Codes of Comradeship: Class, Leadership, and Tradition in Munich Social Democracy

1998 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 385-412
Author(s):  
Donna Harsch
Keyword(s):  
Social Democracy ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Opening Scene ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Masses ◽  
Democratic Security

In July 1923, the Munich chapter of the Social Democratic Security Troop (Sicherheitsabteilung, hereafter Socialist SA) staged a Festspiel in a suburban woods. The skit’s sylvan setting belied its combative leitmotif, echo of a wider German environment racked by occupation of the Ruhr, hyperinflation, unemployment, and threatening ultraright organizations. The drama aimed to convince its Social Democratic audience to join or support the Security Troop. In the opening scene, a “leader of the SPD” lamented proletarian disunity. As he resolved to quit politics, the “goddess of freedom” materialized and urged him to keep up the fight. To demonstrate that the masses were on the move against reaction, she pointed to a sky blanketed with flags born by members of the Security Troop.1 Four male mortals stepped forward: a former Independent Socialist, a Young Socialist, a Communist, and a “lumpenproletarian.” The Socialist exhorted the Communist to join the SPD but, instead, he lambasted its bureaucratic bosses and called for a council republic. Suddenly, the lumpen’s passivity aroused the group’s distrust. Unmasking him as a Nazi, they chased him offstage. As the Social Democrats went off to a meeting, the wife of the SPD leader told of her sacrifices for a husband and son who devoted themselves to the party. Yet she proclaimed her willingness to suffer “for the sake of proletarian freedom.” The men returned, disgusted that Nazis had busted up their conclave.

scholarly journals Putting Radicalism to the Test: German Social Democracy and the 1905 Suffrage Demonstrations in Dresden

1996 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-208
Author(s):  
Christoph Nonn
Keyword(s):  
Civil Disobedience ◽  
Social Democracy ◽  
Great Majority ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Democratic Leadership ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
Imperial Germany ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Masses

SummaryThroughout the long debate on whether the workers' movement of Imperial Germany was predominantly radical or reformist in nature, little attention has been paid to attitudes at the grass-roots level. It is argued here that during the years of 1905–1906, when all Europe was witnessing turmoil and an intensification of social conflict, the German Social Democratic leadership deliberately put the radicalism of the masses to the test. The Dresden suffrage demonstrations of December 1905 were the first to end in violent clashes between participants and police. However, contrary to what has been written to date on this incident and those similar to it, the great majority of the demonstrators were not militant. But they did exhibit a remarkable readiness to engage in civil disobedience, which the Social Democrats could use to press the party's political aims.

scholarly journals Democracy, Enlightenment, and Revolution: Cantonese Marxists and Chinese Social Democracy, 1920–1922

Modern China ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 009770042095477
Author(s):  
Xuduo Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Social Democracy ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
The Road ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
The Federalist ◽  
May Fourth ◽  
On The Road ◽  
The Masses

This article discusses two different attitudes toward elections and democracy among the early Chinese communists. It argues that apart from some communist leaders in Shanghai who saw nothing of value in participating in elections, there were members of the party who favored social democracy. Two Cantonese Marxists, Chen Gongbo and Tan Pingshan, heavily influenced by German social democrats, especially Karl Kautsky, attached great importance to elections and “the enlightenment of the masses” on the road to communism. This led them to oppose their comrades in Shanghai, and to support the federalist self-government movement advocated by Chen Jiongming. After 1922, this rift between communists in Guangzhou and Shanghai grew into a serious intra-party conflict. Eventually, the Cantonese social democratic approach was politically discredited and largely forgotten. Exploring this Cantonese approach will clarify the connection and tension between democracy, enlightenment, and socialism in May Fourth China.

The Electoral Consequences of Welfare State Reforms for the Danish Social Democrats

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 319-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Arndt
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Democracy ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
People's Party ◽  
The Social ◽  
Electoral Defeat ◽  
Immigration Issue ◽  
Welfare Reforms

AbstractThe article demonstrates that the big electoral defeat for Danish social democracy in the 2001 elections was not solely the consequence of the immigration issue, but of the welfare state reforms implemented by the Social Democratic government (1993–2001). Social democratic core voters opposed the reforms since they broke with the decommodification paradigm and turned away from social democracy. Against the arguments from the literature, the left-wing competitor Socialist People’s Party’s could not benefit from the reforms given its function as supporter party. Rather, the reforms caused the realignment of social democratic core voters with the Liberals and the Danish People’s Party having expanded their voter base in 2001 as a consequence of the welfare reforms.

scholarly journals SOCIALIST IDEOLOGY IN THE VIEWS OF S. PETLIURA AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 20th CENTURY

2021 ◽  
pp. 62-65
Author(s):  
N. Semashko
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Social Democracy ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Party Building ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Right ◽  
Sharp Criticism

The article considers the peculiarities of the social-democratic views of the prominent statesman Simon Vasilyevich Petliura in the period 1902-1917, that is, at the stage of forming his political worldview. The role of S. Petliura as one of the leading ideologues of the Ukrainian social democracy of the beginning of the XX century is determined. The attitude of S. Petliura to the Russian variants of marxism is analyzed, his views on European social democracy, the main issues of development of the Ukrainian people, and solving them through the prism of socialist ideas. His views on party building are studied, relations between the Ukrainian Social Democratic Workers 'Party and the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party. The key positions of the Russian Social Democrats have been identified, which became the subject of sharp criticism of S. Petliura. It turned out that Simon Petliura was a supporter of the European version of Social Democracy, in particular on the issue of the right of nations to selfdetermination. S. Petliura entered into a sharp controversy with representatives of the Russian Social-Democracy, argued the falsity of their views on non-recognition of the right of the Ukrainian people to autonomy, appealing to the works of Karl Kautsky. S. Petliura did not share the centralizing policy of the Russian Marxists regarding party building, defending the right of the Ukrainian Social Democratic Workers' Party to an independent organizational structure. Socialist ideology in views S. Petliura was dominant, but had bright national features. The key stages of formation of the worldview of the figure are determined. The transformation of its ideological foundations is determined.

scholarly journals German Social Democracy and German State Socialism, 1876–1884

1964 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vernon L. Lidtke
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Social Democracy ◽  
State Socialism ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Socialist Movement ◽  
The One

In the late eighteen-seventies, the German Social Democratic Party, while still healing the wounds of old battles between Lassalleans and Eisenachers, was confronted by foes who delivered attacks on two levels. On the one level, Bismarck and his supporters fought energetically to annihilate the party with the passage of the Socialist Law (October 21, 1878). After some initial faltering steps, the Social Democrats found a firm footing and struggled successfully to preserve their political existence. The movement was preserved, even though the party organization, its affiliates and its newspapers were suppressed. On another level, the Social Democrats faced an ideological challenge. Their political suppression broadly paralleled the emergence of a conservative socialism which flourished for a short time in a variety of forms. Whatever clothing it wore, conservative socialism aimed to undermine the growing appeal of Social Democracy to the working-men of Germany. A theory of State Socialism was the most attractive garment designed by conservative social thought. The response of the Social Democratic Party to the various facets of this conservative socialism is a significant chapter in the history of the German socialist movement.

“What Is to Be Done?” The Red Specter, Franchise Questions, and the Crisis of Conservative Hegemony in Saxony, 1896–1909

1990 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 271-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Retallack
Keyword(s):  
Electoral Politics ◽  
Free Love ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Democratic Movement ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
The Social ◽  
Private Matter ◽  
The Masses

Wecould be more liberal if we had no social democrats.” This was one axiom of German electoral politics with which the overwhelming mass of non-socialist (bürgerlich) German voters agreed unrservedly, wrote Lothar Schücking, a liberal critic of Prussian officialdom, in 1908. Nevertheless, continued Schücking, the aims and ideals of the social democratic movement were completely unfamiliar to most educated Germans. “One knows a few slogans,” wrote Schucking: “‘free love,’ ‘religion a private matter,’ ‘impoverishment of the masses,’… ‘republic.’” Everything else was subsumed under the specter of the “red international.” Disapprovingly, Schucking concluded that “the burgerlich parties have gradually come to recognize only ‘national questions.’”

The Politics of Banking and Social Democracy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aled Davies
Keyword(s):  
Banking System ◽  
Social Democracy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Industrial Economy ◽  
The Social ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
Post War ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Political Demand

This chapter concerns the politics of managing the domestic banking system in post-war Britain. It examines the pressures brought to bear on the post-war settlement in banking during the 1960s and 1970s—in particular, the growth of new credit creating institutions and the political demand for more competition between banks. This undermined the social democratic model for managing credit established since the war. The chapter focuses in particular on how the Labour Party attempted in the 1970s to produce a banking system that was competitive, efficient, and able to channel credit to the struggling industrial economy.

The Struggle Against Revolution

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Retallack
Keyword(s):  
Social Democracy ◽  
National Context ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
The Social ◽  
Rules Of The Game ◽  
Local Levels

This chapter focuses on the repression unleashed against Social Democrats in Saxony and Germany under Bismarck’s Anti-Socialist Law (1878–90). The chapter’s perspective moves between the national, regional, and local levels to assess the range of options open to those who sought to eradicate the “threat” of Social Democracy. The first section examines the national context of Bismarck’s war on socialism, while the following section considers Saxon peculiarities (opportunities and constraints). The focus falls on plans to impose the Lesser State of Siege on Leipzig. The next section discusses the Social Democrats’ continuing success in Landtag and Reichstag elections and zooms in on election battles “in the trenches.” Two final sections consider groups and individuals who played other roles in suppressing Social Democracy, in monitoring the fairness of elections, and in trying to rewrite the “rules of the game” for future election contests.

Czech Social Democracy and its “cohabitation” with the Communist Party: The story of a neglected affair

2008 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lubomír Kopeček ◽  
Pavel Pšeja
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
Pragmatic Approach ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Unsuccessful Attempt ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Relationship

This article attempts to analyze developments within the Czech Left after 1989. Primarily, the authors focus on two questions: (1) How did the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) achieve its dominance of the Left? (2)What is the relationship between the Social Democrats and the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM)? We conclude that the unsuccessful attempt to move the KSČM towards a moderate leftist identity opened up a space in which the Social Democrats could thrive, at the same time gradually assuming a pragmatic approach towards the Communists. Moreover, the ability of Miloš Zeman, the leader of the Social Democrats, to build a clear non-Communist Left alternative to the hegemony of the Right during the 1990s was also very important.

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