Radical Democratic Party (Germany)

The Radical Democratic Party (German: Radikaldemokratische Partei, RDP) was a minor left-liberal political party in the late German Republic from 1930 to 1933. The party advocated a social liberal, pacifist, radical democracy and in support of republicanism.^[1][2]

The RDP was founded on 30 November 1930 by former members of the German Democratic Party (DDP) who rejected its merger into the German State Party. Notable foundering members of the party included Ludwig Quidde and Hellmut von Gerlach. The pacifists were supported by the left wing of the Young Democrats. The Berlin lawyer Willy Braubach was elected party chairman.

Besides Berlin, the RDP's organisational focus was in the Ruhr, and in the Nuremberg-Fürth area. Through its existence, the party only ever achieved minor significance; In 1931, the RDP was briefly represented in the Hessian Landtag after former DDP members Julius Reiber and Johann Eberle defected to the RDP. These seats were lost however in the 1931 Hessian state election, with the RDP receiving 0.6% of the vote and no seats. The RDP also failed to win any seats in the November 1932 German federal election, the only Reichstag election the RDP contested independently, achieving just 3,793 votes.

The party formed an electoral alliance with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Unusually for a non-social democratic organisation, the RDP also participated in the republican Iron Front group.^[2]

In 1931, the RDP adopted a program in which they described themselves as "fighters for national and international ideals of community" and as "radically democratic and convinced republicans." In foreign policy, they committed themselves to pacifism, a liberal cultural policy, and a radically social and anti-plutocratic economic and social policy.^[3]

As a social-liberal party, the RDP advocated for a socially just economy within the framework of a free-market economy. The RDP also took an anti-militarist stance, demanding a reduction in the defence budget, and advocated for multi-lateral disarmament. The RDP also strongly opposed the rapidly rising reactionary nationalism of the late German Republic.^[2]

• ワイマール共和国の政党

• Lexikon zur Parteiengeschichte。 3: Gesamtverband Deutscher Angestelltengewerkschaften - Reichs- und Freikonservative Partei、ケルン: Pahl-Rugenstein、1985、ISBN 978-3-7609-0878-6
• グートレーベン、ブルクハルト (1988)。 「Radikaldemokraten im Hessischen Landtag. Parlamentarische Episode einer Splitterpartei」[ヘッセン州議会の急進民主党: 分裂党の議会エピソード]。Zeitschrift des Vereins für Hessische Geschichte und Landeskunde (ドイツ語)。93 : 179–186。ISSN 0342-3107。​​ 
• リーパッハ、マルティン (1997)。「Radikale Demokraten in der Mitte. Die RDP in der hessischen Landtagswahl 1931」[中央の急進民主党: 1931 年のヘッセン州議会選挙における RDP ]。歴史社会研究(ドイツ語)。ISSN 0172-6404。