Profile: The SPD

Social Democratic Party of Germany / Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands

The SPD is Germany’s second largest party and the largest opposition party. The SPD is the only party in the Bundestag founded before the Second World War (or the first, for that matter). They are, as the name kind of gives away, social democrats – their current stated aim is to develop and defend Germany’s social market economy; broadly speaking, a market economy with a (government directed) social conscience.

This, however, was not always the case. The West German social market economy was effectively founded by the CDU in the immediate post-war years, with the SPD initially pushing for direct government control through nationalisation. It wasn’t until 1966 that the SPD could join the German government as the junior partner to the CDU.

In 1969, the SPD formed their first government alongside the liberal FDP with Willy Brandt as Chancellor. Brandt opened a dialogue with soviet bloc countries, not only improving relations with poignant acts of contrition for Nazi atrocities but also laying the groundwork for the reunification of the two Germanies that would come 20 years later – winning a Nobel peace price to boot. Brandt resigned in 1974 after a close aide was discovered to be an East German spy. Helmut Schmidt followed and the SPD remained in government until tensions with the increasingly free market FDP were too much to bear. 16 years in opposition would follow.

During that time, the Green party grew from a fringe group into a major political force. They became – and remain – the SPD’s natural centre-left coalition partner, and their growth among the middle classes set the stage for the SPD’s return to power in 1998. Gerhard Schröder – at the time often compared with Tony Blair – campaigned and subsequently governed on a platform of economic reform and tax cuts. This shift away from the left was not without casualties – Schröder quickly lost his finance minister: Oscar Lafontaine (who subsequently joined the descendent of East German communist party, The Left).

Schröder’s two terms certainly left a mark on Germany. His government committed German troops to the multinational force in Afghanistan – where they will remain until 2014 – but refused to join the war against Iraq.  At home, the Harz Commission and the so-called ‘Agenda 2010’ reforms that followed fundamentally changed the German welfare state. While the short-term effects were painful, the greater flexibility and tax cuts afforded to employers are credited as reason for Germany’s great economic performance despite the most recent financial crisis – employment levels are at a record high.

The short-term reaction, however, was deadly to the SPD’s election chances. In 2005, a shock defeat for the SPD in their North Rhine-Westphalia heartland effectively forced an early national poll.  The results were disappointing for Schröder: the SPD came second to Angela Merkel’s CDU/CSU. As none of the traditional party combinations could form a coalition, the SPD remained in government – but as the junior partner to the CDU. Schröder was unwilling to serve in Merkel’s cabinet and instead withdrew from frontline politics.

Germany was unimpressed with the SPD’s contribution to this grand coalition and made that clear at the ballot box in 2009. The SPD left the government and have remained in opposition until the present day.

The party is expected to choose their next candidate for Chancellor in January 2013, shortly before the upcoming federal elections. Frontrunners include Sigmar Gabriel (their current chairman), Frank-Walter Steinmeier (their 2009 candidate) and Peer Steinbrück. They have less than a year to prove they (and the SPD) have the right stuff to take on Merkel.

That, however, may be a difficult undertaking – Merkel is popular and the economy is doing well. With the SPD’s support of the Greek bailout, there are few points where they can convincingly attack the CDU/CSU. The SPD have declared that their election campaign will avoid direct attacks on the Chancellor herself, such is her popularity. If Merkel were to lose the next election – it will be because she and her coalition partners lost it, not because the SPD won it.