Erfurt Program

The Erfurt Congress was held from 14 October to 20 October 1891 by the Social Democratic Party of Germany ( SPD) in Erfurt Imperial Hall. The adopted program here is called the Erfurt Programme.

Importance

The Erfurt Congress under the leadership of August Bebel is one of the most important days of the SPD party program. After the end of the persecutions by the Bismarck -Socialist Law (1878-1890), the emerging Labour Party was looking for a new strategy and tactics in the age of dynamic industrialization and social change in Germany.

Program debate

The progress of the program debate leading up to the Erfurt Congress pointed out that an intensive examination of the theories of Karl Marx did not take place. So tried all draft basic principles of Marxist ideology with social democratic, the pragmatism oriented to connect realpolitik. Overall, there were four program designs, an official of the Board and three alternative designs that have been submitted prior to the start of the Congress. To balance and analysis of these alternative designs a program committee under the leadership of Wilhelm Liebknecht was set up by the Party Executive. There was particular interest here the designs of Karl Kautsky and Eduard Bernstein, which did not deviate in basic objectives of the Board of Management. These two papers, a rather theoretical Kautsky and a more practical of amber found within the 21 -member program committee very well received, were merged, and finally unanimously adopted with few changes. This new draft program had due to the position of the German labor movement an international standard and contained in the tradition of the Gotha Program a theoretical and a practical part. In addition, the new name in the SPD Erfurt Program was committed. On the Erfurt Congress itself, the program was adopted without discussion by the 250 delegates.

Content of the Erfurt Program

The program became known as Erfurt party program took place after the reformist approaches of the Gotha Programme (1875 ) in parts back to Marxist theory and teaching back and returned by the Lasalle'schen content of the Gotha Program completely. So Karl Kautsky himself declared that he had summarized for the theoretical part parts of Marx's Capital. The he mentioned parts are most likely due to the section Historical tendencies of capitalist accumulation. However, in stark contrast to Marx, the program contained no explicit demands for a proletarian revolution.

The practical, action- political part of the program contained in contrast to the theoretical part of numerous democratic and social policy objectives, such as suffrage, eight-hour day or worker protection. Thus began the long schism in the party between socialist theory and real political practice, which was overcome only with the Godesberg Programme 1959 in favor of realpolitik under renunciation of Marxist content.

Exclusion of the opposition to the flow, Boys '

The opposition of the boys ' was a very different leftist counterpoint attitude within the SPD, whose main representatives were excluded on the Erfurt Congress. The opposition movement had its center of gravity in Berlin and included both union representatives as well as from the related party writers like Bruno will, ' was involved in the club, Freie Volksbühne. The boys started their opposition shortly before the fall of the Socialist Law with a series of press articles and specified it to the Erfurt Congress. They criticized the growing power of the parliamentary group and individual personalities within the party during the prohibition period. They also urged a stronger parliamentary critical direction of social democracy, they concluded that more consideration to demands of the middle class. Gave occasion for the Eldorado - speeches of the Bavarian Social Democrats Georg von Vollmar. The consideration for the middle class leads to a reformist orientation of the movement - however, the boy recommended a return to Lassalle and the Gotha program in which all the factions of the bourgeoisie had been referred to as a single " reactionary mass ."

The opposition of the boys revealed contradictions in the tactics of the Reichstag and achieved that the Reichstag was not additionally function as a Control Commission of the Party in the Erfurt Congress. They do not managed to connect their criticism to a coherent list of demands. This was firstly complicated by massive exclusion threats in advance of the Congress in which each organized factions split intentions were subordinated. Similar allegations were raised against Vollmar and other reformist opposition. On the other hand, made ​​the boy's Party majority to Bebel easily the exclusion because they were inferior in this tactical issues and often political mingled with personal criticisms. By so triggered accusations and counter- accusations, the actual political contradictions fell under the table. On the Erfurt Congress, most members of one another only loosely connected opposition left the party or were excluded. They continued their political activities in the association of Independent Socialists and developed to anarchism.