Concept
Wilhelm Liebknecht
Overview
Wilhelm Martin Philipp Christian Ludwig Liebknecht (German: [ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈliːpknɛçt] ; 29 March 1826 – 7 August 1900) was a German social democratic politician and journalist. A principal founder of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), his political career was a pioneering project in steering a Marxist-inspired workers' party to electoral success and mass membership. Liebknecht served as a member of the North German Reichstag from 1867 to 1871, and of the German Reichstag from 1874 until his death in 1900.
Born in Giessen, Liebknecht was radicalized as a student and became an active participant in the 1848 Revolutions. After the defeat of the uprisings, he spent thirteen years in exile, first in Switzerland and then in London. In London, he became a close associate and student of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. After returning to Germany in 1862, he co-founded the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany (SDAP) in 1869 with his long-time political collaborator August Bebel. The party, known as the "Eisenachers", was established as a mass-based political party committed to a Marxist program.
Liebknecht was a prominent opponent of the Franco-Prussian War. His refusal to vote for war credits and his outspoken criticism of the annexation of Alsace–Lorraine led to his arrest and a two-year prison sentence for treason in 1872. He was the main architect of the 1875 Gotha unity congress, which merged the SDAP with the Lassallean General German Workers' Association to form the party that would become the SPD. During the period of the Anti-Socialist Laws from 1878 to 1890, he used his position in the Reichstag to maintain the party's public voice and was instrumental in guiding it through the years of persecution.
As a leader of the largest socialist party in Europe, Liebknecht was a major figure in the Second International, which he helped found in 1889. He served as the editor-in-chief of the SPD's central organ, Vorwärts, and became an elder statesman of the party, defending orthodox Marxism against the rise of revisionism in his later years. A committed democrat, he advocated for a socialist republic achieved through parliamentary means. His son, Karl Liebknecht, also became a prominent socialist leader.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.
The small trading and shopkeeping class is exceedingly numerous in Germany, in consequence of the stinted development which the large capitalists and manufacturers as a class have had in that country. In the larger towns it forms almost the majority of the inhabitants; in the smaller ones it entirely predominates, from the absence of wealthier competitors or influence. This class, a most important one in every…
Friedrich Engels, Revolution and Counter-Revolution
The author is tied to Wilhelm Liebknecht in the knowledge graph.
They had made an alliance with the Socialist leaders. During February, 1849, reconciliation banquets were held. A common program was drafted, joint election committees were empaneled, and fusion candidates were set up. The revolutionary point was thereby broken off from the social demands of the proletariat, and a democratic turn given to them; while, from the democratic claims of the small traders’ class, the mere…
Karl Marx, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte
The author is tied to Wilhelm Liebknecht in the knowledge graph.
And behind these professors, behind their pedantically obscure utterances, in their heavy wearisome periods, was it possible that the revolution could conceal itself? Were not just the people who were looked upon at that time as the leaders of the revolution, the Liberals, the bitterest opponents of the brain-turning philosophy? But what neither the Governmentalists nor the Liberals saw, that saw, at least one man…
Friedrich Engels, Feuerbach
The author is tied to Wilhelm Liebknecht in the knowledge graph.
Philosophers who discussed Wilhelm Liebknecht
Related ideas
- Freiburg im Breisgau
- Vladimir Lenin
- Geneva
- German Empire
- East Germany
- Karl Marx
- Leipzig
- Marxism
- Ferdinand Lassalle
- Marxism–Leninism
- Henri de Saint-Simon
- David Strauss
- Kingdom of Prussia
- German revolutions of 1848–1849
- French Revolution of 1848
- Humboldt University of Berlin
- Robert Owen
- Cold War
- Berlin
- Eduard Bernstein
- August Bebel
- United States
- Prussia
- Ludwig Feuerbach
Place in the tradition
Part of Social democracy.