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Social Democratic Party of Germany



 
 
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei DeutschlandsSPD) is Germany's oldest political party. After World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, under the leadership of Kurt Schumacher
Kurt Schumacher

Dr. Kurt Schumacher , was the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany from 1945 to 1952....
, the SPD reestablished itself as an ideological party, representing the interests of the working class
Working class

Working class is a term used in academic sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe, depending on context and speaker, those employed in specific fields or types of work....
 and the trade unions. The party gradually evolved from a socialist
Socialism

Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating public or state ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equality for all individuals, with a fair or Egalitarianism method of compensation....
 working class
Working class

Working class is a term used in academic sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe, depending on context and speaker, those employed in specific fields or types of work....
 party to a social democratic
Social democracy

Social democracy is a political philosophy of the left-wing politics or centre-left that emerged in the late 19th century from the socialism movement and continues to exert influence worldwide....
 party. This shift reflected the differences between the Heidelberg Program of 1925, which "called for the transformation of the capitalist system of private ownership of the means of production to social ownership" , and the Godesberg Program
Godesberg Program

The Godesberg Program was the party program outline of the political course of Germany's Social democracy party, the SPD. It was ratified on November 15, 1959 at an SPD party convention in the town of Bad Godesberg, which is today part of Bonn....
 of 1959, which aimed to broaden its voter base and move its political position toward the center.

Nowadays the SPD advocates social justice.






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The Social Democratic Party of Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei DeutschlandsSPD) is Germany's oldest political party. After World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, under the leadership of Kurt Schumacher
Kurt Schumacher

Dr. Kurt Schumacher , was the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany from 1945 to 1952....
, the SPD reestablished itself as an ideological party, representing the interests of the working class
Working class

Working class is a term used in academic sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe, depending on context and speaker, those employed in specific fields or types of work....
 and the trade unions. The party gradually evolved from a socialist
Socialism

Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating public or state ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equality for all individuals, with a fair or Egalitarianism method of compensation....
 working class
Working class

Working class is a term used in academic sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe, depending on context and speaker, those employed in specific fields or types of work....
 party to a social democratic
Social democracy

Social democracy is a political philosophy of the left-wing politics or centre-left that emerged in the late 19th century from the socialism movement and continues to exert influence worldwide....
 party. This shift reflected the differences between the Heidelberg Program of 1925, which "called for the transformation of the capitalist system of private ownership of the means of production to social ownership" , and the Godesberg Program
Godesberg Program

The Godesberg Program was the party program outline of the political course of Germany's Social democracy party, the SPD. It was ratified on November 15, 1959 at an SPD party convention in the town of Bad Godesberg, which is today part of Bonn....
 of 1959, which aimed to broaden its voter base and move its political position toward the center.

Nowadays the SPD advocates social justice. It endorses the modernization of the economy to meet the demands of globalization through a social market economy
Social market economy

The social market economy was the main Economic system used in Western Europe and Northern Europe during the Cold War era. It originated in West Germany, and it is known as Soziale Marktwirtschaft in German language....
. The party sees such an economic system as necessary in order to ensure the affluence of the entire population. The SPD also tries to meet the needs of the society's disadvantaged with a welfare state
Welfare State

The Welfare State of the United Kingdom was prefigured in the William Beveridge Report in 1942, which identified five "Giant Evils" in society: squalor, ignorance, want, idleness and disease....
. In addition, it advocates a sustainable fiscal policy that doesn't place a burden on future generations while minimizing budget deficits. However, the SPD also emphasises that each individual is self-responsible. In social policies, the SPD favors extensive civil rights and an open society. In foreign policy it sets on the course of compromise with efforts toward world peace. In European politics, it supports European unity in terms of the economy. It hopes that "globalization" is also "democratization."

Base of support


Social structure

Before World War II, as the main non-revolutionary left-wing party, the Social Democrats fared best among non-Catholic workers as well as intellectuals favoring socially progressive causes and increased economic equality. Led by Kurt Schumacher
Kurt Schumacher

Dr. Kurt Schumacher , was the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany from 1945 to 1952....
 after the war, the SPD initially opposed both market economics and Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Adenauer

Konrad Hermann Josef Adenauer , 5 January 1876 ? 19 April 1967) was a Germany statesman.Although his political career spanned sixty years, beginning as early as 1906, he is most noted for his role as the Chancellor of Germany of West Germany from 1949?1963 and chairman of the Christian Democratic Union from 1950 to 1966....
's drive towards western integration fiercely, but after Schumacher's death, it became more centrist in an effort to appeal to a broader range of voters. It is however still connected with the economic causes of unionized employees and working class voters. In the 1990s, the left and mainstream wing of the party drifted apart, culminating in a secession of a significant number of party members, which later joined the socialist party The Left
The Left (Germany)

The Left , is a political party in Germany which commits itself to democratic socialism. The Left sees itself at being the most committedly left-wing politics of the other five factions represented in the Bundestag....
 (Die Linke).

Geographic distribution

Geographically, much of their support nowadays comes from large cities, especially of northern and western Germany. The metropolitan area of the Ruhr Area
Ruhr Area

The Ruhr Area, is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With 4435 km? and a population of some 5.3 million, it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany....
, where coal mining
Coal mining

Coal mining is the extraction or removal of coal from the earth by mining. When coal is used for fuel in power generation it is referred to as steaming or thermal coal....
 and steel
Steel

Steel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.14% by weight , depending on grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten....
 production were once the biggest sources of revenues, have in the past provided a significant base for the SPD, and in the state of Bremen
Bremen (state)

The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen is the smallest of Germany's 16 States of Germany . A more informal name, but used in some official contexts, is Land Bremen ....
, made up of the cities of Bremen
Bremen

Bremen is a Hanseatic League city in northwestern Germany . It is a port city, situated along the Weser River, about south from its mouth on the North Sea....
 and Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven

Bremerhaven is the port city of the free city and States of Germany of Bremen , Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Weser River on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham....
, the SPD has governed without interruption since 1949. In southern Germany, the SPD typically has a hard time competing in all areas except in the largest cities. One Munich
Munich

Munich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. Munich is located on the River Isar north of the Northern Limestone Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg....
 constituency is currently, and only by a narrow edge, the only SPD-held district in the entire state of Bavaria
Bavaria

Bavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is a region located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest States of Germany of Germany by area....
. Small town and rural support comes especially from traditionally Protestant areas of northern Germany (with notable exceptions such as Western Pomerania, from where Angela Merkel
Angela Merkel

, is the Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 9 April 2000, and Chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary party group from 2002 to 2005....
 was handily re-elected in 2005) and a number of university towns. A striking example of the general pattern is the traditionally Catholic Emsland
Emsland

Landkreis Emsland is a districts of Germany in Lower Saxony, Germany named after the river Ems . It is bounded by the districts of Leer , Cloppenburg and Osnabr?ck , the state of North Rhine-Westphalia , the district of Bentheim and the Netherlands ....
, where the Social Democrats are generally not competitive, whereas the Protestant region of East Frisia
East Frisia

East Frisia or Eastern Friesland is a coastal region in the northwest of the Germany States of Germany of Lower Saxony.It connects Friesland with the district of Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein, all of which belong to the historic and geographic Frisia....
 directly to the north is one of their strongest constituencies. Further south, the SPD also enjoys solid support in northern Hesse
Hesse

Hesse is a States of Germany of Germany with an area of 21,110 km? and just over six million inhabitants. The state capital is Wiesbaden. Hesse's largest city is nearby Frankfurt am Main....
 (Hans Eichel
Hans Eichel

Hans Eichel , Germany politician , was Minister of Finance from 1999-2005....
 was mayor of Kassel
Kassel

Kassel is a city situated along the Fulda River in northern Hessen, Germany, one of the two sources of the Weser river . It is the administrative seat of the Kassel and of the Kassel of the same name....
, then Hesse's minister president, then finance minister in the Schröder
Gerhard Schröder

is a Germany politics, and was Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany , he led a coalition government of the SPD and the Alliance 90/The Greens....
 administration, Brigitte Zypries
Brigitte Zypries

Brigitte Zypries is a German politician. She is the current Federal Minister of Justice of Germany. She has been Minister of Justice since 2002....
 serves as Justice Minister), parts of Palatinate (Kurt Beck
Kurt Beck

Kurt Beck is a Germany politician , serving as the Minister President of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate since 1994 and as President of the German Bundesrat of the Bundesrat of Germany in 2000/01....
 was party leader until September 7, 2008), the Saarland
Saarland

Saarland is one of the 16 States of Germany of Germany. The capital is Saarbr?cken. It has an area of 2570 km? and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population it is the smallest of the German Fl?chenl?nder , i.e., those that are not City States ....
 (political home of one-time candidate for federal chancellor Oskar Lafontaine
Oskar Lafontaine

Oskar Lafontaine is a Germany politician, former German finance minister, former chairman of the SPD and former prime minister of the state of Saarland....
, who later defected), and southwestern Baden
Baden

Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine River in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-W?rttemberg of Germany....
 (Marion Caspers-Merk
Marion Caspers-Merk

Marion Caspers-Merk is a Germany politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. She is a member of the Bundestag and Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Health....
, Gernot Erler).

History


After beginnings in the 1860s, a milestone was the union of two previous organisations in 1875, under the name Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei. From 1888 to 1890 the party was prohibited, but it still gained support in elections. In 1891 it got its modern name, SPD. In the years until World War I, the party remained ideologically radical, although many party officials tend to be moderate in everyday politics. The party became in 1912 the strongest by votes.

The war and the communist revolution in Russia caused members of the left wing to form alternative parties, most prominently first the USPD (Independent SPD) and later the KPD (communists). On the other hand, since 1918 SPD played an important role in the political system of the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic was the democracy and republican period of Germany from 1919 to 1933. Following World War I, the republic emerged from the German Revolution in November 1918....
, although it took part in coalition governments only in a couple of years (1918-1921, 1923, 1928-1930). Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born Germany politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party....
 prohibited the party in 1933, some party officials were imprisoned, killed or went into exile. In exile, it used the name SOPADE.

In 1945, the occupants allowed four parties, the christian democrats, the liberals, the communists and the social democrats. In the Soviet Zone of Occupation the social democrats were forced to form a common party with the communists (SED). In the western zones and (since 1949) the Federal Republic of Germany, SPD became one of two major parties. From 1969 to 1982 and 1998 to 2005 the chancellors were social democrats.

See also

  • Politics of Germany
    Politics of Germany

    Politics of Germany takes place in a framework of a federation parliamentary democratic representative democracy republic, whereby the Chancellor of Germany is the head of government, and of a plurality multi-party system....
  • List of political parties in Germany
    List of political parties in Germany

    This is a list of political party in politics of Germany.Germany has a multi-party system, with two large parties, three substantial smaller parties, and a number of minor parties....
  • Bundestag
    Bundestag

    The 'Bundestag' is the parliament of Germany. It was established with Germany's constitution of 1949 and is the successor of the earlier Reichstag ....
     (Federal Assembly of Germany)
  • Weimar Republic
    Weimar Republic

    The Weimar Republic was the democracy and republican period of Germany from 1919 to 1933. Following World War I, the republic emerged from the German Revolution in November 1918....
  • Kurt Nehrling
    Kurt Nehrling

    Kurt Nehrling was a Russian informant and member of the Weimar Resistance, also known as the Social Democrats Against Hitler. During his membership in the German resistance, Nehrling was responsible for supplying information to the Russians and was most famously known for hiding List of banned books....
  • Mierscheid Law
    Mierscheid Law

    The Mierscheid-Law is a hypothesis, published in the July 14 1983 issue of the German Vorw?rts magazine, attributed to fictitious politician Jakob Maria Mierscheid, which forecasts the vote of the Social Democratic Party of Germany based on the size of crude steel production in Western Germany....


Further reading

  • Carl E. Schorske
    Carl E. Schorske

    Carl Emil Schorske is an American cultural historian and Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. In 1981 he won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction for his book Fin-de-Si?cle Vienna: Politics and Culture , which remains highly significant to modern European intellectual history....
    , German Social Democracy, 1905–1917: The Development of the Great Schism (Harvard University Press, 1955).
  • Vernon L. Lidtke, The Outlawed Party: Social Democracy in Germany, 1878–1890 (Princeton University Press, 1966).
  • Abraham J. Berlau The German Social Democratic Party, 1914–1921 (Columbia University Press, 1949).
  • Erich Matthias, The Downfall of the Old Social Democratic Party in 1933 pages 51–105 from Republic to Reich The Making of the Nazi Revolution Ten Essays edited by Hajo Holborn
    Hajo Holborn

    Hajo Holborn was a German-American historian and specialist in modern German history....
    , (New York: Pantheon Books, 1972).


External links

  • from Lassale to Kautsky, by Fractal-Vortex