First half 19. Century until the March revolution 1848/49

First high points of the political liberalism in the German states after the clearing-up, those with Immanuel Kant in 18. Century an important philosophical representative in at that time Prussian king mountain had, falls into the time of the between 1815 and 1848. This phase of German history was strongly coined/shaped by the culture of the romance and philosophies of the German idealism (see spruce, Hegel, Schelling).

In the time of the connected yourself the liberalism with the ideas of a nationalnational unit of the German states. Important events were for example the waiting castle celebration 1817, the Hambacher celebration 1832 and the revolution of 1848. The appropriate before-revolutionary and revolutionary liberals movements fought on the one hand the principalities aligned again at the absolutism during the nachnapoleonischen era and/or that the Viennese congress (1814/15) to 1848 the following restoration. They demanded conditions, liberalisation of the trade by removal of the customs barriers and democratic rights for the people. They occurred at the same time for the agreement of the states of the German federation in an all-German national state.

During the national assembly in the Frankfurt Paulskirche 1848/1849, resulted from the March revolution, the civil liberals parliamentary groups Casino and yard (Heinrich of Gagern) placed, the so-called "“half ones"”, the majority. They occurred for a constitutional monarchy, a people sovereignty and parliamentary rights. The minority of the "“whole ones"”, that likewise the liberalism, partly also early socialism assigned radical democrat, among them for example Robert Blum, demanded a German republic and the removal of monarchistic structures. Already in these different parliamentary groups during the 1849 by force struck down revolution suggested itself to late more strongly splintering of the German liberalism seizing around itself.

The radical rule and state-negative current of the liberalism, the Anarchismus, developed starting from the 1840er years particularly under the word leader shank Mikhail Bakunins, who was considerably involved for example in the Dresden May rebellion 1849 in Saxonia. The Anarchismus was a current in the revolutionary workers' movement. Into the early 1870er years escalated in the workers' movement the conflict between the trailers of Karl Marx and those Mikhail Bakunins in the first international one (international worker association), and it came to splitting the workers' movement into an anarchist and a Marxist-communist direction.

Empire until 1918

The German progress party, which was based 1861, was the first political party of Germany in the today's sense, also in a party program formulated political goals. These aligned themselves at the traditional liberalism. To the Prussian condition conflict into the 1860er years still came it between 1866 and 1868 before the establishment of the German empire to most substantial splitting of the party-politically organized German liberalism, which has effects in arguments of the present. The two largest and most important follow-up parties of the German progress party in the time of the German empire were:

• the national liberal a party, based 1866/1867. It supported the government politics of Bismarck and the supremacy of Prussia in the realm, favored during the process of the realm agreement therefore a smallGerman solution (without Austria), and developed very fast in a conservative direction, in which the unit and liberty of the nation had priority before democratic liberty rights. The latters stepped with the national liberals increasingly into the background. The national liberal a party was long time the strongest parliamentary group in Reichstag of the empire and cooperated with the conservative party of the realm chancellor. After the First World War the national liberal a party disintegrated. Their largest part came up in the German people's party (DVP) of the Weimar Republic.

• the German people's party (DtVP) of the empire, based 1868. It had its centers in South Germany and demanded first a realm agreement as largeGerman solution (with Austria). It represented social liberal positions, demanded structures in the realm and more democratic rights for Reichstag as well as social reforms for the poorer layers of the population. Temporarily and punctually the DtVP with at that time still in a marxist manner aligned social-democracy (see also SPD) worked together. Contrary to the national liberals the demand kept after democratic liberty rights with the DtVP priority before the national agreement. 1910 fused the party with other left liberals groups and the German freeintimate party (based 1884) to the progressive people's party. From that again 1918 the German democratic party (strip packing) followed.

With the arising of the social-democracy the liberals had to divide gradually their influence as coining/shaping political Kraft with the socialists - and, related to the - to beginning 20. Century to it deliver. The realm government was determined however in the empire still by the emperor and was not selected by the parliament. The by the majority government-faithful national liberals found to more consideration than the link liberals or the Social Democrats, who were regarded and treated in the time of the German monarchy long time as public enemies.

Weimar Republic and time of the national socialism: 1918 to 1945

During the establishment of the Weimar Republic the liberals played a relatively important role in the parliamentary party spectrum after the November revolution beside the Social Democrats and the center again. After the First World War were based again two parties, which came out from the left and/or right liberal parties of the Kaiser era: the German democratic party (strip packing) and the German people's party (DVP). Despite same name stood the latter with the DtVP of the empire in no contentwise connection.

The left liberal of strip packing was involved together with the SPD and the center in the so-called Weimar coalition, the first government of the Weimar Republic in the years 1919 and 1920. After 1920 it had to constantly accept voice losses from choice to choice. - On the other hand the right liberal DVP was involved after 1920 many years in different governments.

While the strip packing represented one rather social liberal politics and from the outset supported the republic, it gave to the DVP, which had come out to their largest part from the national liberal a party (NLP), supporting the monarchy, strong a republic-hostile parliamentary group. The small "„links "“wings of the NLP was 1918 in the strip packing changed, "„right nationalistic "“- the wing into the German national people's party (DNVP).

The DVP placed after 1920 with Gustav Stresemann, which applies until today as "„prototype "“of a material politician, and who help the German Reich after the First World War again to a relative reputation abroad, over several years the minister of foreign affairs of the Weimar Republic, and 1923 for few months in a multi-party coalition briefly the realm chancellor. It stood according to own statement "„for reason reasons "“behind the republic and reconciled the party with the democratic system of government, had however in the Industriellen Hugo Stinnes an important internal-party adversary. After Stresemanns death (1929) drifted the DVP fast to the right to off up to the tolerance and finally support of rechtsdikatorischen contents of the parties DNVP and NSDAP.

The strip packing united 1930 after violent internal-party arguments with the people-national realm combination coming from the tradition, more well-known under the name "“young-German medal"” and designated themselves over into German state party. Thus it followed the nationalistic trend of the time increasingly in the end that Weimar Republic crisis-vibrated, which had already actually failed at this time in the reason. Under this development nearly the entire left wing withdrew from the party, among them also the Pazifist and Nobel peace prize carrier of 1927, Ludwig Quidde. This left wing of the former strip packing created the short-lived radical-democratic party, which remained politically unsuccessful however in the last years of the republic.

In the time of the national socialism also the liberalism applied as if verfemt. The appropriate parties were forbidden like all other democratically legitimized parties, if they did not dissolve. Many, above all left liberals were pursued, if they did not adapt to the system, politically or saw themselves forced to the emigration.

Into the present apply among other personalities such as Friedrich Naumann, max of webers, Walther Rathenau, Gustav Stresemann, Hugo Preuss, Reinhold Maier, Theodor Heuss, Ludwig Quidde than Protagonisten of the classical liberalism, although into very different and last end partial opposite political developments.

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