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 The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

(SPD) and of the German political labour movement. After the

German Revolution of 1918–19 German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

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. Prior to that, he was minister of labour in the last cabinet of the German Empi ...

. 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 it ...

which drew up the

Weimar Constitution The Constitution of the German Reich (), usually known as the Weimar Constitution (), was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era. The constitution created a federal semi-presidential republic with a parliament whose ...

and ratified the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

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: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

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 in German (), is a town in the Germany, German States of Germany, state () of Hesse, capital of both the Giessen (district), district of Giessen and the Giessen (region), administrative region of Giessen. The population is appro ...

where he was introduced to

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

ideals. He worked as a teacher at a gymnasium and establishing a newspaper, the ''Mitteldeutsche Sonntagszeitung,'' in 1893. David's support for the

(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 Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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 Maximilian, Margrave of Baden (''Maximilian Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm''; 10 July 1867 – 6 November 1929),Almanach de Gotha. ''Haus Baden (Maison de Bade)''. Justus Perthes, Gotha, 1944, p. 18, (French). also known as Max von Baden, was a Germ ...

, 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 repr ...

, but as part of a deal establishing the first democratically elected government, the Scheidemann cabinet, he relinquished that post in favour of

Constantin Fehrenbach Constantin Fehrenbach, sometimes erroneously Konstantin Fehrenbach, (11 January 1852 – 26 March 1926), was a German politician who was one of the major leaders of the Catholic Centre Party. He served as president of the Reichstag in 1918 and ...

( 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 (, DDP) was a liberal political party in the Weimar Republic, considered centrist or centre-left. Along with the right-liberal German People's Party (, DVP), it represented political liberalism in Germany between 19 ...

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

Weimar Coalition The Weimar Coalition () is the name given to the coalition government formed by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the German Democratic Party (DDP) and the Catholic Centre Party (Z), who together had a large majority of the delegates ...

of SPD, DDP and Centre Party. Erich Koch-Weser (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 * ''Darwinismus und soziale Entwicklung'', 1909 * ''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 Politicians 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