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TheDemocratic Union (German:Demokratische Vereinigung,DV) was a German political party in theGerman Empire.
The Union was founded in 1908 by former members of theFreeminded Union (Freisinnigen Vereinigung). The party demanded full equal voting rights for all, and a strictseparation of church and state.[1] It was not principled, or "revolutionary" against Wilhelmine Germany though.
Important party members wereTheodor Barth,Rudolf Breitscheid (first chairman) andHellmut von Gerlach.Carl von Ossietzky joined the party in 1908, and from 1911 onwards published the party's weeklyDas freie Volk.
The First World War brought an end to the party.Hellmut von Gerlach, and some of his followers, helped found theGerman Democratic Party in 1918.
