Adler, Viktor

(1852–1918)

   The practical founder of the Social Democratic Party (SDAP) in the 19th-century Habsburg Empire, Adler was of Jewish extraction. He was baptized as a Protestant, however, and in his youth supported German nationalist circles in Vienna. As a student of medicine, he saw much suffering in the working classes of the Habsburg capital and became a lifetime advocate of the socialist cause, though not necessarily adhering to every doctrine. Only reluctantly did Adler come to grips with Marxism as a science. He preferred to concentrate on improving opportunities for personal development among the working classes through widened educational and cultural programs. He did believe, however, that monopoly ownership of the means of production was the central flaw of liberal society.

   Within the SDAP, Adler worked to harmonize its often-fractious national and ideological elements. Convinced that the party could cooperate with both the crown and bourgeoisie, he played a central role in the Hainfeld Program of 1888–1889. This bridged differences between his position and those of his more radical colleagues, who were under the spell of 19th-century anarchism. Adler continued to argue that the individual was the central element in the body politic, and that the most successful party program was one that did not offend any party member. He also believed that the emotional commitment of the SDAP to its cause was as important as the members’ rational and volitional engagement. Adler turned the annual May Day event, which began in Vienna in 1890, from a demonstration for specific political and economic reforms such as an eight-hour working day and broadened franchise into an international celebration of worker solidarity. As Austrian foreign minister after World War I, Adler supported Anschluss with Germany.

   See also Austro-Marxism; Linz Program.