Question

Describe the growth and fall of the Social Democratic Party ​

Answer 1

Answer:

The foundation of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (German: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, SPD) can be traced back to the 1860s, and for much of the 20th and 21st centuries it has represented the centre-left in German politics. Nevertheless from 1891 to 1959 the Party at least theoretically espoused Marxism.[1]

Protagonists of the political party organized early German workers' movement (Top row: August Bebel and Wilhelm Liebknecht for the SDAP - Middle: Karl Marx as an ideal pulse

Bottom row: Carl Wilhelm Tölcke, Ferdinand Lassalle for ADAV)

SPD party convention in 1988, with Nobel prize winner Willy Brandt, chairman from 1964 to 1987

The SPD has been the ruling party at several points, first under Friedrich Ebert in 1918. The party was outlawed in Nazi Germany but returned to government in 1969 with Willy Brandt. Meanwhile, the East German branch of the SPD was merged with the ruling KPD.

In the modern Federal Republic of Germany, the SPD are the second largest party after the CDU and are currently (as of 2017) in government as a junior coalition partner to Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU. The SPD last held the chancellorship under Gerhard Schröder from 1998 to 2005.

Answer 2

Explanation:

Of the major parties of the Weimar Republic, only the SPD returned as a major party when democracy was restored after the war.

So, why is a movement that survived Hitler now facing what the authors call a “make-or-break year?” The SPD is currently polling at around 15% – behind the Greens and only just ahead of the national populist AfD. Unless it can show some signs of recovery in the upcoming European and regional elections, its minor party status will be confirmed. To make the challenge ten times more difficult, it must be met while the SPD reluctantly serves as a junior partner to Angela Merkel’s centre-right CDU. A party that fails to get into government is one thing; a party that fails to get into opposition is something else. It’s hard to strike out in a bold new direction when you’re propping up the status quo.