German social democracy and the Eastern Question, 1875–1914

The Eastern Question was regarded as one of the most significant international issues within the German Social Democratic Party (SPD). However, comprehensive studies of the SPD’s position on this matter remain rare and are virtually absent in Russian historiography. Although the SPD identified itself as a Marxist party, one of the key objectives of this article is to assess the extent to which the views on the Eastern Question expressed by Marx, Engels, and their followers aligned with Marxist principles, particularly historical materialism. The article also examines the evolution of the SPD’s approach to the Eastern Question over time. An analysis of the party press, alongside the works of Marx and Engels, reveals that both they and their closest followers in the SPD were often influenced less by Marxist doctrine and more by immediate political considerations, non-Marxist ideological currents, and their own anti-Slavic prejudices. Instead of applying a materialist analysis to the causes of crises in the Balkans, they frequently relied on universalised clichés of an idealistic nature, such as bribery and intrigue. While this approach was revised in the 1890s, the prevailing perception of the Eastern Question as primarily an arena of confrontation with Russia remained unchanged. Shared across most ideological and political currents in Germany, this perception contributed to a broader national consensus in the years leading up to the Great War.