ABSTRACT
By 1914 in the Ruhr, as in all major industrial areas of Germany, the SPD was the leading working-class party. The history of the party in the district followed two main trends. The long-established cities to the south of the Ruhr in the Berg district provided the core of the Lower Rhine (Niederrhein) party branch, which was one of the more radical of the SPD. In contrast, the provincial, semi-rural social background of the coal region to the north of the Ruhr encouraged early revisionism and reformism. These were also fostered by the growth of a moderate union movement. But by the time the party had established itself in the coal region under revisionist leadership, the social basis of reformist labour movements—a comparatively well-to-do workforce—had given way to mass settlements of workers who always lived close to subsistence level. The conflict which resulted from this between the SPD and union leadership and the bulk of the rank and file was fought out during the November Revolution but it was foreshadowed for the first time in the strike of 1912.
