History
It was formed on 6 March 1910 as a merger of Free-minded People's Party, Free-minded Union and German People's Party in order to unify various fragmented liberal groups represented in parliament.
Already during the 1907 federal election, the two Free-minded parties had joined forces supporting Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow, who had promised to implement structural reforms. This disputed Bülow-Block led to the split-off of the left-wing Democratic Union (DV) under Rudolf Breitscheid and Theodor Barth. Nevertheless, after Bülow's resignation in 1909 the major social liberal parties were able to join in an effective union.
The Progressives demanded full equal voting rights for all, the abolition of the Prussian three-class franchise system, a new local elections law and amendments to the Imperial Constitution transforming the empire into a parliamentary democratic monarchy. They also advocated the separation of church and state, free trade, a progressive taxation as well as safety, health and welfare of people at work. The party thereby distanced itself from Conservatives and the National Liberal Party. Leading members like Friedrich Naumann were still favouring economic liberalism, but gradually turned to the concept of a welfare state. However, a cooperation with the Social Democrats remained disputed. By 1912, the party was represented in 19 states of the German Empire, including the Alsatian Progress Party branch in the Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine. Constituents were mainly middle class and academics, but also employees and unionists.
The Progressives became a major force in German parliamentarism especially during World War I. Though the circles around Naumann initially defended a German-dominated Mitteleuropa concept, the moderate forces led by Ludwig Quidde demanding peace negotiations prevailed. In July 1917, the party joined with the Social Democratic Party and the Catholic Centre to form the Reichstag majority that would pass the famous Peace Resolution. However, the initiative was not taken up by the government of Chancellor Georg Michaelis. When the Progressive Friedrich von Payer became Vice-Chancellor in November, all opportunities were missed.
The party was disbanded in 1918 after the fall of the empire, with most of its members joining the new German Democratic Party (Deutsche Demokratische Partei) of the Weimar Republic, merging the Progressives with the left wing of the old National Liberal Party.
Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; and civil liberties under the rule of law, with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, economic freedom, political freedom and freedom of speech. Classical liberalism, contrary to liberal branches like social liberalism, looks more negatively on social policies, taxation and the state involvement in the lives of individuals, and it advocates deregulation.
The German Democratic Party was a liberal political party in the Weimar Republic, considered centrist or centre-left. Along with the right-liberal German People's Party, it represented political liberalism in Germany between 1918 and 1933. It was formed in 1918 from the Progressive People's Party and the liberal wing of the National Liberal Party, both of which had been active in the German Empire.
The National Liberal Party was a liberal party of the North German Confederation and the German Empire which flourished between 1867 and 1918.
The Weimar Coalition is the name given to the centre-leftist coalition of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the social liberal German Democratic Party (DDP) and the Christian democratic Centre Party, who together had a large majority of the delegates to the Constituent Assembly that met at Weimar in 1919, and were the principal groups that designed the constitution of Germany's Weimar Republic. These three parties were seen as the most committed to Germany's new democratic system, and together governed Germany until the elections of 1920, when the first elections under the new constitution were held, and both the SPD and especially the DDP lost a considerable share of their votes. Although the Coalition was revived in the ministry of Joseph Wirth from 1921 to 1922, the pro-democratic elements never truly had a majority in the Reichstag from this point on, and the situation gradually grew worse for them with the continued weakening of the DDP. This meant that any pro-republican group that hoped to attain a majority would need to form a "Grand Coalition" with the conservative liberal German People's Party (DVP), which only gradually moved from monarchism to republicanism over the course of the Weimar Republic and was virtually wiped out politically after the death of their most prominent figure, Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann in 1929.
Friedrich Naumann was a German liberal politician and Protestant parish pastor. In 1896, he founded the National-Social Association that sought to combine liberalism, nationalism and (non-Marxist) socialism with Protestant Christian values, proposing social reform to prevent class struggle. He led the party until its merger into the Free-minded Union in 1903. From 1907 to 1912 and again from 1913 to 1918, he was a member of the Reichstag of the German Empire.
Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice and the expansion of civil and political rights. Economically it is based on the social market economy, and views the common good as harmonious with the individual's freedom. Social liberals overlap with social democrats in accepting economic intervention more than other liberals; its importance is considered auxiliary compared to social democrats. Ideologies that emphasize its economic policy include welfare liberalism, New Deal liberalism in the United States, and Keynesian liberalism. Cultural liberalism is an ideology that highlights its cultural aspects. The world has widely adopted social liberal policies.
This article aims to give a historical outline of liberalism in Germany. The liberal parties dealt with in the timeline below are, largely, those which received sufficient support at one time or another to have been represented in parliament. Not all parties so included, however, necessarily labeled themselves "liberal". The sign ⇒ denotes another party in that scheme.
This article gives an overview of liberalism in Austria. It is limited to liberal parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had representation in parliament. For inclusion in this scheme it isn't necessary that parties labeled themselves as a liberal party.
Radicalism was a political movement representing the leftward flank of liberalism during the late 18th and early 19th centuries and a precursor to social liberalism, social democracy, civil libertarianism, and modern progressivism. This ideology is commonly referred to as "radicalism" but is sometimes referred to as radical liberalism, or classical radicalism, to distinguish it from radical politics. Its earliest beginnings are to be found during the English Civil War with the Levellers and later the Radical Whigs.
The National-Social Association was a political party in the German Empire, founded in 1896 by Friedrich Naumann. It sought to synthesise liberalism, nationalism and non-Marxist socialism with Protestant Christian values in order to cross the ideological front lines and draw workers away from Marxist class struggle. However, it never grew beyond a minor party of intellectuals which failed to gain mass support in elections.
The German Progress Party was the first modern political party in Germany, founded by liberal members of the Prussian House of Representatives in 1861 in opposition to Minister President Otto von Bismarck.
The German Free-minded Party or German Radical Party was a short-lived liberal party in the German Empire, founded on 5 March 1884 as a result of the merger of the German Progress Party and the Liberal Union, an 1880 split-off of the National Liberal Party.
The Free-minded People's Party or Radical People's Party was a social liberal party in the German Empire, founded as a result of the split of the German Free-minded Party in 1893. One of its most notable members was Eugen Richter, who was party leader from 1893 to 1906. The party advocated liberalism, social progressivism and parliamentarism.
The German People's Party was a German liberal party created in 1868 by the wing of the German Progress Party which during the conflict about whether the unification of Germany should be led by the Kingdom of Prussia or Austria-Hungary supported Austria. The party was most popular in Southern Germany.
Theodor Barth was a German liberal politician and publicist. He was a member of the Reichstag between 1881 and 1884, between 1885 and 1898, and between 1901 and 1903.
The Christian Social Party was a right-wing political party in the German Empire founded in 1878 by Adolf Stoecker as the Christian Social Workers' Party.
Conservatism in Germany has encompassed a wide range of theories and ideologies in the last three hundred years, but most historical conservative theories supported the monarchical/hierarchical political structure.
National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism).
The Free-minded Union or Radical Union was a liberal party in the German Empire that existed from 1893 to 1910.
Conrad Haußmann – or "Haussmann" in English spelling – was a liberal German politician during the German Empire and the early years of the Weimar Republic. He was a member of the state parliament of Württemberg from 1889 and of the national Reichstag from 1890 until his death in 1922. Following World War I he was one of the founders of the German Democratic Party(DDP).
