Ernest Thalmann was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1886. A member of the Transport Workers Union he joined the Social Democrat Party in 1903.

Thalmann was recruited into the German Army in 1915 and during the First World War fought on the Western Front. He deserted in 1918 and as a member of the Independent Socialist Party was active in the German Revolution in Hamburg.

In 1920 Thalmann joined with Ernst Toller, Walther Ulbricht and Clara Zetkin to form the German Communist Party (KPD). The party's first congress was addressed by Gregory Zinoviev, the Russian Bolshevik and head of the Comintern. Throughout the 1920s the KPD was very much under the influence of Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Thalmann was elected to the Reichstag in 1920 and over the next few years emerged as the leader of the KPD and was the party's presidential candidate in 1932. He won 13.2 of the vote compared to the 30.1 received by Adolf Hitler.

After the Reichstag Fire on 27th February, 1933, the Nazi Party launched a wave of violence against members of the German Communist Party and other left-wing opponents of the regime. This included Thalmann who was arrested and imprisoned on 3rd March 1933. Ernest Thalmann was executed in Buchenwald Concentration Camp on 18th August 1944.