Progressive People's Party (Germany)

The Progressive People's Party (German: Fortschrittliche Volkspartei, FVP) was a social liberal party in the German Empire. 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 before World War I. Although initially in favour of a wartime policy of annexations, it later supported the 1917 Reichstag Peace Resolution 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 of the Weimar Republic.