The German education system of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries had many admirers.' Most famously, Frenchmen, both conservative and republican, regarded the rout at Sedan as a victory for the Prussian schoolmaster. As economic rivals of the Reich, the British, too, were impressed and in some cases alarmed by Germany's performance.2 Within Germany, however, the education system was the target of widespread criticism and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) was undeniably the most powerful political force pressing for fundamental changes in the schools. For Social Democrats in Germany before I914 radical criticism of the existing structure and character of education was just one component of their programme of opposition to the established regime. As a party they condemned the social, economic and political structure of Imperial Germany, and in socialist minds education was bound to reflect the nature of the society as a whole. Observing the situation in England Engels had argued that since the bourgeoisie kept the working-class in a state of material deprivation, was not surprising that it bestowed on them only so much education as lies within the interest of the bourgeoisie; and that, in truth, is not much.3 This view of the relationship between education and society was adopted by the early German socialist Wilhelm Liebknecht in his speeches to the Workingmen's Educational Societies in Dresden and Leipzig during the eighteen-seventies. While agreeing that in one sense 'Knowledge is Power' (Wissen ist Macht), he pointed out that the knowledgeable and the powerful had always kept knowledge as part of their class monopoly. From this he drew the conclusion that the existing state and society were the enemies of education, and Social Democracy was the party of education in the fullest sense of those words. Education would only be gained by political agitation. The slogan 'To Freedom through Education' was false: Liebknecht asserted the opposite, 'To Education through Freedom'. The people would never have education if they did not first have political power.4 Thus, Social Democratic criticism of education in Imperial Germany was part of the movement's broader analysis of the existing regime. The basis and the ultimate aims of the SPD's education policy did not change significantly during the period from the foundation of the party until the end of the Weimar Republic. Behind the tactical variations which will be considered later lay a policy based on a critique of the existing system and a vision of education in the perfect, socialist society. Although owing much to general socialist principles, the policy of the SPD can be fully understood only if considered in the context of the existing system. To speak of 'the education system of Imperial Germany' is in itself misleading.5 There was no uniform system of education extending from Hamburg to Munich, administered by a unified bureaucracy and applying a standard set of regulations. The Reich Constitution of I87I did not mention education as a subject for supervision and legislation