German People's Party (1868)

This article is about the German People's Party which existed between 1868 and 1910. For the party with same name, which existed between 1918 and 1933, see German People's Party.

German People's Party Deutsche Volkspartei
Founded	1868
Dissolved	1910
Preceded by	Democratic People's Party, German Progress Party
Merged into	Progressive People's Party
Newspaper	Frankfurter Zeitung (inofficial)
Ideology	Liberal democracy, Social liberalism, Social progressivism, Republicanism, Parliamentarism, Federalism, Laicism, Radicalism
Political position	centre-left

The German People's Party (Deutsche Volkspartei or DtVP) 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. Initially the South German democrats supported the Greater German solution of the German question. After the establishment of the German Empire in 1871 under Prussia, the solution which excluded Austria, it advocated federalist structures, and defended the South German states' rights against increasing strengthening of the central government in Berlin. Insistently, the party demanded democratic reforms, in particular strengthening of the position of the parliament, which had no say in the formation of the government and no influence on government policies as the government was appointed and dismissed by the emperor alone.

In contrast to the National Liberal Party, it stood in staunch opposition against the policy of Otto von Bismarck from the establishment of the German Empire. The party put the classical liberal notion of liberty above the prospect of a German unification led "from above". The German People's Party was highly critical of the Prusso-German monarchy and advocated the separation of church and state. Still, it rejected Bismarck's "Kulturkampf" against the Catholic church as well as the Anti-Socialist Laws.

The German People's Party was the most leftist among non-Marxist parties and closest to the Social democracy. It was the sole liberal party to cooperate with the Socialists in the Reichstag.

Most of the party's members were craftsmen, small traders, farmers, and clerks. However, the leadership consisted of upper-class intellectuals. Chairmen were the newspaper proprietor of the Frankfurter Zeitung Leopold Sonnemann and the lawyer Friedrich von Payer.

In 1910 the party merged with the Freeminded People's Party and the Freeminded Union to form the Progressive People's Party.

A notable member of both the German People's Party, the Progressive People's Party, and its successor the German Democratic Party was Ludwig Quidde, the Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1927.

The most influencial among the People's Party's state organisations was the Democratic People's Party in Württemberg. After the DtVP was disbanded, it continued as the regional branch of the Progressive People's Party, the German Democratic Party, and is still the surname of Baden-Württemberg's liberal FDP.

In contrast to the South German People's Party of 1868-1910, the German People's Party in the Weimar Republic (1919-33) was a monarchist successor to the imperial National Liberal Party.

See also

• Contributions to liberal theory
• Liberalism worldwide
• List of liberal parties
• Liberal democracy

External links

• German People's Party 1868-1910, website of the Deutsches Historisches Museum (German Historical Museum), in German