Liberal People's Party

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eugen Richter , the undisputed party leader until his death

The Liberal People's Party ( FVp ) was a liberal party during the German Empire , which emerged from a split of the German Liberal Party in 1893 and was absorbed into the Progressive People's Party in 1910 . It followed on from the tradition of the German Progressive Party .

The party dominated by Eugen Richter was critical of the government and thus left-wing liberal , but at the same time economically liberal .

Emergence

The tensions that had existed from the beginning within the German Liberal Party between the left wing of the former progressives and the right wing of the former secessionists came to the surface on May 6, 1893, when Georg von Siemens and five other members of the German liberal faction in the Reichstag in contrast to the faction majority for an army bill by Chancellor Leo von Caprivi . Immediately after the clash of votes, parliamentary group leader Eugen Richter demanded that the six dissenters be expelled from the parliamentary group. Although the motion met with strong opposition, it was ultimately accepted with 27:22 votes. However, the fronts had hardened so much that a few days later other former secessionists such as Ludwig Bamberger , Theodor Barth , Heinrich Rickert or Karl Schrader as well as a group of old progressives led by Albert Hänel declared their withdrawal from the party and formed the Liberal Association with the renegades . The remaining left wing of the party around Richter, meanwhile, constituted itself as the Liberal People's Party . From then on it formed the larger of the two free-thinking parties, and most of the local associations joined it.

structure

Her main personality was Eugen Richter, who was her party leader from 1893 to 1906. Officially, internal party democracy existed , but in practice Richter's opinion was decisive both in terms of content and personnel issues. The party congresses and the party executive (called party committee) had little influence of their own.

In 1895/96 the party consisted of 379 local organizations. The focus was on Saxony , Prussia (especially in Berlin , Silesia and East Prussia ) and the north and central German small and city states. The party was largely able to maintain the support it had taken over from the previous organization. But it hardly succeeded in reaching new layers of society. Voters and members came mainly from petty bourgeois and medium-sized circles from merchants and trades. There were also some liberal large farmers and landowners as well as members of the educated middle class .

There was a collaboration with the German People's Party , with which the Free People's Party published a joint election call for the first time in 1893. The parties had 24 seats. (29 in 1898, 21 in 1903 and 28 in 1907).

Program

"Up for freedom - down with reaction". Postcard with the Reichstag member Rudolf Braesicke (1898)

In 1894, the Free People's Party gave itself a party program . In it she demanded, among other things, the introduction of the very democratic Reichstag electoral law in the individual states. She strove for the parliamentarization of the empire. She also called for diets for MPs and a fairer division of constituencies . Last but not least, an annual approval of the army budget was sought. Higher army expenditures were consistently rejected. The party was similarly critical of colonial policy and the building of the navy . In terms of economic policy , government intervention should be limited. On the other hand, the party wanted to legally recognize trade unions and called for the promotion of self-help institutions and the abolition of the privileges of large landowners .

Implementation of this program was not possible without cooperation with other forces such as the SPD or the left wing of the center . However, Richter rejected such a course. This was also countered by Richter's doctrinal liberalism in Manchester . Other positions also made a possible collaboration more difficult.

After the Richter era

Richter was succeeded in 1906 by Hermann Müller-Sagan . But this one remained very weak. Instead, Otto Fischbeck was the strong man who eventually also became chairman. The party bodies had more influence after Richter's death. In terms of content, there was a turning point. The party agreed to the government's fleet proposal and also to the colonial policy. It also became part of the Bülow block .

The central committee stuck to Richter's course on political cooperation with other parties. On the other hand, a minority initially demanded a union with the Liberal Association . The majority of the Reichstag parliamentary group and an increasing number of local associations finally joined in.

A first collaboration came about in the Reichstag election of 1907 . On March 6, 1910, the left-wing liberal parties, the Free People's Party, Free Union and German People's Party (DtVP) merged in Berlin to form the Progressive People's Party .

Significant members

literature

  • Ludwig Elm : Liberal People's Party (FVp). 1893-1910. In: Dieter Fricke et al. (Ed.): Lexicon for the history of parties. The bourgeois and petty bourgeois parties and associations in Germany (1789–1945). Volume 2. Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1984, DNB 850162971 , pp. 694-707.
  • Rainer Koch : Liberal People's Party (FVP). In: Frank Wende (Ed.): Lexicon for the history of parties in Europe. Kröner, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-520-81001-8 , pp. 106-108.
  • Walter Tormin : History of the German parties since 1848. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1966, DNB 458434698 , p. 111–113.
  • Wolfgang Schmierer : Liberal People's Party. In: Gerhard Taddey (Hrsg.): Lexicon of German history . People, events, institutions. From the turn of the times to the end of the 2nd World War. 2nd, revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-520-80002-0 , p. 385.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ JRC Wright: Book Reviews: Gustav Stresemann: The Emperor Loyal Democrat A biography. By Kurt Koszyk. In: German History . tape 9 , no. 1 , February 1, 1991, ISSN  0266-3554 , p. 103 f ., doi : 10.1177 / 026635549100900121 .