Left behind

摘要

FEW POLITICAL PARTIES have a history like that of Germany's Social Democrats (SPD). Founded in the late 19th century, the spd heroically if briefly resisted Hitler's rise. After the war it reinvented itself as a big-tent Volkspartei (people's party). In office it modernised West Germany, soothed cold-war tensions and inspired similar movements abroad. In 1998 it still commanded over 40% of the vote.