A false start

Abstract

The fortunes of the Dusseldorf Social Democrats seemed to pick up in the late 1890s. After twenty years of depression, the economy entered a sustained upswing. After nearly thirty years of opposition, political Catholicism became a supporter of the policies of the conservative Junker–industrial alliance. In this more auspicious environment, the social democratic unions were finally able to recruit members and mount strikes. The movement made its first tentative forays into municipal politics. Finally, the party concentrated on developing an effective program of education and agitation. Appearances were deceptive, however, and social democratic expectations were disappointed. The late 1890s saw a replication in the economic sphere of earlier problems in the political. Despite a certain level of mobilization, unions remained organizationally weak and tactically ineffective. Nonetheless, the simple attempt at unionization encouraged employers to organize against the Social Democrats as effectively as the Catholics had. In the municipal arena, the Social Democrats gained footholds only in marginal institutions, and even those were bitterly contested by the Center and Christian unions. The party's educational programs failed both to train the organized and attract the unorganized. As a result, the frustrations and failures of the early 1890s were to continue in the latter half of the decade. Unionization The free trade unions began to expand rapidly in 1895, the true founding date for the union movement not only locally but nationally as well. Expansion reached its limits, however, with the skilled, male workers in a few selected sectors. The fledgling union movement was increasingly able to strike yet seldom able to win due to internal weakness, legal restrictions, state intervention and, above all, employer intransigence and organization.