Gotha Programme Dbq

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Some socialists eventually banded together to form political parties in order to secure more freedom for the working class. In the Gotha Program, presented in 1875, the Social Democratic Workers ' Party of Germany laid out their plan to demand reforms from the government in order to give workers more rights and freedom (Document 3). The socialist movement was caused by the great changes brought on by industrialization during the mid to late 1800s, and worked to create a socialistic organization of society. Many of these groups wanted to secure more rights and profits to the working class compared to the minimum rights and freedom they had with a pure capitalistic economy. Socialists groups like the Social Democratic Workers ' Party of …show more content…

One document that should be included is a party platform of a political leader who does not believe that socialism is the answer. Particularly is the writing of Thomas Malthus who had, in one of his earlier work, argued that by increasing wages, it would increase the life span of people and our population would become unsustainable. It would be interesting to read a letter or a written diatribe from him, criticizing the works of socialists. This would provide another viewpoint to the time period because it would show that not all political groups or people believed that socialism was the best way to solve the problems that plagued the working class. The audience of this document would most likely be the public and the socialists, but not the poor who were unable to read. Another document that should be included is an interview with a worker or a member of the working class who experienced the reforms made by the socialists in the government in order to show how the governments in some of the European countries responded to the call to the action by the socialists during the late 1800s. This person should be a random factory worker who, ideally, should not hold any political biases. It would be shown to the public by being published in a report or a news paper. This is to provide a viewpoint of the government during the early Industrial Era and how they attempted to deal with the growing inequality and whether they chose to reform or the creation of socialism and labor