Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany

The Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (German: Unabhängige Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, or USPD) was a short-lived social democratic political party in the German Empire and the Weimar Republic.

History

Its history begins on December 21, 1915, when 20 members of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in the Reichstag voted against the authorization of more credits for the financing of the First World War, an incident that increased the Existing tensions between the party leaders and its most leftist faction, led by Hugo Haase and opposed to the war, which finally led to his expulsion from the SPD on March 24, 1916.

In order to continue its parliamentary work, the group formed the SAG (Sozialdemokratische Arbeitsgemeinschaft) or Social Democratic Working Group. Continuing tensions with the SPD led to the creation of the USPD on April 6, 1917, at the Gotha Conference, at which Haase was named first president; The new party was also joined by the Spartacist League, although maintaining a certain autonomy. To avoid confusion, the SPD was thereafter referred to as MSPD or majority SPD (Mehrheits-SPD).

From the strike of January 1918 - in which the end of the war and a better supply policy was called for - organized by revolutionaries affiliated with the USPD and officially supported by this party, the USPD reached the figure of 120,000 members. Despite its continued confrontation with the SPD due to its collaboration with the government, the USPD reached an agreement with it at the beginning of the German Revolution of November 1918, even becoming part of the subsequent government in the form of the Council of Workers' Deputies (Rat der Volksbeauftragten), formed on November 10 and in which Friedrich Ebert and Hugo Haase participated.

However, this agreement did not last long. On December 29, 1918, and in protest of the SPD's actions during the Berlin military mutiny of November 23, Haase, Wilhelm Dittmann and Emil Barth left the Council. At the same time, the Spartacist League of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht broke away from the USPD to join with other far-left groups and form the KPD, the Communist Party of Germany (Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands).

During the elections to the National Assembly on January 19, 1919 - in which the SPD was the strongest party with 37.9% of the votes - the USPD only obtained 7.6%. Despite this, the party's strong support for forming a government through a council system (Räterepublik) rather than parliamentary democracy attracted many SPD members, which In the spring of 1920, the USPD grew to 750,000 members, reaching 17.9% of voters during the federal elections of June 6, 1920, which allowed it to form one of the largest groups in the Reichstag., only surpassed by the SPD, which obtained 21.7% of the vote.

At the same time, however, a controversial debate arose in the party about whether or not to join the Comintern; Many militants felt that the requirements of this union would result in a loss of the party's independence by having to follow the "dictates of Moscow,", while others - especially younger members, such as Ernst Thälmann - argued that this Union would allow the party to realize its socialist ideals.

Finally, the proposal to join the Comintern was approved at the Halle convention of October 1920, but this caused the separation of the USPD into two opposing groups that were equally considered the 'authentic' ones, considering the other group as a split. On December 4, 1920, the left wing of the party, with some 400,000 members, joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) forming the VKPD or United Communist Party of Germany (Vereinigte Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands)., while the other half with about 340,000 members and which included three quarters of the 81 deputies of the Reichstag, continued with the name USPD. This moderate faction of the USPD, led by Georg Ledebour and Arthur Crispien who defended parliamentary democracy, participated in the creation of the Union of Socialist Parties for International Action in 1921.

At the same time, political differences between the SPD and the USPD were diminishing. After the assassination of Foreign Minister Walter Rathenau by the far right in June 1922, their respective parliamentary groups in the Reichstag formed a single working group on July 14, 1922; Two months later, on September 24, the two parties officially united after the Nuremberg convention, taking the name of the United Social Democratic Party of Germany or VSPD (Vereinigte Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands), finally named shortened to SPD in 1924.

The USPD continued as an independent party with Georg Ledebour and Theodor Liebknecht, both of whom refused to work alongside the SPD, but never again obtained significant results, which led them to join the Socialist Workers' Party of Germany or SAPD (Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschland) in 1931.

Notable members in this party were:

• Emil Barth
• Eduard Bernstein
• Arthur Crispien
• Wilhelm Dittmann
• Kurt Eisner
• Hugo Haase
• Karl Kautsky
• Georg Ledebour
• Otto Rühle
• Karl Liebknecht
• Theodor Liebknecht
• Rosa Luxemburg
• Emmy Noether

Refoundations after 1945

The historical significance of the USPD led after the end of World War II to splinter factions of the SPD taking the name. However, none of these splinter parties achieved political success comparable to that of the original USPD.

USPD Berlin

Around 1950, it was formed from members of the SPD in West Berlin. It participated in the 1950 state elections, obtaining 9,782 votes (0.7%), and in the 1954 elections, obtaining 1,482 votes (0.1%), dissolving years later.

The USPD in the GDR

On February 16, 1990, a new USPD was formed in Fürstenberg/Havel. This party felt connected to the social democratic heritage and sought to establish democratic socialism in the German Democratic Republic. In the 1990 general elections he obtained 3,891 votes.

Refoundation of the USPD in 2006/2007

On February 8, 2006, a USPD was founded by former members of the SPD and WASG. In addition, another party was founded, the Independent Social Progressive Democrats (German: Unabhängigen sozialen progressiven Demokraten), formed by a group of former members of the SPD, which due to legal problems could not use the abbreviation of USPD, nor nor UspD, as they had renamed themselves. These organizations ended up joining Die Linke.