Editing General German Workers' Association

{{Short description|1863–1875 left-wing political party in Germany}}
{{Infobox political party
| name             = General German<br>Workers' Association
| native_name      = Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiter-Verein
| colorcode        = {{party color|Social Democratic Party of Germany}}
| founder          = [[Ferdinand Lassalle]]
| founded          = {{start date and age|1863|05|23|df=yes}}
| dissolved        = {{end date and age|1875|05}}
| merger           = 
| merged           = [[Social Democratic Party of Germany]]
| headquarters     = [[Berlin]]<br>[[Leipzig]] (since 1868)
| newspaper        = ''Der Sozial-Demokrat''<br>''Der Agitator''<br>''Neuer Social-Demokrat''
| membership       = 15,000
| ideology         = [[History of the Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social democracy]]<br />[[Lassallism]]
| position         = [[Left-wing politics|Left-wing]]
| colors           = {{color box|{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Germany}}|border=darkgray}} [[Red]]
| country          = Germany
}}

The '''General German Workers' Association''' ({{langx|de|Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiter-Verein}}, '''ADAV''') was a [[List of political parties in Germany|German political party]] founded on 23 May 1863 in [[Leipzig]], [[Kingdom of Saxony]] by [[Ferdinand Lassalle]]. It was the first organized mass working-class party in history.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Shlomo|title=Karl Marx: Philosophy and Revolution|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2019|isbn=978-0300211702|pages=125}}</ref>

The organization existed by this name until 1875, when it combined with the [[Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany]] (SDAP) to form the Socialist Workers' Party of Germany. This unified organization was renamed soon thereafter the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany]] (SPD), which presently remains in existence and dates its origins to the founding of the ADAV. Its [[Austria]]n part would become the [[SPÖ]].

The ADAV was the first German [[List of Labour parties|Labour Party]], formed in [[Prussia]] before the establishment of the [[German Empire]]. It was active in the [[German Confederation]], which included the [[Austrian Empire]].<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Lassalle|first1=Ferdinand|url=https://archive.org/details/gesammelteredenu04lassuoft/page/188/mode/2up|title=Gesammelte Reden und Schriften|last2=Bernstein|first2=Eduard|year=1919|publisher=Berlin, Paul Cassirer }}</ref>

== Organizational history ==
=== Establishment ===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R66693, Ferdinand Lassalle.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Ferdinand Lassalle]], founder of the ADAV]]
The ADAV was founded in Leipzig by [[Ferdinand Lassalle]] and twelve delegates from some of the most important cities in Germany, namely [[Barmen]], [[Dresden]], [[Düsseldorf]], [[Elberfeld]], [[Frankfurt am Main]], [[Hamburg]], [[Harburg, Hamburg|Harburg]], [[Cologne]], [[Leipzig]], [[Mainz]] and [[Solingen]].

The ADAV sought to advance the interests of the [[working class]] and to work for the establishment of [[socialism]] by the use of electoral politics.<ref name=Goyens65>Tom Goyens (2007). ''[[Beer and Revolution: The German Anarchist Movement in New York City, 1880–1914]]''. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. p. 65.</ref> Lassalle acted as president from 23 May 1863 until his death in a [[duel]] on 31 August 1864.

The unofficial organ of the ADAV was the newspaper ''Der Sozial-Demokrat'' (''The Social Democrat''),<ref name=Goyens65/> launching publication in Berlin on 15 December 1864.<ref>Vladimir Sazonov (1987). Footnotes to ''Marx-Engels Collected Works: Volume 42: Marx and Engels, 1864-68''. New York: International Publishers. p. 599. fn. 80.</ref> The publication initially won promises of editorial contributions from the radical exiles [[Karl Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels]], but the pair soon disfavored the notion owing to the allegiance of the ''Sozial-Demokrat'' and the ADAV to the memory and ideas of their nemesis Lassalle.<ref>Karl Marx in London to [[Carl Siebel]] in Elberfeld. ''Marx-Engels Collected Works: Volume 42''. p. 58.</ref>

=== Development ===

The ADAV had its first congress, called a General Assembly, in [[Düsseldorf]] on 27 December 1864.<ref name=Sazonov82>Sazonov. Footnotes to ''Marx-Engels Collected Works: Volume 42''. p. 599, fn. 82.</ref> Marx and his associates had hoped that this gathering would cause the organization to join the newly established [[International Workingmen's Association]] (First International), which they helped manage, but the gathering did not discuss affiliation, further disaffecting Marx from the group.<ref name=Sazonov82/>

[[Wilhelm Liebknecht]] was a member until 1865, but as the ADAV tried to cooperate with [[Otto von Bismarck]]'s government, for example on the question of [[women's suffrage]], Liebknecht became disillusioned with the association. He had been writing for ''Der Sozial-Demokrat,'' but as a result of disagreement with the newspaper's [[Prussia]]-friendly rhetoric he quit the organization to establish the [[Saxon People's Party]] along with [[August Bebel]]. In 1869, Liebknecht became a co-founder of the SDAP in [[Eisenach]] as a branch of the International Workingmen's Association.

Liebknecht was to meet again with his old ADAV colleagues as the lack of support for the ADAV caused them to join forces with Liebknecht's SDAP in 1875.

=== Merger and legacy ===
Together with the SDAP, the ADAV formed the Socialist Workers' Party of Germany at the Socialist Unity Conference in [[Gotha]]. The manifesto of the new organization was the [[Gotha Program]], which urged "[[Universal suffrage|universal, equal, direct suffrage]]".

In 1890, the party was renamed the Social Democratic Party of Germany and it still exists under this name. The SDP now dates its origins to the founding of the ADAV and celebrated its 150th anniversary in the spring of 2013.<ref>Peter Schwarz (23 May 2013). [https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/05/23/spd-m23.html "The SPD Celebrates its 150th Anniversary"]. World Socialist Web Site.</ref>

==Lasallean General German Workers' Association==
{{Main|Lassallean General German Workers' Association}}
The Lasallean General German Workers' Association (LADAV) was a short-lived splinter party founded by [[Sophie von Hatzfeldt]] and [[Friedrich Wilhelm Emil Försterling ]] in June 1867. Despite success when Försterling gained the Reichstag seat for the [[Chemnitz Reichstag constituency]] in the [[August 1867 North German federal election|August 1867 election]], the party passed out of existence after Försterling resigned his seat in April 1870 and died in 1872.<ref name="SPD Chemnitz">{{cite web |title=Emil Försterling – SPD Chemnitz |url=http://stark-fuer-chemnitz.de/friedrich-wilhelm-emil-foersterling/ |website=stark-fuer-chemnitz |publisher=SPD Unterbezirk Chemnitz |access-date=20 August 2020 |language=de-DE |archive-date=24 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024203225/http://stark-fuer-chemnitz.de/friedrich-wilhelm-emil-foersterling/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Presidents ==
* [[Ferdinand Lassalle]] (23 May 1863 – 31 August 1864)
* [[Otto Dammer]] (1 September – 2 November 1864)
* [[Bernhard Becker]] (2 November 1864 – 21 November 1869)
* [[Friedrich Wilhelm Fritzsche]] (21–30 November 1865)
* [[Hugo Hillmann]] (30 November – 31 December 1865)
* [[Carl Wilhelm Tölcke]] (1 January – 18 June 1866
* [[August Perl]] (18 June 1866 – 19 May 1867)
* [[Johann Baptist von Schweitzer]] (20 May 1867 – 30 June 1871)
* [[Fritz Mende]] (24 June – 4 July 1869)
* [[Wilhelm Hasenclever]] (1 July 1871 – 25 May 1875)

== References ==
{{reflist|25em}}

{{German Empire political parties}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Communism in Germany]]
[[Category:Defunct social democratic parties in Germany]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1863]]
[[Category:Political parties of the German Empire]]
[[Category:1875 disestablishments in Germany]]
[[Category:Social Democratic Party of Germany]]
[[Category:Ferdinand Lassalle]]
[[Category:1863 establishments in the German Confederation]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1875]]
[[Category:Political parties of Prussia]]