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131-575: The Godesberg Program eliminated the party's remaining orthodox Marxist policies and the SPD redefined its ideology as freiheitlicher Sozialismus ( liberal socialism ). With the adoption of the Godesberg Program, it renounced orthodox Marxist class conflict and economic determinism . The SPD replaced it with an ethical socialism based on humanism and emphasized that it was democratic, pragmatic and reformist. The most controversial decision of

262-804: A Black Marxist tradition, including people like C.L.R. James , Walter Rodney and W. E. B. Du Bois , who have opened Marxism to the study of race. In the postwar period, the New Left and new social movements gave rise to intellectual and political currents which again challenged orthodox Marxism. These include Italian autonomism , French Situationism , the Yugoslavian Praxis School , British cultural studies , Marxist feminism , Marxist humanism , analytical Marxism and critical realism . Willy Brandt Willy Brandt ( German: [ˈvɪliː ˈbʁant] ; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm ; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992)

393-512: A bourgeois revolution and go through a capitalist stage of development before socialism became technically possible and before the working class could develop the class consciousness for a socialist revolution . The Mensheviks were thus opposed to the Bolshevik idea of a vanguard party and their pursuit of socialist revolution in semi-feudal Russia. Karl Kautsky is recognized as the most authoritative promulgator of orthodox Marxism following

524-777: A bureaucracy led by Joseph Stalin . In his book The Revolution Betrayed , Trotsky supports a multi-party democratic model of revolutionary organizations and proposes a solution for the USSR's bureaucratic caste, that of a political revolution that reinstates those aspects the bureaucrats erased. Trotskyists maintain that the countries of the Eastern bloc, China , North Korea , Vietnam , Cuba and others were " deformed workers' states " which needed political revolutions while critically defending these countries from imperialist aggressions. Anti-revisionists (which includes radical Marxist–Leninist factions, Hoxhaists and Maoists ) criticize

655-511: A cashier for a department store. His father was a teacher from Hamburg named John Heinrich Möller (1887–1958) whom Brandt never met. As his mother worked six days a week, he was mainly brought up by his mother's stepfather, Ludwig Frahm (1875–1935). He joined the "Socialist Youth" in 1929 and at age 16 became a full member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 1930 despite the age minimum normally being 18. He also wrote for

786-511: A common business or class background, and that their decisions will reflect their business or class interests". There have been a number of criticisms of orthodox Marxism from within the socialist movement. From the 1890s during the Second International, Eduard Bernstein and others developed a position known as revisionism , which sought to revise Marx's views based on the idea that the progressive development of capitalism and

917-409: A comparable period. Levels of social expenditure were increased, with more funds allocated towards housing, transportation, schools, and communication, and substantial federal benefits were provided for farmers. Various measures were introduced to extend health care coverage, while federal aid to sports organisations was increased. A number of social reforms were instituted whilst the welfare state

1048-426: A degree of economic planning . Some argue that this was an abandonment of the classical conception of socialism as involving the replacement of the capitalist economic system. It declared that the SPD "no longer considered nationalization the major principle of a socialist economy but only one of several (and then only the last) means of controlling economic concentration of power of key industries" while also committing

1179-771: A figure destined for high office in West Germany and was hoping he would replace Konrad Adenauer as chancellor following elections later that year. Kennedy made this preference clear by inviting Brandt, the West German opposition leader, to an official meeting at the White House a month before meeting with Adenauer, the country's leader. For the president, Brandt stood for Germany's future and for overcoming traditional Cold War thinking. The diplomatic snub strained relations between Kennedy and Adenauer further during an especially tense time for Berlin. However, following

1310-668: A law to foster urban building, was partly aimed at planning a favourable environment for families (such as the provision of playgrounds). In 1971, the Federal Labour Office made available DM 425 million in the form of loans to provide 157 293 beds in 2 494 hostels. A year later, the Federal Government (Bund), the Lander and the Federal Labour Office promoted the construction of dwellings for migrant workers. They set aside 10 million DM for this purpose, which allowed

1441-620: A law was passed in December 1973 granting recipients of social assistance and housing allowances a single heating-oil allowance (a procedure repeated in the winter of 1979 during the Schmidt Administration). Improvements and automatic adjustments of maintenance allowances for participants in vocational training measures were also carried out, and increased allowances were provided for training and retraining, together with special allowances for refugees from East Germany. There

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1572-567: A lesser extent Plekhanov were in turn major influences on Vladimir Lenin , whose version of Marxism was known as Leninism by its contemporaries. The official thought of the Third International was based in orthodox Marxism combined with Leninist views on revolutionary organization initially. The terms dialectical materialism and historical materialism are associated with this phase of orthodox Marxism. Rosa Luxemburg , Hal Draper and Rudolf Hilferding are prominent thinkers in

1703-682: A member of the Nazi party, and was a more old-fashioned conservative-liberal intellectual. Brandt, having fought the Nazis and having faced down communist Eastern Germany during several crises while he was the mayor of Berlin, became a controversial, but credible, figure in several different factions. As the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Kiesinger's grand coalition cabinet, Brandt helped to gain further international approval for Western Germany, and he laid

1834-634: A moment remembered as the Kniefall von Warschau . Brandt resigned as chancellor in 1974, after Günter Guillaume , one of his closest aides, was exposed as an agent of the Stasi , the East German secret service . Willy Brandt was born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm in the Free City of Lübeck ( German Empire ) on 18 December 1913. His mother was Martha Frahm (1894–1969) a single parent, who worked as

1965-715: A period of increasing tension in East–West relations that led to the construction of the Berlin Wall . In his first year as mayor of Berlin, he also served as the president of the Bundesrat in Bonn. He was an outspoken critic of Soviet repression of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising and of Nikita Khrushchev 's 1958 proposal that Berlin receive the status of a " free city ". He was supported by the influential publisher Axel Springer . As mayor of West Berlin, Brandt accomplished much in

2096-574: A policy of engagement with the (communist) Eastern Bloc , rather than trying to isolate these countries diplomatically and commercially. Brandt's supporters claim that the policy did help to break down the Eastern Bloc's " siege mentality " and also helped to increase its awareness of the contradictions in its brand of socialism/communism, which – together with other events – eventually led to the downfall of Eastern European communism. Brandt's predecessor as chancellor, Kurt Georg Kiesinger , had been

2227-477: A political ideology grounded in ethical appeals. Nonetheless, they adhered to the Marxist analysis put forward by social democrats such as Bernstein that socialism would arise as a result of the evolution of capitalism. In this sense, the Godesberg Program has been seen as involving the final victory of the reformist agenda of Bernstein over the orthodox Marxist agenda of Karl Kautsky . Labor unions had abandoned

2358-635: A recognised measure for describing the general North–South divide in world economics and politics between an affluent North and a poor South. Brandt was also known for his fierce anti-communist policies at the domestic level, culminating in the Radikalenerlass (Anti-Radical Decree) in 1972. In 1970, while visiting a memorial to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising crushed by the Germans, Brandt unexpectedly knelt and meditated in silence,

2489-459: A right in certain circumstances to medical examinations aimed at the early diagnosis of disease. According to one study, this marked a change in the concept of sickness insurance: it now aimed at securing good health. The Hospital Financing Law (1972) secured the supply of hospitals and reduced the cost of hospital care, "defined the financing of hospital investment as a public responsibility, single states to issue plans for hospital development, and

2620-445: A shared conception of capital and labour . Their fortunes therefore rose and fell together. Trotskyism and Left communism were equally orthodox in their thinking and approach, and therefore must be considered left-variants of this tradition. Two variants of orthodox Marxism are impossibilism and anti-revisionism . Impossibilism is a form of orthodox Marxism that both rejects the reformism of revisionist Marxism and opposes

2751-617: A small majority by forming a coalition with the FDP. In his first speech before the Bundestag as the chancellor, Brandt set forth his political course of reforms ending the speech with his famous words, "Wir wollen mehr Demokratie wagen" (literally: "Let's dare more democracy", or more figuratively, "We want to take a chance on more Democracy"). This speech made Brandt, as well as the Social Democratic Party, popular among most of

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2882-615: A socialist revolution in Russia to inspire a socialist revolution in Germany and in the majority of the developed countries. His and Bukharin's New Economic Policy was to develop capitalism in Russia initially. Luxemburgism is an informal designation for a current of Marxist thought and practice that originates from the ideas and work of Rosa Luxemburg . In particular, it stresses the importance for spontaneous revolution which can only emerge in response to mounting contradictions between

3013-458: A special regulation came into force for District Master Chimney Sweeps, making them fully insurable under the Craftsman's Insurance Scheme. An increase was made in tax-free allowances for children, which enabled 1,000,000 families to claim an allowance for the second child, compared to 300,000 families previously. The Second Modification and Supplementation Law (1970) increased the allowance for

3144-608: A strong positive reaction worldwide, but was highly controversial in the German public at the time. The Berlin question was settled in 1971 to West Germany's satisfaction. The crowning step came with the Basic Treaty with East Germany. The status quo was legitimized, relations were formalized on the basis of equality, and both Germanies joined the United Nations in 1973. Brandt became the first German chancellor to address

3275-470: A treaty with the Soviet Union which normalised relations and recognized existing national boundaries. The treaty with Poland in December 1970 accepted the current boundaries, which had long been in dispute. During a visit to a monument to the German occupation-era Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, he unexpectedly, and apparently spontaneously, knelt ( Kniefall von Warschau ), honoring the victims. This was met with

3406-705: A wage figure of 75% of the average wage during this period, thus creating something like a minimum wage benefit. According to one study, the 1972 pension reform "enhanced" the reduction of poverty in old age. Voluntary retirement at 63 with no deductions in the level of benefits was introduced, together with the index-linking of war victim's pensions to wage increases. Guaranteed minimum pension benefits for all West Germans were introduced, along with automatic pension increases for war widows (1970). Fixed minimum rates for women in receipt of very low pensions were also introduced, together with equal treatment for war widows. Improvements in pension provision were made for women and

3537-470: A wage of 48,000 marks, which indicated the economic prosperity of West Germany at that time. The Town Planning Act (1971) encouraged the preservation of historical heritage and helped open up the way to the future of many German cities, while the Urban Renewal Act (1971) helped the states to restore their inner cities and to develop new neighbourhoods. In addition, Guidelines of December 1972 on

3668-486: Is on the contrary strengthened by the development of social reforms". The tradition founded by Leon Trotsky purports that the USSR was a " degenerated workers' state " on the basis that, although maintaining that it held onto some aspects of a revolutionary workers' state (such as state control of foreign trade or the expropriation of the bourgeoisie), it lacked key aspects it used to have, namely soviet democracy and freedom of organization for workers, which only benefitted

3799-411: Is perhaps best known for his achievements in foreign policy, his government oversaw the implementation of a broad range of social reforms, and was known as a "Kanzler der inneren Reformen" ('Chancellor of domestic reform'). According to the historian David Childs , "Brandt was anxious that his government should be a reforming administration and a number of reforms were embarked upon". Within a few years,

3930-488: Is the scientific conviction that dialectical materialism is the road to truth and that its methods can be developed, expanded and deepened only along the lines laid down by its founders. It is the conviction, moreover, that all attempts to surpass or 'improve' it have led and must lead to over-simplification, triviality and eclecticism. Western Marxism , the intellectual Marxism which developed in Western Europe from

4061-826: The Norwegian legation in Stockholm , where he lived until the end of the war. He lectured in Sweden on 1 December 1940 at Bommersvik College about problems experienced by the social democrats in Nazi Germany and the occupied countries at the start of the Second World War . In exile in Norway and Sweden, he learned Norwegian and Swedish. He spoke Norwegian fluently, and retained a close relationship with Norway. In late 1946, Brandt returned to Berlin , working for

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4192-404: The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) adopt a gradualist approach, taking advantage of bourgeois parliamentary democracy to improve the lives of workers until capitalism was brought down by its objective internal contradictions. The use of "orthodox" to refer to Kautsky's line is primarily to distinguish it from the reformism of Eduard Bernstein . Such " revisionists " were reviled by

4323-540: The Spanish Civil War , Brandt worked in Spain as a journalist. In 1938, the German government revoked his citizenship, so he applied for Norwegian citizenship. In 1940, he was arrested in Norway by occupying German forces, but his real identity was not uncovered as he wore a Norwegian uniform. Upon his release, he escaped to neutral Sweden . In August 1940, he became a Norwegian citizen, receiving his passport from

4454-722: The Volksbote , a local Social Democrat daily, under editor-in-chief Julius Leber , who would have a "decisive influence" on him. He, along with half the youth-wing of the Lübeck SPD, left the party to join the more left wing Socialist Workers Party (SAP) in October 1931, which was allied to the POUM in Spain and, more significant to Brandt, had close ties with the Norwegian Labour Party . His break with Leber and

4585-513: The working class and abandoning remaining Marxist policies aimed at destroying capitalism and replacing them with policies aimed at reforming capitalism. The Godesberg Program divorced its conception of socialism from Marxism, declaring that democratic socialism in Europe was "rooted in Christian ethics, humanism , and classical philosophy ". The Godesberg Program was a major revision of

4716-607: The " Ausserparlamentarische Opposition " (APO) ("the extra-parliamentary opposition"). The students questioned West German society in general, seeking social, legal, and political reforms. The unrest led to a renaissance of right-wing parties in some of the Bundeslands ' (German states under the Bundesrepublik) Parliaments. Brandt, however, represented a figure of change, and he followed a course of social, legal, and political reforms. In 1969, Brandt gained

4847-496: The 1920s onwards, sought to make Marxism more "sophisticated", open and flexible by examining issues like culture that were outside the field of orthodox Marxism. Western Marxists, such as György Lukács , Karl Korsch , Antonio Gramsci and the Frankfurt School , have tended to be open to influences orthodox Marxists consider bourgeois , such as psychoanalysis and the sociology of Max Weber . Marco Torres illustrates

4978-400: The 5th Vice Chancellor of Germany . In the 1969 elections, again with Brandt as the leading candidate, the SPD became stronger, and after three weeks of negotiations, the SPD formed a coalition government with the smaller Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP). Brandt was elected chancellor . As chancellor, Brandt developed his (Neue) Ostpolitik ("new eastern policy") by stages. He

5109-719: The Americans in 1950 for promoting his political career, after both had met with the Americans at the German CIA headquarters in Frankfurt . Both were sworn to "secrecy". The Americans wanted to strengthen the SPD over the Communists in Berlin. Over the next two years, Hirschfeld received a further 106,000 Marks. Even after the end of his informant activities, he is said to have remained in contact with US intelligence. Brandt

5240-527: The Approbationsordnung (medical education profession act) of 1970, the subject of psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy at German universities became a compulsory subject for medical students, and that same year education of clinical and biomedical engineers was introduced. The Brandt Administration also introduced enabling legislation for the introduction of comprehensives, but left it to the Lander "to introduce them at their discretion". While

5371-670: The August 1968, Kremlin-controlled invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Warsaw Pact was a profound disappointment. He condemned the invasion and put Ostpolitik on hold while he negotiated a coalition with the Free Democrats. In late 1969 he indicated his readiness to meet with East German leadership on the basis of equality, without preconditions. He also expressed an eagerness to meet with the USSR and Poland to resolve frontier questions that had remained unsettled since 1945. He met with

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5502-582: The East German premier Willi Stoph in 1970. Brandt made a six-point proposal that would involve two separate German states that respected each other's territorial integrity and settle disputes peacefully. They would cooperate as neighbors and the rights of the Four Powers in Berlin would be respected by both of them, and finally that the situation around Berlin would be improved. No agreements were reached at first but talks continued. In 1970 he signed

5633-821: The European Marxist movement for two decades, and orthodox Marxism was the official philosophy of the majority of the socialist movement as represented in the Second International until the First World War in 1914, whose outbreak caused Kautsky's influence to wane and brought to prominence the orthodoxy of Vladimir Lenin . Orthodox Marxism aimed to simplify, codify and systematize Marxist method and theory by clarifying perceived ambiguities and contradictions in classical Marxism . It overlaps significantly with instrumental Marxism . Orthodox Marxism maintained that Marx's historical materialism

5764-485: The Eviction Protection Law (1971) established tenant protection against rent rises and notice. The notice was only lawful if in the "justified interest of the landlord". Under this law, higher rents were not recognised as "justified interest". The Second Eviction Protection Law (1972) made the tenant protection introduced under the Eviction Protection Law of 1971 permanent. Under this new law, the notice

5895-528: The Federal Government granted a sum of 17 million DM to the Länder for the improvement and modernization of housing built before 21 June 1948. In addition, according to a 1971 regulation of the Board of the Federal Labour Office, "construction of workers' hostels qualified for government financial support under certain conditions". The "German Council for town development", which was set up by virtue of Article 89 of

6026-485: The Federal Republic. The education budget was doubled from 3% to 6%, while an expansion of secondary education took place. The number of university students went up from 100,000 to 650,000, 30,000 more places were created in the schools, and an additional 1,000 million marks was allocated for new school buildings. In addition, the provision of scholarships was expanded, with the 1970 programme providing for, in

6157-463: The Godesberg Program was its declaration stating that private ownership of the means of production "can claim protection by society as long as it does not hinder the establishment of social justice". By accepting free-market principles, the SPD argued that a truly free market would in fact have to be a regulated market to not degenerate into oligarchy . This policy also meant the endorsement of Keynesian economic management, social welfare and

6288-566: The Leninist theories of imperialism, vanguardism and democratic centralism (which argue that socialism can be constructed in underdeveloped, quasi-feudal countries through revolutionary action as opposed to being an emergent result of advances in material development). An extreme form of this position is held by the Socialist Party of Great Britain . In contrast, the anti-revisionist tradition criticised official Communist parties from

6419-717: The Norwegian government. In 1948, he re-joined the SPD and became a German citizen again, formally adopting the pseudonym Willy Brandt as his legal name. In 2021, it became known that Brandt served as a paid informant for the US Counterintelligence Corps from 1948 to 1952. He supplied reports on circumstances in the GDR, including the situation of East German authorities and industries, as well as Soviet troops. According to Thomas Boghardt , Brandt and SPD men Hans E. Hirschfeld received 200,000 German Mark from

6550-854: The People's Republic of China became state capitalist after Mao's death. Hoxhaists believe that the People's Republic of China was always state capitalist and uphold Socialist Albania as the only socialist state after the Soviet Union under Stalin. Menshevism refers to the political positions taken by the Menshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party prior to the October Revolution of 1917. The Mensheviks believed that socialism could not be realized in Russia due to its backwards economic conditions and that Russia would first have to experience

6681-513: The Rent Subsidies Act (Wohngeldgesetz) of 1970, "low-income tenants and owners of accommodations are supported with rents and burdens subsidies". The determination of the income of families taken into consideration for housing allowances was simplified, and increased levels of protection and support for low-income tenants and householders were introduced which led to a drop in the number of eviction notices. By 1974, three times as much

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6812-415: The SPD lost him promised financial support for university studies and his job at the Volksbote . After passing his Abitur in 1932 at Johanneum zu Lübeck , he took work at the shipbroker and ship's agent F.H. Bertling. In 1933 he left Germany for Norway to escape Nazi persecution. It was at this time that he adopted the pseudonym Willy Brandt to avoid detection by Nazi agents. In 1934, he took part in

6943-424: The SPD to an economic stance which promotes "as much competition as possible, as much planning as necessary". The decision to abandon the traditional anti-capitalist policy angered many in the SPD who had supported it. After those changes, the SPD enacted the two major pillars of what would become the modern social-democratic program, namely making the party a people's party rather than a party solely representing

7074-634: The SPD's policies and gained attention from beyond Germany. At the time of its adoption, the stance on the Godesberg Program in neighbouring France was not uniform. While the French Section of the Workers' International was divided on the Godesberg Program, the Unified Socialist Party denounced the Godesberg Program as a renunciation of socialism and an opportunistic reaction to the SPD's electoral defeats. The Godesberg program

7205-599: The Soviet Union and the East Bloc." President Richard Nixon also was pushing détente on behalf of the United States. The Nixon policies amounted to co-opting Brandt's Ostpolitik. In 1971, Brandt received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in improving relations with East Germany, Poland, and the Soviet Union. Brandt negotiated a peace treaty with Poland, and agreements on the boundaries between

7336-472: The Soviet Union, while others describe the latter as firmly within orthodoxy: Orthodox Marxism rested on and grew out of the European working class movement that emerged in the final quarter of the 19th century and continued in that form until the middle years of the twentieth century. Its two institutional expressions were the 2nd and 3rd Internationals, which despite the great schism in 1919, were marked by

7467-401: The United Nations General Assembly. Time magazine in the U.S. named Brandt as its Man of the Year for 1970, stating, "Willy Brandt is in effect seeking to end World War II by bringing about a fresh relationship between East and West. He is trying to accept the real situation in Europe, which has lasted for 25 years, but he is also trying to bring about a new reality in his bold approach to

7598-459: The United States and focused on strengthening European integration in Western Europe, while launching the new policy of Ostpolitik aimed at improving relations with Eastern Europe. Brandt was controversial on both the right wing, for his Ostpolitik , and on the left wing, for his support of American policies, including his silence on the Vietnam War that he broke only in 1973, and right-wing authoritarian regimes. The Brandt Report became

7729-486: The age of 62 years, provided that he "complied with the other provisions of the legislation on pension insurance". In education, the Brandt Administration sought to widen educational opportunities for all West Germans. The government presided over an increase in the number of teachers, generous public stipends were introduced for students to cover their living costs, and West German universities were converted from elite schools into mass institutions. The school leaving age

7860-493: The autumn of 1970 Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski of the SPD declared, 'Every week more than three plans for reform come up for decision in cabinet and in the Assembly.'" Federal spending rose significantly under Brandt; increasing by an average of 12% per year between 1970 and 1974, with most of the additional spending allocated to transport, education and welfare. According to Helmut Schmidt , Willy Brandt's domestic reform programme had accomplished more than any previous programme for

7991-424: The average standard social assistance benefit level rose from around 200 euros per month in 1969 to over 250 euros per month in 1974. During most of Brandt's years as chancellor, the majority of benefits increased as a percentage of average net earnings. In 1970, seagoing pilots became retrospectively insurable, and gained full social security as members of the Non-Manual Workers Insurance Institute. That same year,

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8122-450: The building of the Berlin Wall in August 1961, Brandt was disappointed and angry with Kennedy. Speaking in Berlin three days later, Brandt criticized Kennedy, asserting "Berlin expects more than words. It expects political action." He also wrote Kennedy a highly critical public letter in which he warned that the development was liable "to arouse doubts about the ability of the three Allied Powers to react and their determination" and he called

8253-401: The death of Friedrich Engels in 1895. As an advisor to August Bebel , leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) until Bebel's death in 1913 and as editor of Die Neue Zeit from 1883 till 1917, he was known as the "Pope of Marxism". He was removed as editor by the leadership of the SPD when the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) split away from the SPD. Kautsky

8384-443: The debt burden for builders not surpassing the regular income-limit by more than 40%. Under a 1973 law, the limits were increased to 1,000 DM plus 9,000 DM and 4,200 DM for additional family members. The Rent Improvement Law (1971) strengthened the position of tenants. Under this legislation, notice was to be ruled illegal "where appropriate substitute accommodation not available; landlords obliged to specify reasons for notice", whilst

8515-407: The disabled, those in need of care, and older persons, and a new fund of 100 million marks for disabled children was established. Allowances for retraining and advanced training and for refugees from East Germany were also increased, together with federal grants for sport. In addition, increases were made in the pensions of 2.5 million war victims. Following a sudden increase in the price of oil,

8646-403: The education budget rose from 16 billion to 50 billion DM, while one out of every three DM spent by the new government was devoted to welfare purposes. As noted by the journalist and historian Marion Dönhoff , "People were seized by a completely new feeling about life. A mania for large scale reforms spread like wildfire, affecting schools, universities, the administration, family legislation. In

8777-415: The event of a child's illness. In 1971, to encourage the growth of registered family holiday centres, the Federal Government granted subsidies for the building and appointing of 28 of these centres at a total cost of 8 million DM. Free preliminary investigations were introduced for 2.5 million children up until the age of 4 for the early detection and correction of developmental disorders, and health research

8908-461: The extension of democracy meant that gradual, parliamentary reform could achieve socialism. But Bernstein himself was a revolutionary and joined the Independent Social Democratic Party in Germany which advocated for a socialist republic in 1918. This view was contested by orthodox Marxists such as Kautsky as well as by the young György Lukács , who in 1919 clarified the definition of orthodox Marxism as thus: [O]rthodoxy refers exclusively to method. It

9039-433: The farmers' pension scheme, medical benefits for all covered groups, and cash benefits for family workers under compulsory coverage for pension insurance. Participation in employer's health insurance was extended to four million employees. A Development Law of December 1970 made it possible for all employees voluntarily to become members of the statutory sickness insurance. The level of income for compulsory sickness insurance

9170-584: The federal government to bear the cost of hospital investment covered in the plans, rates for hospital care thus based on running costs alone, hospitals to ensure that public subsidies together with insurance fund payments for patients cover total costs". The Benefit Improvement Law (1973) made entitlement to hospital care legally binding (entitlements already enjoyed in practice), abolished time limits for hospital care, introduced entitlement to household assistance under specific conditions, and also introduced entitlement to leave of absence from work and cash benefits in

9301-492: The field of health care, various measures were introduced to improve the quality and availability of health care provision. Free hospital care was introduced for 9 million recipients of social relief, while a contributory medical service for 23 million panel patients was introduced. Pensioners were exempted from paying a 2% health insurance contribution, while improvements in health insurance provision were carried out, as characterised by an expanded sickness insurance scheme, with

9432-490: The field of national insurance and working conditions), the staff-shortage suffered by social establishments in their medico-social, educational and other work. A bill to harmonize re-education benefit and another bill relating to severely disabled persons became law in May and September 1972 respectively. In 1972, winter payments for construction workers were introduced. To assist family planning and marriage and family guidance,

9563-400: The field of urban renovation. In 1973, the government provided assistance of DM 28 million for the modernisation of old dwellings. New rules were introduced regarding improvements in the law relating to rented property, and control of the rise in rents and protection against cancellation of leases also safeguarded the rights of migrant workers in the sphere of housing. A law of July 1973 fixed

9694-416: The financing of 1650 family dwellings that year. Development measures were begun in 1972 with federal financial aid granted to the Lander for improvement measures relating to towns and villages, and in the 1972 budget, DM 50 million was earmarked, i.e. a third of the total cost of some 300 schemes. A council for urban development was formed in May 1972 with the purpose of promoting future work and measures in

9825-446: The foundation stones for his future Neue Ostpolitik . There was a wide public-opinion gap between Kiesinger and Brandt in the West German polls. Both men had come to their own terms with the new baby boomer lifestyles. Kiesinger considered them to be "a shameful crowd of long-haired drop-outs who needed a bath and someone to discipline them". On the other hand, Brandt needed a while to get into contact with, and to earn credibility among,

9956-548: The founding of the International Bureau of Revolutionary Youth Organizations , and was elected to its secretariat. Brandt was in Germany from September to December 1936, disguised as a Norwegian student named Gunnar Gaasland . The real Gunnar Gaasland was married to Gertrud Meyer from Lübeck in a marriage of convenience to protect her from deportation. Meyer had joined Brandt in Norway in July 1933. In 1937, during

10087-431: The founding of the SPD by August Bebel . Brandt was the SPD candidate for the chancellorship in 1961, but he lost to Konrad Adenauer 's conservative Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU). In 1965, Brandt ran again, but lost to the popular Ludwig Erhard . Erhard's government was short-lived, however, and in 1966 a grand coalition between the SPD and CDU was formed, with Brandt serving as foreign minister and as

10218-518: The fundamental and minimum requirements regarding workers' dwellings, mainly concerning space, ventilation and lighting, protection against damp, heat and noise, power and heating facilities and sanitary installations. In regards to civil rights, the Brandt Administration introduced a broad range of socially liberal reforms aimed at making West Germany a more open society. Greater legal rights for women were introduced, as exemplified by

10349-482: The general deduction on income to determine reckonable income from 15% to 20%, allowance rates listed in tables replacing complicated calculation procedure based on "bearable rent burdens". The Housing Construction Modification Law (1971) increased the income-limit for access to low rent apartments under the social housing programme from 9,000 DM to 12,000 DM per annum plus 3,000 DM (instead of 2,400) for each family member. The law also introduced special subsidies to reduce

10480-402: The goal of the realization of socialism. Impossibilism posits that reforms to capitalism are counterproductive because they strengthen support for capitalism by the working class by making its conditions more tolerable while creating further contradictions of their own, while removing the socialist character of the parties championing and implementing said reforms. Because reforms cannot solve

10611-499: The government allocated DM 2,232,000 in 1973 for the payment and for the basic and further training of staff. A special effort was also made in 1973 to organize the recreation of disabled persons , with a holiday guide for the disabled issued with the aid of the Federal Ministry of Family and Youth Affairs and Health in order to help them find suitable holiday accommodation for themselves and their families. From 1972 to 1973,

10742-532: The government included nonmedical psychotherapists and psychoanalysts in the national health insurance program. Pupils, students and children in kindergartens were incorporated into the accident insurance scheme, which benefited 11 million children. Free medical checkups were introduced that same year, while the Farmers' Sickness Insurance Law (1972) introduced compulsory sickness insurance for independent farmers, family workers in agriculture, and pensioners under

10873-452: The government's first budget, sickness benefits were increased by 9.3%, pensions for war widows by 25%, pensions for the war wounded by 16%, and retirement pensions by 5%. Numerically, pensions went up by 6.4% (1970), 5.5% (1971), 9.5% (1972), 11.4% (1973), and 11.2% (1974). Adjusted for changes in the annual price index, pensions went up in real terms by 3.1% (1970), 0.3% (1971), 3.9% (1972), 4.4% (1973), and 4.2% (1974). Between 1972 and 1974,

11004-412: The inclusion of preventative treatment. The income limit for compulsory sickness insurance was indexed to changes in the wage level (1970) and the right to medical cancer screening for 23.5 million people was introduced. In January 1971, the reduction of sickness allowance in case of hospitalisation was discontinued. That same year, compulsory health insurance was extended to the self-employed. In 1970,

11135-445: The long-term unemployed were also granted the same retirement window as the disabled. In addition, there were no benefit reductions for employees who had decided to retire earlier than the age of 65. The legislation also changed the way in which pensions were calculated for low-income earners who had been covered for twenty-five or more years. If the pension benefit fell below a specified level, then such workers were allowed to substitute

11266-418: The mandatory retirement age with a "retirement window" ranging between 63 and 65 for employees who had worked for at least thirty-five years. Employees who qualified as disabled and had worked for at least thirty-five years were extended a more generous retirement window, which ranged between the ages of 60 and 62. Women who had worked for at least fifteen years (ten of which had to be after the age of age 40) and

11397-447: The more left-wing Lander "rapidly began to do so", other Lander found "all sorts of pretexts for delaying the scheme". By the mid-1980s, Berlin had 25 comprehensives while Bavaria only had 1, and in most Lander comprehensives were still viewed as "merely experimental". In the field of housing, various measures were carried out to benefit householders, such as in improving the rights of tenants and increasing rental assistance. According to

11528-411: The norm that the standard pension (of average earners with forty years of contributions) should not fall below 50% of current gross earnings. The 1972 pension reforms improved eligibility conditions and benefits for nearly every subgroup of the West German population. The income replacement rate for employees who made full contributions was raised to 70% of average earnings. The reform also replaced 65 as

11659-521: The old demands for nationalization and instead cooperated increasingly with industry, achieving labor representation on corporate boards and increases in wages and benefits. After losing federal elections in 1953 and 1957, the SPD moved toward an American-style image-driven electoral strategy that stressed personalities, specifically Berlin mayor Willy Brandt . As it prepared for the 1961 federal election , it proved necessary as well to drop opposition to rearmament and to accept NATO . The Godesberg Program

11790-637: The opposite perspective as having abandoned the orthodox Marxism of the founders. A number of theoretical perspectives and political movements emerged that were firmly rooted in orthodox Marxist analysis, as contrasted with later interpretations and alternative developments in Marxist theory and practice such as Marxism–Leninism, revisionism and reformism. Impossibilism stresses the limited value of economic, social, cultural and political reforms under capitalism and posits that socialists and Marxists should solely focus on efforts to propagate and establish socialism, disregarding any other cause that has no connection to

11921-450: The orthodox Marxist tradition. Orthodox Marxism is contrasted with later variations of Marxism, notably revisionism and Stalinism . In contrast to Stalin's idea of the socialism in a single backward country, orthodox Marxists said that Imperial Russia was too backwards for the development of socialism and would first have to undergo a capitalist (bourgeois) phase of development even if a Marxist party would head its government. Lenin urged

12052-497: The orthodox Marxists for breaking with Marx's thought. The emergence of orthodox Marxism is associated with the latter works of Friedrich Engels , such as the Dialectics of Nature and Socialism: Utopian and Scientific , which were efforts to popularise the work of Karl Marx, render it systematic and apply it to the fundamental questions of philosophy. Daniel De Leon , an early American socialist leader, contributed much to

12183-605: The part that was given to Poland as a consequence of the end of the war; western Czechoslovakia (the Sudetenland ); and the rest of Eastern Europe, such as in Romania . These groups of displaced Germans and their descendants loudly voiced their opposition to Brandt's policy, calling it "illegal" and "high treason". A different camp supported and encouraged Brandt's Neue Ostpolitik as aiming at "change through rapprochement " ( Wandel durch Annäherung ), encouraging change through

12314-416: The productive forces and social relations of society and therefore rejects Leninism and Bolshevism for its insistence on a "hands-on" approach to revolution. Luxemburgism is also highly critical of the reformist Marxism that emerged from the work of Eduard Bernstein 's informal faction of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. According to Rosa Luxemburg, under reformism "[capitalism] is not overthrown, but

12445-776: The purchasing power of pensioners went up by 19%. In 1970, war pensions were increased by 16%. War victim's pensions went up by 5.5% in January 1971, and by 6.3% in January 1972. By 1972, war pensions for orphans and parents had gone up by around 40%, and for widows by around 50%. Between 1970 and 1972, the "Landabgaberente" (land transfer pension) went up by 55%. Between 1969 and 1974, the average real standard rate of income support rose (in 1991 prices) from around 300 DM to around 400 DM. Between 1970 and 1974, unemployment benefits rose from around 300 euros to around 400 euros per month, and unemployment assistance from just under 200 euros per month to just under 400 euros per month. In 2001 prices,

12576-494: The rule of the communist states by claiming that they were state capitalist states ruled by revisionists . Though the periods and countries defined as state capitalist or revisionist varies among different ideologies and parties, all of them accept that the Soviet Union was socialist during Stalin's time. Maoists view the Soviet Union and most of its satellites as "state capitalist" as a result of de-Stalinization ; some of them also view modern China in this light, believing that

12707-498: The self-employed, a new minimum pension for workers with at least twenty-five years' insurance was introduced, faster pension indexation was implemented, with the annual adjustment of pensions brought forward by six months, and the Seventh Modification Law (1973) linked the indexation of farmers' pensions to the indexation of the general pension insurance scheme. A new pension for "severely handicapped" persons

12838-706: The shift away from orthodox Marxism in the Frankfurt School: In the early 1920s, the original members of the Frankfurt Institute—half forgotten names such as Carl Grünberg , Henryk Grossman and Karl August Wittfogel , were social scientists of an orthodox Marxist conviction. They understood their task as an advancement of the sciences that would prove useful in solving the problems of a Europe-wide transition into socialism, which they saw, if not as inevitable, at least as highly likely. But as fascism reared its head in Germany and throughout Europe,

12969-402: The situation "a state of accomplished extortion". Kennedy was furious, but managed to defuse the tension by sending his vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson, to Berlin. In June 1963, Brandt figured prominently in the staging of Kennedy's triumphant visit to West Berlin . Brandt became the chairman of the SPD in 1964, a post that he retained until 1987, longer than any other party chairman since

13100-704: The standardisation of pensions, divorce laws, regulations governing use of surnames, and the introduction of measures to bring more women into politics. The voting age was lowered from 21 to 18, the age of eligibility for political office was lowered to 21, and the age of majority was lowered to 18 in March 1974. The Third Law for the Liberalization of the Penal Code (1970) liberalised "the right to political demonstration", while equal rights were granted to illegitimate children that same year. A 1971 amendment to

13231-405: The students and other young West German baby-boomers who dreamed of a country that would be more open and more colorful than the frugal and still somewhat-authoritarian Bundesrepublik that had been built after World War II. However, Brandt's Neue Ostpolitik lost him a large part of the German refugee voters from East Germany, who had been significantly pro-SPD in the postwar years. Although Brandt

13362-554: The systemic contradictions of capitalism, impossibilism opposes reformism, revisionism and ethical socialism. Impossibilism also opposes the idea of a vanguard-led revolution and the centralization of political power in any elite group of people as espoused by Leninism and Marxism–Leninism. This perspective is maintained by the World Socialist Movement , De Leonism , and to some extent followers of Karl Kautsky and pre-reformist social democracy. Kautsky and to

13493-446: The third child from DM 50 to DM 60, raised the income-limit for the second child allowance from DM 7,800 to DM 13,200; subsequently increased to DM 15,000 by the third modification law (December 1971), DM 16,800 by the fourth modification law (November 1973), and to DM 18,360 by the fifth modification law (December 1973). A flexible retirement age after 62 years was introduced (1972) for invalids and disabled persons, and social assistance

13624-584: The thought during the final years of the 19th century and the early 20th century. Orthodox Marxism was further developed during the Second International by thinkers such as Georgi Plekhanov and Karl Kautsky in Erfurt Program and The Class Struggle (Erfurt Program) . The characteristics of orthodox Marxism are: Orthodox Marxism is contrasted with revisionist Marxism as developed in post-First World War Social Democratic parties . Some writers also contrast it with Marxism–Leninism as it developed in

13755-531: The total amount of individual aids granted by Guarantee Fund for the integration of young immigrants increased from 17 million DM to 26 million DM. Under a law passed in April 1974, the protection hitherto granted to the victims of war or industrial accidents for the purpose of their occupational and social reintegration was extended to all disabled persons, whatever the cause of their disability, provided that their capacity to work had been reduced by at least 50%. In

13886-514: The two countries, signifying the official and long-delayed end of World War II . Brandt negotiated parallel treaties and agreements with Czechoslovakia. In West Germany, Brandt's Neue Ostpolitik was extremely controversial, dividing the populace into two camps. One camp embraced all of the conservative parties, and most notably those West German residents and their families who had been driven west ("die Heimatvertriebenen ") by Stalinist ethnic cleansing from Historical Eastern Germany , especially

14017-399: The usage of federal funds in assisting social housing construction laid down that a certain standard needed to be observed when building homes for severely disabled persons. The Second Housing Allowance Law of December 1970 simplified the administration of housing allowances and extended entitlements, increased the income limit to 9,600 DM per year plus 2,400 DM for each family member, raised

14148-502: The way of urban development. New hotels, office-blocks, and flats were constructed, while both Schloss Charlottenburg and the Reichstag building were restored. Sections of the "Stadtring" Bundesautobahn 100 inner city motorway were opened, while a major housing programme was carried out, with roughly 20,000 new dwellings built each year during his time in office. At the start of 1961, U.S. President John F. Kennedy saw Brandt as

14279-488: The words of one observer, "5,000 new scholarships for graduates, and double that number were being awarded three years later". Grants were introduced for pupils from lower income groups to stay on at school, together with grants for those going into any kind of higher or further education. Increases were also made in educational allowances, as well as spending on science. In 1972, the government allocated 2.1 million DM in grants to promote marriage and family education. Under

14410-585: The younger members of the Institute saw the necessity for a different kind of Marxist Scholarship. Beyond accumulating knowledge relevant to an orthodox Marxist line, they felt the need to take the more critical and negative approach that is required for the maintenance of an integral and penetrating understanding of society during a moment of reaction. This could be described as the politically necessary transition from Marxist positive science to Critical Theory . In parallel to this, Cedric Robinson has identified

14541-456: Was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1969 to 1974. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971 for his efforts to strengthen cooperation in Western Europe through the EEC and to achieve reconciliation between West Germany and the countries of Eastern Europe . He

14672-433: Was a science which revealed the laws of history and proved that the collapse of capitalism and its replacement by socialism was inevitable. The implications of this deterministic view were that history could not be "hurried" and that politically workers and workers' parties must wait for the material economic conditions to be met before the revolutionary transformation of society could take place. For example, this idea saw

14803-434: Was active in creating a degree of rapprochement with East Germany , and also in improving relations with the Soviet Union, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and other Eastern Bloc (communist) countries. Brandt introduced his Ostpolitik gradually starting in 1967 with the establishment of diplomatic relations with Romania and making a trade agreement with Czechoslovakia. In 1968 he restored diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia. However

14934-561: Was again elected to the Bundestag, but as a delegate from North Rhine-Westphalia , and remained in the Bundestag as a delegate from that state until his death in 1992. In 1950, Brandt, while a member of the Bundestag and the editor-in-chief of the Berliner Stadtblatt , received a secret payment of about 170,000 Deutsche Mark from the U.S. government (equivalent to €460,386 in 2021). From October 1957 to 1966, Willy Brandt served as Governing Mayor of West Berlin , during

15065-417: Was also notable because the party abandoned and rejected Marxist theories of class conflict and revolution. This was consistent with Eduard Bernstein 's Marxist revisionism . In adopting the Godesberg Program, the SPD dropped its hostility to capitalism which had long been the core of party ideology and sought to move beyond its old working class base to embrace the full spectrum of potential voters, adopting

15196-572: Was an outspoken critic of Bolshevism and Leninism, seeing the Bolsheviks (or Communists as they had renamed themselves after 1917) as an organization that had gained power by a coup and initiated revolutionary changes for which there was no economic rationale in Russia. Kautsky was also opposed to Eduard Bernstein's reformist politics in the period 1896–1901. Instrumental Marxism is a theory derived from classical Marxism which reasons that policy makers in government and positions of power tend to "share

15327-666: Was carried out, together with the introduction of postgraduate support for highly qualified graduates, providing them with the opportunity to earn their doctorates or undertake research studies. A law on individual promotion of vocational training came into force in October 1971, which provided for financial grants for attendance at further general or technical teaching establishments from the second year of studies at higher technical schools, academies and higher education establishments, training centres of second degree, or certain courses of television teaching. Grants were also made in certain cases for attendance at training centres located outside

15458-569: Was determined, by statutory regulation issued in February 1970, the category of persons most seriously disabled "to whom, with regard to maintenance aid, an increased demand (50% of the appropriate rate) is being conceded, and, within the scope of relief in special living conditions: a higher rate of nursing aid". In 1971, the retirement age for miners was lowered to 50. An April 1972 law providing for "promotion of social aid services" aimed to remedy, through various beneficial measures (particularly in

15589-556: Was elected to the West German Bundestag (the federal parliament) in the 1949 West German federal election as a SPD delegate from West Berlin, serving there until 1957. Concurrently, he was elected as an SPD representative to the Abgeordnetenhaus (the state-level parliament) of West Berlin in the 1950 West Berlin state election , and served there through 1971. In the 1969 West German federal election he

15720-569: Was expanded. Federal grants were increased, especially for the Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg, while a Federal Institute for Sport Science was set up, together with the Institute for Social Medicine and Epidemiology in Berlin. In addition, funding for new rehabilitation facilities was increased. The Pension Reform Law (1972) guaranteed all retirees a minimum pension regardless of their contributions and institutionalized

15851-833: Was extended to those who previously had to be helped by their relatives. From 1971, special subventions were provided to enable young farmers to quit farming "and facilitate their entry into the non-agricultural pension system by means of back payments". The Third Modification Law (1974) extended individual entitlements to social assistance by means of higher-income limits compatible with receipt of benefits and lowered age limits for certain special benefits. Rehabilitation measures were also extended, child supplements were expressed as percentages of standard amounts and were thus indexed to their changes, and grandparents of recipients were exempted from potential liability to reimburse expenditure of social assistance carrier. The Third Social Welfare Amendment Act (1974) brought considerable improvements for

15982-437: Was indexed to 75% of the respective assessment level for pension insurance, while voluntarily insured employees were granted a claim to an allowance towards their sickness insurance from their employer. This law also introduced a new type of sickness insurance benefit, namely facilities for the early diagnosis of disease. Apart from the discretionary service of disease prevention which had existed since 1923, insured persons now had

16113-526: Was introduced in 1972, along with occupational injury annuities and a special pension for long-standing insurant from the age of 63 and a pension due to "limited earning capacity" from the age of 62. In addition, a special pension benefit was introduced for workers aged 60 and above after unemployment. Under the Severely Handicapped Persons Act of April 1974, a seriously disabled person could retire early on an old age pension at

16244-472: Was introduced under the name of Vergleichmieten (comparable rents), together with the provision of "for family-friendly housing" freight or rent subsidies to owners of apartments or houses whose ceiling had been adapted to increased expenses or incomes (1970). In addition, a law for the creation of property for workers was passed, under which a married worker would normally keep up to 95% of his pay, and graded tax remission for married wage-earners applied up to

16375-445: Was made. Other reforms aimed at improving tenants' rights included protection against conversion of rental housing into condominiums, the prohibition of the misappropriation of living space, new regulation of the apartment broker system, and a fee scale for engineers and architects. In addition, the income limits for eligibility for social housing were raised and adapted in order of general income trends. A loose form of rent regulation

16506-413: Was only lawful where the landlord proved justified personal interest in the apartment. In addition, rent increases were only lawful if not above normal comparable rents in the same area. Directives on the housing of foreign workers came into force in April 1971. These directives imposed certain requirements for space, hygiene, safety, and amenities in the accommodation offered by employers. That same year,

16637-422: Was paid out in rent subsidies as in 1969, and nearly one and a half million households received rental assistance. Increases were made in public housing subsidies, as characterised by a 36% increase in the social housing budget in 1970 and by the introduction of a programme for the construction of 200,000 public housing units (1971). From 1970 to 1971, an 18.1% increase in building permits for social housing units

16768-466: Was raised to 16, and spending on research and education was increased by nearly 300% between 1970 and 1974. Working through a planning committee set up for the "joint task" of university development, the Federal Government started to make investment costs in 1971. Fees for higher or further education were abolished, while a considerable increase in the number of higher education institutions took place. A much needed school and college construction program

16899-661: Was significantly expanded (with total public spending on social programs nearly doubling between 1969 and 1975), with health, housing, and social welfare legislation bringing about welcome improvements, and by the end of the Brandt Chancellorship West Germany had one of the most advanced systems of welfare in the world. Substantial increases were made in social security benefits such as injury and sickness benefits, pensions, unemployment benefits, housing allowances, basic subsistence aid allowances, and family allowances and living allowances. In

17030-581: Was superseded in 1989 by the Berlin Program, resolved at the party congress held on 20 December 1989 in Berlin . This German history article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Orthodox Marxist Orthodox Marxism is the body of Marxist thought which emerged after the deaths of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the late 19th century, expressed in its primary form by Karl Kautsky . Kautsky's views of Marxism dominated

17161-669: Was the first Social Democratic chancellor since 1930. Fleeing to Norway and then Sweden during the Nazi regime and working as a left-wing journalist, he took the name Willy Brandt as a pseudonym to avoid detection by Nazi agents, and then formally adopted the name in 1948. Brandt earned initial fame as governing mayor of West Berlin . He served as the foreign minister and as the vice chancellor in Kurt Georg Kiesinger 's cabinet, and became chancellor in 1969. As chancellor, he maintained West Germany's close alignment with

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