History of the Social Democratic Party of Germany

During this period, SPD deputies in the Reichstag were able to win some improvements in working and living conditions for working-class Germans,[3] thereby advancing the cause of its policies in a general way and securing material benefits for its supporters.

[4] SPD pressure in the Reichstag in the late nineteenth century supported an expansion in the system of factory inspection, together with a minor reform in military service under which the families of reservists, called up for training or manoeuvres, could receive an allowance.

As noted by Heinrich Potthoff and Susanne Miller: Here, and in their work in the administration of industrial insurance, in community employment offices and courts of arbitration, lay one of the roots of the gradual penetration by the Social Democrats of the imperial German state.

[7][page needed]As Sally Waller wrote, the SPD encouraged great loyalty from its members by organising educational courses, choral societies, sports clubs, and libraries.

They pressed successfully for some constitutional changes like the secret ballot (1904) and payment of MPs (1906), which permitted lower middle and working-class men, with no other income, to put themselves forward as deputies for the Reichstag.

They next voted the money for the war, but resisted demands for an aggressive peace policy that would involve takeover of new territories[14][15] Even if socialists felt beleaguered in Germany, they knew they would suffer far more under Tsarist autocracy; they believed that the gains they had made for the working class, politically and materially, now required them to support the nation.

They – including Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht and Hugo Haase – were expelled from the SPD in 1917 and formed the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany, in which the Spartacist League was influential.

Bernstein left the party during the war, as did Karl Kautsky, who had played an important role as the leading Marxist theoretician and editor of the theoretical journal of SPD, "Die Neue Zeit".

[7] Wage levels were raised,[17] universal proportional representation for all parliaments was introduced, and a series of regulations on unemployment benefits, job-creation and protection measures, health insurance,[7] and pensions[18] saw the institution of important political and social reforms.

[7] In addition, the SPD-steered provisional government introduced binding state arbitration of labor conflicts, created worker's councils in large industrial firms, and opened the path to the unionization of rural labourers.

While the KPD remained in staunch opposition to the newly established parliamentary system, the SPD became a part of the so-called Weimar Coalition, one of the pillars of the struggling republic, leading several of the short-lived interwar cabinets.

[34] As noted by Edward R. Dickinson, the German Revolution of 1918–1919 and the democratisation of the state and local franchise provided Social Democracy with a greater degree of influence at all levels of government than it had been able to achieve before 1914.

"[35] As noted by another study, “The Party achieved a great deal at this local level in areas such as social welfare, health, education, and training, although the onset of the Great Depression after 1929 undermined many of these achievements.”[36] Protective measures for workers were vastly improved, under the influence or direction of the SPD, and members of the SPD pointed to positive changes that they had sponsored, such as improvements in public health, unemployment insurance, maternity benefits, and the building of municipal housing.

[37] During its time in opposition throughout the Twenties, the SPD was able to help push through a series of reforms beneficial to workers, including increased investment in public housing, expanded disability, health, and social insurance programmes, the restoration of an eight-hour workday in large firms, and the implementation of binding arbitration by the Labour Ministry.

"[39] In the Free State of Prussia, (which became an SPD stronghold following the introduction of universal suffrage) an important housing law was passed in 1918 which empowered local authorities to erect small dwellings and buildings of public utility, provide open spaces, and enact planning measures.

Through aggressive opposition politics, the SPD (backed by the union revival linked to economic upsurge) was able to effect greater progress in social policy from 1924 to 1928 than during the previous and subsequent periods of the party's participation in government.

The SPD's last period in office was arguably a failure, due to both its lack of a parliamentary majority (which forced it to make compromises to right-wing parties) and its inability to confront the Great Depression.

In 1927, the defence ministry had prevailed on the government of Wilhelm Marx to provide funds in its draft budget of 1928 for the construction of the first of six small battleships allowed for under the Treaty of Versailles, although the Federal Council (largely for financial reasons) stopped this action.

On 19 May, the few SPD deputies who had not been jailed or fled into exile voted in favour of Hitler's foreign policy statement, in which he declared his willingness to renounce all offensive weapons if other countries followed suit.

On 21 June 1933, Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick ordered the SPD closed down on the basis of the Reichstag Fire Decree, declaring the party "subversive and inimical to the State."

[41] In the Bundestag, the SPD opposition were partly responsible for the establishment of the postwar welfare state under the Adenauer Administration, having put parliamentary pressure on the CDU to carry out more progressive social policies during its time in office.

Regarded as the Magna Carta of medium-term economic management, the legislation provided for coordination of federal, Lander, and local budget plans in order to give fiscal policy a stronger impact.

The successful economic and financial policies pursued by the Grand Coalition under the direction of Schiller was also helped by the persuasion of entrepreneurs and trade unions to accept a programme of "concerted action.

'[64] Under the SDP-FDP coalition, social policies in West Germany took on a more egalitarian character and a number of important reforms were carried out to improve the prospects of previously neglected and underprivileged groups.

[65] Greater emphasis was placed on policies favouring single parents, larger families, and the lower paid, and further improvements were made in social benefits for pensioners and disabled persons.

"[94] A more active regional and industrial policy was pursued,[63] tighter rules against dismissal were introduced,[95] day care was introduced for children between the ages of three and six,[96] spending on dental services, drugs, and appliances was increased,[97] environmental protection legislation was passed,[98] expenditure on education at all levels was increased,[99] a tax reform bill was passed, lowering the tax burden for low-income and middle-income groups,[100] the average age of entry into the workforce was increased, working time was reduced, social assistance and unemployment compensation were made more generous, early-retirement options were introduced, and municipalities received more generous federal grants to expand social infrastructure such as conference halls, sports facilities and public swimming pools.

[68] Various measures were introduced to improve environmental conditions and to safeguard the environment,[101] the Federal Emission Control Law established the basis for taking of legal action against those responsible for excessive noise and air pollution, the Works' Constitution Act and Personnel Representation Act strengthened the position of individual employees in offices and factories, and the Works' Safety Law required firms to employ safety specialists and doctors.

Earlier the same year, leadership of the SPD had changed from chancellor Gerhard Schröder to Franz Müntefering, in what was widely regarded as an attempt to deal with internal party opposition to the economic reform programs set in motion by the federal government.

[citation needed] While the SPD was founded in the 19th century to defend the interests of the working class, its commitment to these goals has been disputed by some since 1918, when its leaders supported the suppression of more radical socialist and communist factions during the Spartacist Uprising.

In April 2005, party chairman Franz Müntefering publicly criticized excessive profiteering in Germany's market economy and proposed stronger involvement of the federal state in order to promote economic justice.