Anti-Socialist Laws

The Anti-Socialist Laws or Socialist Laws (German: Sozialistengesetze; officially the Gesetz gegen die gemeingefährlichen Bestrebungen der Sozialdemokratie, "Law Against the Publicly Dangerous Strivings of Social Democracy") was an act of the Reichstag of the German Empire backed by Otto von Bismarck, aimed at suppressing the German social democratic movement. The law was passed on 19 October 1878 and remained in effect, being renewed every three years, until it was allowed to lapse on 30 September 1890, having failed to prevent the growth in the popularity of socialism.

Under the law 350 workers’ organizations were disbanded, 1,500 people were arrested, and 900 people were exiled, with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) being targeted harshly. However, progressive forces continued to fight the ban with Marx and Engels supporting the struggle whilst denouncing opportunist factions. Eventually, the ruling class was forced to drop the law and support for socialism continued to grow despite the ban with the social democratic vote growing from 493,000 in 1877 to 1,427,000 in 1890.