Bebel, << BAY buhl, >> August (1841-1913), was a leading German socialist of the 1800’s and early 1900’s. Bebel was born into a working-class family on Feb. 22, 1841, in Cologne, Germany, and orphaned early in life. He became a woodworker and settled in Leipzig. There, Wilhelm Liebknecht, a German socialist, introduced him to the ideas of Karl Marx, the founder of Communism.
During the 1860’s, Bebel struggled against the widely accepted ideas of Ferdinand Lassalle, another leading socialist. Lassalle and his followers believed government should carry out social and economic reforms. Bebel thought change should come from the workers.
In 1869, Bebel helped organize a socialist party called the Social Democratic Party, which he headed until his death. In 1871, he became the first socialist member of the Reichstag, the lower house of the German parliament. The government blocked his efforts to build a public socialist party, outlawing socialist organizations from 1878 to 1890. However, the Social Democratic Party continued as an underground organization. After 1890, when it could again operate openly, it became one of Germany’s strongest parties. Bebel died on Aug. 13, 1913.
