The Majority Social Democratic Party of Germany was the name officially used by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) between April 1917 and September 1922. The name differentiated it from the Independent Social Democratic Party, which split from the SPD as a result of the party majority's support of the government during the First World War.
The Council of the People's Deputies in 1919 when all members were from the MSPD. Left to right: Otto Landsberg, Philipp Scheidemann, Gustav Noske, Friedrich Ebert, Rudolf Wissell
Eduard Bernstein, who began the reformist movement within the SPD, in 1895
Karl Liebknecht of the SPD, a leading anti-war figure, shown here in 1912
Friedrich Ebert, leader of the MSPD and republican Germany's first president, in 1918
The Council of the People's Deputies was the provisional government of Germany during the first part of the German Revolution, from 10 November 1918 to 13 February 1919. Formed initially by three members each from Germany's two main socialist parties, it shaped the transition from the Empire to the Weimar Republic.
The Council of the People's Deputies after the USPD pulled out on 29 December 1918 (from left to right): Philipp Scheidemann, Otto Landsberg, Friedrich Ebert, Gustav Noske, Rudolf Wissell
Erich Ludendorff in 1918. He made the initial decision to have the democratic parties in the Empire take the blame for the lost war.
Prince Maximilian von Baden, the last chancellor of the German Empire
Hugo Haase, the USPD co-chair of the original Council of the People's Deputies