Eduard Heinrich Rudolph David (11 June 1863 – 24 December 1930) was a German politician. He was an important figure in the history of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and of the German political labour movement. After the German Revolution of 1918–19 he was a Minister without portfolio in the government of

Philipp Scheidemann Philipp Heinrich Scheidemann (26 July 1865 – 29 November 1939) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). In the first quarter of the 20th century he played a leading role in both his party and in the young Weimar ...

, before becoming Minister of the Interior in June 1919 in the succeeding government headed by

Gustav Bauer Gustav Adolf Bauer (; 6 January 1870 – 16 September 1944) was a German Social Democratic Party leader and the chancellor of Germany from June 1919 to March 1920. He served as head of government for nine months. Prior to becoming head of gover ...

. David remained in that position until October of that year. David was also briefly the first president of the

Weimar National Assembly The Weimar National Assembly (German: ), officially the German National Constitutional Assembly (), was the popularly elected constitutional convention and de facto parliament of Germany from 6 February 1919 to 21 May 1920. As part of its ...

which drew up the Weimar Constitution and ratified the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

in 1919.

Biography

Early life

Eduard David was born on 11 June 1863 in Ediger/Mosel as the son of Johann Heinrich David, a

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

n civil servant, and his wife Wilhelmine Elisabeth (née Werner). After completing a four-year commercial apprenticeship (''kaufmännische Lehre''), David studied at the university at

Giessen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univer ...

where he was introduced to

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

ideals. He worked as a teacher at a gymnasium and establishing a newspaper, the ''Mitteldeutsche Sonntagszeitung,'' in 1893. David's support for the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) led to his dismissal from the civil service in 1894. David was married twice. In 1896, he married Gertrud Swiderski (one daughter) and in 1911 Hermine Schmidt (one son).

Political career

In the 1890s, David became a proponent of agricultural policies favouring small holdings, arguing for their viability in a series of articles in the ''Sozialdemokrat'' in August and September 1894. David argued against the traditional Marxist idea that small landholdings would increasingly be replaced by large estates, marking David as among the first ''Revisionists'' in his party. This journalism on the agrarian question would later be expanded into his major book-length work, ''Sozialismus und Landwirtschaft'' (Socialism and Agriculture), in 1903. From 1896, David was a member of the ''Landtag'' of

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...

and after 1903 a member of the Reichstag for the SPD. He was one of the leading politicians of the "Majority" SPD when the party split during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and was instrumental in framing his party's policy stand on the war.

Government ministry

In October 1918, when the SPD became part of the Imperial government for the first time under the new chancellor Max von Baden, David became Under Secretary at the Foreign Office. In February 1919, David was elected president of the new

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

, but as part of a deal establishing the first democratically elected government, the

Scheidemann cabinet The Scheidemann cabinet (German: ''Kabinett Scheidemann'') was the first democratically elected ''Reichsregierung'' of the German Reich. It took office on 13 February 1919. Although the Weimar Constitution was not in force yet, it is generally ...

, he relinquished that post in favour of

Constantin Fehrenbach Constantin Fehrenbach, sometimes falsely,Bernd Braun: ''Constantin Fehrenbach (1852–1926)'', in: Reinhold Weber, Ines Mayer: ''Politische Köpfe aus Südwestdeutschland'', Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, p. 106. Konstantin Fehrenbach (11 January 185 ...

( Centre Party) and became Minister without Portfolio under the new ''Ministerpräsident'',

(SPD). After Scheidemann's cabinet resigned in June 1919 in protest over the stipulations of the

, a new government was formed by

(SPD) and David became ''Reichsminister des Innern'' (Minister of the Interior), a position he held from 21 June to 4 October 1919. In early October, the

German Democratic Party The German Democratic Party (, or DDP) was a center-left liberal party in the Weimar Republic. Along with the German People's Party (, or DVP), it represented political liberalism in Germany between 1918 and 1933. It was formed in 1918 from the ...

(DDP) which had left the coalition government in June rejoined, thus reestablishing the

Weimar Coalition The Weimar Coalition () is the name given to the centre-leftist coalition of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the social liberal German Democratic Party (DDP) and the Christian democratic Centre Party, who together had a large major ...

of SPD, DDP and Centre Party.

Erich Koch-Weser Erich Koch-Weser (26 February 1875 – 19 October 1944) was a German lawyer and liberal politician. One of the founders (1918) and later chairman (1924–1930) of the liberal German Democratic Party, he served as minister of the Interior (1919–1 ...

(DDP) took over as Minister of the Interior and David once again was Minister without Portfolio. He retained this position in the first cabinet of Hermann Müller, who formed the new government when the Cabinet Bauer resigned in March 1920.

Later activities

In 1922, David was appointed ''Reichsbevollmächtigter'' in Hesse and from 1923 to 1927 he taught political sciences at what was then the '' Technische Hochschule Darmstadt''. He died on 24 December 1930 in Berlin.

Death and legacy

Eduard David died in Berlin on December 24, 1930. David is today considered a key figure in the history of the political labour movement in Germany as he influenced the development of the SPD in the pre-World War I period as one of the leading advocates of reformist policies.

Works

* ''Zweck und Mittel einer einheitlichen Organisation der derutschen Studentenschaft'', 1888 * ''Sozialismus und Landwirtschaft'', 1903 * ''Referentenführer'', 1907 * ''Sozialdemokratie und Vaterlandsverteidigung'', 1915 * ''Die Sozialdemokratie im Weltkrieg'', 1915 * ''Wer trägt die Schuld am Krieg?'' 1917 * ''Die Siedlungsgesetzgebung'', 1921 * ''Um die Fahne der Deutschen Republik'', 1921 * ''Die Befriedung Europas'', 1926 * ''Aus Deutschlands schwerster Zeit, Schriften und Reden aus den Jahren 1914–19'', 1927.

Footnotes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:David, Eduard 1863 births 1930 deaths People from Cochem-Zell People from the Rhine Province German Protestants Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Interior ministers of Germany Members of the 11th Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the 12th Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the 13th Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the Weimar National Assembly Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic Members of the Second Chamber of the Estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse University of Giessen alumni