Hendrik de Man vs. Karl Kautsky – Toward a history of ideological discussions in German Social Democracy in the 1920s

• Published in: Известия Саратовского университета. Новая серия. Серия: История. Международные отношения Vol. 25; no. 3; pp. 371 - 374
• Main Author: Kretinin, Sergei Владимирович
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Saratov State University 21.08.2025
• Subjects: german social democracy; hendrik de man; karl kautsky; marxism; materialist understanding of history; psychology of socialism; weimar germany
• ISSN: 2542-1913; 1819-4907; 2542-1913
• DOI: 10.18500/1819-4907-2025-25-3-371-374

On the basis of archival materials and published documents the article deals with the polemics between Hendrik de Man and Karl Kautsky onthe problem of psychology of socialism in 1926-1927. It is shownthatthis ideological dispute was connected withthe generaltendency in German and international social democracy to move away from Marxism towards ideological pluralism. The author concludes that, despite the formal preservation of Marxist foundations in the program documents of German Social Democracy, they did not determine the policy of the party, which was losing its narrow class character. K. Kautsky's attempt to disavow de Man's anti-Marxist postulates did not meet support, and the discussion itself quickly came to naught.