German Workers' Party Deutsche Arbeiterpartei | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Robert Jung |
| Party Chairman | Rudolf Ebermann |
| Founder | Anton Drexler |
| Founded | 5 February 1919 (105 years ago) |
| Headquarters | Munich, Germany |
| Youth wing | Young Workers' League of Germany |
| Membership (2016) | 5.5 million |
| Ideology | Socialism Social liberalism Social democracy Left-wing populism Federalism |
| Political position | Centre-left |
| European Parliament group | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe |
| Colours | Red, White, Black |
| Reichstag | 79 / 779 |
| State Parliaments | 398 / 1,855 |
| European Parliament | 2 / 96 |
| State Prime Ministers | 6 / 25 |
| Website | |
| dap.de | |
The German Workers' Party (German: Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, abbreviated DAP) is a political party in Germany. Its policies lie in the centre-left in German politics. The DAP first rose to prominence in the wake of the Great Depression, and has since become one of Germany's largest political parties, with its political archrival being the Centre Party.
The party was formed in 1919 by Anton Drexler amidst an era of prosperity for Germany following its victory in World War II. Drexler sought to implement socialism into German society and to draw workers away from communism. Initially, DAP political strategy focused on anti-big business, anti-bourgeois, and anti-capitalist rhetoric, although such aspects were later downplayed in order to gain the support of industrial entities. Under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, the party's focus shifted to populism and democratic reform.
The DAP became Germany's governing party for the first time following the 1933 elections, after which Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. Under the DAP government, Germany rapidly recovered from the Great Depression, and radical constitutional reforms resulted in greatly increased popular power which had previously belonged to the nobility and aristocracy. The power of the monarchy was also diminished by Hitler's Gleichschaltung policies. Hitler and the DAP also saw Germany to victory in World War III, and as a result the DAP maintained electoral favour until 1949, when Hitler chose not to re-run for the chancellorship and retired from politics, ending his third and final term. After losing the 1949 elections to the centre-right Centre Party under Konrad Adenauer, the DAP rapidly lost the spotlight as Germany saw economic prosperity under the Wirtschaftswunder brought on by the Centrists' economic policies.
Today, the DAP continues to support the German welfare system and democracy, though it often challenges the Centre Party regarding the latter's status as a Christian party.
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