The following six Lectures were delivered at the London School of Economics and Political Science in February and March 1896. They are not intended to supply a full history of Social Democracy in Germany, but rather to bring into relief those aspects of such a history which seemed to the author to have been the most important in producing the present political situation. The principle of selection, accordingly, has been throughout to emphasise the events and the speculations which have led to the actual state of feeling. Thus in treating of Marx, I have confined myself to those parts of his work which have chiefly influenced Socialistic opinion in Germany, and have treated very slightly the second and third volumes of Das Kapital, which have not yet, so far as I was able to discover, had any considerable influence in modifying the effects of the first volume.

Again, in the Lecture on Lassalle, I have laid far more stress on his debts to Marx than on those to Rodbertus; not because the latter were less important in Lassalle himself, but because, so far as his political effect is concerned, the views he owed to Rodbertus had little result; while those which came from Marx, on the contrary, bore good fruit, both directly and indirectly, in the subsequent growth of Social Democracy.

My acknowledgments are due to my wife for constant help, both by criticism and by collection of material; also to all the German Socialists, whether leaders or followers, with whom I have come in contact, for their uniform courtesy, and for their kind assistance in supplying information.

A bibliography of the principal works consulted is appended.

B. RUSSELL