The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany.
The party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Germany, along with the
conservative CDU/CSU, and is led by Sigmar Gabriel.
The SPD currently governs at the federal level in a grand coalition with the Christian Democratic
Union and the Christian Social Union since December 2013 following the German Federal
election of 2013.
The party participates in thirteen state governments, of which nine are governed by SPD Minister-Presidents.
The SPD is a member party of the Party of European Socialists and the Socialist International,
and was a founding member of the Progressive Alliance on 22 May 2013.
The SPD is Germany's oldest extant political party, established in 1863, in the German
Parliament.
It was also one of the first Marxist-influenced parties in the world.
History
The General German Workers' Association, founded in 1863, and the Social Democratic Workers'
Party, founded in 1869, merged in 1875, under the name Socialist Workers' Party of Germany.
From 1878 to 1890, any grouping or meeting that aimed at spreading socialist principles
was banned under the Anti-Socialist Laws, but the party still gained support in elections.
In 1890, when the ban was lifted and it could again present electoral lists, the party adopted
its current name.
In the years leading up to World War I, the party remained ideologically radical in official
principle, although many party officials tended to be moderate in everyday politics.
By 1912, the party claimed the most votes of any German party.
Despite the agreement of the Second International to oppose the First World War, the SPD voted
in favor of war in 1914.
In response to this and the Bolshevik Revolution, members of the left and of the far-left of
the SPD formed alternative parties, first the Spartacus League, then the Independent
Social Democratic Party of Germany and later the Communist Party of Germany.
After 1918 the SPD played an important role in the political system of the Weimar Republic,
although it took part in coalition governments only in few years.
Adolf Hitler prohibited the party in 1933 under the Enabling Act - some party officials
were imprisoned, killed or went into exile.
In exile, the party used the name Sopade.
Between 1921 and 1923, right-wing militants carried out 350 assassinations of SPD political
figures.
In 1945, the allied occupants in the Western zones initially allowed four parties to be
established, which led to the Christian Democratic Union, the Free Democratic Party, the Communist
Party of Germany, and the SPD being established.
In the Soviet Zone of Occupation, the Soviets forced the Social Democrats to form a common
party with the Communists.
In the Western zones, the Communist Party was later banned by West Germany's Federal
Constitutional Court.
Since 1949, in the Federal Republic of Germany, the SPD has been one of the two major parties,
with the other being the Christian Democratic Union.
From 1969 to 1982 and 1998 to 2005 the Chancellors of Germany were Social Democrats whereas the
other years the Chancellors were Christian Democrats.
Party platform The SPD was established as a Marxist party
in 1875.
However, the SPD underwent a major shift in policies reflected in the differences between
the Heidelberg Program of 1925, which "called for the transformation of the capitalist system
of private ownership of the means of production to social ownership", and the Godesberg Program
of 1959, which aimed to broaden its voter base and move its political position toward
the centre.
After World War II, under the leadership of Kurt Schumacher, the SPD re-established itself
as a socialist party, representing the interests of the working class and the trade unions.
With the Godesberg Program of 1959, however, the party evolved from a socialist working-class
party to a modern social-democratic party working within capitalism.
The current party platform of the SPD espouses the goal of social democracy, which is seen
as a vision of a societal arrangement in which freedom and social justice are paramount.
According to the party platform, freedom, justice, and social solidarity, form the basis
of social democracy.
The coordinated social market economy should be strengthened, and its output should be
distributed fairly.
The party sees that economic system as necessary in order to ensure the affluence of the entire
population.
The SPD also tries to protect the society's poor with a welfare state.
Concurrently, it advocates a sustainable fiscal policy that doesn't place a burden on future
generations while eradicating budget deficits.
In social policy, the SPD stands for civil and political rights in an open society.
In foreign policy, the SPD aims at ensuring global peace by balancing global interests
with democratic means.
Thus, European integration is one of the main priorities of the SPD.
SPD supports economic regulations to limit potential losses for banks and people.
They support a common European economic and financial policy, and to prevent speculative
bubbles.
They support environmentally sustainable growth.
Internal groupings The SPD is mostly composed of members belonging
to either of the two main wings: Keynesian social democrats, and the Third Way, moderate
social democrats belonging to the Seeheimer Kreis.
While the moderate, Seeheimer Kreis social democrats strongly support the Agenda 2010
reformist programs introduced by former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, the Keynesian social democrats
continue to defend classical left-wing policies such as the expansion of the welfare state.
The classical left-wing of the SPD claims that in recent years the welfare state has
been curtailed through reform programs such as the Agenda 2010, Hartz IV and the more
economic liberal stance of the SPD, which were endorsed by moderate social democrats.
Base of support Social structure
Before World War II, as the main non-revolutionary left-wing party, the Social Democrats fared
best among non-Catholic workers as well as intellectuals favouring social progressive
causes and increased economic equality.
Led by Kurt Schumacher after World War II, the SPD initially opposed both the social
market economy and Konrad Adenauer's drive towards western integration fiercely, but
after Schumacher's death, it accepted the social market economy and Germany's position
in the Western alliance in order to appeal to a broader range of voters.
It still remains associated with the economic causes of unionised employees and working
class voters.
In the 1990s, the left and moderate wings of the party drifted apart, culminating in
a secession of a significant number of party members, which later joined the socialist
party WASG, which later merged into The Left party.
Geographic distribution Geographically, much of the SPD's current-day
support comes from large cities, especially of northern and western Germany and Berlin.
The metropolitan area of the Ruhr Area, where coal mining and steel production were once
the biggest sources of revenues, have provided a significant base for the SPD in the 20th
century.
In the state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, made up of the cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven,
the SPD has governed without interruption since 1949.
In southern Germany, the SPD typically garners less support except in the largest cities.
At the 2009 federal election, the party lost its only constituency in the entire state
of Bavaria.
Small town and rural support comes especially from the traditionally Protestant areas of
northern Germany and Brandenburg and a number of university towns.
A striking example of the general pattern is the traditionally Catholic Emsland, where
the Social Democrats generally gain a low percentage of votes, whereas the Reformed
Protestant region of East Frisia directly to the north, with its strong traditional
streak of anti-Catholism, is one of their strongest constituencies.
Further south, the SPD also enjoys solid support in northern Hesse, parts of Palatinate, the
Saarland, and southwestern Baden.
Election results Federal Parliament
European Parliament Notes
See also Politics of Germany
Party finance in Germany List of political parties in Germany
Bundestag Weimar Republic
Kurt Nehrling Mierscheid Law
German election, March 1933 Elections in the Free State of Prussia
Further reading Orlow, Dietrich.
Common Destiny: A Comparative History of the Dutch, French, and German Social Democratic
Parties, 1945-1969 online Carl E. Schorske, German Social Democracy,
1905–1917: The Development of the Great Schism.
Vernon L. Lidtke, The Outlawed Party: Social Democracy in Germany, 1878–1890.
Berlau, Abraham.
German Social Democratic Party, 1914–1921.
Erich Matthias, The Downfall of the Old Social Democratic Party in 1933 pages 51–105 from
Republic to Reich The Making of the Nazi Revolution Ten Essays edited by Hajo Holborn,.
External links Party official website
Official website of the youth organization, the Jusos
History of the German social-democratic party from Lassalle to Kautsky, by fractal-vortex