The Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands, SAPD) was a centrist Marxist

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It was formed as a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

party with around 20,000 members which split off from the

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

in the autumn of 1931. In 1931, the remnants of

Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany The Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Unabhängige Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, USPD) was a short-lived political party in Germany during the German Empire and the Weimar Republic. The organization was establish ...

(USPD) merged into the party and in 1932 some

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

dissenters also joined the group as well as a part from the

Communist Party Opposition The Communist Party of Germany (Opposition) (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (Opposition)), generally abbreviated as KPO or KPD(O), was a communist opposition organisation established at the end of 1928 and maintaining its existence unt ...

. Nevertheless, its membership remained small. From 1933, the group's members worked illegally against

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

. In his home town of

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

, the young Herbert Karl Frahm, later known as

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Ge ...

, joined the SAPD against the advice of his mentor

Julius Leber Julius Leber (16 November 1891 – 5 January 1945) was a German politician of the SPD and a member of the German resistance against the Nazi régime. Early life Leber was born in Biesheim, Alsace, out of wedlock, to Katharina Schubetzer and lat ...

. In his autobiography, Brandt wrote:

In autumn 1931, Nazis and German nationalists, the SA and ''
Der Stahlhelm ' (German, 'The Steel Helmet, League of Front-Line Soldiers'), commonly known as ''Der Stahlhelm'' ('The Steel Helmet'), was a German First World War veteran's organisation existing from 1918 to 1935. It was part of the "Black Reichswehr" and ...
'' joined together to form the "
Harzburg Front The Harzburg Front (german: Harzburger Front) was a short-lived radical right-wing, anti-democratic political alliance in Weimar Germany, formed in 1931 as an attempt to present a unified opposition to the government of Chancellor Heinrich Brü ...
". ..It was just at this time that the left wing of the social democrats split off, as a result of measures connected to organisation and discipline by the party leaders. A few '' Reichstag'' assemblymen, a number of active party groups – above all in
Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
– and not least a large proportion of young Socialists followed the people who were calling for the founding of a Socialist Workers' Party.

In 1934, the youth of SAPD took part in the foundation of the

International Bureau of Revolutionary Youth Organizations International Bureau of Revolutionary Youth Organizations (in German: ''Internationales Büro Revolutionärer Jugendorganisationen'', in French: ''Bureau International des Organisations Révolutionnaires des Jeunes'') was an international organiza ...

. The congress was held in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and broken up by Dutch police. Several SAPD delegates were handed over to German authorities. The congress then re-convened in

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

. Brandt was elected to the Secretariat of the organization and worked in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

for the Bureau. The SAPD was affiliated to the

International Revolutionary Marxist Centre The International Revolutionary Marxist Centre was an international association of left-socialist parties. The member-parties rejected both mainstream social democracy and the Third International. Organizational history The International was for ...

, but it broke with the main party of that

international International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

) over the question of the

united front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political a ...

and

popular front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, some SAPD members emigrated to Great Britain and worked for the party there. Many of those became members of the SPD, therefore the SAPD was not re-founded anew after the Second World War. Willy Brandt eventually became the leader of the SPD, one of West Germany's major political parties of the modern era, being elected Chancellor of Germany in 1969. __NOTOC__

References

Bibliography

* Repr. Hannover: Politladen, 1971; 2. Repr. Hamburg: Junius, 1999 (the classic account).

External links

"Where is the SAP going?"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Socialist Workers' Party Of Germany Social democratic parties in Germany Political parties in the Weimar Republic Defunct socialist parties in Germany Political parties established in 1931 Political history of Germany 1931 establishments in Germany Marxist parties International Revolutionary Marxist Centre

See also

References

Bibliography

External links