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Red Banners, Books and Beer Mugs: The Mental World of German Social Democrats, 1863–1914

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Published Oct 2020

Andrew G. Bonnell

Author: Andrew G. Bonnell
The German Social Democratic Party was the world’s first million-strong political party and was the main force pushing for the democratisation of Imperial Germany before the First World War. This book examines the themes around which the party organized its mainly working-class membership, and analyses the experiences and outlook of rank-and-file party members as well as the party’s press and publications. Key themes include: the Lassalle cult and leadership, nationalism and internationalism, attitudes to work, the politics of subsistence, the effects of military service, reading and the diffusion of Marx’s ideas, cultural organisations, and socialism and republicanism under the Imperial German state. Before 1914, the party successfully simultaneously addressed workers’ everyday concerns while offering the prospect of a better future.

Biographical Note

Andrew G. Bonnell, Ph.D. (1994, University of Sydney) is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Queensland. His publications include The People’s Stage in Imperial Germany (I.B.Tauris, 2005), Shylock in Germany (I.B.Tauris, 2008), and numerous articles on German history.

Readership

Students and researchers in Imperial German history, but also of interest to a wider readership interested in labour history and the history of workers’ movements.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Abbreviations

Introduction

1 Ideology, Leadership, and Party Culture: The Lassalle Cult in German Social Democracy

2 Between Internationalism, Nationalism and Particularism: From the War of 1870–71 to the July Crisis, 1914

3 Attitudes to Labour in the German Social Democratic Party in the Kaiserreich

4 Social Democracy and the Price of Bread: The Politics of Subsistence in Imperial Germany

5 Reds in the Ranks: Social Democrats in the Kaiser’s Army

6 Reading Marx

7 Workers and Cultural Activities: Culture, Sociability, Organisation

8 Socialism and Republicanism in Imperial Germany

Conclusions

Bibliography
Index