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Eduard Bernstein
Historical figureGermany1850-1932

Eduard Bernstein

Social democratic theorist · Journalist

German socialist who argued that Marxists should drop the wait for capitalism's collapse and seek gradual reform through votes, unions and cooperatives.

Compare yourself See the 12 scores
Profile on 12 axes11 of 12 documented
ECONOMYSTATESOCIETYWORLDOwnershipMarketsWelfareAuthoritySecurityStructureMoralityReligionTechnologyCultureTradeForeign
Where they stood

Eduard Bernstein, axis by axis

  1. 01Ownership-40
    PublicPrivate

    He held on to social ownership as a long-term goal, but he leaned on co-ops, city-run enterprises and slow change rather than seizing property outright.

  2. 02Markets-30
    PlannedFree
  3. 03Welfare-60
    SharedSelf-reliant
  4. 04Authority-65
    DemocraticStrong leader
  5. 05Security-40
    LibertyOrder
  6. 06Structure0
    LocalCentral

    He wanted democratic reform at the national level and self-government in towns alike, with no firm view on centralisation.

  7. 07Morality-40
    ProgressiveTraditional
  8. 08Religion-30
    SecularReligious
  9. 09TechnologyNo clear record
    EmbraceCaution

    No view is recorded, so the axis is null.

  10. 10Culture0
    MulticulturalNational identity

    He condemned the abuse of colonies, yet he accepted a 'civilising mission' under democratic terms, a position that left-wing critics in his party disliked.

  11. 11Trade-60
    GlobalProtected
  12. 12Foreign policy-50
    CooperationStrength

    In August 1914 he voted for war credits to follow party discipline. He then turned against the war and joined the antiwar USPD in 1917.

One axis has no clear record, so matching leaves it out.

Who was Eduard Bernstein?

Eduard Bernstein was born in Berlin to a Jewish family and became active in the German social democratic movement in the 1870s. When Bismarck's anti-socialist laws pushed him abroad, he edited the party paper from Zürich and then settled in London, where he became close to Friedrich Engels. His 1899 book, known in English as Evolutionary Socialism, claimed that capitalism was not about to fall and that workers should push for change through parliament, unions and co-ops. He went home in 1901 and sat in the Reichstag several times. He helped write the SPD's Görlitz Program in 1921 and kept writing until he died in Berlin in 1932.

Political views

  • Pointed out that the middle classes were growing, not vanishing, and so doubted that capitalism was close to collapse.Source: marxists.org
  • Saw socialism mainly as a matter of cooperation and association, not a violent seizure of power.Source: marxists.org
  • Put the everyday struggle for workers' rights ahead of any far-off 'final goal'.Source: marxists.org
  • Counted parliamentary democracy and trade unions as the chief roads to social reform.Source: marxists.org
  • Backed free trade, open diplomacy and international bodies as ways to keep the peace.Source: en.wikipedia.org
  • Turned against the First World War from 1915 and joined the Independent Social Democratic Party.Source: en.wikipedia.org

Legacy

The SPD formally turned down Bernstein's revisionism, and Karl Kautsky, Rosa Luxemburg and Lenin all attacked it as a betrayal of class struggle. Yet many historians say that the party's later move to reform politics, above all the 1959 Godesberg Program, proved him right. Fans call him a founder of democratic social democracy. Marxist critics say he taught socialist parties to make peace with capitalism, and some liberals thought he was drifting their way. His views on colonies are still argued over. He also spoke out against imperial Germany's war aims and on German blame for the war, which was unpopular in the early Weimar years.

In their own words

“To me that which is generally called the ultimate aim of socialism is nothing, but the movement is everything.”
Evolutionary Socialism, conclusion, 1899, restating his 1898 article

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Eduard Bernstein: questions

Was Eduard Bernstein a Marxist?

He began as a Marxist and worked with Engels. Later he revised Marx, rejecting the idea that capitalism must collapse, and kept socialism as a goal reached by reform.

What is revisionism in socialism?

It is the view, which Bernstein made famous, that socialists should change society step by step through elections, unions and co-ops. Orthodox Marxists used the word as an insult.

Sources