Ferdinand Lassalle: The inception of the German Workingmen's Party, 1862-1864

Abstract

This is a study of the political career of Ferdinand Lassalle and the founding of the first political party in Germany with intentional and specific appeal to the workingman. Primary stress is placed on Lassalle's emergence as a significant political figure in 1862; however, pertinent biographical, economic, and political background that formulated his career is also treated. During the Revolution of 1848, Lassalle became well acquainted with Karl Marx. Although he was deeply influenced by Marx's economic theories, Lassalle adopted only a part of Marxism. In the main, their differences--centering on Marx's doctrinaire militancy and Lassalle's moderate militancy--proved more significant than their agreement on principle. These differences became more pronounced from 1862-1864 with Lassalle's active political activity and particularly, when Lassalle opened consultations with Prince Otto von Bismarck. Although Marx is generally regarded as the primary theorist of modern socialism, the Social Democratic Party specifically traces its origins to Ferdinand Lassalle and has adopted his principles of pacific revolutionary evolution within a socialist humanitarian construct.