Social Democratic Party of Germany summary

Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), German political party. Formed in 1875 as the Socialist Workers’ Party and renamed in 1890, it is Germany’s oldest political party and one of its largest. Its influence grew until World War I, when centrists led by Karl Kautsky formed the Independent Social Democrats and leftists led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht formed the Spartacists. The SPD’s right wing under Friedrich Ebert helped crush the Soviet-style uprisings in Germany in 1918, and the party won 37% of the vote in the 1919 elections. The government’s acceptance of the Treaty of Versailles and Germany’s severe economic problems caused a drop in support in the 1920s. Outlawed by the Nazis in 1933, the party revived after World War II in West Germany and grew steadily, receiving almost 46% of the vote in the 1972 elections. It formed coalition governments with the Christian Democratic Union (1966–69) and the Free Democratic Party (1969–82). In 1990 it reunited with a newly independent SPD from the former East Germany. The party returned to power in 1998 under Gerhard Schröder, who served as chancellor of Germany until 2005. The SPD was the junior partner in a grand coalition from 2005 until 2009, when its poor results in Germany’s parliamentary elections forced it out of the coalition government.