Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Assassins and Conspirators: Anarchism, Socialism, and Political Culture in Imperial Germany

Assassins and Conspirators: Anarchism, Socialism, and Political Culture in Imperial Germany

Gabriel, Elun

Hardcover

General Political ScienceGerman HistorySocial Movements

ISBN10: 0875804810
ISBN13: 9780875804811
Publisher: Northern Illinois Univ
Published: Feb 28 2014
Pages: 305
Weight: 1.22
Height: 1.05 Width: 6.42 Depth: 9.25
Language: English

Over the course of the German Empire the Social Democrats went from being a vilified and persecuted minority to becoming the largest party in the Reichstag, enjoying broad-based support. But this was not always the case. In the 1870s, government mouthpieces branded Social Democracy the party of assassins and conspirators and sought to excite popular fury against it. Over time, Social Democrats managed to refashion their public image in large part by contrasting themselves to anarchists, who came to represent a politics that went far beyond the boundaries of acceptable behavior. Social Democrats emphasized their overall commitment to peaceful change through parliamentary participation and a willingness to engage their political rivals. They condemned anarchist behavior--terrorism and other political violence specifically--and distanced themselves from the alleged anarchist personal characteristics of rashness, emotionalism, cowardice, and secrecy. Repeated public debate about the appropriate place of Socialism in German society, and its relationship to anarchist terrorism, helped Socialists and others, such as liberals, political Catholics, and national minorities, cement the principles of legal equality and a vigorous public sphere in German political culture.

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German History

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