A Critique of the Draft Social-Democratic Programme of 1891

An important document written by Engels in response to the draft party programme put forth by the Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. Written between June 18 and 29, 1891, but was not published until 1901 in the journal Die Neue Zeit.

The abolition of the Anti-Socialist Laws in 1890 and the change in the tactics of the ruling class allowed the Social Democratic Party of Germany to acquire the external conditions for legal struggle, and with it, the opportunists within the party became active. In June 1891, the draft of the new party programme drawn up by Liebknecht was finalized by the Central Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Party of Germany after repeated revisions and was ready to be submitted to the Erfurt Congress for discussion, which did not put forward the demand of proletarian revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat. On June 18, the Executive Committee sent the draft in a secret document to Engels, who wrote this critical opinion after an in-depth analysis of the draft. In the text, Engels first affirmed that the this draft was more progressive compared to the Gotha Programme, but at the same time he pointed out that it still had shortcomings. On this basis, Engels first criticized opportunism in Germany and pointed out the harm that opportunism could bring. He pointed out: “One can conceive that the old society may develop peacefully into the new one in countries where the representatives of the people concentrate all power in their hands, where, if one has the support of the majority of the people, one can do as one sees fit in a constitutional way”, whereas in Germany, where a reactionary dictatorship was introduced, “totally mistaken is the belief that a republic, and not only a republic, but also communist society, can be established in a cosy, peaceful way”. The danger of opportunism was obvious—forgetting of the great, the principal considerations for the momentary interests of the day, struggling and striving for the success of the moment regardless of later consequences. Policies guided by the opportunist viewpoint could also lead the party astray, leaving it suddenly helpless at the decisive moment. Engels then clarified the political objectives of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. He held that the Social Democratic Party of Germany must overthrow the monarchy and establish a democratic republic. Because “our party and the working class can only come to power under the form of a democratic republic. This is even the specific form for the dictatorship of the proletariat” and in Germany, “the proletariat can only use the form of the one and indivisible republic.”

A Critique of the Draft Social-Democratic Programme of 1891 sharply criticized the opportunism within the Social Democratic Party of Germany and dealt a head-on blow to the increasingly rampant opportunism. It resolutely defended the Marxist doctrine of proletarian revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat, and played an important guiding role for the Party to formulate its party programme according to the theory of scientific socialism.