Haase, Hugo

Haase, Hugo (h`gō hä`zə), 1863–1919, German Socialist leader. A Social Democratic member of the Reichstag, he opposed World War I, but initially followed his party's position in supporting the war. In Dec., 1915, he split with the Social Democrats under Friedrich Ebert, who replaced him as leader in the Reichstag. In 1917, Haase and his followers formed the Independent Social Democratic party. After the proclamation of a German republic in Nov., 1918, Haase joined with Ebert and Philipp Scheidemann in forming the new government, but his party was unwilling to accept the "bourgeois revolution" of the Social Democrats and withdrew late in December. Haase was murdered by a personal enemy.

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Haase, Hugo 

Born Sept. 29, 1863, in Allenstein; died Nov. 17, 1919, in Berlin. German Social Democratic leader; a centrist.

From 1911 to 1917, Haase was one of the chairmen of the Social Democratic Party. He was a deputy to the Reichstag (1897-1907, 1912-18). On Aug. 4, 1914, Haase spoke in the Reichstag to justify the Social Democratic Party’s voting for war credits. In April 1917, with K. Kautsky and other centrist leaders, he organized the Independent Socialist Party of Germany. At the time of the November Revolution of 1918 he and F. Ebert were cochairmen of the provisional government—the Council of People’s Representatives; he cooperated in putting down the revolutionary movement of the proletariat.