Franz Erdmann Mehring (27 February 1846 – 28 January 1919) was a German communist historian, literary and art critic, philosopher, and revolutionary socialist politician who was a senior member of the Spartacus League during the German Revolution of 1918–1919. Biography Early years Mehring was born 27 February 1846 in Schlawe, Pomerania, the son of a retired military officer and senior tax official. He studied classical philology at the University of Leipzig and received his doctorate in 1882 with the dissertation: "The German social democracy, their history and their teaching". Political career Mehring worked for various daily and weekly newspapers and over many years wrote lead articles for the weekly magazine . He was initially a supporter of bourgeois-democratic ideals and allied himself with the national-liberal camp, however after being acquainted with working-class leaders such as August Bebel and Wilhelm Liebknecht Mehring gradually moved towards socialism. In 1868, Mehring moved to Berlin to study and worked in the editorial office of the newspaper. From 1871 to 1874, Mehring worked for the Correspondence Office in Oldenburg, writing reports on sessions of the Reichstag and the local parliament. He became a well-known parliamentary reporter, working for the newspaper and , a newspaper published by Leopold Sonnemann. From time to time Mehring spoke in support of the labor movement, his views were initially close to Ferdinand Lassalle. In 1880, Mehring began to study the works of Karl Marx. Mehring left after an argument with Sonnemann and in 1884 became chief editor of the newspaper. He spoke out against Otto von Bismarck’s Anti-Socialist Laws, although he still was at the time himself close to bourgeois-liberal parties. In 1891, Mehring joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). In 1893, Mehring was the recipient of a letter from Friedrich Engels, in which the latter first wrote the phrase False consciousness. Between 1902 and 1907, Mehring was the chief editor of the Social Democratic newspaper. From 1906 to 1911, Mehring taught at the SPD's party school and was a member of the Prussian parliament from 1917 to 1918. During World War I, Mehring began to distance himself from the SPD, along with other members who believed the party was abandoning its Socialist Agenda by passing a bill to send more troops to war. In 1916, the left-wing Marxist revolutionary Spartacus League was founded and Mehring was one of its main leaders alongside Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg.