212
[b]
9 3
1977 37,104

62,410


99,514

0.67%

1.12%


1,79%

2 / 212
0 / 212
2 / 212
[a]
Steady
1978 180,234 3.26%
4 / 212
Increase 2
1981 138,978 2.31%
2 / 212
9 2
1985 71,695 1.18%
0 / 212
9 2
1987 51,046 0.80%
0 / 212
Steady

a In the 1971 and 1977 General Elections, the Communist Party used separate lists for both Flanders and Wallonia, despite remaining a single party
b It is unclear whether the Communist Party decided not to run separate lists for the 1974 General Election or the data for regional lists is simply not available


See also

Sources

References

  1. 1921-1996: PC Archived 2005-03-22 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Benjamin, Roger W.; Kautsky, John H.. Communism and Economic Development, in The American Political Science Review, Vol. 62, No. 1. (Mar., 1968), pp. 122.
  3. Official results of the 1978 and 1981 parliamentary elections in the Brussels-Hal-Vilvorde arrondissement; Didier Bajura and Daniel Fedrigo, the two last PCB MP's, during the 1981 to 1985 legislature, were elected in Wallonia
  4. Khoojinian, Mazyar (February 14, 2009). "Les Communistes turcs en Belgique (1972-1989)" (PDF) (in French). CArCoB – Archives Communistes. p. 21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
  5. Gotovitch, José (9 August 2010). "Jacquemotte, Joseph". Le Maitron: Dictionnaire biographique, mouvement ouvrier, mouvement social (in French). Maitron/Editions de l'Atelier. Retrieved 26 June 2023.

Further reading

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