The German Encounter with Socialism, Democracy and Nationalism: Friedrich Ebert, 1871-1925

Abstract

This three-part study of one of Germany’s most important politicians of the early 20th century examines a biography in social context. It has been researched over a long period of time and the author was never satisfied with the third part. Part one explores the rise of Friedrich Ebert in German Social Democracy, the world’s largest pre-World War I social movement. His socialization in Imperial Germany, his more moderate ideological stance by the time he became a party secretary in 1905 and party co-leader in 1913 is traced in depth as he moved from agitator to organizer and part of a collegial leadership. Part two traces his shift in priorities from attaining socialism to establishing parliamentary government. He became by 1915/16 the decisive person in an altered Social Democracy that became ever more integrated in the German political system while still trying to reform it. In 1918/19 he headed the government during the revolutionary era at war’s end when he hindered more than aided transformation. His role remains a topic of division and debate among historians. Part three demonstrates how the national values of the war influenced his outlook and actions on behalf of the German state which he hoped to restore to great power status. By the time of his death he had moved to the political right as he associated with industrialists, militarists and state bureaucrats from the Imperial era and mostly lost contact to the working class from which he had emerged.