Die Sozialdemokratie - ihr Ende und ihr Glück

...that the world war is a revolution in that it signifies the end of the individualistic historical epoch. It brings the socialist worldview to an end as a world-remote utopia and marks its entry into the public consciousness of the nation. The social democratic politician Paul Lensch writes his work "Social Democracy - Its End and Its Happiness" amidst the events of the First World War. He reflects on the development of social democracy in Germany, ultimately engaging critically with August 4, 1914, the day the SPD faction approved war credits. Lensch follows the theory of war socialism in his argumentation and views the First World War as a resulting socialist world revolution. He sees England as the instigator of the war and equates it with the bourgeois-capitalist class in his theory. In contrast, he views the proletariat, Germany, as being hindered in its growth. With this theory, Lensch cannot be assigned to either wing of the SPD, which makes "Social Democracy - Its End and Its Happiness" an exciting historical document and a unique reading pleasure.