Read more
Originally published in 1981, this book covers the development of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from its inception to the end of the Weimar republic. Within a historical framework it analyses the role and operation of the SPD in the changing social and political climate of Germany and describes the party's internal struggles throughout the period. The party continually debated its aims and the means to achieve them. Conducted by people such as Kautsky, Bernsteina dn Rosa Luxemburg, with close links to Marx, Engels and other leaders of the international socialist movement, this debate within the party was one of the most fundamental socialist controversies, whose relevance remains today.
List of contents
1. Industrialisation and the Entry of the German Working Class into Politics 2. The Role of the Working-Class Party in the Pseudo-democratic State 3. The Political Mobilisation of the German Working Class SPD 4. Social Milieu, Political Control and the Grass Roots of Social Democracy 5. The Elective Fatherland: Socialist Subculture from Ghetto to Republic 6. The Structure of a Democratic Party in Action: Mass Membership, Leadership and Bureaucracy 7. A Revolutionary But Not a Revolution-Making Party? Theory and Tactics from Erfurt to Weimar 8. Conclusions
About the author
W. L. Guttsman
Summary
Originally published in 1981, this book covers the development of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from its inception to the end of the Weimar republic. It analyses the role and operation of the SPD in the changing social and political climate of Germany and describes the party’s internal struggles throughout the period.
