The
Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (
Unabhängige Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, or
USPD) was a short-lived
political partyA political party is a political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns...
in
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
during the Second Reich and the
Weimar RepublicThe Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government, named after Weimar, the place where the constitutional assembly took place. Its official name was still Deutsches Reich , however...
.
The history of the USPD began on December 21 1915, members of the SPD fraction in the
ReichstagThe Reichstag was the parliament of the Holy Roman Empire, and subsequently of the North German Confederation, and of Germany until 1945...
, the German parliament, voted against the authorization of further credits to finance
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, an incident that emphasized existing tensions between the party's leadership and the left-wing
pacifistPacifism is the opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes or gaining advantage. Pacifism covers a spectrum of views ranging from the belief that international disputes can and should be peacefully resolved; to calls for the abolition of the institutions of the military and war;...
s surrounding
Hugo HaaseHugo Haase was a German politician, jurist and pacifist.-Biography:Haase was born in Allenstein , Province of Prussia, the son of Jewish shoemaker and small businessman, Nathan Haase, and Pauline Anker. He studied law in Königsberg and established himself as a lawyer...
and ultimately led to the expulsion of the group from the SPD fraction on March 24 1916.
To be able to continue their parliamentary work, the group formed the
Sozialdemokratische Arbeitsgemeinschaft (SAG, "Social Democratic Working Group"); concerns from the SPD leadership and
Friedrich EbertFriedrich Ebert was a German politician , who served as Chancellor of Germany and its first president during the Weimar period.-Background:...
that the SAG was intent on dividing the SPD then led to the expulsion of the SAG members from the SPD on January 18 1917.
The
Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (
Unabhängige Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, or
USPD) was a short-lived
political partyA political party is a political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns...
in
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
during the Second Reich and the
Weimar RepublicThe Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government, named after Weimar, the place where the constitutional assembly took place. Its official name was still Deutsches Reich , however...
.
The history of the USPD began on December 21 1915, members of the SPD fraction in the
ReichstagThe Reichstag was the parliament of the Holy Roman Empire, and subsequently of the North German Confederation, and of Germany until 1945...
, the German parliament, voted against the authorization of further credits to finance
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, an incident that emphasized existing tensions between the party's leadership and the left-wing
pacifistPacifism is the opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes or gaining advantage. Pacifism covers a spectrum of views ranging from the belief that international disputes can and should be peacefully resolved; to calls for the abolition of the institutions of the military and war;...
s surrounding
Hugo HaaseHugo Haase was a German politician, jurist and pacifist.-Biography:Haase was born in Allenstein , Province of Prussia, the son of Jewish shoemaker and small businessman, Nathan Haase, and Pauline Anker. He studied law in Königsberg and established himself as a lawyer...
and ultimately led to the expulsion of the group from the SPD fraction on March 24 1916.
To be able to continue their parliamentary work, the group formed the
Sozialdemokratische Arbeitsgemeinschaft (SAG, "Social Democratic Working Group"); concerns from the SPD leadership and
Friedrich EbertFriedrich Ebert was a German politician , who served as Chancellor of Germany and its first president during the Weimar period.-Background:...
that the SAG was intent on dividing the SPD then led to the expulsion of the SAG members from the SPD on January 18 1917. Three months later, on April 6 1917, the USPD was founded at a conference in
GothaGotha is a town in Thuringia, within the central core of Germany. It is the capital of the district of Gotha.- History :The town has existed at least since the 8th century, when it was mentioned in a document signed by Charlemagne as Villa Gotaha . Its importance derives from having been chosen in...
, with
Hugo HaaseHugo Haase was a German politician, jurist and pacifist.-Biography:Haase was born in Allenstein , Province of Prussia, the son of Jewish shoemaker and small businessman, Nathan Haase, and Pauline Anker. He studied law in Königsberg and established himself as a lawyer...
as the party's first chairman; the Spartakusbund also merged into the newly-founded party, but retained relative autonomy. To avoid confusion, the existing SPD was typically called MSPD (
Mehrheits-SPD, "majority-SPD") from then on.
Following the
Januarstreik in January 1918, a strike demanding an end to the war and better food provisioning that was organized by revolutionaries affiliated with the USPD and officially supported by the party, the USPD quickly rose to about 120,000 members; despite harsh criticism of the SPD for becoming part of the government of the newly-formed German republic during the
Oktoberreform, the USPD reached a settlement with the SPD as the
NovemberrevolutionThe German Revolution was the politically-driven civil conflict in Germany at the end of World War I. The period lasted from November 1918 until the formal establishment of the Weimar Republic in August 1919....
began, and even became part of the government in the form of the
Rat der Volksbeauftragten ("council of people's deputies"), which was formed on November 10 1918 and mutually led by
Friedrich EbertFriedrich Ebert was a German politician , who served as Chancellor of Germany and its first president during the Weimar period.-Background:...
and
Hugo HaaseHugo Haase was a German politician, jurist and pacifist.-Biography:Haase was born in Allenstein , Province of Prussia, the son of Jewish shoemaker and small businessman, Nathan Haase, and Pauline Anker. He studied law in Königsberg and established himself as a lawyer...
following the
German RevolutionThe German Revolution was the politically-driven civil conflict in Germany at the end of World War I. The period lasted from November 1918 until the formal establishment of the Weimar Republic in August 1919....
.
The agreement did not last long, though, for on December 29 1918, Haase, Wilhelm Dittmann and
Emil BarthEmil Barth was a German Social Democratic metal worker who became a key figure in the German Revolution of 1918....
left the council again to protest the SPD's actions during the soldier mutiny in
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
on November 23 1918. At the same time, the Spartakusbund, led by
Rosa LuxemburgRosa Luxemburg was a Polish-Jewish-German Marxist theorist, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary for the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania, the German SPD, the Independent Social Democratic Party and the Communist Party of Germany.In 1914, after the SPD supported German...
and
Karl Liebknechtwas a German socialist and a co-founder of the Spartacist League and the Communist Party of Germany.-Early life:...
, separated from the USPD again as well to merge with other left wing groups and form the
KPDThe Communist Party of Germany was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period...
(
Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, "Communist Party of Germany").
During the elections for the
national assemblyThe Weimar National Assembly governed Germany from February 6 1919 to June 6 1920 and drew up the new constitution which governed Germany from 1919 to 1933, technically remaining in effect even until the end of Nazi rule in 1945...
on January 19 1919, from which the SPD emerged as the strongest party with 37.9 % of the votes, the USPD only managed to attract 7.6 %; nevertheless, the party's strong support for the introduction of a system of councils (
Räterepublik) instead of a parliamentary democracy attracted many former SPD members, and in spring 1920, the USPD had grown to more than 750,000 members, managing to increase their share of votes to 17.9 % during the parliamentary elections on June 6 1920 and becoming one of the largest fractions in the new
ReichstagThe Reichstag was the parliament of the Holy Roman Empire, and subsequently of the North German Confederation, and of Germany until 1945...
, second only to the SPD (21.7 %).
However, at the same time, a controversial debate over joining the
CominternThe Comintern was an international Communist organization founded in Moscow in March 1919...
broke out in the USPD; many members felt that the necessary requirements for joining would lead to a loss of the party's independence and a perceived "dictate from Moscow", while others, especially younger members such as
Ernst ThälmannErnst Thälmann was the leader of the Communist Party of Germany during much of the Weimar Republic. He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1933 and held in solitary confinement for eleven years, before being shot in Buchenwald on Adolf Hitler's orders in 1944...
, argued that only the joining of the Comintern would allow the party to implement its socialist ideals.
Ultimately, the proposition to join the Comintern was approved at a party convention in
HalleHalle is the largest city in the German State of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...
in October 1920, but the USPD split up in the process, with both groups seeing themselves as the rightful USPD and the other one as being outcast. On December 4 1920, the left wing of the USPD, with about 400,000 members, merged into the
KPDThe Communist Party of Germany was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period...
, forming the VKPD (
Vereinigte Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, "United Communist Party of Germany"), while the other half of the party, with about 340,000 members and including three quarters of the 81 Reichstag members, continued under the name USPD; led by Georg Ledebour and Arthur Crispien, they advocated a parliamentary democracy. The USPD was instrumental in the creation of the 2½ International in 1921.
Over time, the political differences between SPD and USPD dwindled, and following the assassination of foreign minister
Walther RathenauWalther Rathenau was a German industrialist, politician, writer, and statesman who served as Foreign Minister of Germany during the Weimar Republic.-Family:...
by right wing extremists in June 1922, the two parties' fractions in the Reichstag formed a common working group on July 14 1922; two months later, on September 24, the parties officially merged again after a joint party convention in Nürnberg, adopting the name
Vereinigte Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (VSPD, "United Social Democratic Party of Germany"), which was shortened again to SPD in 1924.
The USPD was continued as an independent party by Georg Ledebour and
Theodor LiebknechtTheodor Liebknecht was a German socialist politician.-Biography:Born in Leipzig in 1870 as the son of Wilhelm Liebknecht and the brother of Karl Liebknecht, Theodor Liebknecht studied law and worked as a lawyer in Berlin from 1899 on, becoming politically active after his brother's murder in...
, who refused to work with the SPD, but it never attained any significance again and merged into the
Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschland (SAPD,
Socialist Workers' Party of GermanyThe Socialist Workers' Party of Germany , was a political party in Germany. It was formed by a left-wing splinter group which split off from the SPD in the autumn of 1931. In 1931 the remnants of USPD merged into the party, and in 1932 some Communist Party dissenters joined the group too, as well...
) in 1931.
Notable USPD members
- Emil Barth
Emil Barth was a German Social Democratic metal worker who became a key figure in the German Revolution of 1918....
- Eduard Bernstein
Eduard Bernstein was a German social democratic theoretician and politician, a member of the SPD, and the founder of evolutionary socialism and revisionism.- Life :Bernstein was born in Berlin to Jewish parents...
- Arthur Crispien
- Wilhelm Dittmann
- Hugo Eberlein
Hugo Eberlein was a German Communist politician. He took part of the founding congress of the Communist Party of Germany , and then in the First Congress of the Comintern , where he held important posts until 1928...
- Kurt Eisner
Kurt Eisner was a Bavarian politician and journalist. As a German socialist journalist and statesman, he organized the Socialist Revolution that overthrew the Wittelsbach monarchy in Bavaria in November 1918.He is used as an example of charismatic authority by Max Weber.-Biography:Kurt Eisner,...
- Hugo Haase
Hugo Haase was a German politician, jurist and pacifist.-Biography:Haase was born in Allenstein , Province of Prussia, the son of Jewish shoemaker and small businessman, Nathan Haase, and Pauline Anker. He studied law in Königsberg and established himself as a lawyer...
- Karl Kautsky
Karl Kautsky was a leading theoretician of Marxism. He became the leading promulgator of Orthodox Marxism after the death of Friedrich Engels.- Life :...
- Karl Korsch
Karl Korsch was a German Marxist theorist.-Biography:Korsch was born in Tostedt, near Hamburg, to Carl August Korsch, a secretary at the cantonal court and his wife Therese. In 1898 the family moved to Meiningen, Thuringia and Korsch senior attained the position of a managing clerk in a bank...
- Georg Ledebour
- Paul Levi
Paul Levi was a German-Jewish Communist political leader.-Early years:Paul Levi was born 18 March 1883 in Hechingen into a Jewish middle-class family, joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1906. There he became part of the party’s left wing together with Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht...
- Karl Liebknecht
was a German socialist and a co-founder of the Spartacist League and the Communist Party of Germany.-Early life:...
- Theodor Liebknecht
Theodor Liebknecht was a German socialist politician.-Biography:Born in Leipzig in 1870 as the son of Wilhelm Liebknecht and the brother of Karl Liebknecht, Theodor Liebknecht studied law and worked as a lawyer in Berlin from 1899 on, becoming politically active after his brother's murder in...
- Kurt Löwenstein
Kurt Löwenstein was a German USPD/SPD politician, Socialist reform pedagogue and one of the founders of Socialist Youth of Germany - Falcons.-Family and education:...
- Rosa Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg was a Polish-Jewish-German Marxist theorist, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary for the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania, the German SPD, the Independent Social Democratic Party and the Communist Party of Germany.In 1914, after the SPD supported German...
- Toni Sender
- Ernst Thälmann
Ernst Thälmann was the leader of the Communist Party of Germany during much of the Weimar Republic. He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1933 and held in solitary confinement for eleven years, before being shot in Buchenwald on Adolf Hitler's orders in 1944...
- Kurt Tucholsky
Kurt Tucholsky was a German-Jewish journalist, satirist and writer. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Kaspar Hauser, Peter Panter, Theobald Tiger and Ignaz Wrobel. Born in Berlin-Moabit, he moved to Paris in 1924 and then to Sweden in 1930.Tucholsky was one of the most important journalists of...
- Clara Zetkin
Clara Zetkin was an influential socialist German politician and a fighter for women's rights. Until 1917, she was active in the Social Democratic Party of Germany, then she joined the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany and its far-left wing, the Spartacist League; this later became...