The Progressive People's Party (, FVP) was a
social liberal
Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...
party in the
German Empire
The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
. It was formed on 6 March 1910 from the merger of the
Free-minded People's Party, the
Free-minded Union and the
German People's Party. The FVP advocated the parliamentarisation of the Empire and socio-political changes such as universal suffrage and the right to form and join trade unions. Its membership was largely middle class, including merchants, mid-level civil servants, salaried employees and academics. It occasionally cooperated with the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Form ...
before
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. Although initially in favour of a wartime policy of annexations, it later supported the 1917
Reichstag Peace Resolution
The Reichstag Peace Resolution () was a resolution passed by the Reichstag of the German Empire on 19 July 1917 seeking a negotiated peace treaty to end World War I. It called for no annexations, no indemnities, freedom of the seas, and interna ...
and the
constitutional reforms of October 1918. After the war, the FVP joined with the left wing of the
National Liberal Party to form the
German Democratic Party
The German Democratic Party (, DDP) was a liberal political party in the Weimar Republic, considered centrist or centre-left. Along with the right-liberal German People's Party (, DVP), it represented political liberalism in Germany between 19 ...
of the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...
.
Background
At the beginning of the 20th century, the
Free-minded People's Party (, also FVP), the
Free-minded Union (, FVG) and the
German People's Party (, DtVP) together represented a range of left-liberal viewpoints. Efforts to overcome the fragmentation began in 1903 when an electoral alliance was formed between the FVP and the DtVP. Before the
1907 Reichstag election, the two free-minded parties joined the Bülow bloc, an electoral alliance formed by Chancellor
Bernhard von Bülow
Bernhard Heinrich Karl Martin, Prince of Bülow ( ; 3 May 1849 – 28 October 1929) was a German politician who served as the chancellor of the German Empire, imperial chancellor of the German Empire and minister-president of Prussia from 1900 to ...
after the
Reichstag, led by the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Form ...
(SPD) and
Centre Party, rejected his supplemental budget bill to fund the
Herero Wars in
German South West Africa. The bloc was made up of
Conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
,
National Liberals and the left-liberal parties. Because of the FVG's cooperation with the conservatives in the Bülow bloc,
Theodor Barth and his supporters split away from the party in the spring of 1908 and formed the
Democratic Union (, DV). In the 1907 Reichstag, the three left-liberal parties united in a parliamentary caucus, and in 1910 they merged to become the Progressive People's Party.
Party program
The party program of the Progressive People's Party centred on increasing the influence of the middle class and expanding political freedom. It called for equal, direct and universal suffrage in both the Reich and its
individual states and for the abolition of the
three-class voting system used in
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
, which weighted votes based on the amount of taxes paid and consequently diluted the strength of middle- and working-class votes. The party also sought a fair division of electoral districts, which had become
heavily unbalanced in favour of rural regions due to the lack of reapportionments during a period when urban industrial centres were growing rapidly. The Progressives furthermore supported a consistent separation of church and state and a modification of the
Reich constitution that would make the Empire a
parliamentary monarchy
Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...
.
Economically and socially, the party advocated a gradual reduction of food and industrial tariffs; progressive taxation of Income, wealth and inheritance; the safeguarding and expansion of the right of workers to form and join trade unions; the improvement of occupational safety; and the introduction of measures to protect the unemployed. The national and state parliaments and governments were to be encouraged to work with self-help organizations to improve the economic and social situation of wage and salary earners. At the international level, the party stood for peaceful conciliation by developing international law and international courts of arbitration.
The party's liberal economics represented the interests of the export industry, trade, banks, crafts and commerce. Overall the orientation was towards a welfare state rather than
Manchester liberalism
Manchester Liberalism (also called the Manchester School, Manchester Capitalism and Manchesterism) comprises the political, economic and social movements of the 19th century that originated in Manchester. Led by Richard Cobden and John Bright ...
. The party wanted to raise the general welfare and promote social progress and public education. The scope of its goals was substantial for a party of the German Empire.
Historian
Dieter Langewiesche wrote that the party program showed the momentum of a newly invigorated left-wing liberalism. He saw it as particularly evident in social policy. Self-help, no longer a matter of political dogma, was accompanied by demands for state intervention. The party did not, however, advocate equal rights for women extending beyond the right to vote.
Friedrich Naumann
Friedrich Naumann (25 March 1860 – 24 August 1919) was a German Liberalism in Germany, liberal politician and Protestant parish pastor. In 1896, he founded the National-Social Association that sought to combine liberalism, nationalism and ...
called for it but was not able to make it part of the FVP's program.
Organisation

The party was tightly organised. At the top was a central committee which included the FVP Reichstag members and the executive committee, sixty representatives of the regional associations, and a few appointees. Political questions were decided by the Reichstag party members and organisational matters by the executive committee. The financial situation of the party was often difficult because of late or skipped dues payments.
In 1912 the party had around 1,452 local branches with a total of some 120,000 members. They came mainly from the lower and middle levels of the bourgeoisie. Tradespeople, merchants, mid-level civil servants, salaried employees and academics were among the groups most strongly represented. The number of primary school teachers and Protestant pastors was also relatively high. In some areas, such as
Oldenburg and the
Province of Schleswig-Holstein
The Province of Schleswig-Holstein ( ) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia (from 1868 to 1918) and the Free State of Prussia (from 1918 to 1946).
History
It was created from the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, which had been conquere ...
, the party had supporters among farmers, but it had relatively little success with lower-level employees and workers. It tried to increase its share of workers by encouraging the founding of liberal workers' associations, but by 1914 they had achieved a membership of just 5,000.
There were a number of unaffiliated associations which exerted influence on the party. They included the Commercial Treaty Association, in which merchants and entrepreneurs had joined forces to promote free trade. Other associations included the Hansa Federation for Trade, Commerce and Industry; liberal farmers‘ and agricultural workers’ organizations; the General German Teachers‘ Association; the Hirsch-Duncker trade unions with around 100,000 members; and, to some extent, Protestant workers’ associations.
Politics

Due to its left-wing liberal positions, the party was mostly in opposition to the government's domestic, economic and fiscal policies. The FVP's main opponents in the Reichstag were the
German Conservative Party
The German Conservative Party (, DkP) was a Right-wing politics, right-wing political party of the German Empire founded in 1876. It largely represented the wealthy landowning German nobility and the Prussian Junker (Prussia), Junker class.
The p ...
and, in the early years, the Catholic
Centre Party.
A key question for the liberal parties in the Reichstag was whether to work with the
Social Democrats
Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...
(SPD). Friedrich Naumann coined a slogan urging a ‘bloc from Bassermann to Bebel’, referring to Ernst Bassermann, the chairman of the
National Liberal Party and his SPD counterpart
August Bebel
Ferdinand August Bebel (; 22 February 1840 – 13 August 1913) was a German socialist activist and politician. He was one of the principal founders of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
Bebel, a woodworker by trade, co-founded the Sa ...
. Naumann's idea was supported by the Hansa Federation, which wanted to create a reform bloc separate from the conservative-agrarian interests, but it caused considerable controversy in the Progressive Party. Its chairman
Otto Fischbeck spoke of a ‘grand bloc utopia’ at the Reich level. Bassermann and Bebel also opposed it.
The left-liberal parties' political positions were less rigid than they had been in the past. In 1911 the Liberals, Centre and Social Democrats had made it possible to reform the constitution of
Alsace–Lorraine
Alsace–Lorraine (German language, German: ''Elsaß–Lothringen''), officially the Imperial Territory of Alsace–Lorraine (), was a territory of the German Empire, located in modern-day France. It was established in 1871 by the German Empire ...
. In 1912 the FVP and Social Democrats concluded a comprehensive agreement on runoff elections. The party leadership's action led to protests from some members, and the agreement was followed by only about half the voters. It was also opposed by some in the Social Democratic Party.
In the
1912 Reichstag election, the FVP received 11.9% of the vote and 41 seats. Compared to the 50 seats won by the founding parties in 1907, it meant a parliamentary weakening of left-wing liberalism. The share of the vote, however, had increased by 1.2 percentage points compared to 1907. (The discrepancy between the loss of seats and the gain in the percentage of votes was likely due to the large differences in the number of voters in electoral districts.)
In the Reichstag, the FVP and Social Democrats worked together, and at times the National Liberals also joined them. In 1913 the FVP and the SPD pushed through a capital gains tax against the opposition of the conservatives in order to finance an increase in the size of the army.
World War I

In the early phases of
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, there were essentially three positions on its aims. Some in the FVP, including Friedrich Naumann, assumed a victory which would allow Germany to establish a "
Central Europe
Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...
" () that it would dominate. They also called for annexations and the formation of buffer states around Germany. A middle group advocated a peace based on security needs, while the third group pushed for a negotiated peace. One opponent of expansionist war aims was the 1927
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
winner
Ludwig Quidde. Conflicts arose between FVP members who held different positions, although overall the party kept to the middle on the issue of war aims.
The FVP worked with the Centre Party, the Social Democrats and, at times, the National Liberals in the
inter-party committee which they formed in July 1917 to coordinate their work in the Reichstag. The committee supported the
Reichstag Peace Resolution
The Reichstag Peace Resolution () was a resolution passed by the Reichstag of the German Empire on 19 July 1917 seeking a negotiated peace treaty to end World War I. It called for no annexations, no indemnities, freedom of the seas, and interna ...
of 19 July 1917 which called for a peace treaty with no annexations and no indemnities. In the same year,
Friedrich von Payer became vice chancellor in
Georg von Hertling
Georg Friedrich Karl Freiherr von Hertling, from 1914 Count von Hertling, (31 August 1843 – 4 January 1919) was a German politician of the Catholic Centre Party. He was foreign minister and minister president of Bavaria, then imperial chance ...
's government, making the left-liberals something close to a governing party. The FVP also backed the
October 1918 constitutional reforms, which transformed the German Empire into a
parliamentary monarchy
Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...
during the government of
Max von Baden.
Conrad Haussmann of the FVP was a minister without portfolio in
Baden's cabinet. On 20 November 1918, in the early weeks of the post-war
German revolution
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
, the Progressive People's Party dissolved itself and merged with the left wing of the National Liberal Party to form the
German Democratic Party
The German Democratic Party (, DDP) was a liberal political party in the Weimar Republic, considered centrist or centre-left. Along with the right-liberal German People's Party (, DVP), it represented political liberalism in Germany between 19 ...
(DDP) of the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...
.
Notable members
*
Gertrud Bäumer, writer and feminist
*
Theodor Heuss
Theodor Heuss (; 31 January 1884 – 12 December 1963) was a German liberal politician who served as the first president of West Germany from 1949 to 1959. His civil demeanour and his cordial nature – something of a contrast to German nati ...
, president of
West Germany
West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
1949–1959
*
Johannes Kaempf, president of the Reichstag 1912–1918
*
Georg Kerschensteiner, educational theorist
*
Helene Lange
Helene Lange was born in 1848 in Oldenburg (city), Oldenburg. Through her determination, she rose above the trials of her early life, including the loss of her parents, to become a leading voice for women's access to higher education and professio ...
, advocate for women's access to higher education
*
Franz von Liszt
Franz Eduard Ritter von Liszt (2 March 1851 – 21 June 1919) was a German jurist, criminologist and international law reformer. As a legal scholar, he was a proponent of the modern sociological and historical school of law. From 1898 until 1917 ...
, criminologist and international law reformer
*
Friedrich Naumann
Friedrich Naumann (25 March 1860 – 24 August 1919) was a German Liberalism in Germany, liberal politician and Protestant parish pastor. In 1896, he founded the National-Social Association that sought to combine liberalism, nationalism and ...
, liberal reformer and Protestant pastor
*
Otto Nuschke, active in Weimar Republic and
East German
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...
politics
*
Friedrich von Payer, vice chancellor of the German Empire 1917–1918
*
Hugo Preuß, chief drafter of the
Weimar Constitution
The Constitution of the German Reich (), usually known as the Weimar Constitution (), was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era. The constitution created a federal semi-presidential republic with a parliament whose ...
*
Ludwig Quidde, pacifist and Nobel Peace Prize winner
*
Reinhold Maier, leader of the liberal
Free Democrats (FDP) from 1957–1960
References
{{Authority control
Liberal parties in Germany
Germany 1910
Defunct political parties in Germany
Political parties of the German Empire
Political parties established in 1910
Political parties disestablished in 1918
1910 establishments in Germany
Progressive parties in Germany