by Ziggy Keane

Created on: May 24, 2009   Last Updated: May 25, 2009

As the SPD grew in popularity throughout the 1890s, and into the 1900s, it increasingly became more moderate as the right-wing of the Party gained legitimacy through Wilhelm II's co-operation. In order to expand their base, the SPD sought to bring non-workers such as liberals into their program, and coalitions were formed within the Reichstag with various parties such as the Centre and Progressive parties.

A key element in the growth of the SPD was the removal of Anti-Socialist legislation. This brought the Party to a more mainstream place in the political arena, and once coalitions began to form, the electorate saw that the socialists were not as radical as Bismarck's government had described. This was partially a result of the party moving in a more moderate direction.

The fact that participation in the Socialist Party and its structures and affiliated organizations was now legal meant that socialist sympathizers who feared reprisals could now participate without the worry of prosecution. This is not to say that there was no anti-socialist sentiment; the upper classes and Junkers wanted to maintain the social order of the day, and felt that the removal of these laws would endanger their status at the top of the German totem pole.

The Erfurt Program of 1891 did little to placate these fears. Formulated by Bernstein, Bebel, and Kautsky, the program announced that capitalism would soon come to its demise, and that the socialization of industry was the only solution. Significantly, however, this program advocated that the SPD continue along a democratic route to improving the situation of the workers.

The program stated that the revolution was inevitable, and would come about organically; the job of the party was merely to improve day-to-day life for the workers. Although segments of this program, if taken out of context, appeared radical, the general sentiment was no different than the Party's policy through most of its history. This policy was best described as revolutionary attentisme (revolutionary waiting), and this was backed up by Karl Kautsky's statement that the SPD was a revolutionary party but not a revolution-making party.

Indeed, the SPD were the party responsible for approving war credits in World War I, which did more to stabilize the existing system than overthrow it. This was seen as a major betrayal in some quarters, but the popularity of the First World War among the German populace made no other choice politically viable.

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