History of the Social Democratic Party of Germany

Protagonists of the political party organized early German workers' movement (Top row: August Bebel and Wilhelm Liebknecht for the SDAP - Middle: Karl Marx as an ideal pulse
Bottom row: Carl Wilhelm Tölcke, Ferdinand Lassalle for ADAV)

The foundation of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (German: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, SPD) can be traced back to the 1860s, and it has represented the centre-left in German politics for much of the 20th and 21st centuries. From 1891 to 1959, the SPD theoretically espoused Marxism.^[1]

The SPD has been the ruling party at several points, first under Friedrich Ebert in 1918. The party was outlawed in Nazi Germany but returned to government in 1969 with Willy Brandt. Meanwhile, the East German branch of the SPD was merged with the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany. In the modern Federal Republic of Germany, the SPD's main rival is the CDU; as of 2024, the SPD is in government in coalition with the FDP and the Greens, with Olaf Scholz from the SPD as Chancellor.

^ Billington, James H. (1999). Fire in the Minds of Men — Origins of the Revolutionary Faith. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers. pp. 367–378. ISBN 0-7658-0471-9.

[1] Billington, James H. (1999). Fire in the Minds of Men — Origins of the Revolutionary Faith. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers. pp. 367–378. ISBN 0-7658-0471-9.

[1]