
Eduard
Bernstein (January 6, 1850 - December 18, 1932) was a German social
democratic theoretician and politician, member of the SPD, and founder
of evolutionary socialism or reformism.
Bernstein
was born in Berlin on January 6, 1850. His political career began in
1872, when he became a member of the Sozialdemokratische
Arbeiterpartei, the so called Eisenachers (named after the German town
Eisenach). Together with August Bebel and Wilhelm Liebknecht he
prepared the Einigungsparteitag ("unification party congress") with
Lassalle's Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiterverein in Gotha in 1875.
From
1878 on, Bernstein was the private secretary of social democratic
patron Karl Höchberg, working in Zürich; 1888, he was expelled from
Switzerland due to pressure from Prussia and moved to London, where he
had close contacts to Friedrich Engels.
Between
1880 and 1890, Bernstein published the magazine "Sozialdemokrat"
("Social Democrat"); in 1891, he was one of the authors of the Erfurt
Program, and from 1896 to 1898, he released a series of articles
entitled "Probleme des Sozialismus" ("Problems of Socialism") that led
to the revisionism debate in the SPD. He also wrote a book titled "Die
Voraussetzungen des Sozialismus und die Aufgaben der Sozialdemokratie"
("The Prerequisites for Socialism and the Tasks of Social Democracy")
in 1899. The book was in sharp contrast to the positions of August
Bebel, Karl Kautsky and Wilhelm Liebknecht.
Rosa Luxemburg's 1900 essay Reform or Revolution? was also a polemic against Bernstein's position.
bernstein was for the Reform, Rosa Luxemburg for the Revolution.
In
1901, he returned to Germany, following the lifting of a ban that had
kept him from entering the country, and became a member of the
Reichstag from 1902 to 1918. He voted against the armament tabling in
1913, together with the SPD fraction's left wing. From July 1915 he has
opposed the World War 1 and in 1917 he was among the founders of the
USPD. He was a member of the USDP until 1919, when he rejoined the SPD.
From 1920 to 1928 Bernstein is again member of the Reichstag. He has
retired from the political life in 1928.
Bernstein died on December 18, 1932 in
Berlin; a commemorative plaque is placed in his memory at Bozener
Straße 18, Berlin-Schöneberg, where he lived from 1918 to his death.
Die
Voraussetzungen was Bernstein's most significant work and was
principally concerned with refuting Marx's predictions about the
imminent demise of capitalism. In it, Bernstein pointed out simple
facts that he took to be evidence that Marx's predictions were not
being borne out: he noted that the centralisation of capitalist
industry, while significant, was not becoming whole scale and that the
ownership of capital was becoming more, and not less, diffuse. He also
pointed out some of the flaws in Marx's labour theory of value.
In
its totality, Bernstein's analysis formed a devastating critique of
Marxism, and this led to his vilification among many orthodox Marxists.
Bernstein remained, however, very much a socialist, albeit an
unorthodox one (he was hostile to Trade Unions and Producers
Co-operatives); he believed that socialism would be achieved through
capitalism, not through capitalism's destruction (as rights were
gradually won by workers, their cause for grievance would be
diminished, and consequently, so too would the foundation of
revolution). Although Marx would argue that free trade would be the
quickest fulfillment of the capitalist system, and thus its end,
Bernstein viewed protectionism as helping only a selective few, being
fortschrittsfeindlich (anti-progressive), for its negative effects on
the masses. German's protectionism, Bernstein argued, was only based on
political expediency, isolating Germany from the world (especially from
Britain), creating an autarky that would only result in conflict
between Germany and the rest of the world.
"The
Communist Manifesto was correct…but…we see the privileges of the
capitalist bourgeoisie yielding…to democratic organizations…In my
judgment…success lies in a steady [peaceful] advance…[rather]…than in…a
catastrophic crash."