Aksel Larsen - Time As A Social Democrat

Time As A Social Democrat

When he arrived in Copenhagen he moved into an attic and got a job as a bicycle delivery man. He joined the Social Democratic Party, the party his parents had been members of for many years, and the Delivery Men’s Union where he became shop steward. Through his political and union work he learned about syndicalism and the growing opposition to the Social Democratic Party in the labour movement.

His views grew more radical and he took part in violent riots on the vegetable market in 1918. The Easter Crisis of 1920 when king Christian X dismissed the cabinet of Carl Theodor Zahle became a turning point for Larsen. During the crisis Larsen spoke in public on the city hall square of Copenhagen. While parts of the Social Democratic Party supported the abolishment of the monarchy the social democrats and the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions accepted a compromise and the crisis was called off.

This compromise disappointed Larsen and the month after he left the Social Democratic party and joined the newly-formed Left Socialist Party.

He campaigned for the Left Socialist Party as a public speaker in the 1920 parliamentary election but the election result of only 5.160 votes was a disappointment to Larsen.

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