Social Democratic Party of Germany
Template:Short description Template:Redirect-multi Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox political party The Social Democratic Party of Germany (Template:Langx {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, SPD {{#invoke:IPA|main}}) is a social democratic<ref name="reform">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Almeida">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Lavelle2013">Template:Cite book</ref> political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together with Lars Klingbeil, who joined her in December 2021. After Olaf Scholz was elected chancellor in 2021, the SPD became the leading party of the federal government, which the SPD formed with the Greens and the Free Democratic Party, after the 2021 federal election. The SPD is a member of 12 of the 16 German state governments and is a leading partner in seven of them.
The SPD was founded in 1875 from a merger of smaller socialist parties, and grew rapidly after the lifting of Germany's repressive Anti-Socialist Laws in 1890 to become the largest socialist party in Western Europe until 1933. In 1891, it adopted its Marxist-influenced Erfurt Program, though in practice it was moderate and focused on building working-class organizations. In the 1912 federal election, the SPD won 34.8 percent of votes and became the largest party in the Reichstag, but was still excluded from government. After the start of the First World War in 1914, the party split between a pro-war mainstream and the anti-war Independent Social Democratic Party, some members of which later formed the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). The SPD played a leading role in the German revolution of 1918–1919 and in the foundation of the Weimar Republic. The SPD politician Friedrich Ebert served as the first president of Germany from 1919 to 1925.
After the rise of the Nazi Party to power, the SPD was the only party in the Reichstag which voted against the Enabling Act of 1933; the SPD was subsequently banned, and operated in exile as the Sopade. After the Second World War from 1939 to 1945, the SPD was re-established. In East Germany, it merged with the KPD under duress to form the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. In West Germany, the SPD became one of two major parties alongside the CDU/CSU. In its Godesberg Program of 1959, the SPD dropped its commitment to Marxism, becoming a big tent party of the centre-left. The SPD led the federal government from 1969 to 1982 (under Willy Brandt and Helmut Schmidt), 1998 to 2005 (under Gerhard Schröder) and again from 2021 to 2025 under Scholz. It served as a junior partner to a CDU/CSU-led government from 1966 to 1969, 2005 to 2009, 2013 to 2021 and again since 2025.
The SPD holds pro-European stances and is a member of the Party of European Socialists and sits with the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> With 14 MEPs, it is the third largest party in the group. The SPD was a founding member of the Socialist International, but the party left in 2013 after criticising its acceptance of parties they consider to be violating human rights.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The SPD subsequently founded the Progressive Alliance<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and was joined by numerous other parties around the world. Previously, the SPD was a founding member of both the Second International and the Labour and Socialist International.
HistoryEdit
The Social Democratic Party has its origins in the General German Workers' Association, founded in 1863, and the Social Democratic Workers' Party, founded in 1869. The two groups merged in 1875 to create the Template:Ill (Template:Langx). From 1878 to 1890, the Anti-Socialist Laws banned any group that aimed at spreading socialist principles, but the party still gained support in elections. In 1890, when the ban was lifted, the party adopted its current name. The SPD was the largest Marxist party in Europe and consistently the most popular party in German federal elections from 1890 onward, although it was surpassed by other parties in terms of seats won in the Reichstag due to the electoral system.<ref>Christopher R. Browning, The Origins of the Final Solution: The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939 – March 1942 (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press and Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004), p. 7.</ref>
In the years leading up to World War I, the SPD remained radical in principle, but moderate in reality. According to Roger Eatwell and Anthony Wright, the SPD became a party of reform, with social democracy representing "a party that strives after the socialist transformation of society by the means of democratic and economic reforms". They emphasise this development as central to understanding 20th-century social democracy, of which the SPD was a major influence.<ref>Eatwell, Roger; Wright, Anthony (1999). Contemporary Political Ideologies (2nd ed.). London: Continuum. p. 87. Template:ISBN.</ref> In the 1912 federal election, the SPD won 34.8 per cent of votes and became the largest party in the Reichstag with 110 seats, although it was still excluded from government.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Despite the Second International's agreement to oppose militarism,<ref>In, for example, the International Socialist Congress, Stuttgart 1907.</ref> the SPD supported the German war effort and adopted a policy, known as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, of refraining from calling strikes or criticising the government.<ref>V. R. Berghahn, Germany and the Approach of War in 1914 (1974) pp. 178–85</ref><ref>Dieter Groh, "The 'Unpatriotic Socialists' and the State." Journal of Contemporary History 1.4 (1966): 151–77. online.</ref> Internal opposition to the policy grew throughout the war. Anti-war members were expelled in 1916 and 1917, leading to the formation of the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD).<ref>Winkler, Der lange Weg nach Westen, Beck Verlag Munich, 2000, p. 362</ref>
The SPD played a key role in the German Revolution of 1918–1919. On 9 November 1918, leading SPD member Friedrich Ebert was designated chancellor and fellow Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann, on his own authority, proclaimed Germany a republic.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The SPD government introduced a large number of reforms in the following months, introducing various civil liberties and labor rights.<ref>The Social Democratic Party of Germany 1848–2005 by Heinrich Potthoff and Susanne Miller</ref> Concurrently, they used military force against communist and socialist revolutionary groups, leading to a permanent split between the SPD and the USPD, as well as the Spartacist League which would go on to form the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and integrate a majority of USPD members as well.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The SPD was the largest party during the first 13 years of the new Weimar Republic. It decisively won the 1919 federal election with 37.9 per cent of votes, and Ebert became the first president in February.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The position of chancellor was held by Social Democrats until the 1920 federal election, when the SPD lost a substantial portion of its support, falling to 22 per cent of votes. After this, the SPD yielded the chancellery to other parties, although it remained part of the government until 1924. Ebert died in 1925 and was succeeded by conservative Paul von Hindenburg. After making gains in the 1928 federal election, the SPD's Hermann Müller became chancellor.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
As Germany was struck hard by the Great Depression, and unable to negotiate an effective response to the crisis, Müller resigned in 1930. The SPD was sidelined as the Nazi Party gained popularity and conservatives dominated the government, assisted by Hindenburg's frequent use of emergency powers. The {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, the SPD's paramilitary wing, was frequently involved in violent confrontations with the Nazi Sturmabteilung.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Nazis overtook the SPD as the largest party in July 1932 and Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor in January 1933. Of the parties present in the Reichstag during the passage of the Enabling Act of 1933, the SPD was the only one to vote against; most of the communist deputies had been arrested ahead of the vote.<ref>Kitson, Alison. Germany, 1858–1990: Hope, Terror, and Revival, pp. 153–54 (Oxford U. Press 2001).</ref> The SPD was banned in June. Many members were subsequently imprisoned and killed by the Nazi government while others fled the country. The party-in-exile was called Sopade.<ref>William Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (Touchstone Edition) (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990)</ref>
After the end of World War II, the re-establishment of the SPD was permitted in the Western occupation zones in 1945. In the Soviet occupation zone, the SPD was forcibly merged with the KPD in 1946 to form the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). The SED was the ruling party of East Germany until 1989.<ref>Entscheidung für die SED 1946 – ein Verrat an sozialdemokratischen Idealen?, in: Jahrbuch für Forschungen zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung, No. I/2004.</ref> In West Germany, the SPD became one of two major parties, alongside the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). In the inaugural 1949 federal election, it placed second with 29.2 per cent of votes and led the opposition to the CDU government.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In its 1959 Godesberg Program, the party dropped its commitment to Marxism and sought to appeal to middle class voters, becoming a big tent party of the centre-left.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web
}}</ref>
Although strongly leftist, the SPD was willing to compromise. Only through its support did the governing CDU/CSU pass a denazification law that its coalition partner the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the far-right German Party voted against.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> At the same time, the SPD opposed the pro-West integration of West Germany because they believed that made a re-unification of Germany impossible. Austria could have become a sovereign neutral state in 1956, but a 1952 Soviet suggestion for Germans to form a neutral state was ignored by the CDU/CSU–FDP government. After 17 years in opposition, the SPD became the junior partner in a grand coalition with the CDU/CSU which lasted from 1966 to 1969. After the 1969 federal election, the SPD's Willy Brandt became chancellor in a coalition with the liberal Free Democratic Party. His government sought to normalise relations with East Germany and the Eastern Bloc, a policy known as Ostpolitik.<ref>Hofmann, Arne. The emergence of détente in Europe: Brandt, Kennedy and the formation of Ostpolitik. (Routledge, 2007).</ref> The party achieved its best ever result of 45.8 per cent in 1972, one of only three occasions in which it formed the largest Bundestag faction.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After Brandt's resignation in 1974, his successor Helmut Schmidt served as chancellor until 1982, when the SPD returned to opposition.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
During the Peaceful Revolution in East Germany, the East German SPD was refounded. It merged with the West German party in 1990, shortly before German reunification.<ref>Wolfgang Grof: "In der frischen Tradition des Herbstes 1989". Die SDP/SPD in der DDR: Von der Gründung über die Volkskammerarbeit zur deutschen Einheit</ref> The SPD returned to government under Gerhard Schröder after the 1998 federal election in a coalition with The Greens.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This government was re-elected in 2002 but defeated in 2005.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The SPD then became junior partner of a grand coalition with the CDU/CSU until 2009. After a term in opposition, they again served as junior partner to the CDU/CSU after the 2013 federal election.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This arrangement was renewed after the 2017 federal election.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> SPD narrowly won against the CDU/CSU in the September 2021 federal election, becoming the biggest party in the federal parliament (Bundestag).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Social Democrat Olaf Scholz became the new chancellor in December 2021, and formed a coalition government with the Green Party and the Free Democrats.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the 2024 European Parliament election, the party fell to third behind the far right AfD and the CDU/CSU.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In December 2024, the traffic light coalition ended with the FDP leaving and Scholz losing a vote of confidence.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The SPD entered the 2025 German federal election behind in the polls, and achieved its worst result in post-war history, with just 120 seats.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The party placed third behind Alternative for Germany (AfD), with CDU leader Friedrich Merz projected to become Germany's next chancellor.
Ideology and platformEdit
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The SPD was established as a Marxist party in 1875. It underwent a major shift in policies, reflected in the differences between the Heidelberg Program of 1925 which called for "the transformation of the capitalist system of private ownership of the means of production to social ownership"<ref>Brustein, William (1996). Logic of Evil: The Social Origins of the Nazi Party 1925–1933. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. p. 131.</ref> and the Godesberg Program of 1959 which aimed to broaden the party's voter base and to move its political position toward the political centre.<ref>Cooper, Alice Holmes. Paradoxes of Peace: German Peace Movements since 1945. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. p. 85.</ref> After World War II, the SPD was re-formed in West Germany after being banned by the Nazi regime; in East Germany, it merged with the Communist Party of Germany to form the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany. Under the chairmanship of Kurt Schumacher, the SPD was a socialist party representing the interests of the working class and of trade unions. With the 1959 Godesberg Program, the party evolved from a socialist working-class party to a modern social democratic party. The SPD's Hamburg Programme, adopted in 2007, describes democratic socialism as "the vision of a free and fair society in solidarity", which requires "a structure in economy, state and society guaranteeing civil, political, social and economic basic rights for all people living a life without exploitation, suppression and violence, hence in social and human security", the realization of which is emphasized as a "permanent task". Social democracy serves as the "principle of our actions".<ref>Social Democratic Party of Germany (28 October 2007). "Hamburg Programme. Principal guidelines of the Social Democratic Party of Germany" (PDF). Hamburg: Social Democratic Party of Germany. Retrieved 10 July 2020.</ref>
The party platform of the SPD espouses the goal of democratic socialism, which it envisions as a societal arrangement in which freedom and social justice are paramount. According to the party platform, political freedom, justice and social solidarity form the basis of social democracy.
- The coordinated social market economy should be strengthened and its output should be distributed fairly. The party sees that economic system as necessary in order to ensure the affluence of the entire population.
- The SPD also supports a welfare state.
- Concurrently, it supports rather austere fiscal policy, being against state run deficits and for reducing debt.
- In social policy, the Social Democrats stand for civil and political rights in an open society.
- In foreign policy, the party aims at ensuring global peace by balancing global interests with democratic means; European integration is a main priority. During Scholz's chancellorship, the party has set out principles of a new German defence policy in the Zeitenwende speech.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> During the Gaza war, it authorized substantial German military and medical aid to Israel, denouncing the actions of Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":10">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":11">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- The SPD supports economic regulations to limit potential losses for banks and people. They support a common European economic and financial policy to prevent speculative bubbles as well as to foster environmentally sustainable growth.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Internal factionsEdit
The SPD is mostly composed of members belonging to either of the two main wings, namely the Keynesian social democrats and Third Way moderate social democrats belonging to the Seeheimer Kreis. While the more moderate Seeheimer Kreis generally support the Agenda 2010 programs introduced by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, the classical social democrats continue to defend classical left-wing policies and the welfare state. The Keynesian left-wing of the SPD claims that in recent years the welfare state has been curtailed through reform programs such as the Agenda 2010, Hartz IV, and the more economic liberal stance of the SPD which were endorsed by centrist social democrats.<ref name="Centrist">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Left-wing">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In reaction to Agenda 2010, an inner-party dissident movement developed, leading to the foundation of the new party Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative (Arbeit & soziale Gerechtigkeit – Die Wahlalternative, WASG) in 2005, which later merged into The Left (Die Linke) in 2007.<ref>Nils Schnelle (2007). Die WASG – Von der Gründung bis zur geplanten Fusion mit der Linkspartei. Munich.</ref> The Parlamentarische Linke comprises left-wing SPD Members of the German Bundestag.
ElectorateEdit
Social structureEdit
Prior to World War II, as the main non-revolutionary left-wing party, the Social Democrats fared best among non-Catholic workers as well as intellectuals favouring social progressive causes and increased economic equality. Led by Kurt Schumacher after World War II, the SPD initially opposed both the social market economy and Konrad Adenauer's drive towards Western integration fiercely; after Schumacher's death, however, it accepted the social market economy and Germany's position in the Western alliance in order to appeal to a broader range of voters. It still remains associated with the economic causes of unionised employees and working class voters. In the 1990s, the left and moderate wings of the party drifted apart. This culminated in a secession of a significant number of party members which later joined the socialist party WASG; the party later merged into The Left (Die Linke).
Geographic distributionEdit
Much of the SPD's current-day support comes from large cities, especially northern and western Germany and Berlin. As of 2019, 10 of the country's 15 biggest cities are led by SPD mayors. The metropolitan Ruhr Area, where coal mining and steel production were once the main industries, have provided a significant base for the SPD in the 20th century. In the city of Bremen, the SPD has continuously governed since 1949.
In southern Germany, the SPD typically garners less support except in the largest cities. At the 2009 federal election, the party lost its only constituency in the entire state of Bavaria (in Munich).
Small town and rural support comes especially from the traditionally Protestant areas of northern Germany and Brandenburg (with previous exceptions such as Western Pomerania where CDU leader Angela Merkel held her constituency, which the SPD gained in 2021) and a number of university towns. A striking example of the general pattern is the traditionally Catholic Emsland, where the Social Democrats generally gain a low percentage of votes, whereas the Reformed Protestant region of East Frisia directly to the north, with its strong traditional streak of anti-Catholicism, is one of their strongest constituencies.
Further south, the SPD also enjoys solid support in northern Hesse, parts of Palatinate and the Saarland. The social democrats are weakest in the south-eastern states of Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia, where the party's percentage of votes dropped to single-digit figures in the 2018 and 2019 elections. In 2021, it significantly increased its vote share in the states of the former east.
Post-war leadershipEdit
Template:See also The federal leader is supported by six Deputy Leaders and the party executive. As of 2021, the leaders are Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans. The previous leader was Andrea Nahles, who announced her pending resignation on 2 June 2019. As Germany is a federal republic, each of Germany's states have their own SPD party at the state level.
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Party leadersEdit
| Leader | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |1 | Kurt Schumacher | 1946–1952 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |2 | Erich Ollenhauer | 1952–1963 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |3 | Willy Brandt | 1964–1987 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |4 | Hans-Jochen Vogel | 1987–1991 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |5 | Björn Engholm | 1991–1993 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |6 | Rudolf Scharping | 1993–1995 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |7 | Oskar Lafontaine | 1995–1999 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |8 | Gerhard Schröder | 1999–2004 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |9 | Franz Müntefering (1st term) | 2004–2005 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |10 | Matthias Platzeck | 2005–2006 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |11 | Kurt Beck | 2006–2008 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |12 Template:Small |
Franz Müntefering (2nd term) | 2008–2009 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |13 | Sigmar Gabriel | 2009–2017 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |14 | Martin Schulz | 2017–2018 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |15 | Andrea Nahles | 2018–2019 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |16 | Saskia Esken & Norbert Walter-Borjans |
2019–2021 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |17 | Saskia Esken & Lars Klingbeil | 2021–present |
Leaders in the BundestagEdit
From August until October 2010, senior Bundestag member Joachim Poß served as interim Bundestag leader in the absence of Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who was recovering from donating a kidney to his wife.
| Leader | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |1 | Kurt Schumacher | 1949–1952 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |2 | Erich Ollenhauer | 1952–1963 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |3 | Fritz Erler | 1964–1967 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |4 | Helmut Schmidt | 1967–1969 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |5 | Herbert Wehner | 1969–1983 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |6 | Hans-Jochen Vogel | 1983–1991 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |7 | Hans-Ulrich Klose | 1991–1994 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |8 | Rudolf Scharping | 1994–1998 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |9 | Peter Struck (1st term) | 1998–2002 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |10 | Ludwig Stiegler | 2002 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |11 | Franz Müntefering | 2002–2005 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |(9) | Peter Struck (2nd term) | 2005–2009 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |12 | Frank-Walter Steinmeier | 2009–2013 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |13 | Thomas Oppermann | 2013–2017 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |14 | Andrea Nahles | 2017–2019 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |15 | Rolf Mützenich | 2019–2025 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |16 | Lars Klingbeil | 2025 |
| style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |17 | Matthias Miersch | 2025-present |
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Federal presidentsEdit
| Gustav Heinemann | 1969–1974 |
| Johannes Rau | 1999–2004 |
| Frank-Walter Steinmeier | 2017–present |
Federal chancellorsEdit
| Chancellor of Germany | Time in office |
|---|---|
| Willy Brandt | 1969–1974 |
| Helmut Schmidt | 1974–1982 |
| Gerhard Schröder | 1998–2005 |
| Olaf Scholz | 2021–2025 |
Vice chancellorsEdit
| Vice Chancellor of Germany | Time in office |
|---|---|
| Willy Brandt | 1966–1969 |
| Egon Franke | 1982 |
| Franz Müntefering | 2005–2007 |
| Frank-Walter Steinmeier | 2007–2009 |
| Sigmar Gabriel | 2013–2018 |
| Olaf Scholz | 2018–2021 |
| Lars Klingbeil | 2025-present |
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State-levelEdit
Election resultsEdit
The SPD, at times called SAPD, took part in general elections determining the composition of parliament. For elections up until 1933, the parliament was called the Reichstag, except for the one of 1919 which was called the National Assembly and since 1949 the parliament is called Bundestag. Note that changes in borders (1871, 1919, 1920, 1949, 1957 and 1990) varied the number of eligible voters whereas electoral laws also changed the ballot system (only constituencies until 1912, only party lists until 1949 and a mixed system thereafter), the suffrage (women vote since 1919; minimum active voting age was 25 till 1918, 20 till 1946, 21 till 1972 and 18 since), the number of seats (fixed or flexible) and the length of the legislative period (three or four years). The list begins after the SPD was formed in 1875, when labour parties unified to form the SPD (then SAPD, current name since 1890).
Imperial Germany (Reichstag)Edit
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1877 | 493,447 | 9.1 (#4) | Template:Composition bar | Template:No2 | |
| 1878 | 437,158 | 7.6 (#5) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Decrease 4 | Template:No2 |
| 1881 | 311,961 | 6.1 (#7) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Increase 4 | Template:No2 |
| 1884 | 549,990 | 9.7 (#5) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Increase 11 | Template:No2 |
| 1887 | 763,102 | 10.1 (#5) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Decrease 13 | Template:No2 |
| 1890 | 1,427,323 | 19.7 (#1) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Increase 24 | Template:No2 |
| 1893 | 1,786,738 | 23.3 (#1) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Increase 9 | Template:No2 |
| 1898 | 2,107,076 | 27.2 (#1) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Increase 12 | Template:No2 |
| 1903 | 3,010,771 | 31.7 (#1) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Increase 25 | Template:No2 |
| 1907 | 3,259,029 | 28.9 (#1) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Decrease 38 | Template:No2 |
| 1912 | 4,250,399 | 34.8 (#1) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Increase 67 | Template:No2 |
| Template:Yes2 |
Weimar Republic (Reichstag)Edit
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1919 | 11,516,852 | 37.9 (#1) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Increase 55 | Template:Yes2 |
| 1920 | 6,179,991 | 21.9 (#1) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Decrease 62 | Template:Partial2 |
| Template:Yes2 | |||||
| Template:Partial2 | |||||
| Template:Yes2 | |||||
| Template:No2 | |||||
| May 1924 | 6,008,905 | 20.5 (#1) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Decrease 3 | Template:No2 |
| Dec 1924 | 7,881,041 | 26.0 (#1) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Increase 31 | Template:No2 |
| Template:Partial2 | |||||
| Template:No2 | |||||
| 1928 | 9,152,979 | 29.8 (#1) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Increase 22 | Template:Yes2 |
| 1930 | 8,575,244 | 24.5 (#1) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Decrease 10 | Template:No2 |
| Jul 1932 | 7,959,712 | 21.6 (#2) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Decrease 10 | Template:No2 |
| Nov 1932 | 7,247,901 | 20.4 (#2) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Decrease 12 | Template:No2 |
| Mar 1933 | 7,181,629 | 18.3 (#2) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Decrease 1 | Template:No2 |
| Nov 1933 | colspan=6Template:CNone | ||||
| 1936 | colspan=6Template:CNone | ||||
| 1938 | colspan=6Template:CNone |
Federal parliament (Bundestag)Edit
{{#invoke:Gallery|gallery}}
European ParliamentEdit
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 11,370,045 | 40.83 (#1) | Template:Composition bar | New | SOC |
| 1984 | 9,296,417 | 37.41 (#2) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Decrease 1 | |
| 1989 | 10,525,728 | 37.32 (#1) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Decrease 2 | |
| 1994 | 11,389,697 | 32.16 (#1) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Increase 10 | PES |
| 1999 | 8,307,085 | 30.70 (#2) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Decrease 7 | |
| 2004 | 5,547,971 | 21.52 (#2) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Decrease 10 | |
| 2009 | 5,472,566 | 20.78 (#2) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Steady 0 | S&D |
| 2014 | 7,999,955 | 27.26 (#2) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Increase 4 | |
| 2019 | 5,914,953 | 15.82 (#3) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Decrease 11 | |
| 2024 | 5,548,528 | 13.94 (#3) | Template:Composition bar | Template:Decrease 2 |
State parliaments (Länder)Edit
Results timelineEdit
See alsoEdit
- Bundestag (Federal Assembly of Germany)
- Elections in the Free State of Prussia
- Iron Front
- List of political parties in Germany
- Mierscheid Law
- Party finance in Germany
- Politics of Germany
- Weimar Republic
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
Further readingEdit
- Orlow, Dietrich. Common Destiny: A Comparative History of the Dutch, French, and German Social Democratic Parties, 1945–1969 (2000) online.
- Carl E. Schorske, German Social Democracy, 1905–1917: The Development of the Great Schism (Harvard University Press, 1955).
- Vernon L. Lidtke, The Outlawed Party: Social Democracy in Germany, 1878–1890 (Princeton University Press, 1966).
- Berlau, Abraham. German Social Democratic Party, 1914–1921 (Columbia University Press, 1949).
- Maxwell, John Allen. "Social Democracy in a Divided Germany: Kurt Schumacher and the German Question, 1945–1952." Ph.D. dissertation, West Virginia University, Department of History, Morgantown, West Virginia, 1969.
- McAdams, A. James. "Germany Divided: From the Wall to Reunification." Princeton University Press, 1992 and 1993.
- Erich Matthias, The Downfall of the Old Social Democratic Party in 1933 pp. 51–105 from Republic to Reich The Making of the Nazi Revolution Ten Essays edited by Hajo Holborn, (New York: Pantheon Books, 1972).
- Eric D. Weitz, Creating German Communism, 1890–1990: From Popular Protests to Socialist State. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1997.
- David Priestand, Red Flag: A History of Communism", New York: Grove Press, 2009.
- Carlton J. H. Hayes. (1917). The History of German Socialism Reconsidered. The American Historical Review, 23(1), 62–101. [1].
External linksEdit
- Template:Official website Template:In lang
- History of the German social democratic party (archived 4 October 2010)
Template:Social Democratic Party of Germany Template:Parties of Germany Template:Party of European Socialists Template:German Empire political parties Template:Weimar Republic political parties Template:Authority control