FOR FREEDOM AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Social democratic political platforms and practical politics since the middle of the 19th century

An Exhibition by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung

FOR FREEDOM AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Social democratic political platforms and practical politics since the middle of the 19th century

An Exhibition by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung

Imprint

Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung

Publisher: Published on behalf of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung by Dieter Dowe and Michael Schneider Conceptual design, texts and selection of photographs:
Mario Bungert

Copyright questions:
Petra Giertz Layout: Pellens Kommunikationsdesign GmbH, Bonn

Production of exhibition:
ComExpo, Bonn

Print:

Printed in

Foreword

Programmes have played an essential role in the history of democratic parties, but in the history of German Social Democracy in particular. Since as early as the 1848 Revolution Social Democracy has drafted programmes in response to changing economic, social, cultural and legal conditions. New challenges call for new solutions. The abiding task is to project the fundamental values of Social Democracy freedom, justice and solidarity onto the prevailing circumstances and constantly to renew them. Only by the recognition and acceptance of reality can Social Democracy preserve its essence and its identity both in transformation and through it. The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung has dedicated itself to strengthening Social Democracy. Its focus has always been to impart democratic values, both in its educational activities in Germany and in its international work. The point is not to supply other countries, other societies with the German model of democracy. Each country, each society must nd its own path of democratic cooperation. Rather in our partner countries we seek to give an impetus, contribute to consolidating civil society structures and organizations, promote democratic participation and decision-making processes, reduce the potential for conict and facilitate cooperation on the basis of equality. It is in this spirit that we support our partners trade unions, cooperatives, womens and educational networks on the ground: the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung sees itself as a Social Democratic think and do tank. This exhibition by the FESs History Department on the history and development of Social Democratic programmes is therefore not intended as a model or blueprint for others, but rather to illustrate that in Germany too the path to a democratic society has not been straightforward, but long and fraught with difculties. A path, which, though sometimes accompanied by violent controversies, failures and setbacks, ultimately led to success: a society in which the core Social Democratic values of freedom, social justice and solidarity have eventually come to prevail. Anke Fuchs Chairwoman Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung

Content

Freedom and social justice Principles of social democratic policy Working Men of All Countries, Unite! A rst answer to the Industrial Revolution The Communist Manifesto of 1848 We shall take matters into our own hands The statute of the Arbeiterverbrderung of 1848 Early programmatic analysis of the situation in the 1860s Lassalles Open Letter of 1863 The Allgemeine Deutscher Arbeiter-Verein (ADAV) Early programmatic analysis of the situation in the 1860s Vereinstag deutscher Arbeitervereine (VDAV) New times have dawned The Eisenach Programme of the Social Democratic Labour Party of 1869 The liberation of labour must be achieved by the working class itself The unication of Social Democracy The Gotha Programme of 1875 Fight exploitation and oppression of every kind! The Erfurt Programme of 1891 Revolutionary class struggle or a policy of continuous reform The revisionism dispute 1896-1903 The relationship between party and trade unions From the mass strike debate to the Mannheim Agreement of 1906 Party truce or fundamental opposition? The split of Social Democracy during the First World War (19141918) Revolution and foundation of the republic Intensication of the split of the workers movement (1918/19) On the way towards a peoples party The Grlitz Programme of the SPD, 1921

For Socialism and freedom the European perspective The Heidelberg Programme of 1925 Analysis of recent developments and programmatic consequences Organised capitalism and economic democracy During the Great Depression defeat at the hands of National Socialism Political and programmatic dilemma, 1930 1933 Exile and resistance to National Socialism From the Prague Manifesto to plans for a democratic post-war order, 1933 1945 Commitment to the aims of freedom and social justice From the rst policy guidelines to the Dortmund/Berlin action programme of the SPD (19451952/4) From liberation to new bondage Forced amalgamation and a party of a new type, 19451953 The transformation of the SPD into a modern peoples party The Godesberg Programme of 1959 The opportunity for a new German policy must not be lost The SPD in government since 1966 Offering political orientation Programmatic developments in the 1970s Tackling new tasks in a new way From the Irsee draft to the Berlin Platform, 19841989 Through social justice to a society in solidarity The Berlin Programme of 1989 Shaping unity social and just The Leipzig Programme of the SPD in the GDR, 1990 Innovation and social justice The courage for change From the beginnings of the Red-Green project to the Agenda 2010, 19982005

Modernising Germany in justice and fairness On the road to a new programme Social Democracy in the 21st century The power for renewal for a social Germany The Hamburg Programme of 2007 Social Democracy identity in transition Results and future prospects

List of Personalities Ferdinand Lassalle August Bebel Eduard Bernstein Karl Kautsky Rosa Luxemburg Kurt Schumacher Willy Brandt

Frei und links FOR FREEDOM AND SOCIAL JUSTICE Sozialdemokratische Programmatik
und Politik seit der Social democratic political platforms Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts and practical politics since the middle of the 19th century

Eine Ausstellung An Exhibition by the der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung

Constant revolutionising of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions, everlasting uncertainty and agitation, in this way the Communist Manifesto described the dawning times in 1848. We live under such conditions. A party not facing up to these changes and refusing to adapt its means to altered conditions will be subject to paralysis and lose its creative power. German Social Democracy has constantly given proof of its courage for reorientation. By changing itself, it has been able to preserve its identity in different political and social systems: during the 1848 revolution, the German Confederation, the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, National Socialist dictatorship, old and new Federal Republic of Germany. Even now, in times of globalisation, the Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD, Social Democratic Party of Germany) is laying down guidelines of its political action with a new political platform and programme. The exhibition not only highlights the development of Social Democracy from a proletarian class party to a reform-oriented peoples party. It also makes clear that party programmes for Social Democrats have always expressed the moral basis of their political actions consistently in pursuit of one guideline: a striving for freedom which is based on social justice and proves its strength in solidarity.

PRINCIPL PRINCIPL C

Freedom and social justice

Principles o soc a de oc at c po cy c p es of social democratic policy

A party that does not adapt to constantly changing circumstances in its party programme and policy will be paralysed and eventually lose its creative power. The SPD has always shown the courage and the strength for reorientation and so has maintained its political and programmatic identity. Like no other party it looks back on a long history, dating back to the middle of the 19th century, one which has always been characterised by a striving for freedom and social justice in solidarity.

In the middle of the 19th century the Industrial Revolution accelerated the formation of a new social stratum, the working class. The effects of industrial production methods under capitalist conditions on the newly formed proletariat were, amongst other things, the division of labour and the fragmentation of production under conditions of monotony, dirt, noise, stench and risk to health. (1) With the dissolution of feudal ties and protection, the introduction of freedom of trade and rapid population growth, combined with increasing urbanisation and pauperisation (2, 3), lead to a culmination of accumulated political and social conicts and demands for radical social and political change. In 1848 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published the Communist Manifesto as the programme of the secret Bund der Kommunisten (Communist League). (4) In the Manifesto they expressed the expectation that the proletariat, which had become aware of itself, would overthrow bourgeois-capitalist society, so abolishing all class contradictions. The period of dictatorship of the proletariat was meant to be only transitional in contrast to Lenins concept later on as a dictatorship of the immense majority, in the interest of the immense majority. After the dissolution of the class society the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all. The programme resulted in the appeal: Working Men of All Countries, Unite! Initially, the programme of the Communist League had almost no practical or political effect. It was only after the new editions in the 1870s that the Communist Manifesto became one of the most important writings of Social Democracy.

CLASS STRU LASS STRU

Working Men of All Countries, Unite!

A rst answer to the Industrial Revolution The Communist Manifesto of 1848

1. In the newly-created factories the workers are subject to strict discipline at work and a rigorous time schedule. Health and safety at work do not exist at that time.

3. In the 19th century workers lived in small, smelly and overcrowded ats.

2. Youngsters and children have to work for the familys livelihood. For a long time, child labour was commonplace.

In the course of the Industrial Revolution, urbanisation, population growth and pauperisation intensied the accumulated political and social conicts of the rst half of the 19th century resulting in demands for radical social and political change. The Communist Manifesto published by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848 combined acute analysis and criticism of bourgeois-capitalist society with an appeal for the revolutionary resistance of the proletariat.

4. Karl Marx (18181883) and Friedrich Engels (18201895), authors of the Communist Manifesto.

The French February Revolution which in 1848 led to the overthrow of the bourgeois king Louis Philippe also triggered a revolutionary movement in the states of the German Confederation. It demanded a constitution and freedom of the press as well as elections to a pan-German parliament. In some of the small German states these demands were met without resistance or at least promised. In 1848 the situation in Prussia culminated in bloody street battles, mainly in Berlin where King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. had to make concessions. (1) For the German working class the year 1848 marked an epoch: it was the dawn of the organised German workers movement. In September of that year the Arbeiterverbrderung (Workers Brotherhood) was founded during the General German Workers Congress in Berlin (2), which was, with its approximately 20,000 members the rst mass organisation of German workers. The main issues of the statutes (4) drafted by Stephan Born (3), chairman of the Workers Brotherhood, were freedom of association, the formation of trade unions, the introduction of funds for sickness and funeral expenses, care for those unable to work, reduction of working hours and the abolishment of school fees, as well as the creation of a parliamentary and democratic state on the basis of universal and equal, though indirect suffrage. Against the emerging counter-revolution the organisations leadership also envisaged armed resistance. (5) The failure of revolts in Saxonia, Baden and Rhine-Hesse forced the Brotherhood during the reactionary period (6) to restrict its activities to the propagation of producer and consumer by means of state loans.

BROTHER BRO BROTHERH O

We shall take our matters into our own hands

The statute of the Arbeiterverbrderung of 1848

3. Lithograph: Stephan Born (18241898).

1. Lithograph: Street battles in Berlin, 1848. 2. Front page of Das Volk (The People) of 26 August 1848.

In the course of the revolutions that shook monarchical rule in Europe in 1848 the rst public German workers organisation was formed: the Arbeiterverbrderung (Workers Brotherhood). The main topics in the statutes drafted by Stephan Born, its chairman, were the introduction of socio-political improvements and the creation of a parliamentary and democratic 5. Lithograph: Struggle in Baden to implement a revolutionary constitution. state based on general (indirect) suffrage. At the beginning of the 1850s, the period of reaction, the Workers Brotherhood was banned.
6. Caricature: Counter-revolution in Europe: the revolutionaries are suppressed by revitalized reactionary forces, and either expelled from Germany or killed.

4. Front page of Die Verbrderung (The Brotherhood) dated 13 October 1848 and extract from the Statutes.

At the beginning of 1863 the bourgeois democrat Ferdinand Lassalle (1) was asked by a Leipzig workers committee to make proposals for a future labour movement. Lassalle complied with this request with the Open Letter to the Central Committee to summon a General Congress of German Workers (2): In his programmatic writing Lassalle called on the working class to establish an independent political party and, in place of the reactionary Prussian three-class voting system, to make universal, equal and direct suffrage the watchword and banner of the party. This demand only applied to men. In economic terms, Lassalle considered the workers to be subject to the iron law of wages, namely that, in the long run, wages would not rise above the poverty line. The social situation could be improved only if the workers themselves became the entrepreneurs with the help of producer cooperatives and support through loans given from the state, which in turn would have to be democratised. When on 23 May 1863 the Allgemeine Deutsche Arbeiter-Verein (General German Workers Association) (4) was founded in the Leipzig Colosseum (3), the then 38-year old Ferdinand Lassalle was elected president. Under his strict leadership the ADAV (5, 6) won more than 4,000 members and developed into the rst German labour party. After his death in autumn 1864 erce disputes erupted in the ADAV.

UNIVERSAL SU NIV R A NIVERSAL SU

Early programmatic analysis of the situation in the 1860s

Lassalles Open Letter of 1863 The Allgemeine Deutsche Arbeiter-Verein (ADAV)

3. The Leipzig Colosseum, where the ADAV was founded.

In his Open Letter to a Leipzig workers committee at the beginning of 1863, the bourgeois democrat Ferdinand Lasalle called for an independent political party of the working class and declared the general, equal and direct (male) voting system the watchword and banner of the party. With this appeal he dened the programme of the Allgemeine Deutsche Arbeiter-Verein (General German Workers Association), which had been founded on 23 May 1863 and developed into the rst German labour party. The central socio-political demand of the association, on
2. Front page Open Letter.

which Lassalle imposed strict discipline, was the foundation of productive associations with the support (state loans) of the state, which in turn would have to be democratised.

4. The ADAV executive members in bourgeois posture, 1863 (Lassalle rst from right).

6. The traditional ag of German Social Democracy, donated on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the ADAV.

1. Ferdinand Lassalle (18251864).

5. Federal song of the ADAV, one of the best known songs of the working class.

In June 1863, shortly after the founding of the ADAV, workers associations of various political backgrounds joined forces in Frankfurt am Main to form the Vereinstag deutscher Arbeitervereine (VDAV, Federation of German workers associations). One of the participants in the founding congress was August Bebel (1), who since 1865 headed the Leipzig Arbeiter-Bildungsverein (Workers Education Association), becoming president in 1867. (2) This body was organised more democratically than the ADAV. Initially they cooperated with liberally minded representatives of the bourgeoisie. To begin with, the VDAV strongly dissociate itself from the demands of the ADAV, but in the following years relations became closer and closer. The VDAV argued for the formation of producers cooperatives from 1865 and stood up for universal and equal suffrage and secret ballots (for men). In 1868 the VDAV accepted the statutes of the First International, the International Workingmens Association (IWA) (3). These had been written by Karl Marx

EMANCIPAT EMANCIPAT MANCIPA ANCIPA C AT A

Early programmatic analysis of the situation in the 1860s

Vereinstag deutscher Arbeitervereine (VDAV)

3. Lithograph: Participants of the IWA meeting in Basel 1869.

In June 1863, shortly after the founding of the ADAV, workers associations of various political backgrounds joined forces in Frankfurt am Main to form the Vereinstag deutscher Arbeitervereine (Federation of German workers associations). Unlike the ADAV, it had a loose organisational structure. Initially they cooperated with liberally minded representatives of the bourgeoisie. The VDAV argued for the formation of productive associations and the general, equal and secret right to vote (for men) from 1865. In 1868 the VDAV accepted the statutes of the First International, the International Workingmens Association (IWA).
1. August Bebel (18401913), around 1860.

2. Minutes of the rst board meeting chaired by August Bebel, 31 October 1867, and the standing orders of the Vereinstags Deutscher Arbeitervereine.

In August 1869 the Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei (SDAP, Social Democratic Labour Party) was founded in Eisenach. August Bebel had drafted the rst programme. (1) The new party that was set up in Eisenach (2) was based mainly on the statutes of the First International written by Karl Marx. The central aim was the protection, the elevation and the complete emancipation of the working classes. The Eisenach Programme (3) also focusses on the battle against unjust political and social conditions and drew the following conclusion: The social issue is inextricably linked with the political situation; its solution is conditional upon it and is possible only in a democratic nation. The SDAP differed from the ADAV primarily in terms of inner-party democracy, the unconditional support of the trade union movement and its attitude towards the national unity of Germany. After founding the party, the 6th Congress of the Federation of German Workers Associations (VDAV), which was also taking place in Eisenach decided to dissolve itself and to join the SDAP. (4)

DEMO RA DEMOCRATIC DEMOCRATIC MOCRATIC

New times have dawned

The Eisenach Programme of the Social Democratic Labour Party of 1869

4. Participants of the 2nd congress of the SDAP in Dresden, 1871.

In August 1869 the Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei (SDAP, Social Democratic Labour Party) was founded in Eisenach. August Bebel had drafted the rst programme. The new party that was established in Eisenach was based mainly on the statutes of the First International written by Karl Marx. Its central aim was the protection, the elevation and the complete emancipation of the working classes. The SDAP differed from the ADAV primarily in terms of inner-party democracy, the unconditional support of the trade union movement and the attitude towards German national unity.

2. Hotel zum Mohren in Eisenach where the Eisenach party programme was adopted.

3. The Eisenach Programme. Like other party programmes at the end of the 19th century it is brief and concise.

1. 1. Appeal launched at the founding congress in Eisenach To the German Social Democrats in the Demokratisches Wochenblatt (Democratic Weekly) of 17 July 1869.

After the Franco-German War (1870/71) and the foundation of the German Empire (1871) (1) the emerging economic crisis led to increasing class conicts and intensied police repression of the ADAV and the SDAP. This common experience, at last, helped them to see that unication of the parties was inevitable. Wilhelm Liebknecht formulated the main parts of the programme for the unied party (2) a mixture of old democratic demands and Marxian and Lassallean concepts. To that extent the text thoroughly corresponded to the thougths and feelings of party members. August Bebel however, was particulary indignant about the draft as were Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in London but he considered that the aim of unication superseded any programmatic differences. (3) The Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands (SAPD; German Socialist Labour Party) (4) set up in Gotha in May 1875 wanted to create the free nation and the socialist society by all legal means. As the rst German party it demanded the vote for all citizens that is, for women, too of all classes. Despite lacking theoretical cohesion the Gotha Programme was the platform for the unication of Social Democracy. At its foundation in 1875 the SAPD had approximately 25,000 members. (5) The rst ofcial party publicationissued from1876, was Vorwrts (Forward).

UN UNIFICA UNIFICATI NIFICAT

The liberation of labour must be achieved by the working class itself

The unication of Social Democracy The Gotha Programme of 1875

1. Wood engraving: Foundation of the German Empire in Versailles, 1871.

The ending of the differences at nationstate level with the founding of the German Empire (1871) and the common experience of repression during the ensuing economic crisis led to the unication of the previously hostile labour parties. The programme, written by Wilhelm Liebknecht, offered a mixture of old democratic demands and several Marxian and Lassalleean concepts and terms. It corresponded to the party members thoughts and feelings. August Bebel, however, was particulary indignant about the draft as were Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in London but he considered that the aim of unication superseded any programmatic differences. The Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands (SAPD, German Socialist Labour Party) founded in May 1875 in Gotha wanted to create the free nation and the socialist society by all legal means. As the rst German party it demanded the vote for all citizens that is, also for women of all social categories.

2. Wilhelm Liebknecht (18261900) and the Gotha Programme of 1875.

4. SAPD membership card.

3. Drawing: August Bebel at the Gotha party convention.

5. Memorial page on the occasion of the Gotha party convention, in the oval eld the progenitors Marx und Lassalle.

Despite a twelve-year ban by Bismarcks (1) Anti-Socialist Laws (1878 1890), which a lot of Social Democrats experienced as class struggle from above, Social Democracy began to thrive (2). It adopted the name Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD. Social Democratic Party of Germany) and in 1891 accepted a new party programme in Erfurt (3), which had a major inuence on most of the socialist party programmes in Europe. With the Erfurt Programme Marxism became the ofcial party theory of German Social Democracy. Having survived the persecution under the circumstances of the Anti-Socialists Laws, the party believed in the upcoming ruin of the bourgeois-capitalist social order as a law of nature and the expected the implementation of a socialist society in the future. The program (4) is a combination of Karl Kautskys marxist analysis and forecast of a future development towards socialism and Eduard Bernsteins social reformist demands concerning the present social system. With these claims the SPD started to work under the prevailing circumstances. The combination of revolutionary aims and practical social reform in this moment not regarded as a contradiction in itself. (5) The intrinsic conict nally escalated in the so-called revisionism dispute.

LIBERATIO BERA BERA O

Fight exploitation and oppression of every kind!

The Erfurt Programme of 1891

3. The Kaisersaal, the venue of the Erfurt party convention.

After a twelve-year ban imposed by Bismarcks Anti-Socialist Laws (18781890) the SAPD took the name Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD, Social Democratic Party of Germany) and in 1891 adopted a new programme in Erfurt. The programme is a combination of Karl Kautskys marxist analysis and forecast of a future development towards socialism and Eduard Bernsteins social reformist demands regarding the existing social system. The combination of revolutionary aims and practical social reform was at that time not regarded as contradictory.
1. Caricature of Bismarck and his policy.

4. Karl Kautsky (18541938), Eduard Bernstein (18501932), and the Erfurt Programme of 1891.

2. Der Sozialdemokrat (red edition) documents the success of Social Democracy in the elections to the Reichstag in 1890 despite twelve years of repression.

5. Embroidery (from shortly after the beginning of the 20th century) with portraits of Lassalle, Bebel and Marx.

Since 1896 Eduard Bernstein (1) turned against central statements of Marxist theory which was to be revised. In his opinion social development moved along other lines than those depicted in the Erfurt Programme. For Bernstein class barriers were not a natural law, the proletariat was not necessarily doomed to sink deeper and deeper into poverty and the bourgeois-capitalist society would not break down at all events. The revisionists criticism was aimed at the marxist party centre around Bebel and Kautsky as well as of the party left-wing representatives around Rosa Luxemburg (2). They did not share their opinion that a single measure, i.e. the nationalisation of all productive means would automatically lead to their common aim: freedom. From the revisionists point of view the transition to Socialism should rather take place through the democratisation of the political system and the regulation the economy. At the latest since 1901 for Bernstein socialism was not longer scientically as for Marx but ethically founded and from this point of view could only be the result of active ght of the working-class for justice and their specic social interests. Bernstein laid special emphasis on a thorough education of the working class to gain self-responsibility in a socialist economy. For him selfresponsibility meant on one side a social principle and on the other personal freedom. August Bebel and the majority of the party strictly had rejected the position of the revisionists. Their dispute escalated up to the SPD party convention in 1903 in Dresden where a huge majority rejected the revisionist attempts though not preventing these ideas from gaining rmer hold. The conict between Marxist party theory and a social reforming policy continued to smoulder. Bebel (3) defence of the Erfurt platform and Marxism is the result of his strong will to keep the party together. On the other hand he endangered the rst attempts within the SPD to develop into a left-wing party advocating reforms within the existing social order.

CLASH O THE LASH OF THE ASH A

Revolutionary class struggle or a policy of continuous reform

The revisionism dispute 18961903

1. Eduard Bernstein (around 1890). 3. Caricature: August Bebel, subtitle: The rough August.

At the turn of the century, Eduard Bernstein attempted to bring about a revision of central statements of Marxist theory. For him, class barriers were not necessarily a law of nature nor was the constant pauperisation of the proletariat inevitable. A breakdown of bourgeois-capitalist society was not necessarily the logical consequence. In Bernsteins opinion, socialism did not have scientic as for Marx but ethical foundations. August Bebel and the centre of the party, as well as the left wing around Rosa Luxemburg and thus the majority of party members, rejected the revisionist attempts at the Dresden SPD party convention in 1903. The conict between Marxist party theory and a social reform policy continued to smoulder nevertheless.

2. Rosa Luxemburg (18711919) and August Bebel in Amsterdam in 1904.

The rst short-lived trade unions emerged as early as 1848. Their Fortunes improved signicantly in the 1860s. At rst, they had accepted the Social Democratic Partys claim to leadership, but in the course of their organisational expansion and in the wake of a number of social achievements obtained mainly by the trade union, they took on a new self-condence. This led to increasing frictions between the Free Trade Unions and the SPD. These conicts erupted with the dispute about the political mass strike instigated by the left-wingers around Rosa Luxemburg in order to overcome the partys hesitancy. In 1904 the International Socialist Congress in Amsterdam (1) had propagated the political mass strike as the ultimate weapon of the labour movement. The trade unions, which would have had to bear the brunt of such a strategy, rejected it because they feared for the extension of their organisations and their political position. The SPD decided at its Jena party convention in 1905, however, that the political mass strike was an option in crucial conict situations. The controversy about the mass strike question threatened to shatter, on the one hand, the much praised unity of the party itself, and on the other, the unity between the party and trade unions. From these substantive questions a question of principle emerged: the relationship between the party and the trade unions. In informal talks at the Mannheim party convention in 1906 (2) the conict was settled by an agreement (3). This agreement (4) adopted at the Mannheim party convention included the codication of equal rights for trade unions and the party. At the same time, mutual consultations in the case of a possible general strike were stipulated.

MASS STR STR

The relationship between party and trade unions

From the mass strike debate to the Mannheim Agreement of 1906

1. International Socialist Conference in Amsterdam in 1904 which adopted the political mass strike as the ultimate weapon of the labour movement.

xx x

2. Plenary of the Mannheim party convention in 1906.

3. August Bebel (x) and trade union leader Carl Legien (18611920) (xx), who drafted the agreement at the Mannheim party convention.

The Free Trade Unions founded from the 1860s at rst accepted the political leadership of the SPD. Their overall success and particularly their social achievements gave the trade unions new self-condence at the end of the 19th century. This caused conicts between the leadership of the trade unions and the party. These conicts broke out with the argument about the political mass strike propagated by left-wingers to overcome the partys hesitancy. Whereas the trade unions argued against a political 4. Resolution on the political mass strike, mass strike, it was accepted as the ultimate weapon by the SPD. At the Mannheim SPD party convention in 1906 this dispute was settled by the codication of equal rights for the SPD and the trade unions.
also known as the Mannheim Agreement.

With the outbreak of the First World War, which developed into the primal catastrophe of the 20th century, the SPD was forced to take a decision. Believing that the German Reich was engaged in a defensive war that had been forced upon it, the Social Democratic parliamentary party in the Reichstag (1) voted in favour of the war loans demanded by the imperial government in August 1914 (2). In coordination with the Free Trade Unions they abstained from all active measures to enforce their political and social objectives. Besides that, they hoped for a swift end to war (3) and closely connected with that for political reforms. A minority within the parliamentary party and in the party itself did not subscribe to this party truce and expressed their opinions with increasing forthrightness in the ensuing months. Their precise aims were the termination of the truce and an immediate peace agreement. (4) Finally, in April 1917 the Unabhngige Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (USPD, Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany) (5) was founded and soon joined by the Spartakus group around Rosa Luxemburg (6) und Karl Liebknecht (7) the split of German Social Democracy was sealed. Close to the end of the war there were many demonstrations, including hunger-protests revolts and strikes. The USPD mobilised its followers mainly through criticism of the SPDs party truce policy.

SPLIT

Party truce or fundamental opposition?

The split of Social Democracy during the First World War (19141918)

3. The reality of war: the Battle of Verdun 1916.

xxx x xx

xx

5. USPD delegation at the peace conference in Stockholm 1. The Social Democratic parliamentary party in the Reichstag at the beginning of in 1917: Karl Kautsky (x), Eduard Bernstein (xx) and 1914: Philipp Scheidemann (x) and Friedrich Ebert (xx), amongst others. Hugo Haase (18631919) (xxx), amongst others.

Erroneously believing that the German Reich was facing a defensive war, the Social Democratic parliamentary party in the Reichstag voted in favour of the war
2. Mobilization in 1914: enthusiastically to war.

loans called for by the imperial government in August 1914. The war escalated into the primal catastrophe of the 20th century. In coordination with the Free Trade Unions the SPD refrained from taking 4. Demonstrating women at the end of 1917. active measures to enforce their political and social objectives. The opposition which soon developed within the party demanded an immediate end to the party truce and the war in general. In April 1917 the Unabhngige Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (USPD, Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany) was founded and soon joined by the Spartakus group around Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht the split of German Social Democracy was sealed.

6. Rosa Luxemburg 1912.

7. Karl Liebknecht (18711919) at an anti-war rally.

After the German November Revolution and the proclamation of the republic the two social democratic parties set up a revolutionary transitional government, the Rat der Volksbeauftragten (Council of Peoples Deputies), under the leadership of Friedrich Ebert, on 10 November 1918 (1). At the end of 1918 the USPD members (2) resigned from the Council; the Independent Social Democratic Party withdrew to assume the role of fundamental opposition. In terms of its programme, the USPD underwent a clear radicalisation in 1919 it focused on abolition of the bourgeois parliament and the introduction of a Soviet system. Despite membership growth and considerable electoral successes the USPD collapsed in October 1920. In a dispute about accession to the recently founded Communist International the majority of the members decided in favour of joining the Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (KPD, Communist Party of Germany), which had been established at the end of 1918. The problems facing Social Democracy during and after the revolution were enormous: orderly reintegration of soldiers into civilian life, ensuring food supplies and keeping Germany unied. The SPD turned out to be completely unprepared, both theoretically and practically, for the upcoming tasks of the political and social revolution. In the absence of suitable personnel within the party, the SPD was forced to rely on the pre-revolutionary functional elite in the public administration, the judiciary and the army. On the other hand, the SPD saw the fullment of basic programmatic demands, for example, a parliamentary republic, the equal right to vote for men and women, an eight-hour working day and legal recognition of trade unions. (3) The SPD was oriented towards parliamentary democracy and in this sense far ahead of the time. The Social Democrats sharply rejected the idea of a Soviet republic in accordence with the Russian model. The National Assembly convening in Weimar adopted a parliamentarydemocratic constitution and elected SPD chairman Friedrich Ebert as President of the German Republic. (4) The revolution ultimately deepened the split in the labour movement. The SPD, the USPD (until its dissolution) and the KPD were ghting one another, so mutually restricting their political possibilities. Only the SPD supported the Weimar Republic and hence became a target of the KPD (5).

REVO REVOLUTI REVOLUTI REVOLUT VOLU OLU

Revolution and foundation of the republic

Intensication of the split of the workers movement (1918/19)
3. SPD poster depicting the achievements of the revolution.

1. Postcard: Proclamation of the German Republic with the members of the rst Council of the Peoples Deputies: Friedrich Ebert (18711925), Otto Landsberg (18691957), Philipp Scheidemann (18651939) of the SPD, Emil Barth (18791941), Wilhelm Dittmann (18741954) and Hugo Haase (18631919) of the USPD.

In the course of the German November revolution the two social democratic parties formed a revolutionary transitional government on 10 November 1918, the Rat der Volksbeauftragten (Council of the Peoples Deputies). Essential programmatic demands of the SPD for example, foundation of a republic, equal right to vote for men and women, an eight-hour working day had become reality in Germanys new parliamentary system. In order to tackle the problems arising after the end of the war and in the absence of suitable personnel within the party the Social Democrats counted on the cooperation with the old functional elites. The USPD, in contrast, demanded the implementation of a soviet system instead of a bourgeois parliament. The USPDrepresentatives resigned from the government. In the dispute about accession to the recently founded Communist International the majority of the USPD members decided to join the Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (KPD, Communist Party of Germany) which fought against the democratic republic.

4. Election of Friedrich Ebert as president of the German Republic on 11 February 1919 in Weimar.

2. German government announcement concerning the withdrawal of the USPD from the Council of Peoples Deputies.

5. January uprising of the KPD in 1919.

In 1920 the SPD decided to draw up a new programme which was to point the way for party policy in the young republic. A rst draft worked out under the leadership of Adolf Braun provoked erce criticism however. Substantial parts of the revised form of the programme, which was presented to the Grlitz 1921 party convention (1) for adoption, were written by Eduard Bernstein (2, 3). Its contents differed considerably from the Erfurt Platform. At the Grlitz party convention (4) The SPD presented itself as a peoples party in which all physical and intellectual workers were to be united for the joined struggle for democracy and socialism. The class struggle for the liberation of the proletariat was no longer simply a historical necessity but at the same time a moral demand. The platform also reects the specic living conditions of post-war society. To that extent the SPD regarded the democratic republic as the form of state irrevocably established by historical development and any attack upon it as an attempt against the peoples vital rights (5).

PEOPLES PA OPLES PA

On the way towards to a peoples party

The Grlitz Programme of the SPD, 1921

2. Eduard Bernstein, around 1925.

1. Front page of Wahrer Jacob, a social democratic satirical fortnightly, on the occasion of the Grlitz party convention.

At the party convention in Grlitz in 1921 the SPD adopted a new programme which was to point the way for party policy in the young republic. In the main parts, written by Eduard Bernstein, the platform presented the SPD as a peoples party in which all physical and intellectual workers were to
4. The building and the plenary of the Grlitz party convention.

be united for the joined struggle for democracy and socialism. The class struggle for the liberation of the proletariat was no longer simply a historical necessity but at the same time a moral demand. The SPD regarded the democratic republic as the form of state irrevocably established by historical development and any attack upon it as an attempt against the peoples vital rights.

5. Front page of the Grlitz Programme.

3. Programme commission of the Grlitz party convention.

The early 1920s saw a rapprochement between the SPD and the rump USPD. This nally led to the merger at the Nuremberg party convention in 1922. (1) In the manifesto of the party convention the Unied Social Democratic Party called for the protection and consolidation of the German Republic. Furthermore, it decided to work out a new programme. Karl Kautsky (2) und Rudolf Hilferding (3) were in overall charge of this task. As regards contents, the draft made more pointed reference to the positions on class struggle enshrined in the Erfurt Programme, not least as a heritage from USPD and as a reaction to Communist competition. The Heidelberg Programme of 1925 (4), however, was in accordance with Social Democratic tradition a rm commitment to freedom and democracy. On behalf of the programme commission, Hilferding thus emphasised the inseparable link between Socialism, freedom and democracy. In this respect, the programme reads as follows: The democratic republic is the most favourable basis for the liberation struggle of the working class and hence for the realisation and implementation of Socialism. That is why the Social Democratic Party defends the republic and advocates its further development In addition, the Heidelberg Programme also promoted principles for a peace policy: the SPD demands the peaceful solution of international conicts and their settlement before mandatory courts of arbitration. As the rst party in Germany the SPD, with its Heidelberg Programme, stood up for European economic unity which has become imperative for economic reasons, for the formation of the United States of Europe to achieve solidarity of interests of peoples on all continents . The Heidelberg Programme reects a central dilemma of the SPD in the Weimar Republic: on the one hand, to act as a Republican party based on the constitution, and on the other, to remain a proletarian class party that is, a desire to be both a ruling and an opposition party.

EUROP EUROPE ROPE

For Socialism and freedom the European perspective

The Heidelberg Programme of 1925

1. Rally on the occasion of the merger of SPD and USPD in 1922 and commemorative stamp.

After the merger of the rump USPD and the SPD at the Nuremberg party convention in 1922, Karl Kautsky and Rudolf Hilferding drafted a new party platform. Although some elements of the Erfurt Programmes Marxist orientation had been included, the main focus was on the commitment to the democratic republic as the
2. Karl Kautsky.

the most favourable basis for the liberation struggle of the working class and hence for the realisation and implementation of Socialism. Furthermore the SPD, as the rst German party, advocated the formation of the United States of Europe. As a consequence, programmatic differences within the SPD soon became apparent. The Heidelberg Programme reects a central dilemma of the SPD in the Weimar Republic: on the one hand, to act as a Republican party

3. Rudolf Hilferding (18771941).

based on the constitution, and on the other, to remain a proletarian class party that is, a desire to be both a ruling and an opposi sition party.

4. Front page of the documents for the Heidelberg party convention.

An alternative to the Communist theory of state monopolist capitalism was the concept of organised capitalism developed by Rudolf Hilferding. It was based on the assumption that the development of the capitalist economy would itself give rise to tendencies towards planning and the democratisation of enterprise decision-making which would have to be taken up and promoted by state action. This analysis, which met with the approval of the delegates after a key-note speech by Rudolf Hilferding on the tasks of Social Democracy in the Republic (1) in 1927 at the Kiel SPD party convention, (2), gave rise to the programme of economic democracy. Measures of planning and democratic control played a more important role in it than the demand for socialisation. Fritz Naphtali (3) presented a detailed description of the programme for economic democracy which was adopted by the Free Trade Unions at their 1928 congress in Hamburg (4). The demand for an economic democracy became the connecting element.

PARTICIPAT PARTICIPAT C AT A

Analysis of recent developments and programmatic consequences

Organised capitalism and economic democracy

1. Delegates at the Kiel party convention, among others Rudolf Hilferding (x), 1927.

3. Fritz Naphtali (18881961) 2. Front page The tasks of Social Democracy with the section From free competition to an organised economy. summarised the vision of an economic democracy.

An ambitious alternative to the Communist theory of a state monopolist capitalism was the concept of an organised capitalism developed by Rudolf Hilferding. This approach was adopted by the Kiel party convention in 1927. The economy, hitherto operated and organised by entrepreneurs, was to be transformed into a planned economy organised by the state. This concept had far-reaching consequences for future political and economic discussions in which the original central aim of nationalization increasingly receded before demands for planning, control and economic democracy a legitimisation for a reform policy. The demand for an economic democracy became the link between the party and the
4. Poster for the Congress of the Free Trade Unions in 1928.

Free Trade Unions.

The Great Depression, mass unemployment (1, 2) and social misery, combined with dramatic political radicalisation, limited the SPDs room for manoeuvre. The last coalition cabinet under Social Democrat Hermann Mller (3) the last parliamentary government of the Weimar Republic collapsed in March 1930 as a consequence of trade union and intraparty resistance to the bourgeois coalition parties demands, in order to reduce labour costs, to bring down unemployment insurance contributions, making it possible to bring down benets in turn. Even the policy of tolerating the Brning government (4) led to a erce argument. The SPD hoped to prevent something worse, that is, dissolution of the Reichstag, the parliament, new elections and ultimately the strengthening of the National Socialists and the Communists. The tradeunion programmes for job creation and the restructuring of the economy were not taken up by the SPD. By accepting Brnings deationary policy it assumed a share of the responsibility for his policy of wage reductions and cuts in social welfare. In 1931, this led, among other things, to the secession of parts of the left in the SPD and to the foundation of the Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands (SAP, Socialist Workers Party of Germany). To the SPDs parliamentary attitude they opposed the aim of mobilising the masses to overthrow capitalism. At the same time, the Social Democratic Party as the only remaining republican party based on the constitution became increasingly entangled in the ght against National Socialism, which grew stronger and stronger. (5) In a propaganda campaign the SPD battled against the Nazis with all its might (Hitler means war), but was unable to prevent Nazi dictatorship.

DILEMMA DILEMMA

During the Great Depression defeat at the hands of National Socialism

Political and programmatic dilemma, 19301933

2. Ridiculous all this fuss about work! Were doing perfectly well without it Caricature on unemployment, early 1930s.

1. Ill do any kind of work Unemployed worker during the Great Depression in the 1930s.

4. Chancellor Heinrich Brning (18851970), Zentrum (German Centre Party).

The Great Depression, mass unemployment and social misery, together with dramatic political radicalisation limited SPDs room for manoeuvre. In the government of the
x

grand coalition, the last parliamentary government of the Weimar Republic, the SPD was not able to implement its social policies against opposition from the bourgeois coalition partner. After the dissolution of the coalition in March 1930 the SPD tolerated the deationary policy of Heinrich Brning hoping to prevent something worse, namely a strengthening of the KPD and the NSDAP (the Nazi party). The fact that the SPD thus assumed a share of the responsibility for Brnings policy of wage reduction and social welfare cuts led to the secession of left-wingers and the fo foundation of the Sozialistische Arbeiterp partei Deutschlands (SAP, Socialist Workers P Party of Germany). The trade-union prog grammes for job creation and restructuring th economy were not taken up by the SPD. the B Both the Free Trade Unions and the party w were smashed by the National Socialists in 1 1933.

3. The cabinet of Hermann Mller (18761931), SPD (x).

5. SPD poster for the Reichstag in 1932; rally of the Eiserne Front (Iron Front; the three arrows are the symbol of the Iron Front).

Directly on seizing power in the rst half of 1933 the National Socialists smashed workers organisations. Many Social Democrats and tradeunionists were then subjected to brutal persecution (1). Thousands of members of the labour movement were arrested or had to ee abroad. Despite these harsh repressions, many were determined to resist. The Sopade, the SPD Executive Committee in exile, was initially established in Prague to organise political agitation and resistance against the Nazi regime from there. In January 1934, the Sopade adopted the Prague Manifesto (2). In this programme the Sopade conceded omissions and mistakes on the part of the divided workers movement and committed itself to the revolutionary ght against National Socialism explicitly on a Marxist basis. But since the pre-conditions upon which the Manifesto was based, namely that the Nazi regime would soon be destabilised by economic crises and growing resistance, did not become reality, it soon lost its importance. The common experience of the democratic and pluralistic culture in the UK and Scandinavia (3) led the hitherto split Social Democratic organisations exiled in Britain and Sweden to remember their liberal democratic traditions, which were to be developed further in a radically democratic and socialist direction. They joined forces at the beginning of the 1940s and worked out plans for the time after Hitler. Their common aim was to establish a free socialist labour movement after the crushing Hitlers dictatorship as an alternative to the Stalinist degeneracy of socialism. At the centre of post-war-planning was the creation of a democratic Germany in a federation of European states with common foreign, defence and economic policies. (4)

RESISTAN SIS

Exile and resistance to National Socialism

From the Prague Manifesto to plans for a democratic post-war order, 19331945

1. Political prisoners in the cellar of the Columbiahaus prison operated by the Gestapo, 1933. The former Prime Minister of Oldenburg Bernhard Kuhnt (18761946) is humiliated by the SA and is dragged through the streets of Chemnitz.

In face of the brutal persecution launched right after their seizure of power by the National Socialists thousands of members of the labour movement had to ee abroad. The Sopade, the SPD Executive Committee in exile, initially organised social democratic resistance against the Nazi regime from Prague. In its Prague Manifesto (January 1934) it conceded omissions and mistakes on the part of the divided workers movement and committed itself to the revolutionary ght against National Socialism explicitly on a Marxist basis. The common experience of the democratic culture in the western countries of exile and the continuing conicts with the Communists were to shape the party in the long term. In exile, Social Democrats and members of left-wing-groups met to draft plans for the the time after Hitler. They all agreed on the same aim: to create a democratic Germany in a federation of European states.

3. Willy Brandt (19131992) and the draft of the resolution The peace aims of the democratic Socialists in Stockholm in 1943.

2. The SPD Executive Committee in exile in Prague: Otto Wels (18731939) in the middle, Erich Ollenhauer (19011963) on the left and the Prague Manifesto of 25 Januar 1934.

4. 4. Front page On the policy of German Socialists a crucial text for designing the time after Hitler.

Even before the end of the war the rst few meetings to re-establish the SPD took place in the already liberated areas of Germany. Kurt Schumacher (1, 2) was the pre-eminent personality of post-war Social Democracy. During Nazi dictatorship he had been detained in concentration camps for more than a decade. It was Schumachers aim not just to rebuild, but to construct a new SPD and a new Germany, Germany as a whole. His Political Guidelines of the SPD a rst programmatic denition of the partys position were adopted by the rst post-war party convention of the SPD, which took place in Hamburg in 1946. Schumachers credo was: There is no Socialism without democracy, without the freedom of cognition and the freedom to criticise. Schumacher accepted Marxism as only one method besides ethical, philosophical and religious foundations for identifying and dealing with the problems of capitalist society. He demanded the inclusion of the middle class, but basically stuck to the idea of a party of the working class. Against Schumachers will the discussion about a programme was revived. Willy Brandt (3) said in 1949: Democratic Socialism is a set of ideas about the reorganisation of social relations, but is not a system of ideas closed up in itself ... However, these fundamental convictions which will continue to develop further are based on a common philosophy. They rest on the commitment to freedom and humanism, the state based on the rule of law and social justice. Inspired by the Declaration of Principles of the Socialist International in 1951 (4) the SPD worked out an action programme which was adopted by the party at its Dortmund convention in 1952. Central points of this programme were: espousal for German unity in freedom, equality of women in all spheres of life and democratisation of the economy through implementation of workers codetermination rights. Owing to the lack of a fundamental intellectual analysis of the situation and insufcient precision a new version of the programme was worked out under the supervision of Willi Eichler that was subsequently adopted by the Berlin party convention in 1954 (5). It called for a society of social justice, freedom and world peace. In addition, it contained the future-oriented statement that the SPD had developed from a working class party into a peoples party.

PEOPLES PA OPLES PA

Commitment to the aims of freedom and social justice

From the rst policy guidelines to the Dortmund/Berlin action programme of the SPD 19451952/54

2. Members of the SPD party-executive in 1946: (left-right) Egon Franke (19131995), Kurt Schumacher, Erich Ollenhauer, Alfred Nau (19061983) and Fritz Heine (19042002).

1. Kurt Schumacher (18951952) at a SPD rally in Hamm, 1946.

The Political Guidelines of the SPD drafted by Kurt Schumacher were pathbreaking for the post-war party; they were adopted by the Hamburg party convention in 1946. Schumachers credo was: There is no socialism without democracy, without the freedom of cognition and the freedom to criticise. Schumacher accepted Marxism only as one method alongside ethical, philosophical and religious foundations for analysing and addressing the problems of capitalist society. In 1952 the SPD passed the Dortmund Action Programme. The central points of this programme were: espousal for German unity in freedom, equality of women in all spheres of life, democratisation of the economy through implementation of workers co-determination rights. The revised version, the Berlin Action Programme of 1954, underlined that the SPD had developed from a working class party into a peoples party.

3. Willy Brandt at a SPD convention in Berlin, 1948.

5. The SPD executive at the Dortmund party convention in 1952 and Front page Action programme.

4. Poster of the 1951 International Socialist Conference in Frankfurt am Main where the Socialist International was founded.

In June 1945, the Soviet military administration permitted the formation of anti-Fascist parties in its zone of occupation. Thereupon the Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (KPD, Communist Party of Germany) was re-founded; Social Democracy constituted itself in the Soviet occupation zone (SOZ) with the Zentralausschuss (central committee). Whereas the SPD in the Western occupation zones, led by Schumacher, refused any cooperation or merger with the communists, the Zentralausschuss chaired by Otto Grotewohl was prepared to cooperate closely with the KPD in the belief that, with 619,000 members in the SOZ and Berlin, the SPD would act from a position of strength. Starting in September 1945, however, the KPD mounted a merger campaign. Merger resolutions of SPD subgroups of the SOZ were frequently passed only by deception or under massive pressure from the Soviet occupying forces. Where possible, people voiced their rejection. (1) With the forced amalgamation of the SPD and the KPD, and the foundation of the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (SED, Socialist Unity Party of Germany) in April 1946 (2), the SPD was dissolved in the Soviet-occupied part of Germany. Berlins division into four zones enabled Social Democracy to continue to operate in the Eastern sector of Berlin. After the building of the Wall in 1961, however, the SPD in East Berlin was dissolved. Shortly after the forced amalgamation purges in the party and in society as a whole were launched, aimed mainly at former Social Democrats. They were persecuted for advocating social democratic policy Sozialdemokratismus (Social democratism) dismissed from their positions and arrested (3). Later, the SED developed into a Marxist-Leninist party, a party of the new type. The burgeoning hopes after Stalins death in 1953 (4) of an end of Communist rule were disappointed. The workers demonstrations in East Germany on 17 June 1953, caused by the stepping up of industrial quotas (more work for less pay), soon turned into an uprising, accompanied by calls for freedom and German unity. It was brutally put down with the help of Soviet tanks.

BOND BONDAG BONDAG O

From liberation to new bondage

Forced amalgamation and a party of a new type, 1945 1953

2. Wilhelm Pieck (18761960), Otto Grotewohl (18941964) and Walter Ulbricht (18931973) at the amalgamation party convention of the SPD and the KPD in Berlins Admiralspalast, 22 April 1946.

1. Ballot against the amalgamation in West Berlin and resolution of the SPD district group Prenzlauer Berg against amalgamation, 1946.

With the forced amalgamation of the SPD and the KPD and the foundation of the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (SED, German Socialist Unity Party) in April 1946 the SPD was dissolved in the Soviet Occupation Zone (except for East Berlin). The SED later developed into a Marxist-Leninist party, a party of a new type. A dictatorship was installed which could be propped up only by the military presence of the Red Army, as the violent suppression of the uprising in the DDR (GDR, German Democratic Republic) on 17 June 1953 dramatically showed.

3. Bautzen prison where many political opponents were incarcerated and tortured.

4. Uprising in the GDR on the 17 June 1953, here: Berlin and Halle.

After severe defeats at the hands of the Christlich Demokratische Union (CDU, Christian Democratic Union) under Konrad Adenauer in the elections to the German Parliament (the Bundestag) in 1953 and 1957, the call for a programmatic renewal within the SPD became louder and louder. It wanted and was compelled to adapt to post-war reality. In this sense, the SPD wished to abandon its previous role as perpetual opposition, leave behind the role of societal and political outsider and convey a positive image to the voters. After several years of preparatory work in the programme commission under the chairmanship of Willi Eichler and the economist Heinrich Deist (1), an extraordinary party convention, held up from 13 to 15 November 1959 in Bad Godesberg, discussed and adopted the new party programme. What was most noteworthy in the Godesberg Programme (25) was the ofcial and conclusive abandonment of Marxism as party doctrine and the renunciation of a socialist ultimate aim both essential elements of the partys tradition since the Anti-Socialist Laws of 1878. The Programme committed itself to the core values of Democratic Socialism:
freedom from exploitation and dependency, freedom to actively

contribute to politics and society;

justice as a fundamental condition of eqaul freedom for all; solidarity in the sense of the awareness that the community bears

responsibility for all its members. Humanism, classical philosophy and Christian ethics were cited as the sources of Democratic that ist, liberal Socialism, understood as the perpetual pursuit of freedom and justice. The most disputed passages of the programme were the statements on economic policy: the SPD now committed itself to a social market economy, self-government and decentralisation with the active participation of workers and consumers. Henceforth the SPD regarded itself as a left-wing peoples party oriented towards continuous reform within the parliamentary-democratic framework of the Grundgesetz (Basic Law) of the Federal Republic of Germany.

CORE VALU ORE V LU RE VA

The transformation of the SPD into a modern peoples party

The Godesberg Programme of 1959

3. Erich Ollenhauer delivers a speech at the Godesberg party convention, 1959.

1. Herbert Wehner (19061990), Willi Eichler (18961971), Heinrich Deist (19021964) and Fritz Erler (19131967), 1958.

2. SPD poster Keep up with the times, 1959.

During the 1950s it increasingly became accepted within the SPD that the party had to adapt to the post-war reality if they wanted to be taken serious as a major political force. After several years of preparatory work by a programme commission under the leadership of Willi Eichler and Heinrich Deist an extraordinary party convention in Bad Godesberg, 1315 November 1959, adopted a new platform. In this programme Marxism was abandoned as the main foundation of social democratic policy, as was the idea of a socialist ultimate aim. Democratic socialism was now dened as the perpetual pursuit of freedom and justice. The Social Democrats considered themselves as a left-wing peoples party oriented towards continuous reform within the parliamentarydemocratic framework of the Grundgesetz (Basic Law) of the Federal Republic of Germany.
4. Open ballot on the Godesberg Platform; among others, Holger Brner (x) (19312006).

x 5. Front page of the Godesberg Platform.

With its programmatic and political reorientation at Godesberg the SPD managed to appeal to new social strata and was accepted as a modern reform-oriented party (1). At the beginning of the 1960s the Social Democrats developed concepts for the modernisation of nearly all areas of society from energy policy, through road construction and urban development, to education, especially university education. Keynesian economic policy was regarded as a means of mitigation and ultimately avoiding economic crises and thus of safeguarding sustained economic progress, guaranteeing social security. Codetermination and democratisation became keywords of Social Democratic programme declarations. Thus the foundations for the partys success in the 1960s and 1970s were laid. In the course of only a few years the SPD, with its leadership team around Willy Brandt managed to assume governmental responsibility at federal level (2). Furthermore, the population became more and more dissatised with the retrograde policy of the CDU/CSU. When, in 1966, the Christian-Liberal coalition under Ludwig Erhard foundered on its increasing domestic and foreign policy problems, the SPD decided to enter into a grand coalition with the CDU/CSU. This decision led to a erce internal dispute (3). The majority of the party followed Brandts line, however, who was convinced that Social Democracy could not withdraw from government participation at federal level. Further developments conrmed that his views had been absolutely correct. In West German society a climate favourable to a Social Democratic reform policy was created (4). In the 1969 federal elections the SPD got 42.7 percent of the votes and was able to present Willy Brandt as the Federal Chancellor in a coalition with the Freie Demokratische Partei (FDP; Free Democratic Party) for the rst time (5).

MODERNIS MODERNI A MODERNISA OD R ODERNISA

The opportunity for a new German policy must not be lost

The SPD in government since 1966

4. SPD poster We are creating a modern Germany, 1969.

After the programmatic and political reorientation of the Godesberg platform the SPD appealed to new social strata and was accepted as a modern reform-oriented party. At the beginning of the 1960s the social democrats developed ideas on the
1. SPD election newspaper, 1963, and poster, 1961.

m modernisation of nearly all social spheres. P Participation in government as the junior p partner in the grand coalition consisting o of CDU/CSU and SPD (19661969) and fo forming the government with the Freie D Demokratische Partei (FDP, Free Democratic P Party) under Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt in 1969 underlined the fact that, at the e end of the 1960s, the SPD was up-to-date in terms of programme and policy.

2. Shadow cabinet of the SPD, rst row from left: Carlo Schmid (18961979), Kte Strobel (19071996), Karl Schiller (19111994), Willy Brandt, Fritz Erler, Alex Mller (19031985); second row from left: Herbert Wehner, Ernst Schellenberg (19071984), Helmut Schmidt (geb. 1918), Gustav Heinemann (18991976), Waldemar von Knoeringen (19061971).

3. Protests against the policy of the grand coalition, here the so called Notstandsgesetze (emergency acts), before the SPD party convention in Nuremberg, 1968; Herbert Wehner in the foreground.

5. Willy Brandt after the election victory, 28 September 1969.

In 1970 the SPD party convention in Saarbrcken (1) tasked a commission with working out a long-term socio-political programme, the so-called Orientierungsrahmen 85 (orientation framework 85). In this way the SPD wanted to use the opportunity to put a Social Democratic stamp on this decade, as Helmut Schmidt put it. Under his chairmanship a rst draft of the long-term programme was presented in 1972 (2), which, in a revised version, was then adopted by the Mannheim party convention in 1975 as an economic and political orientation framework for 1975 1985 (3). Brandt referred to the orientation framework as the interface between day-to-day politics and party platform. In connection with its work on the orientation framework the SPD resumed discussions on a party platform that had stopped after the adoption of the Godesberg Programme (1959). Inuenced by contemporary ideas about planning and feasibility, the orientation framework dealt with the modernisation of the economy as the basis of long-term safeguarding of jobs, humanisation of work, reform of the health care system, and equal rights for men and women. The crucial points are:
criticism of the conventional notion of efciency; emphasis on international economic interdependence; highlighting of the interaction between qualied economic growth

and a successful reform policy;

afrming the states responsibility for coping with all societal and

economic problems. The importance of the OR 85 (Orientation framework) as an integrating factor for the SPD should not be underestimated. The OR 85 was not able to provide political orientation to the extent expected, however: the problems that arose in the wake of the worldwide economic crisis in the second half of the 1970s called into question all the presuppositions of the long-term programme. (4)

PERSP PERSPECTI SPEC

Offering political orientation

Programmatic developments in the 1970s

1. Helmut Schmidt, Willy Brandt, Alfred Nau and others during the SPD party convention in Saarbrcken, 1970.

2. Press conference on the nal report of the rst commission on the long-term programme (Helmut Schmidt at the microphone, Hans Apel, on the left) and front page of the Resolution on the orientation framework 85, 1973.

Strongly inuenced by contemporary ideas about planning and feasibility, the SPD drafted a long-term programme at the beginning of the 1970s that was adopted by the Mannheim party convention in 1975 as an economic and political orientation framework for the years 19751985. It was, among other things, dedicated to the modernisation of the economy as the basis of safeguarding jobs in the long term, the humanisation of the world of work, reform of the health care system and equal rights for men and women. The problems that arose in the wake of the global economic crisis in the mid-1970s called into question all the presuppositions of the long-term programme.
4. Caricature on the long-term programme, 1973.

3. Mannheim party convention in 1975 and front page of the Economic and political orientation framework for the years 19751985.

In 1984 the SPD decided to work out a new programme in response to major social developments, such as technological change, the enviromental challenges (1) that people were becoming increasingly aware of and the new emancipation and protest movements. Under chairman Willy Brandt a draft programme was presented, named after the venue of the commission the Irsee Programme (1984) (2). The comprehensive draft
redened the Social Democratic understanding of progress; emphasised a socially and enviromentally responsible industrial

society,
demanded the modication of social structures towards a type of

preventive social policy and help for self-help;

claimed genuinely equal rights for men and women (3).

In 1986 the Nuremberg party convention accepted the draft as a basis for further discussion within and outside the party. After Willy Brandt stepped down as party chairman in June 1987 a second programme commission was established and tasked with the revision, streamlining and implementation of the Irsee draft. After intense deliberations it was able to present a nal draft in March 1989. In close cooperation with the programme commission the working group Fortschritt 90 (progress90) (4) under the chairmanship of Oskar Lafontaine, Anke Fuchs and Hans-Ulrich Klose developed a government programme for the general elections (elections to the Bundestag) in 1990 (5). In this programme the SPD declared its commitment to the reconciliation of the economy and the enviroment.

PROGRES PROGRES

Tackling new tasks in a new way

From the Irsee draft to the Berlin Platform, 19841989

1. Smog became the symbol of environmental pollution.

The technological change and ecological challenges that came to greater prominence in the 1970s and 1980s induced the SPD to update its fundamental party platform. Under chairman Willy Brandt a draft named the Irsee Programme after the venue of the commission redened the SPDs concept of progress and focused on a socially and ecologically responsible industrial society, modication of the social security system in the direction of a preventive social policy and assistance for self-help, and also demanded the real equality of men and women.

2. Irsee meeting: (from left) Horst Ehmke, Karl Heinz Klr and Willy Brandt as well as Peter von Oertzen, Horst Ehmke, Erhard Eppler and Egon Bahr; Brandts handwritten draft of Irsee.

4. Presentation of the government programme Fortschritt 90 (Progress90), second from left Johannes Rau, Hans-Jochen Vogel at the microphone. 3. The National Executive Director of the SPD, Anke Fuchs, and delegates in informal talks at the Mnster party convention, 1988. The party convention adopted a resolution (quota resolution) promoting equality of women and men within the SPD: according to Mnster at least 40% of the social democratic members of parliament and party ofcials had to be women. 5 5. Poster The new path, 1989.

Because of the events coming thick and fast in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) on 9 November the Wall came down (1) the programme party convention of the SPD did not convene, as originally planned, in Bremen but in Berlin on 18 December 1989 (2, 3). As a logical consequence the democratic revolution in the GDR and Eastern Europe was the main focus. After intense discussions the draft programme was adopted with only one vote against. With its Berlin Programme (4) the SPD conrmed its claim to be the party of freedom, social justice and solidarity, equal rights for women and men, environmental renewal of industrial society and peace. A central point was to emphasise a change in the notion of progress, which was no longer to be oriented only quantitatively towards economic growth, but also qualitatively, towards environmental renewal as the principle of economic action and improvement of the quality of life. For the party, progress could be achieved only within a global framework. The SPD did not submit to the alleged inherent constraints of technological development, but emphasised the need to shape politics deliberately by including broad strata of society. The panEuropean house and solidarity with the peoples in the Third World were strongly accentuated. Peace was understood not only as the absence of war, but as comprising the cooperation of all peoples in the elds of the environment and the economy, culture and human rights. A new culture of coexistence was to be promoted and work was no longer to be limited to gainful employment, but was also to cover work within the familiy, housework and personal contributions. Reduction of the working day to six hours should leave enough time for voluntary work and cultural participation for both men and women. Equal rights were for the rst time to go beyond the legal equality implemented in 1919 by the Social Democrats, including the right to vote which they had demanded in as early as 1875.

S SOLIDARI SOLIDARI

Through social justice to a society in solidarity

The Berlin Programme of 1989

1. 9 November 1989 the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Faced by the dramatic developments in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) the SPDs programme party convention did not convene, as originally planned, in Bremen but in Berlin on 18 December 1989. Against the background of the collapse of the SED regime and of the entire Eastern Bloc the SPD conrmed its claim to be the party of freedom, social justice and solidarity, of equal rights for women and men, environmental renewal of industrial society and peace.

2. Venue of the Berlin programme party convention building, 1989.

4. Front page of the Berlin Programme.

3. Markus Meckel, co-founder of the SDP, and Willy Brandt at the Berlin programme party convention, 1989.

On 7 October 1989, the 40th anniversary of the GDR, the Sozialdemokratische Partei in der DDR (SDP, Social Democratic Party in the GDR) was founded in Schwante, challenging the SED as the self-proclaimed party of the unied labour movement and totalitarian governing party of the GDR. In its statute it referred to the traditions of Democratic Socialism of European Socialists and Social Democrats. It was the aim of the still illegal party to ght for and achieve Social Democracy and an environmentally oriented market economy with democratic control of economic power. At its delegate conference in January 1990 the party re-named itself Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (Social Democratic Party of Germany) and committed itself to the unity of the German nation (1). The rst SPD party convention in the GDR agreed a fundamental platform in February 1990 in Leipzig (24) that, in its essential features, was based on the Berlin Programme, but was characterised primarly by the experience of suppression under SED dictatorship. Taking as point of departure the Social Democratic basic values of freedom, justice and solidarity, the East German SPD committed itself to a democratic, social and environmentally oriented market economy. In September 1990, the unity of Social Democracy was re-established by merging the West and East German SPD at a party convention in Berlin.

REUNIFICAT REUNIFICAT U UNIFICAT A AT

Shaping reunication social and just

The Leipzig Programme of the SPD in the GDR, 1990

4. SPD rally in Leipzig with Willy Brandt, 23 February 1990.

On 7 October 1989, the 40th anniversary of the GDR, the Sozialdemokratische Partei in der DDR (SDP, Social Democratic Party in the GDR) was founded in Schwante. The SDP directly attacked the claim to ultimate leadership of the SED, the self-proclaimed party of the unied labour movement and totalitarian governing party of the GDR. At the rst delegates conference of the SDP in January 1990 the party re-named itself Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD). One of its central aims was the reunication of the German nation. The rst party convention of the SPD in the GDR in February 1990 in Leipzig adopted a fundamental platform. Based on the Berlin Programme the SPD in the GDR afrmed basic values such as freedom, justice and solidarity and committed itself to a democratic, social and environmentally-oriented market economy. In September 1990, the unity of German Social Democracy was re-established.
1. Front page of Extrablatt, 1990. 3. Flyer for the Leipzig party convention.

2. The stage of the Leipzig party convention.

At the federal elections in September 1998 the SPD managed for the rst time since 1972 to become the strongest party with 40.9 per cent of the votes. (1) Together with Bndnis 90/Die Grnen (Alliance 90/the Green Party) it formed the new Federal Government, with Gerhard Schrder as Federal Chancellor. On taking ofce, the Red-Green Federal Government was faced by urgent tasks concerning the labour market and welfare state since the former government of Christian Democrats and Liberals had been characterized by a pronounced backlog of reforms. This rendered a political and programmatic reorientation of Social Democratic government inevitable. Enlisting the support of the new middle class (Neue Mitte) of achievementorientated people, appeals to the personal responsibility of every individual through an activating state, environmental change of industrial society, equal rights for men and women and efforts to consolidate public nances and the social welfare system these were the key points of the SPDs programmatic declarations and, at the same time, the main policy issues pursued by the Red-Green Federal Government. The party chairman and Minister of Finance Oskar Lafontaine withdrew from this process in March 1999 by stepping down from his posts. First, the Federal Government pursued a consistent policy of consolidating public nances. Because of unfavourable international economic developments and the ensuing increase in unemployment, this policy had to be discontinued. Besides the necessary reorganisation of the Bundesanstalt fr Arbeit (Federal Employment Agency) into labour agencies, the so-called Hartz reforms emphasised an activating labour market policy. Furthermore, economies had to be introduced in health and pension policies. With Agenda 2010 (2, 3) in 2003 the Social Democratic government presented a programme which was to make Germany t for the future through labour market reforms and the reorganisation of social security. The reorganisation of the welfare state and its renewal are indispensable. It is not a question of sounding its death knell, but solely of preserving the substance of the welfare state. That is why we need radical changes. (Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schrder, 2003) The basic guideline of this Social Democratic reform programme was the pursuit of social justice (4). Nevertheless, the Agenda 2010 triggered demonstrations, election defeats and resignation from the party (5). The economy recovered, however, and unemployment fell once again.

REORIENTA O TA A

Innovation and social justice The courage for change

From the beginnings of the Red-Green project to Agenda 2010, 19982005

1. Gerhard Schrder during the federal election campaign in Berlin, August 1998.

2. SPD regional conference in Bonn, April 2003. The majority of the delegates approved the process of readjustment of our social security systems , that is, Agenda 2010.

Globalisation, persistent economic crisis, demographic change and the burden on social security systems as well as the Kohl eras backlog of reforms were the challenges facing the SPD and the Schrder/Fischer government. The main issues of the programmatic declarations of the SPD and of the policy pursued by the Red-Green federal government were: to canvass the new middleclass, the strengthening of individual responsibility through an activating social state, environmental transformation of the industrial society, equal rights for men and women and the sustained consolidation of public nances and the welfare system. With the Agenda 2010 the social democratic government presented a programme which was to make the German welfare state t for the future. The socio-political consolidation measures introduced on this basis, the Hartz reforms in particular, led to falling unemployment on the one hand, but to erce internal arguments on the other. As a consequence, the SPD experienced a marked fall in membership and suffered several severe election defeats.
4. SPD yer for a minimum wage, 2006.

5. Demonstration against the so-called Hartz IV laws, Berlin 2006.

3. Federal government posters concerning Agenda 2010, 2003.

In December 1999, the SPD party convention in Berlin (1), started to draft a new party platform to take account of a changing society, including the experience of German unity, the effects of European integration, the consequences of economic globalisation, destruction of the environment and the dramatic demographic changes. At the beginning of 2007 the party executive adopted the so-called Bremen draft (2, 3) for a new programme, still based on the basic values of freedom, justice and solidarity. After intense discussions within the party (4) in September 2007 (5) the programme commission presented a streamlined and revised draft for the party programme convention in October 2007. It concentrated on eight critical areas:
a peaceful and just world a social and democratic Europe civil society (Brgergesellschaft) based on solidarity and a democratic

state
equal rights for both sexes sustainable progress and qualitative growth decent jobs for all a preventive welfare state better education and a child-friendly society

On the basis of long party tradition the SPD committed itself to Democratic Socialism as the vision of a free and just society based on solidarity whose implementation and realisation remains our constant task. The principle that guides our action is Social Democracy.

R NEWA RENEWA RENEWA

Modernising Germany in justice and fairness

On the road to a new programme Social Democracy in the 21st century

1. SPD federal party convention in Berlin, 1999. The convention decides to resume work on a new party platform.

3. Front page of the Bremen draft for a new party platform.

2. Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Franz 4. Kurt Beck speaking to the programme Mntefering, Chairman of the SPD parliamentary group conference North in Bremen, February 2007. Peter Struck, Party Chairman Kurt Beck and SPD Secretary General Hubertus Heil (from left to right) present the draft of a new party platform after a closed session in Bremen, January 2007.

Completion of German unity, ongoing European integration, economic globalisation, accelerated destruction of our natural environment and dramatic demographic change all these things constituted challenges to which Social Democratic programmes and policy had to give an answer. In September 2007 the programme commission adopted a draft for a new basic programme. This was to be presented to the Hamburg party convention as a new platform of the left-wing peoples party, the SPD, and concentrated on eight critical areas based on the fundamental values of freedom, justice and solidarity: a peaceful and fair world a social and democratic Europe civil society based on solidarity and a democratic state gender equality sustainable development and qualitative growth good work for all a preventive social welfare state better education and society suitable for children Democratic Socialism is the SPDs vision, Social Democracy the principle of its actions.

5. The new Hamburg Programme. Key points of the Programme commission.

When in October 2007 the delegates assembled in Hamburg for the SPD programme party convention under the slogan Economic prosperity for all a social Germany it was clear that the reforms of Agenda 2010 launched by the Schrder government had begun to take effect in the form of economic growth, stabilisation of public budgets and a reduction in unemployment. But some points needed correction, according to most Social Democrats: the motion tabled by party chairman Kurt Beck to pay unemployment benets type I for several more months to older employees met with the majority approval (1). It was also by a clear majority that the party convention approved the motion for a new party leadership (2). The Hamburg platform was adopted with the votes of the overwhelming majority of the delegates (3). On the basis of the fundamental values of freedom, justice and solidarity the SPD as the rst party in Germany gave a programmatic answer to the principal contemporary challenge: globalisation was seen as a task of political organisation in the direction of sustainable progress combining economic dynamism, social justice and environmental good sense. Sustainability was the principle of political and economic action aimed at by the SPD because it was the only chance of safeguarding the future. The SPD presented itself as a left-wing peoples party and as a power for renewal realising the fundamental values of freedom and social justice in its plans to set up a democratic civil society (Brgergesellschaft) based on solidarity: equal rights for both sexes and child-friendliness, qualitative economic growth and decent jobs for all were central statements of the programme (4). The ideas on social justice are bundled in the concept of the preventive welfare state, in which priority would be given to bringing about equal opportunities in life and just participation through education and further training, gainful employment that guaranteeing ones livelihood and measures in the eld of social security. Civil society on the basis of solidarity was considered the heart of a social and democratic Europe and of a peaceful and just world. For the SPD, strengthening European institutions and the UN were important means of bringing about a fair world order in which poverty and exploitation would be overcome, alongside destructive competition and armed conicts. With its new party platform the SPD campaigned for a solidaristic majority in Germany. On the basis of long party tradition it committed itself to Democratic Socialism as a vision of a free and just society based on solidarity whose implementation and realisation is our constant task.

FUTURE FUTURE R

The power for renewal for a social Germany

The Hamburg Programme of 2007

1. Plenary of the Hamburg party convention.

In October 2007 the SPD adopted a new party platform at its Hamburg party convention. It presented itself as a left-wing peoples party and as a power for renewal. Based on the core values of freedom and social justice it demanded not only an economic upswing for all but also developed the aim of creating a civil society based on solidarity and gender equality, which is 3. Kurt Beck with the Hamburg Programme that has just been adopted. children-friendly and provides a system of preventive social welfare. This state would be characterised by the promotion of education and further training, the establishment of equal opportunities in life and a high degree of social security. This concept of solidarity was to become the formal principle of European and international cooperation. Democratic Socialism remains the vision of the SPD, Social Democracy the principle of its action.
4. The same aim good work for all: Kurt Beck with former Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Franz Mntefering. 2. The newly elected party leadership: Party Chairman Kurt Beck and his deputies Andrea Nahles, Peer Steinbrck and Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

German Social Democracy has always been prepared to acknowledge reality, without merely putting up with the prevailing circumstances. Motivated by the idea that people can shape living conditions by acting in solidarity, Social Democracy has coped with various political systems since the middle of the 19th century and has stood the test. In change and through change it has preserved its identity. Social Democracy remains

The party of social justice The SPD generally in accord with the trade unions stands for the safeguarding of the economic interests of so-called ordinary people, defence of their human rights and human dignity. Eschewing populism it faces up to the difcult search for lasting and realistic solutions adequate to the complex problems of a world that is becoming more and more integrated. In former times the question of just distribution was paramount, whereas today it is equal and just opportunities. The SPD will make every effort to meet the current challenge of a new type of poverty in a social and achievement-oriented society based on solidarity. The party of freedom The SPD has incessantly defended freedom against both the National Socialists and the Communists and has hat to make considerable sacrices. It understands freedom internally as freedom from oppression and misery, and externally in the sense of a free and independent nation. The party of international understanding Though emphasizing the freedom of its own nation the SPD has always been outward-facing. The freedom of other peoples and nations has always been close to its heart. As early as 1925 it called for the United States of Europe in its programme in order to open up new paths after the catastrophe of the First World War. Europe does not mean isolation but ghting for common social and environmental standards. In addition, the SPD emphasises its responsibility for developing states in a world that is becoming continuously more integrated. The party of peace The SPD was always a party of peace, but not of fundamental pacism. In August 1914 it decided in favour of military action to defend the home country. Today it is in favour of United Nations resolutions for peacekeeping missions. However, it is well aware that lasting peace cannot be achieved anywhere by military means alone.

SOCIAL SOCIAL IDE A

Social Democracy identity in transition

Results and future prospects

German Social Democracy has always been prepared to acknowledge reality without merely putting up with the prevailing circumstances. Again and again it has proven its ability to accept new challenges for example, environmental issues. In change and through change it has maintained its identity. Social Democracy remains: the party of social justice the party of freedom the party of international understanding the party of peace

All great political action consists in expressing what the facts are and it starts with it. All political petty-mindedness consists in concealing and glossing over the facts. Ferdinand Lassalle, 1862

LASSALLE

But you will only agree with me that we have to draw up a programme which is not exclusively socialist but also democratic. Otherwise we cannot claim the name of Social Democrats and think about a solution of the social question. August Bebel, 1869

BEBEL

I openly admit that I have extremely little appreciation of and interest in what is generally understood as the nal aim of Socialism. This aim no matter what it means does not mean anything to me, the movement is everything. Eduard Bernstein, 1898

BERNSTEIN

... particularly because this task of the programme is so important it must not be a taboo or aloof of criticism. There is nothing worse than a programme that contradicts reality. Karl Kautsky, 1899

KAUTSKY

The general, equal, direct right to vote for all adults without distinction of the sexes is the next aim (...). But this aim is not the only thing we have to preach (...) we (have to) present exactly that political demand in our agitation which is the rst point in our political programme: the demand for a republic. Rosa Luxemburg, 1910

LUXEMBURG

What is indispensable for (the SPD) is only the will of its members to be Socialists, democrats and carriers of the idea of peace ... Wether the spirit of the Communist Manifesto or the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount, wether rationalist or any other philosophy has shaped their thoughts, or wether it is ethical motives, there is room for everyone ... in our party. Its spiritual unity will not be shaken by this. Kurt Schumacher, 1945

SCHUMACHE SCHUMA SCHUMACHE HUMACHE

... we are proud of our history and the service rendered to our people: this is the path leading from the small ridiculed minority to a major progressive peoples party; from the proletarian without rights to the citizen enjoying equal rights; from the vote limited to men to the vote for all; from the authoritarian state to the citizens right of participation and also of codetermination. ... It is good to be able to say that we have remained faithful to ourselves from resistance against bondage to actively safeguarding freedom. Willy Brandt, 1978

BRANDT

Copyright Fig. Title 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 No. Copyright Ullstein AdsD Daimler Werksarchiv Stuttgart Archiv Sigrid und Wolfgang Jacobeit Rights owner unascertainable Karl-Marx-Haus, Trier Karl-Marx-Haus, Trier Source AdsD Rights owner unascertainable Rights owner unascertainable Source AdsD Rights owner unascertainable Source AdsD Source AdsD Rights owner unascertainable Rights owner unascertainable Rights owner unascertainable Rights owner unascertainable Source AdsD Rights owner unascertainable SAPMO (Stiftung Archiv der Parteien und Massenorganisationen der DDR), Berlin Source AdsD AdsD SAPMO, Berlin Karl-Marx-Haus, Trier Source AdsD Rights owner unascertainable Rights owner unascertainable Source AdsD Rights owner unascertainable Source AdsD Rights owner unascertainable Rights owner unascertainable

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Lassalle Bebel Bernstein Kautsky Luxemburg Schumacher Brandt

For some of the photographs and drawings the rights owners could not have been ascertained despite intensive research. Rights owners may contact: Historisches Forschungszentrum der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, D-53170 Bonn.