Expert Workshop “Social Democracy and Statehood 1918-2018“

The end of World War I reshaped the map of Europe. Large multinational empires fell apart, and many countries in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe finally became independent or regained their independence, they have been longing for. That is why 1918 is not only an important year because of the end of World War I, but also because of the extensive democratization that the whole of Europe experienced. A main driving force behind this major European-wide democratization of state and society were social democratic parties.

In celebration of the historic 100th anniversary, FES Riga invited scholars from all over Europe in order to discuss and compare the contribution of social democratic parties to the origin and establishment of these new democratic nation states and to determine their place in the overall European context.