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{{short description|1959 German Social Democratic Party platform}}
{{social democracy sidebar|history}}
{{Infobox document
| document_name =Godesberg Program
| image =
| image_size =
| image_alt =
| caption =
| image2 =
| image2_size =
| image2_alt =
| caption2 =
| orig_lang_code = de
| title_orig = Godesberger Programm
| date_created =
| date_presented =
| date_ratified = 15 November 1959
| date_effective =
| date_repeal =
| location_of_document = [[Bad Godesberg]]
| commissioned =
| writer =
| signers = [[Social Democratic Party of Germany]]
| media_type =
| subject = [[Social democracy]]
| purpose = a fundamental change in the orientation and goals of the SPD
}}
The '''Godesberg Program''' ({{langx|de|Godesberger Programm}}) of the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany]] (SPD) was ratified in 1959 at a convention in the town of [[Bad Godesberg]] near [[Bonn]]. It represented a fundamental change in the orientation and goals of the SPD, rejecting the aim of replacing [[capitalism]] while adopting a commitment to reform capitalism and a [[mass party]] orientation that appealed to ethical rather than class-based considerations. It also rejected [[nationalization]] as a major principle of [[socialism]].{{sfn|Berman|2006|p=190}}

== Overview ==
The Godesberg Program eliminated the party's remaining [[orthodox Marxist]] policies and the SPD redefined its ideology as ''freiheitlicher Sozialismus'' ([[liberal socialism]]).{{sfn|Orlow|2000|p=108}} With the adoption of the Godesberg Program, it renounced orthodox Marxist [[class conflict]] and [[economic determinism]]{{Citation needed|date=March 2021|reason=economic determinism is not a orthodox Marxism belief and even was denounced by Marx himself.}}. The SPD replaced it with an [[ethical socialism]] based on [[humanism]] and emphasized that it was democratic, pragmatic and reformist.{{sfn|Orlow|2000|p=190}} The most controversial decision of the Godesberg Program was its declaration stating that [[private ownership]] of the [[means of production]] "can claim protection by society as long as it does not hinder the establishment of social justice".{{sfn|Adams|2001|p=108}}

By accepting free-market principles, the SPD argued that a truly [[free market]] would in fact have to be a [[regulated market]] to not degenerate into [[oligarchy]]. This policy also meant the endorsement of [[Keynesian]] economic management, [[social welfare]] and a degree of [[economic planning]]. Some argue that this was an abandonment of the classical conception of socialism as involving the replacement of the capitalist economic system.{{sfn|Adams|2001|p=108}} It declared that the SPD "no longer considered nationalization the major principle of a socialist economy but only one of several (and then only the last) means of controlling economic concentration of power of key industries" while also committing the SPD to an economic stance which promotes "as much competition as possible, as much planning as necessary".{{sfn|Berman|2006|p=190}} The decision to abandon the traditional [[anti-capitalist]] policy angered many in the SPD who had supported it.{{sfn|Orlow|2000|p=190}}

After those changes, the SPD enacted the two major pillars of what would become the modern [[social-democratic]] program, namely making the party a people's party rather than a party solely representing the [[working class]] and abandoning remaining [[Marxist]] policies aimed at destroying capitalism and replacing them with policies aimed at [[reform]]ing capitalism.{{sfn|Berman|2006|p=190}} The Godesberg Program divorced its conception of socialism from Marxism, declaring that [[democratic socialism]] in [[Europe]] was "rooted in [[Christianity|Christian]] ethics, [[humanism]], and classical [[philosophy]]".{{sfn|Berman|2006|p=190}} The Godesberg Program was a major revision of the SPD's policies and gained attention from beyond Germany.{{sfn|Orlow|2000|p=190}} At the time of its adoption, the stance on the Godesberg Program in neighbouring [[France]] was not uniform. While the [[French Section of the Workers' International]] was divided on the Godesberg Program, the [[Unified Socialist Party (France)|Unified Socialist Party]] denounced the Godesberg Program as a renunciation of socialism and an opportunistic reaction to the SPD's electoral defeats.{{sfn|Orlow|2000|p=190}}

The Godesberg program was also notable because the party abandoned and rejected Marxist theories of class conflict and revolution. This was consistent with [[Eduard Bernstein]]'s [[Marxist revisionism]]. In adopting the Godesberg Program, the SPD dropped its hostility to capitalism which had long been the core of party [[ideology]] and sought to move beyond its old working class base to embrace the full spectrum of potential voters, adopting a political ideology grounded in ethical appeals. Nonetheless, they adhered to the Marxist analysis put forward by social democrats such as Bernstein that socialism would arise as a result of the evolution of capitalism. In this sense, the Godesberg Program has been seen as involving the final victory of the [[reformist]] agenda of Bernstein over the orthodox Marxist agenda of [[Karl Kautsky]].{{sfn|Berman|2006|p=190}}

Labor unions had abandoned the old demands for [[nationalization]] and instead cooperated increasingly with industry, achieving labor representation on corporate boards and increases in wages and benefits. After losing federal elections in 1953 and 1957, the SPD moved toward an American-style image-driven electoral strategy that stressed personalities, specifically Berlin mayor [[Willy Brandt]]. As it prepared for the [[1961 West German federal election|1961 federal election]], it proved necessary as well to drop opposition to rearmament and to accept [[NATO]].{{sfn|Turner|1987|pp=80–82}} The Godesberg Program was superseded in 1989 by the Berlin Program, resolved at the party congress held on 20 December 1989 in [[Berlin]].{{sfnm|1a1=Hampton|1y=1986|1p=76|2a1=Egle|2a2=Henkes|2a3=Merkel|2a4=Petring|2y=2008|2p=70}}

== See also ==
* [[Gaitskellism]]
* [[Willi Eichler]]
* [[Ethical socialism]]
* ''[[The Future of Socialism]]''
* [[Gotha Program]]
* [[Social democracy]]
* [[Reformism]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==
* {{cite book|last=Adams|first=Ian|year=2001|title=Political Ideology Today|series=Politics Today|edition=2nd reprint, revised|location=Manchester, England|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=9780719060199}}
* {{cite book|last=Berman|first=Sheri|year=2006|title=The Primacy of Politics: Social Democracy and the Making of Europe's Twentieth Century|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521817998}}
* {{cite book|last=Orlow|first=Dietrich|year=2000|title=Common Destiny: A Comparative History of the Dutch, French, and German Social Democratic Parties, 1945–1969|edition=illustrated, reprinted|location=New York City, New York|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=9781571811851}}
* {{cite book|last=Hampton|first=Mary N.|year=1986|editor-last1=Hampton|editor-first1=Mary N.|editor-last2=Søe|editor-first2=Christian|title=Between Bonn and Berlin: German Politics Adrift?|edition=illustrated|location=Lanham, Maryland|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9780847690091}}
* {{cite book|last1=Egle|first1=Christoph|last2=Henkes|first2=Christian|last3=Merkel|first3=Wolfgang|last4=Petring|first4=Alexander|year=2008|title=Social Democracy in Power: The Capacity to Reform|edition=illustrated|location=London|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134071791}}
* {{cite book|last=Turner|first=Henry Ashby|year=1987|title=The Two Germanies Since 1945|edition=illustrated|location=New Haven, Connecticut|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=9780300038651}}

== External links ==
* {{cite conference|last=Berman|first=Sheri|year=2008|url=http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~ces/conferences/left/left_papers/berman.pdf|title=Understanding Social Democracy|conference=What's Left of the Left: Liberalism and Social Democracy in a Globalized World|conference-url=http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~ces/conferences/left/left_papers.html|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|publisher=Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University|access-date=29 January 2016|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304195218/http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~ces/conferences/left/left_papers/berman.pdf|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web|author=Social Democratic Party of Germany|date=15 November 1959|url=http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/pdf/eng/Parties%20WZ%203%20ENG%20FINAL.pdf|title=Godesberg Program|website=German History Documents|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=German Historical Institute|access-date=10 July 2020}}
* {{cite web|author=Social Democratic Party of Germany|date=15 November 1959|url=http://www.hdg.de/lemo/html/dokumente/DieZuspitzungDesKaltenKrieges_programmGodesbergerProgramm/|title=Godesberg Program|language=de|location=Berlin|publisher=Deutsches Historisches Museum|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140723181855/http://www.hdg.de/lemo/html/dokumente/DieZuspitzungDesKaltenKrieges_programmGodesbergerProgramm/|archive-date=23 July 2014|access-date=10 July 2010}}

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[[Category:1959 documents]]
[[Category:1959 establishments in West Germany]]
[[Category:Party platforms]]
[[Category:Political history of Germany]]
[[Category:Social Democratic Party of Germany]]
{{Germany-hist-stub}}

Godesberg Program - Revision history

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