The Progressive People's Party ( German : Fortschrittliche Volkspartei , FVP ) was a social liberal party of the late German Empire . It was formed in 1910, with the educated middle class and new lower middle class as its main constituents.
12-426: It was formed on 6 March 1910 as a merger of Free-minded People's Party , Free-minded Union and German People's Party in order to unify various fragmented liberal groups represented in parliament. Already during the 1907 federal election , the two Free-minded parties had joined forces supporting Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow , who had promised to implement structural reforms. This disputed Bülow-Block led to
24-519: The Progressive People's Party . This article related to a European Liberal party is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a political party in Germany is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . German Free-minded Party The German Free-minded Party ( German : Deutsche Freisinnige Partei , DFP ) or German Radical Party
36-545: The Free-minded Party received disappointing 17.6% of the votes in the 1884 federal election , representing a drop of 3.6% from the combined parties' results in the previous 1881 federal election . The main beneficiaries of this defection were the Conservative forces, supporting the protectionist , colonialist and anti-socialist policies of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck . In the 1887 federal election ,
48-790: The Progressive Friedrich von Payer became Vice-Chancellor in November, all opportunities were missed. The party was disbanded in 1918 after the fall of the empire, with most of its members joining the new German Democratic Party ( Deutsche Demokratische Partei ) of the Weimar Republic , merging the Progressives with the left wing of the old National Liberal Party. Free-minded People%27s Party (Germany) The Free-minded People's Party ( German : Freisinnige Volkspartei , FVP ) or Radical People's Party
60-637: The circles around Naumann initially defended a German-dominated Mitteleuropa concept, the moderate forces led by Ludwig Quidde demanding peace negotiations prevailed. In July 1917, the party joined with the Social Democratic Party and the Catholic Centre to form the Reichstag majority that would pass the famous Peace Resolution . However, the initiative was not taken up by the government of Chancellor Georg Michaelis . When
72-797: The concept of a welfare state . However, a cooperation with the Social Democrats remained disputed. By 1912, the party was represented in 19 states of the German Empire , including the Alsatian Progress Party branch in the Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine . Constituents were mainly middle class and academics , but also employees and unionists . The Progressives became a major force in German parliamentarism especially during World War I . Though
84-681: The considered liberal Crown Prince Frederick William to the throne (which took place only in 1888). Richter aspired to build up a strong united liberal force in the Reichstag parliament, similar to the British Liberal Party under William Ewart Gladstone . The Free-minded Party supported the expansion of parliamentarism in the German constitutional monarchy , separation of church and state and Jewish emancipation . Under party chairman Franz August Schenk von Stauffenberg along with his deputies Albert Hänel and Rudolf Virchow ,
96-485: The empire into a parliamentary democratic monarchy . They also advocated the separation of church and state , free trade , a progressive taxation as well as safety, health and welfare of people at work . The party thereby distanced itself from Conservatives and the National Liberal Party . Leading members like Friedrich Naumann were still favouring economic liberalism , but gradually turned to
108-484: The party again lost half of their seats, falling to 32 Reichstag mandates. Though urged by his wife Princess Royal Victoria , Crown Prince Frederick William did not dare court trouble with Bismarck by openly taking the party's side. His early death in 1888 and the accession of his son William II terminated all liberal hopes. During the decline in support, the differences between progressives and centre-right liberals became irreconcilable. Upon Bismarck's death in 1890,
120-566: The split-off of the left-wing Democratic Union (DV) under Rudolf Breitscheid and Theodor Barth . Nevertheless, after Bülow's resignation in 1909 the major social liberal parties were able to join in an effective union. The Progressives demanded full equal voting rights for all , the abolition of the Prussian three-class franchise system, a new local elections law and amendments to the Imperial Constitution transforming
132-675: Was a social liberal party in the German Empire , founded as a result of the split of the German Free-minded Party in 1893. One of its most notable members was Eugen Richter , who was party leader from 1893 to 1906. The party advocated liberalism , social progressivism and parliamentarism . On 6 March 1910, the party merged with the Free-minded Union and the German People's Party to form
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#1732775478938144-548: Was a short-lived liberal party in the German Empire , founded on 5 March 1884 as a result of the merger of the German Progress Party and the Liberal Union , an 1880 split-off of the National Liberal Party . The economists Ludwig Bamberger and Georg von Siemens as well as the liberal politician Eugen Richter were among the prime movers of the merger in the view of the forthcoming accession of
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