The Anti-Socialist Laws or Socialist Laws (German: Sozialistengesetze; officially German: Gesetz gegen die gemeingefährlichen Bestrebungen der Sozialdemokratie, approximately "Law against the public danger of Social Democratic endeavours") were a series of acts of the parliament of the German Empire, the first of which was passed on 19 October 1878 by the Reichstag lasting until 31 March 1881 and extended four times (May 1880, May 1884, April 1886 and February 1888).[1]
The legislation gained support after two failed attempts to assassinate Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany by the radicals Max Hödel and Karl Nobiling. The laws were designed by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck with the goal of reversing the growing strength of the Social Democratic Party (SPD, named SAP at the time) which was blamed for inspiring the assassins. However, the laws caused the socialist movement to strengthen at times. This resulted in Bismarck dropping the laws and changing his coalition, eventually becoming an ally of his former enemies the Catholic Centre Party which appealed to Catholic workers who opposed socialism.[2]
The Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (SAPD), later renamed the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), was formed with the merger General German Workers' Association founded in 1863 in Leipzig, on the initiative of Ferdinand Lassalle, and the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany founded in 1869 in Eisenach by Wilhelm Liebknecht and August Bebel.
The terms "socialism" and "social democracy" at that time were understood as synonyms. They were formed under the influence of the philosophical, political and economic theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, who were then living in exile in London. According to the revolutionary theory, the "Social Democratic Party of Germany" claimed to represent the political interests of the labor movement and the working-class. The Social Democrats sought to improve the social position of the working class and ultimately eliminate the existing "non-democratic" structures of government. August Bebel and Wilhelm Liebknecht protested against the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and expressed solidarity with the revolutionary Paris Commune in 1871, for which they were sentenced in 1872 by the Leipzig Court to two years in prison in a high treason case.[3]
Reich Chancellor of Germany Otto von Bismarck, a conservative, an adherent of monarchical principles of government, with a restrained or even hostile attitude to democratic ideas and a fear of the outbreak of a socialist revolution similar to the one that created the Paris Commune, from the very beginning considered the Socialist Workers' Party as an "enemy of the Reich" and even before the adoption of the law, he took repressive measures against social democracy and the nascent trade union movement.
In 1878 two unsuccessful assassinations were carried out on Kaiser Wilhelm I: on May 11 by Max Hödel and on June 2 by Karl Eduard Nobiling. Bismarck took these attacks as an opportunity to use the Socialist Law to take more rigorous and effective action against the social democracy, which was becoming increasingly influential in the workforce. Although Hödel had been expelled from the SAP shortly before his attack and Nobiling's attack was guided by personal delusions, Bismarck had the narrative spread that the attacks could be traced back to the Social Democrats. A connection between the attacks and social democracy that goes beyond the two individual perpetrators was and has still not been demonstrated.[4]
Back in May 1878, after the first attempt on the Kaiser's life, Bismarck presented a draft "Law on the Prevention of Social Democratic Excesses" (German: Gesetzes zur Abwehr sozialdemokratischer Ausschreitungen), which, however, was rejected by the Reichstag by an overwhelming majority.[5]
In the second assassination attempt on June 2, 1878, the Kaiser was seriously wounded. Bismarck used the ensuing public outrage to dissolve the Reichstag and campaign against the Social Democrats, whom he accused of ideologically aiding criminals. In the newly elected Reichstag, a toughened draft of the "Law on Socialists" was presented, over which disputes arose between individual parliamentary groups. On October 19, 1878, supporters of the toughened bill won: 221 votes against 149.
On October 21, the Law was approved by the Bundesrat, then signed by Kaiser Wilhelm I, and on October 22, 1878, it was promulgated and entered into force. It operated until September 30, 1890. The term of the Law was initially limited to 2.5 years, and then extended four times (May 31, 1880, May 28, 1884, April 20, 1886, and March 18, 1888).
Although the law did not ban the SPD directly, it aimed to cripple the organization through various means. The banning of any group or meeting of whose aims were to spread social-democratic principles, the outlawing of trade unions and the closing of 45 newspapers are examples of suppression. The party circumvented these measures by having its candidates run as ostensible independents, relocating publications outside of Germany and spreading Social Democratic views as verbatim publications of Reichstag speeches which were privileged speech with regard to censorship.
The law also banned the display of emblems of the Social Democratic Party. To circumvent the law, Social Democrats wore red bits of ribbons in their buttonholes. However, these actions led to arrest and jail sentences. Subsequently, red rosebuds were substituted by the Social Democrats. These actions also led to arrest and jail sentences. The judge ruled that in general everyone has a right to wear any flower as suits their taste, but it becomes a party emblem when socialists as a group wear red rosebuds. In a final display of protest against this clause of the anti-socialist laws, female socialists began wearing red flannel petticoats. When female socialists wanted to show a sign of solidarity, they would lift their outer-skirts. Female socialists would display in protest their red petticoats to the police, who were constrained by social norms of decency from enforcing the prohibition against this new sign of socialist solidarity.[6]
Despite the government's attempts to weaken the SPD, the party continued to grow in popularity. The failure by Bismarck of a bill of permanent validity that was otherwise tightened as well as the strengthening of the social democracy in the Reichstag elections on February 20, 1890, played a decisive role in the overthrow of Bismarck and his dismissal by Kaiser Wilhelm II, who was enthroned in 1888. As early as 1888, Bismarck had failed with a bill according to which social democrats could formally have been expatriated as Germans. The cause of the failure was not least that the members of the SAP exposed the unscrupulous practices of the political police in the Reichstag. On January 25, 1890, the further extension of the law failed and it was officially repealed.[7]
Overall, social democracy emerged stronger from the conflict. In the first Reichstag elections after the end of the Socialist Act on June 15, 1893, the Social Democratic Party received more votes than ever before (23.4%). Socialists therefore celebrated these elections to the Reichstag as a "great victory for freedom and peace".