First Anti-socialist Law

The first anti-socialist law (German Sozialistengesetz, officially Gesetz gegen die gemeingefährlichen Bestrebungen der social democratic Cultural Forum) was an 1878 law that was in force until 1890 in the German Empire. The law forbade meetings and written expressions of the Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei(SAP), later Social Democratic Party of Germany.

Reason for the first anti-socialist law, was a failed assassination attempt on Emperor Wilhelm I in May 1878. Initiator was Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, which SAP the revolutionary had previously identified as enemy of the State . The law was approved in October 1878 by a majority of conservativesandLiberals in the national- Reichstag.