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Primary sourceBook1916

The Split in German Social-Democracy

Yakov Sverdlov · 1916

An English translation of Sverdlov's 1916 article analyzing the division within the German Social Democratic Party over support for World War I.

This article is Sverdlov's own analysis of European socialist politics, showing his theoretical work before the Russian Revolution.

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The Split in German Social-DemocracyPDF · 14 pages
Yakov Sverdlov, The Split in German Social-Democracy, 1916 (English translation). Internet Archive scan.

About this source

What it is

A 1916 article by Yakov Sverdlov, here presented in English translation, discussing the internal conflict between reformists and revolutionaries in the German Social-Democratic Party (SPD) during World War I.

Why it matters

The article examines how the SPD's support for war credits led to a split between those favoring cooperation with the German government and those opposing it, a division that eventually contributed to the formation of separate communist and social-democratic movements. It shows Sverdlov analyzing international socialist politics as a Bolshevik theorist.

Look closer

  • Why does Sverdlov trace the conflict back to the 1875 Gotha unification?
  • What does his focus on party discipline suggest about his own political priorities?
  • Since this is a translation, what might be lost or changed from the original Russian text?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Yakov Sverdlov on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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