Max Beer

Moses "Max" Beer (10 August 1864 – 30 April 1943) was an Austrian-born Marxist economist, journalist and historian. Beer is best remembered as an early writer on the topic of imperialism and for a series of books, published in translation in several countries, which examined the nature of class struggle throughout human history.

Biography Early years Moses Beer, known to all by the nickname "Max," was born 10 August 1864 in the small town of Tarnobrzeg, Galicia, which was then part of the Austrian Empire. He was of Jewish heritage. Beer's father, Nathan Beer, worked as a kosher butcher.

As a young boy Beer was educated in a Jewish Cheder, but he was moved to a local Christian school at the age of 12. He remained in that position until 1911. Beer left his place at the Vorwäerts to pursue more scholastic writing. He signed a contract to produce a history of British socialism in the German language, a book which was published in 1913.

Return to Germany The coming of World War I made Beer's position in Great Britain untenable and he was deported in 1915 as a so-called "enemy alien." Back in Germany he worked as a translator for the German central trade union organization and as a freelance journalist.

In 1919, Beer was named as editor of Die Glocke (The Bell), a socialist periodical owned by Alexander Parvus. He would remain in that position until 1921. During the next several years, Beer would author a biography of Karl Marx and a series of works of history which examined the changing forms of class struggle through the centuries. Written in German, these works would be published in translation into English and other languages, gaining Beer an international reputation as a Marxist historian.

Communist years In 1927, Beer was invited to Moscow to work at the Marx-Engels Institute by that facility's director, David Ryazanov. Beer would remain in the Soviet Union through 1928.

Upon his return to Germany, Beer became active in the German Communist Party. He lived in the city of Frankfurt am Main, where he worked at the Institut fur Sozialforschung.

Death and legacy When the Nazis took power in Germany in 1933, Beer fled to London, where he would remain for the rest of his life. Beer was naturalized as a British citizen in 1939.

Max Beer died of tuberculosis in London on 30 April 1943.

There is a street in the Mitte district of Berlin named after Beer.

Footnotes

Works Books Jean Jaurès: Sozialist und Staatsmann. Berlin: Druck und Verlag für Sozialwissenschaft, 1918. The Pioneers of Land Reform: Thomas Spence, William Ogilvie, Thomas Paine. London: G. Bell, 1920 (ed. and introduction). The Life and Teaching of Karl Marx. T. C. Partington and H. J. Stenning, trans. London: National Labour Press, 1921. Social Struggles in Antiquity. London: L. Parsons, 1922. Social Struggles in the Middle Ages. H. J. Stenning, trans. London: L. Parsons, 1924. Social Struggles and Socialist Forerunners. H. J. Stenning, trans. London: L. Parsons, 1924. Social Struggles and Thought (1750–1860). H. J. Stenning, trans. London: L. Parsons, 1925. Social Struggles and Modern Socialism. H. J. Stenning, trans. London: L. Parsons, 1925. A Guide to the Study of Marx: An Introductory Course for Classes and Study Circles. London, Labour Research Department, Sylabus Series No. 14. Undated (1930?) Second Edition 32pp The League on Trial: A Journey to Geneva. Boston: Houghton & Mifflin, 1933. Fifty Years of International Socialism. London, G. Allen & Unwin, 1935. —Autobiography. Early British Economics: from the XIIIth to the middle of the XVIIIth century London, G. Allen & Unwin, 1938. An Inquiry into Physiocracy. London: G. Allen & Unwin, 1939. A History of British Socialism. One Volume Edition. London: G. Allen & Unwin, 1940. The General History of Socialism and Social Struggles. In Two Volumes. New York, Russell & Russell, 1957.

Articles "Modern English Imperialism," (Nov. 1897) in Richard B. Day and Daniel Gaido, eds. and trans., Discovering Imperialism: Social Democracy to World War I. (2011) Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2012; pp. 95–108. "The United States in 1898," (Dec. 1898) in Day and Gaido, Discovering Imperialism, pp. 109–124. "The United States in 1899," (Nov. 1899) in Day and Gaido, Discovering Imperialism, pp. 125–128. "Reflections on England's Decline," (March 1901) in Day and Gaido, Discovering Imperialism, pp. 239–248. "Social Imperialism," (Nov. 1901) in Day and Gaido, Discovering Imperialism, pp. 249–264. "Party Projects in England," (Jan. 1902) in Day and Gaido, Discovering Imperialism, pp. 265–274. "Imperialist Policy," (Dec. 1902) in Day and Gaido, Discovering Imperialism, pp. 275–284. "Imperialist Literature," (Dec. 1906) in Day and Gaido, Discovering Imperialism, pp. 285–290.