- Liberalism in Germany
This article aims to give an historical overview 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.
Background
The early high points of
liberalism inGermany were theHambacher Fest (1832 ) andthe Revolutions of 1848 in the German states . In theNational Assembly in the Frankfurt Paulskirche (1848 /1849 ), the bourgeois liberal factions Casino andWürttemberger Hof (the latter led byHeinrich von Gagern ) were the majority. They favored a constitutional monarchy,popular sovereignty , andparliament ary rule.Organized liberalism developed in the 1860s, combining the previous liberal and democratic currents. Between 1867 and 1933 liberalism was divided into progressive liberal and national liberal factions. Since 1945 only one liberal party has been significant in politics at the national level: TheFree Democratic Party (Freie Demokratische Partei, member LI),ELDR .History
From German Progress Party to German State Party
*1861: Liberals united in the
German Progress Party ("Deutsche Fortschrittspartei")
*1867: The moderate faction seceded as the ⇒ National Liberal Party
*1868: A radical South German faction seceded as the ⇒ Democratic People's Party
*1884: The party merged with the ⇒ Liberal Union into theGerman Freeminded Party ("Deutsche Freisinnige Partei")
*1893: The party split in the Freeminded People's Party ("Freisinnige Volkspartei") and the ⇒ Freeminded Union
*1910: The FVP merged with the ⇒ Freeminded Union, ⇒ the Democratic Union and the ⇒ German People's Party into the Progressive People's Party ("Fortschrittliche Volkspartei")
*1918: The party is reorganised into theGerman Democratic Party ("Deutsche Demokratische Partei"), incorporating parts of the ⇒ National Liberal Party
*1930: The DDP in an attempt to survive reorganised itself into theGerman State Party ("Deutsche Staatspartei")
*1933: The party is banned by the NazisGerman People's Party (1868)
*1868: A radical faction of the ⇒ German Progress Party formed the German People's Party ("Deutsche Volkspartei")
*1910: The DVP merged into the ⇒ Progressive People's PartyNational Liberal Party / German People's Party (1918)
National Liberals
*1867: A right-wing faction of the ⇒ German Progress Party formed the National Liberal Party ("Nationalliberale Partei")
*1871: A conservative faction of NLP formed the Imperial Liberal Party ("Liberale Reichspartei")
*1880: A left-wing faction seceded as the ⇒ Liberal Union
*1918: The NLP is reorganised into theGerman People's Party ("Deutsche Volkspartei"), part of the party joined the German Democratic Party
*1933: The party is dissolvedLiberal Union
*1880: A left-wing faction of the ⇒ National Liberal Party formed the Liberal Union ("Liberale Vereinigung")
*1884: The party merged with the ⇒ German Progress Party into the ⇒ German Freeminded PartyFreeminded Union
*1893: The ⇒ German Freeminded Party split into the
Freeminded Union ("Freisinnige Vereinigung") and the ⇒ Freeminded People's Party
*1903: The ⇒ National Social Union joined the Freeminded Union
*1908: A left-wing faction seceded as the ⇒ Democratic Union
*1910: The party merged into the ⇒ Progressive People's PartyNational Social Union
*1896: The
National Social Union ("Nationalsozialer Verein") is formed
*1903: The party is dissolved and members joined the ⇒ Freeminded UnionDemocratic Union
*1908: A left-wing faction of the ⇒ Freeminded Union formed the Democratic Union ("Demokratische Vereinigung")
*1910: The party merged into the ⇒ Progressive People's PartyFrom Liberal Democratic Party of Germany to Alliance of Free Democrats (GDR)
*1945: Liberals in East Germany re-organised themselves into the
Liberal Democratic Party of Germany ("Liberal-Demokratische Partei Deutschlands"). Since 1949 the party is under control of the communist dictatorship
*1990: The LDPD regained its liberal profile and shortened its name in February into Liberal Democratic Party ("Liberal-Demokratische Partei"). The same month it joined the newly foundedFree Democratic Party (GDR) ("Freie Demokratische Partei (DDR)") and theGerman Forum Party ("Deutsche Forumpartei") intoAssociation of Free Democrats ("Bund Freier Demokraten"). In March the Association of Free Democrats absorbed the National Democratic Party of Germany ("Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands"), and finally in August it merged into present-day ⇒ Free Democratic PartyFree Democratic Party
*1945-1946: Liberals in West Germany re-organised themselves in regional parties
*1948: The regional liberal parties merged into the Free Democratic Party ("Freie Demokratische Partei")
*1956: A conservative faction seceded and formed theFree People's Party ("Freie Volkspartei")
*1982: A left-wing faction seceded as the ⇒ Liberal Democrats
*1990: The FDP incorporated the ⇒ Alliance of Free DemocratsLiberal Democrats
*1982: A left-wing faction of the ⇒ Free Democratic Party formed the present-day Liberal Democrats ("Liberale Demokraten"), without success
Liberal leaders
*Liberals before 1918:
Rudolf von Bennigsen -Eugen Richter
*Freisinn:Theodor Barth -Friedrich Naumann -Max Weber
*Deutsche Demokratische Partei:Walther Rathenau -Theodor Heuss
*Deutsche Volkspartei:Gustav Stresemann
*LDPD (East-Germany):Waldemar Koch ,Wilhelm Külz ,Manfred Gerlach
*Freie Demokratische Partei:Ralf Dahrendorf -Karl-Hermann Flach -Hans-Dietrich Genscher -Walter Scheel Liberal thinkers
In the
Contributions to liberal theory the following German thinkers are included:*
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
*August Ludwig von Schlözer (1735-1809)
*Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835)
*Ludwig Joseph Brentano (1844-1931)
*Friedrich Naumann (1860-1919)
*Max Weber (1864-1920)
*Walther Rathenau (1867-1922)
*Adolf von Harnack (1851-1930)
*Wilhelm Röpke (1899-1966)
*Ralf Dahrendorf (1929- )ee also
*
History of Germany
*Politics of Germany
*List of political parties in Germany
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