Christian Social People's Service

File:Csvd1932.jpg

1932 election poster

The Christian Social People's Service (Template:Langx, abbreviated CSVD) was a Protestant conservative political party in the Weimar Republic.

The party's genesis lay in Adolf Stoecker's Christian Social Party, which joined the German National People's Party in 1918,Template:Sfn and effectively functioned as the parties labor wing.Template:Sfn The Christian social Franz Behrens wrote a substantial amount of the DNVP's 1918 platform, however the Christian socials failed to get the DNVP to endorse trade unions over company unions.Template:Sfn The ideological differences over labor rights came to a head when Alfred Hugenberg became leader in 1929 and attacked the employment insurance scheme, which encouraged the Christian socials to consider leaving the party.Template:Sfn At the time, the Christian socials represented the moderate tendency within the DNVP, as opposed to the radical nationalist leadership of Alfred Hugenberg.Template:Sfn These Christian socials formed the Christliche-soziale Reichsvereinigung [Christian-social Imperial Association], and would actively oppose Hugenberg.Template:Sfn What eventuated was a combined expulsion and resignation of the Christian socials,Template:Sfn and other conservative elements within the party.Template:Sfn

The CSVD drew from other political movements, such as the Christlicher Volksdienst (CVD, Christian People's Service), which dated back to 1924, and drew from Pietists and Christian Trade unions.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Another Protestant party was the EV (Evangelische Volksgemeinschaft), a Hessian party. Centrist party leaders urged the EV to join with the German-Hanoverian Party to found a Protestant peoples party that would form a vote sharing agreement with the Centre Party.Template:Sfn The EV would be absorbed by the CVD in 1929,Template:Sfn and the Christian Socials/Christian-social Imperial Association would join with the CVD to form the CSVD in December 1929.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

The CSVD was mainly supported by middle-class elements,Template:Sfn however, it did support the Christian trade unions, and was significantly supported by the league of Christian unions.Template:Sfn As a result of the theocratic currents in the parties Calvinist regions, the party supported state welfare, trade unions and workers participation in management.Template:Sfn Like the Centre party, the CSVD opposed Materialism, Atheism, Liberalism and Marxism. The party would embrace co-operation with the Centre party.Template:Sfn The CSVD was a cabinet party in the second, third and fourth Brunings ministries.Template:Sfn

The CSVD portrayed itself as a Protestant version of the Catholic Centre and was mainly supported by middle-class elements. The CSVD contested the 1930 and 1932 parliamentary elections; the party CSVD formed a joint parliamentary group with the Christian-National Peasants' and Farmers' Party in the Reichstag. After the Nazi take-over in 1933, the CSVD was dissolved.

The President of the Federal Republic of Germany Gustav Heinemann (1969–74) was a member of CSVD during the Weimar Republic.