The modern social democratic movement came into being through
a break within the socialist movement in the early years of the twentieth century. Speaking broadly, this break can be described as a parting of ways between those who insisted upon political revolution as a precondition for the achievement of socialist goals and those who maintained that a gradual or evolutionary path to socialism was both possible and desirable.
[1] Many related movements, including
pacifism,
anarchism, and
syndicalism, arose at the same time; these ideologies were often promulgated by individuals who split from the preexisting socialist movement, and held a variety of quite different objections to Marxism. The social democrats, who had created the largest socialist organizations of that era, did not reject Marxism (and in fact claimed to uphold it), but a number of key individuals wanted to
reform Marx's arguments in order to promulgate a less hostile criticism of capitalism. They argued that socialism should be achieved through evolution of society rather than revolution. Such views were strongly opposed by the revolutionary socialists, who argued that any attempt to reform capitalism was doomed to fail, for the reformers would be gradually corrupted and eventually turn into capitalists themselves.
Despite their differences, the reformist and revolutionary branches of socialism remained united through the Second Internationale until the outbreak of World War I. A differing view on the legitimacy of the war proved to be the final straw for this tenuous union. The reformist socialists supported their respective national governments in the war, a fact that was seen by the revolutionary socialists as outright treason against the working class; in other words, the revolutionary socialists believed that this stance betrayed the principle that the workers of all nations should unite in overthrowing capitalism, and decried the fact that usually the lowest classes are the ones sent into the war to fight and die. Bitter arguments ensued within socialist parties, as for example between
Eduard Bernstein, the leading reformist socialist, and
Rosa Luxemburg, one of the leading revolutionary socialists within the SPD in Germany.
Eventually, after the Russian Revolution of 1917, most of the world's socialist parties fractured. The reformist socialists kept the name social democrats, while many revolutionary socialists began calling themselves communists, and they soon formed the modern Communist movement. These communist parties soon formed an exclusive Third Internationale known globally as the Comintern.
Following the split between social democrats and communists, another split developed within social democracy, between those who still believed it was necessary to abolish capitalism (without revolution) and replace it with a socialist system through
democratic parliamentary means, and those who believed that the capitalist system could be retained but needed dramatic reform, such as the
nationalization of large businesses, the implementation of social programs (
public education,
universal health care, and the like)
and the partial redistribution of wealth through the permanent establishment of a welfare state based on progressive taxation.
Eventually, most social democratic parties have come to be dominated by the latter position and, in the post-World War II era, have abandoned any commitment to abolish capitalism. For instance, in 1959, the
Social Democratic Party of Germany adopted the
Godesberg Program, which rejected
class struggle and
Marxism. While "social democrat" and "democratic socialist" continued to be used interchangeably, by the 1990s in the English-speaking world at least, the two terms had generally come to signify respectively the latter and former positions.
In
Italy, the
Italian Democratic Socialist Party was founded in 1947, and from 1948 on supported the idea of a centrist alliance. Since the late 1980s, many other social democratic parties have adopted the "
Third Way", either formally or in practice. Modern social democrats are generally in favor of a
mixed economy, which is in many ways
capitalistic, but explicitly defend governmental provision of certain social services. Many social democratic parties have shifted emphasis from their traditional goals of social justice to
human rights and
environmental issues. In this, they are facing an increasing challenge from
Greens, who view
ecology as fundamental to peace, require reform of
money supply, and promote
safe trade measures to ensure ecological integrity. In
Germany in particular, Greens, Social Democrats, and other left-wing parties have cooperated in so-called
red–green alliances. The present government in
Norway is a red-green alliance.
Left and Right
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Their Law
)
