Socialist Workers’ Party of Germany

The first unified working-class party in Germany. In May 1875, the Social Democratic Workers’ Party of Germany (the Eisenachers) and the General German Workers’ Association (the Lassalleans) merged in the city of Gotha. Their merger ended the long-term spilt in the German workers’ movement and was conducive to the development of the workers’ movement. However, the Eisenachers had no qualms about haggling about principles for the sake of merger, consequently the unified Party’s programme (i.e., the Gotha Programme) was flawed by certain Lassallean views. Marx wrote the famous work Critique of the Gotha Programme (originally titled Marginal Notes to the Programme of the German Worker’s Party), criticized the mistaken ideas in the Gotha Programme, and elaborated on the theory of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the principles of the two stages of the development of communist society.

In 1890, the party was renamed as the Social Democratic Party of Germany. It was the backbone of the Second International and the fourth party in Germany. It played a positive role in promoting the development of the German workers’ movement and the International Communist Movement. It was the backbone of the Second International and the fourth biggest party in Germany; played a positive role in promoting the development of the German workers’ movement and the international communist movement. However, after the death of Marx and Engels, opportunism and revisionism within the Party gradually gained dominance. After the outbreak of World War I, it degenerated into a vassal and accomplice of the bourgeoisie.