Communist League 共産主義者同盟 Kyо̄sanshugisha Dо̄mei | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | The Bund |
| Founded | December 1958 |
| Dissolved | July 1960 |
| Preceded by | Zengakuren (internal schism) |
| Succeeded by | Second Bund |
| Ideology | Marxism Communism Anti-Stalinism Trotskyism |
| Political position | Far-left |
The Communist League (共産主義者同盟, Kyо̄sanshugisha Dо̄mei), sometimes abbreviated Kyōsandō and better known by its nickname The Bund (ブント, Bunto), was a Marxist Japanese proto-New Left student organization established in December 1958 as a radical splinter group within the nationwide Zengakuren student federation.[1] The organization took its name from the original Communist League (German: Bund der Kommunisten) established in London, England in 1847 under the guidance of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, whence it derived its nickname "The Bund."[1]
After successfully seizing control of Zengakuren through a variety of electioneering efforts, the Bund carried out a number of protest activities in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including playing a starring role in the massive 1960 Anpo protests against the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, before splitting into a number of smaller groups.[2]
Although lasting only for a few years, the Bund is widely cited as marking the origins of "New Left"-style student activism in Japan.[3][4]
In 1966, some remnant factions of the original group reunited to form the Second Bund (第二次ブント, Dainiji Bunto), which carried out a variety of protest activities during the 1968–69 Japanese university protests. The Second Bund's "Red Army Faction" splinter group would become the progenitor of two notorious terrorist groups, the United Red Army and the Japan Red Army.