The Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands, SDAP) was a Marxist socialist

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

in the

North German Confederation The North German Confederation (german: Norddeutscher Bund) was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated st ...

during unification. Founded in

Eisenach Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...

in 1869, the SDAP endured through the early years of the German Empire. Often termed the Eisenachers, the SDAP was one of the first political organizations established among the nascent German labor unions of the 19th century. It officially existed under the name SDAP for only six years (1869–1875). However, through name changes and political partnerships, its lineage can be traced to the present-day Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).

Origins

VDAV and ADAV

The SDAP was one of the earliest organizations to arise from German workers' unionizing activity, but it was not the first. At the group's founding in 1869, the fast-growing

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

had already established several notable associations for workers' advocacy. Chief among these were Leopold Sonnemann's Assembly of German Worker Associations (''Verband Deutscher Arbeitervereine'', VDAV) and Ferdinand Lassalle's

General German Workers' Association The General German Workers' Association (german: Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiter-Verein, ADAV) was a German political party founded on 23 May 1863 in Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony by Ferdinand Lassalle. It was the first organized mass working-class ...

(''Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiterverein'', ADAV).Barclay, Weitz, p. 121. The largest group by far was the VDAV. Through the 1860s, it remained mostly apolitical, dedicated to pocketbook matters and fully integrated with the paradigms of liberal economic interests. The VDAV did its best to ignore the political agitation of Lassalle's much smaller yet more active ADAV. The Lassalleans were seen as insufficiently committed to basic economic matters. Much of their political appeal was based on what socialists considered to be an alarming militancy in support of

German nationalism German nationalism () is an ideological notion that promotes the unity of Germans and German-speakers into one unified nation state. German nationalism also emphasizes and takes pride in the patriotism and national identity of Germans as one n ...

and the question of Greater Germany. They displayed a discomfiting closeness to the militaristic

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

. Eventually, the sundry turmoil created by the German unification wars helped politicize large elements of the previously unmoved VDAV. Some followed Sonnemann to the new moderately socialist

German People's Party The German People's Party (German: , or DVP) was a liberal party during the Weimar Republic that was the successor to the National Liberal Party of the German Empire. A right-liberal, or conservative-liberal political party, it represented politi ...

(founded in 1868), while others were ready to abandon the VDAV structure altogether and establish a more radical political party. Stamps of Germany (DDR) 1975, MiNr 2050

Eisenachers

Meeting in the city of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, the VDAV activists founded the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) on 7–9 August 1869. The Eisenachers, as they came to be called, were under the leadership of

Wilhelm Liebknecht Wilhelm Martin Philipp Christian Ludwig Liebknecht (; 29 March 1826 – 7 August 1900) was a German socialist and one of the principal founders of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).August Bebel. The political theorist

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

had a significant personal influence upon the newly formed party, being a friend and mentor to both Bebel and Liebknecht. Marx and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Marxian socialism and welcomed them (as far as German law would allow) into their

International Workingmen's Association The International Workingmen's Association (IWA), often called the First International (1864–1876), was an international organisation which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist groups and trad ...

(IWA).Lindemann, p. 104.

Platform and organization

The SDAP was typically deemed Marxist by most observers, although this term was somewhat amorphous during Marx's lifetime. The party was described as such mainly because of its IWA membership and Liebknecht's close personal relationship with Marx. The true nature of Eisenacher Marxism was closer to democratic socialism than the

communist parties A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

of later decades. The party platform called for a free people's state (''freier Volkstaat''), which could align private cooperatives with state organizations. The party primarily supported

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

ism as the utility by which workers could prosper in the context of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

''Der Volksstaat''

The party press was a vital element of the SDAP's political strategy. The party's newspaper was first called ''Demokratisches Wochenblatt'' (''Democratic Weekly Paper'') and later '' Der Volksstaat'' (''The People's State'') and was edited by Liebknecht. The paper was published in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

from 2 October 1869 to 23 September 1876. The party did not yet have its own printers, but Liebknecht was ambitious in his efforts to promote its publications on a wide scale as educational tools for workers. Although most issues of ''Der Volksstaat'' were primarily composed of incendiary writing about the German political situation, Liebknecht attempted as much as possible to include essays on political theory, transcripts of academic lectures, and even some popular fiction. Stamps of Germany (DDR) 1975, MiNr 2051

Congress at Gotha

Despite their differences, the SDAP and Lassalle's ADAV shared a largely identical interpretation of

socialism Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

. The similarity was significant enough to mean that they were both routinely monitored and considered equally suspicious by the authorities. The two parties were vying for the same audience among the working class, and they were doing so simultaneously with several more moderate liberal organizations. The critical distinction among all the groups' positions was their level of commitment to the right to

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

.Barclay, Weitz, p. 122.

SAPD and SPD

The competition between moderate and radical factions reached a boiling point when SDAP and Lassalle's ADAV finally merged to form a united front. In a convention at

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the Gotha (district), district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine House of Wet ...

in 1875, the new fusion party was renamed the Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (German: ''Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands'', SAPD). The resultant Gotha Program was a mixture of socialist and liberal capitalist ideas. Though it largely satisfied the conventioneers, the new policies were denounced by Marx himself in the scathing essay '' Critique of the Gotha Program'' (1875). Despite its relatively moderate stance, the SAPD organization was deemed subversive and officially banned by the German Empire under the

Anti-Socialist Laws The Anti-Socialist Laws or Socialist Laws (german: Sozialistengesetze; officially , approximately "Law against the public danger of Social Democratic endeavours") were a series of acts of the parliament of the German Empire, the first of which was ...

of 1878. Under proscription, the party's members continued to organize successfully. After the ban was lifted in 1890, they rechristened themselves as the Social Democratic Party of Germany (''Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands'', SPD) and surged at the polls. By the 1912 elections, the SPD (a direct descendant of the small SDAP) had become the largest party in Germany.

Legacy

Though the SDAP dissolved after a brief lifespan of just six years, it was an essential catalyst in creating the first significant labor party in Germany. After World War II, members of the SPD in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

were compelled to join forces with the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

to form the Socialist Unity Party. Throughout its 41-year rule, the party paid regular tribute to its Marxist progenitor. In

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, the SPD became one of the two

major parties A major party is a political party that holds substantial influence in a country's politics, standing in contrast to a minor party. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: Major parties hold a significant percentage of the vote in electi ...

and continues to wield vast influence in the post-reunification era. It still traces its lineage back to the SDAP at Gotha and Eisenach.

Notes

* Sometimes translated as Social Democratic Labor Party of Germany. See Lindemann ''et al''. * Not to be confused with the

Socialist Workers' Party of Germany The Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands, SAPD) was a centrist Marxist political party in Germany. It was formed as a left-wing party with around 20,000 members which split off from the SPD i ...

(also SAPD) which existed from 1931 to 1945.

References

Bibliography

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