How Bismarck Tried to Crush Social Democracy (And Failed)

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This video covers the topic of Bismarck’s anti-socialist laws, which were introduced in the late 1870s after two separate assassination attempts on Kaiser Wilhelm I. Over the following decade, Social Democrats faced severe repressions from the state and the authorities. Bismarck’s goal was to crush the workers’ movement while it was still young and rather small. In exchange, he introduced a number of progressive social laws which were supposed to bribe the workers. In the end however, the anti-socialist laws turned out to be Bismarck’s greatest political failure and they contributed massively to his downfall in 1890. At the same time, the Social Democratic movement grew steadily and managed to become the largest party in Germany.

Sources:
Socialist Workers’ Party of Germany, Gotha Program (May 1875), https://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.... (accessed on 15.05.2025)

Literature:
Berger, Stefan: Social Democracy and the Working Class in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Germany, Harlow 2000.
Clark, Christopher: Kaiser Wilhelm II. A Life in Power, London 2009.
Engelberg, Ernst: Bismarck. Sturm über Europa, München 2014.
Evans, Richard J.: Das Dritte Reich. Aufstieg, München 2023.
Hoffrogge, Ralf: Sozialismus und Arbeiterbewegung in Deutschland und Österreich. Von den Anfängen bis 1914, 2nd Edition, Stuttgart 2017.
Nipperdey, Thomas: Deutsche Geschichte 1866-1918. Zweiter Band, Machtstaat vor der Demokratie, München 2013.
Nonn, Christoph: 12 Tage und ein halbes Jahrhundert. Eine Geschichte des Deutschen Kaiserreiches 1871-1918, München 2020.
Schmidt, Jürgen: Begrenzte Spielräume. Eine Beziehungsgeschichte von Arbeiterschaft und Bürgertum am Beispiel Erfurts 1870 bis 1914, Göttingen 2005.
Stürmer, Michael: Das ruhelose Reich. Deutschland 1866-1918, 3rd Edition, Berlin 1983.
Wehler, Hans-Ulrich: Deutsche Gesellschaftsgeschichte. Dritter Band, Von der „deutschen Doppelrevolution” bis zum Beginn des Ersten Weltkrieges 1849-1914, München 1995.

Chapters:
0:00 The Situation of the German Workers
2:56 Birth of the Workers’ Movement
6:55 Bismarck and his Fight against Socialism
12:23 The Anti-Socialist Law
16:22 Bismarck’s Social Laws
17:34 Reaction of the Social Democrats
22:44 End of the Repression and Bismarck’s Downfall
26:39 Consequences
30:35 Outro