Vorwärts (German:[ˈfɔʁvɛʁts], "Forward") is a newspaper published by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Founded in 1876, it was the central organ of the SPD for many decades. Following the party's Halle Congress (1891), it was published daily as the successor of Berliner Volksblatt, founded in 1884. Today, it is published every two months, mailed to all SPD members.
During the First World War, Vorwärts remained in favour of pacifism and neutrality and opposed the SPD's Burgfriedenspolitik until 1916 when, sometime after Rudolf Hilferding had been drafted into the Austrian army, Friedrich Stampfer[de] was introduced as editor-in-chief. He guided the central organ back towards the party line (prompting accusations from half of the Socialist camp that it had become chauvinist).
In 1923, Vorwärts lost a libel trial brought by Adolf Hitler, and was ordered to pay him 6,000,000 marks. The paper had claimed Hitler was financed by "American Jews and Henry Ford."[3][4]
During the Nazi period, the Social Democratic Party of Germany was banned, and so the publication of Vorwärts in Germany had to stop in 1933, but it was continued in exile in Czechoslovakia until 1938 and subsequently in Paris until 1940.
In 1948, the paper was refounded as Neuer Vorwärts ("New Forward") and in 1955 renamed Vorwärts again. As of 2020, it has a circulation of about 360,000 every two months,[5] because it is mailed to all SPD members.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Vorwärts, and is written by contributors.
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