Social Democratic Party of the Free City of Danzig
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The Social Democratic Party of the Free City of Danzig (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei der Freien Stadt Danzig) was a
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 ...
in the
Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (german: Freie Stadt Danzig; pl, Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; csb, Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gda ...
. After the creation of the Free City of Danzig in 1919, the Danzig branch of the
Social Democratic Party of Germany 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 ...
(SPD) separated itself from the party, and created the Social Democratic Party of the Free City of Danzig. The new party did however maintain close links with the SPD, and its political orientation (for example its anti-
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
/anti-
communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
approach) was largely the same as that of the SPD.Kowalski, Werner.
Geschichte der sozialistischen arbeiter-internationale: 1923 – 19
'. Berlin: Dt. Verl. d. Wissenschaften, 1985. pp. 291–292
The party participated in coalition government together with bourgeois parties between August 1925 and October 1926, and again between January 1928 and August 1930.


Organization and leadership

The party organization was modelled after that of SPD. The highest organ of the party was the Party Congress (''Parteitag''), which was generally held in April every year. The Party Congress elected a Party Presidium and a Control Commission. Party activists were organized in local branch units, which were member organizations of the party. As of the late 1920s, the party claimed a membership of 5,418, out of whom 950 were women.
Julius Gehl Julius Gehl (4 July 1869, Bromberg, Province of Posen – March 1945, Danzig) was a German social democratic politician. Gehl served as the Chairman of the West Prussian District League of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).Handbuch de ...
was the chairman of the party 1919–1920, after which he became leader of the parliamentary group of the party. Arthur Brill was chairman of the party 1921–1936. Johannes Mau was the secretary of the party. The party was active in the Danzig
trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
movement (which was nominally independent, but was heavily influenced by the party). ''Arbeiterjugendbund'' ('Workers Youth League'), with around 450 members, was the youth wing of the party.
Labour and Socialist International The Labour and Socialist International (LSI; german: Sozialistische Arbeiter-Internationale, label=German, SAI) was an international organization of socialist and labour parties, active between 1923 and 1940. The group was established through a me ...
.
Kongress-Protokolle der Sozialistischen Arbeiter-Internationale – B. 3.1 Brüssel 1928
'. Glashütten im Taunus: D. Auvermann, 1974. p. IV. 37


Press

The party published the daily newspaper ''Danziger Volksstimme'' ('Danzig People's Voice').


International affiliation

The party was a member of the
Labour and Socialist International The Labour and Socialist International (LSI; german: Sozialistische Arbeiter-Internationale, label=German, SAI) was an international organization of socialist and labour parties, active between 1923 and 1940. The group was established through a me ...
1923 to 1936. Arthur Brill was a member of the Executive of the International between January 1929 and 1936 (he shared his seat with
Johann Kowoll Johann Kowoll (December 27, 1890 in Laurahütte – 1941) was a German socialist politician. In his young years, Kowoll had several jobs; as stenographer, office assistant, journalist, cottage worker and machine operator. In 1906 he joined th ...
of the
German Socialist Labour Party of Poland The German Socialist Labour Party of Poland (german: Deutsche Sozialistische Arbeitspartei Polens, abbreviated DSAP, pl, Niemiecka Socjalistyczna Partia Pracy w Polsce) was a political party organizing German Social Democrats in interbellum Poland ...
between July 1931 and 1934).


Rise of Nazism

In late 1930 a new right-wing government was formed in the Free City, with support from the
National Socialists 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 ...
(Nazis). As an opposition party, the Social Democrats formed the ''Arbeiter-Schutzbund'' ('Worker Defense League') as its paramilitary force. ''Arbeiter-Schutzbund'' had around 4,500 members. However, the capacity of the Social Democratic Party to mobilize anti-fascist resistance was hindered by nationalistic tendencies within the very ranks of the party (for example, anti-
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
prejudices were widespread within the party). On 5 May 1932 a Social Democrat member of the municipal council, Gruhn, was murdered by the leader of the SS district Neuteich (
Nowy Staw Nowy Staw (german: Neuteich; csb, Nowi Stôw, Nytëch) is a small town in northern Poland on the Tuja (river), Święta river in the Żuławy region, with 3 896 inhabitants (2004). Situated in Malbork County in the Pomeranian Voivodeship since ...
), Rudzinski. The "Volksstimme" was banned the next day for a period of three-month because it reported about the murder. However, despite repeated banning it became the leading voice of the opposition in Danzig and its number of copies grew from 20.000 in 1929 to up to 40.000 prior to its final ban in October 1936. On 2 November 1933, the paper released an article heavily critical of the dissolution of the Danzig police unions. The article cited the freedoms guaranteed by the constitution of Danzig, which it accused the Senate of violating. By order of the chief of Danzig police, Helmut Froböss, the paper's editor, Franz Adomeit, was to suspend all publications the next day, effective for two months. In response, editors Fritz Weber and Anton Fooken sent an appeal to League Commissioner Helmer Rosting and petitioned the Senate. The Senate dismissed the complaint. Ultimately, the issue made it all the way to the
Secretary General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
of the
League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
, where it was also dismissed.O. J. HeinOnline (1934
15 League of Nations
(translated from German)
After the elections of 1935 the oppositional parties, except of the
Polish Party The Polish Party (german: Polnische Partei) was a political party in the German Empire and the Free City of Danzig. Representing the Polish population in Germany, it was the largest of the minority parties. History The party had its origins in ...
, jointly brought in a charge of electoral fraud to the Danzig High Court and unsuccessfully protested to the
League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
. In the aftermath of the
German–Polish declaration of non-aggression The German–Polish declaration of non-aggression (german: Erklärung zwischen Deutschland und Polen über den Verzicht auf Gewaltanwendung, pl, Deklaracja między Polską a Niemcami o niestosowaniu przemocy), also known as the German–Polish ...
Poland did not support an international action and as the foreign envoy of the opposition,
Erich Brost Erich Brost (29 October 1903 – 8 October 1995) was a German journalist and publisher. Biography Brost was born in Elbing, West Prussia to a Schichau-Werke shipyard worker and a tailor. In 1915 his family moved to Danzig (modern Gdańs ...
, reports the Polish government often "raised up more goodwill towards the Nazi government than other european countries of that time". In October 1936 120 politicians of the Social Democratic Party were imprisoned and on 14 October the party was banned. On 25 May 1937 the Social Democrat politician Hans Wiechmann was killed by the
Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
after a visit to the League of Nations' High Commissioner
Carl Jacob Burckhardt Carl Jacob Burckhardt (September 10, 1891 – March 3, 1974) was a Swiss diplomat and historian. His career alternated between periods of academic historical research and diplomatic postings; the most prominent of the latter were League of Na ...
.


Election results

In the
Volkstag The Volkstag (English: ''People's Diet'') was the parliament of the Free City of Danzig between 1919 and 1939. After World War I Danzig (Gdańsk) became a Free City under the protection of the League of Nations. The first elections to a const ...
elections the party received:Langkau-Alex, Ursula.
Dokumente zur Geschichte des Ausschusses zur Vorbereitung einer Deutschen Volksfront, Chronik und Verzeichnisse. Deutsche Volksfront 1932 – 1939 : zwischen Berlin, Paris, Prag und Moskau
' / Ursula Langkau-Alex, Bd. 3. Berlin: Akad.-Verl, 2005. p. 331


Bibliography

*Andrzejewski, Marek.
Socjaldemokratyczna Partia Wolnego Miasta Gdańska: 1920–1936
'. Gdańsk: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, 1980.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Social Democratic Party of the Free City of Danzig Political parties in the Free City of Danzig Social democratic parties Members of the Labour and Socialist International Political parties established in 1919 Political parties disestablished in 1936 Banned socialist parties