Weimar political parties

|Social Democratic Party of Germany

Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands

|SPD

|Centre-left to left-wing

|Pro-Weimar Republic

|(between 1917 and 1922 also called Mehrheitssozialdemokratische Partei (MSPD) – Majority Social Democrats). Founded in 1875, it was one of the earliest Marxist-influenced parties in the world. A member of the Weimar Coalition, the SPD supported the parliamentary system of democracy and extensive social programs in the economy. For most of the Weimar Republic's existence until 1932, the SPD was the largest single party in the Reichstag and it participated in several coalition governments. Its party newspaper was the Vorwärts.

|National Socialist German Workers' Party

Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei

|NSDAP

|Far-right

|Anti-Weimar Republic

|National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party). This was a far-right political party in Germany that was active between 1920 and 1945, and that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers' Party (Deutsche Arbeiterpartei; DAP), existed from 1919 to 1920. The Nazi Party emerged from the German nationalist, racist and populist Freikorps paramilitary culture, which fought against the communist uprisings in post-World War I Germany. It supported the ideas of Führerprinzip, Volksgemeinschaft, Pan-Germanism, Lebensraum and the "Aryan Master Race". The party incorporated fervent antisemitism, anti-communism, anti-capitalism, scientific racism, and the use of eugenics into its creed. Headed by Adolf Hitler from 1921, the party became the largest in the Reichstag by July 1932. Its main newspaper was the Völkischer Beobachter.

|Communist Party of Germany

Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands

|KPD

|Far-left

|Anti-Weimar Republic

|Communist Party of Germany. Formed at the very end of 1918 out of a number of left-wing groups, including the left-wing of the USPD and the Spartacus League. It was a Marxist-Leninist party that advocated revolution by the proletariat and the creation of a communist regime according to the example of the Soviet Union. It was the main far-left party for the majority of the Weimar period. The party's major paper was the Die Rote Fahne (The Red Flag). Between 1920 and 1922 known as the United Communist Party of Germany (Vereinigte Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, VKPD)

|Centre Party

Zentrumspartei

|

|Centre-right

|Pro-Weimar Republic

|It was the continuation of the pre-Weimar Catholic party of the same name. A member of the Weimar Coalition, the Centre Party was the third-largest party in the Reichstag for most of the Weimar Republic and participated in all governments until 1932. Their party newspaper was Germania.

|German National People's Party

Deutschnationale Volkspartei

|DNVP

|Right-wing to far-right

|Anti-Weimar Republic

|It presented itself as a volksgemeinschaft or non-class party. It included remnants from the German Conservative Party, the Free Conservative Party, the Völkische movement, the Christian Social movement, and the Pan-German Association. It established two labor unions; one for the blue-collar worker (the DNAB) and one for the white-collar worker (DNAgB), which had been politically unimportant. The DNVP was the main authoritarian right party of Weimar Germany but moved to the radical right after coming under the control of press baron Alfred Hugenberg in 1928. It organized the National Opposition in 1929, together with leaders of Der Stahlhelm, Hjalmar Schacht, the president of the Reichsbank, and the Nazi Party, to oppose Chancellor Hermann Müller's Grand Coalition. It joined in coalition with Hitler's government in January 1933.

|German People's Party

Deutsche Volkspartei

|DVP

|Before 1929:
Centre to centre-right
After 1929:
Centre-right to right-wing

|

|Formed in 1918 from the pre-Weimar National Liberals, it was a center-right party supporting right-liberalism. Its platform stressed Christian family values, secular education, lower tariffs, opposition to welfare spending and agrarian subsidies, and hostility to socialism. Gustav Stresemann was its chairman and it participated in all governments until 1931. After Stresseann's death, the party turned further to the right.

|German Democratic Party

Deutsche Demokratische Partei

|DDP

|Centre to centre-left

|Pro-Weimar Republic

|Formed in 1918 as the successor to the Progressive People's Party, the DDP was a center-left party that supported social liberalism. A member of the Weimar Coalition, it was one of the main liberal parties and participated in several coalition governments.

|Old Social Democratic Party of Germany

Alte Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands

|ASPD

|Centre-left

|

|Old Social Democratic Party of Germany. A regional party based in Saxony that split from the SPD in 1926. It never gained a mass following and disbanded in 1932.

|Communist Workers' Party of Germany

Kommunistische Arbeiter-Partei Deutschlands

|KAPD

|Far-left

|Anti-Weimar Republic

|Communist Workers' Party of Germany. An ultra-leftist party that split from the KPD in April 1920. They rejected participation in the Reichstag and called for immediate revolutionary action. Immediately after its formation the party endured a series of splinters and lost much of the little influence it had.

|Communist Party of Germany (Opposition)

Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (Opposition)

|KPO

|Left-wing

|

|Split from the KPD in 1928, representing the "Right Opposition" of the Bukharinists against the Stalinist "Center" and the Trotskyist "Left Opposition". It never intended to be a real political party, but to influence the KPD.

|Socialist Workers' Party of Germany

Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands

|SAPD

|Left-wing

|

|A left-wing faction that split from the SPD in 1931. Parts of the USPD and dissenters from the KPD and the KPO joined it, but it remained small. Its political positions were near to those of the USPD, wavering between the SPD and the KPD.

Sozialistischer Bund

|

|Left-wing

|

|A splinter party that formed from the USPD in 1922 and merged into the SAPD in 1931.

|Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany

Unabhängige Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands

|USPD

|Left-wing

|Anti-Weimar Republic

|This was formed by an anti-war faction that split from the SPD in 1917. It was a Marxist party that sought change through parliament and social progressive programs. The left-wing majority of the party joined the Communist Party in December 1920, while the remainder reunited with the MSPD in September 1922. A splinter element (Sozialistischer Bund) continued as an independent party, never attaining any real electoral success and finally merging with the SAPD in 1931.

Deutsche Bauernpartei

|DBP

|Centre

|

|An agrarian party founded in 1928 to advocate for the economic interests of small farmers and peasants.

|German State Party

Deutsche Staatspartei

|DStP

|Centre

|Pro-Weimar Republic

|German State Party. Formed in 1930 by a merger of the DDP and the Volksnationale Reichsvereinigung (VNRV) (People's National Reich Association), the political wing of the Young German Order. The VNRV Reichstag delegates soon seceded from the party, leaving it essentially the DDP under a new name.

|Hanseatic People's League

Hanseatischer Volksbund

|HVB

|Right-wing

|

|A regional party founded in Lübeck in 1926, supported by the middle classes opposed to Marxism and social democracy. It was allied with the DVP.

Schleswig-Holsteinische Bauern- und Landarbeiterdemokratie

|SHBLD

|Centre

|

|A regional agrarian party active in Schleswig-Holstein between 1919 and 1924. It was a moderate party that leaned towards liberalism, and co-operated with the DVP.

Volksnationale Reichsvereinigung

|

|Centre

|Pro-Weimar Republic

|This was the political wing of the Young German Order and it briefly merged with the DDP in 1930 to form the DStP.

|Bavarian People's Party

Bayerische Volkspartei

|BVP

|Centre-right

|Pro-Weimar Republic

|A Catholic and conservative party, in 1918 it split off from the Centre Party to pursue a more conservative and particularist Bavarian course.

Braunschweigisch-Niedersächsische Partei

|BNP

|Right-wing

|

|This was a small regional party active in the Free State of Brunswick. It was conservative, monarchist and anti-republican. It formed an electoral alliance with the DVP and the DNVP.

|Christian-National Peasants' and Farmers' Party

Christlich-Nationale Bauern- und Landvolkpartei

|CNBL

|Right-wing

|

|Christian National Peasants' and Farmers' Party. This was a conservative agrarian party that broke off from the German National People's Party (DNVP) in 1928. It contested the 1930 and 1932 Reichstag elections under the name Deutsches Landvolk (German Rural Folk).

|Christian Social People's Service

Christlich-Sozialer Volksdienst

|CSVD

|Centre-right to right-wing

|

|A conservative Protestant party formed at the end of 1929, it was mainly supported by the middle class and Christian trade unionists. It supported state welfare, trade unions and workers participation in management; it opposed atheism, liberalism and Marxism. Also known as Christlich-sozialer Volksdienst (Evangelische Bewegung).

Christliche Volkspartei

|CVP

|Right-wing

|Pro-Weimar Republic

|A short-lived Catholic party based in the Rhineland.{{cite web |author=Carina Simon |year=2016 |title=Heinz Brauweiler: Eine politische Biographie im Zeichen des antidemokratischen Denkens |url=https://kobra.uni-kassel.de/bitstream/handle/123456789/2018051755512/DissertationCarinaSimon.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y}}

|German-Hanoverian Party

Deutsch-Hannoversche Partei

|DHP

|Centre-left

|

|Also known as the Guelph Party. A regional party in Prussia's Province of Hanover that unsuccessfully advocated for a Free State of Hanover. Formerly conservative and centre-right, the party moved to the left in the 1920s.

|German Workers' Party

Deutsche Arbeiterpartei

|DAP

|Far-right

|Anti-Weimar Republic

|This was formed in 1919 by Anton Drexler, with Gottfried Feder, Dietrich Eckart and Karl Harrer, and derived in part from the Thule Society, the cover organization of the occult ariosophist Germanenorden. This party added the adjective "National Socialist" in its name and became the "National Socialist German Workers' Party" (NSDAP) in 1920.

|German Reform Party

Deutsche Reformpartei

|DRP

|Far-right

|

|(splinter party)

|German Social Party

Deutschsoziale Partei

|DSP

|Far-right

|Anti-Weimar Republic

|A far-right antisemitic and Völkisch political party, active from 1921 to 1929.

|German-Socialist Party

Deutschsozialistische Partei

|DSP

|Far-right

|Anti-Weimar Republic

|A far-right, nationalist party heavily influenced by the antisemitic Thule Society. It was headed by Julius Streicher, and it was also highly organized, despite having a rather small size. In a controversial move, it dissolved itself in 1922 and many of its members entered the (then very new) Nazi Party.

|German Völkisch Freedom Party

Deutschvölkische Freiheitspartei

|DVFP

|Far-right

|Anti-Weimar Republic

|The party of General Ludendorff. It campaigned for an authoritarian regime that would be very nationalistic and promoted socioeconomic questions. It also sought to close the stock exchanges and nationalize the banks. In May 1924, it obtained 6.4% of the vote in alliance with NSDAP, but fell to 3% in the next election, in December 1924.

Deutschvölkische Reichspartei

|DVRP

|Far-right

|Anti-Weimar Republic

|

Großdeutsche Arbeiterpartei

|GDAP

|Right-wing

|Anti-Weimar Republic

|

|Greater German People's Community

Großdeutsche Volksgemeinschaft

|GVG

|Far-right

|Anti-Weimar Republic

|A Nazi front organization established in January 1924 when the Nazi Party was outlawed. Centered in Bavaria, it was led by Alfred Rosenberg until July when he was ousted by Julius Streicher. Opposed to electoral politics, it was not represented in the Reichstag. It dissolved in March 1925 and was reabsorbed by the Nazi Party.

Konservative Volkspartei

|KVP

|Right-wing

|Pro-Weimar Republic

|It split off from the DNVP in 1930, following that party's turn to the far-right under Alfred Hugenberg.

|National Socialist Freedom Party

Nationalsozialistische Freiheitspartei

|NSFP

|Far-right

|Anti-Weimar Republic

|A Nazi front organization established in April 1924 when the Nazi Party was outlawed and Hitler was jailed. The remaining Nazis formed it as a legal means of carrying on the party and its ideology. As the National Socialist Freedom movement (NSFB), it ran as a combined list with the DVFP in the 1924 Reichstag elections and disbanded shortly after the Nazi Party was re-established in February 1925.

|Economic Party

Reichspartei des deutschen Mittelstandes

| WP

|Right-wing

|

|A conservative pro-business party, founded in 1920 as the Economic Party of the German Middle Class. It commonly was referred to as the Wirtschaftspartei (WP). It supported a reduction in government economic involvement, a freer hand for business, and lower taxes. It was particularly opposed to revaluation, which it considered an attack on the rights of property owners.