The Socialist Left and the German Revolution: A History of the German Independent Social Democratic Party, 1917-1922

499 pp. "The author examines the USPD's actions in terms of its ideology, the temperaments of its members, their understanding of the revolution, and their conceptions of proper political and revolutionary practices." "The Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (German: Unabhängige Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, USPD) was a short-lived political party in Germany during the German Empire and the Weimar Republic. The organization was established in 1917 as the result of a split of left wing members of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). The organization attempted to chart a centrist course between electorally oriented revisionism on the one hand and bolshevism on the other. The organization was terminated in 1931 through merger with the Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (SAPD)."