{"id":41839,"date":"2025-10-27T11:53:50","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T10:53:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arbejdermuseet.dk\/?page_id=41839"},"modified":"2026-01-29T08:24:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T07:24:34","slug":"denmark-for-the-people","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/arbejdermuseet.dk\/en\/library-archive\/party\/social-democratic-party\/denmark-for-the-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Denmark for the people"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 1934, the Social Democratic Party adopted a new party program, “Denmark for the People”, which was to be the party’s response to the crises and political unrest of the 1930s. The program was the preliminary culmination of the Social Democratic Party’s shift from class party to people’s party.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By: Henning Grelle and H.U. Petersen<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"F20120706035
“Denmark for the people”. Procession through Aalborg, the Social Democrats on their way to the 22nd party congress<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

About Denmark for the People<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

At the 21st Congress of the Social Democratic Party in Copenhagen in June 1931, it was decided to set up a committee to review the 1913 program of principles. A new program was to be ready before the next congress and approved by it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few days after the congress, Stauning announced that 16 prominent ministers and members of parliament had been elected to the program committee. They were supplemented with people from the party, the trade union movement and the cooperative movement. Hans Hansen (later Hedtoft) became secretary of the program committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost three years later, Stauning presented the program Denmark for the People<\/em> at an executive board meeting on 23 May, where it was adopted after a short debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Denmark for the People<\/em> was written by Stauning and was therefore not considered by the program committee set up in 1931. The explanation for this was first given in a report to the party congress in June 1935. It urged the congress to support Denmark for the People, which focused on the immediate practical tasks to be solved, rather than drafting a new program of principles at a time when social developments and political conditions were unstable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"F20090124033
The music pauses while Stauning delivers the keynote speech at Dansk Samvirke’s 2nd annual meeting at Kronborg Castle, 1936.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The recognition of the changes in world development thus indicated naturally justifies putting theories and programs to the test, for what once seemed fixed and unchangeable has long since been subject to the law of transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether the transformation is complete, however, is still uncertain, and it is therefore appropriate to wait with the formulation of principles and programs until society has assumed forms that show more firmness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Social Democratic Party needed popular support for an expansion of the people’s government and a solution to the economic problems, not least in agriculture. From the south, the growing Nazism in the east was threatening dictatorship. The bulwark was an intimate collaboration in Denmark as a nation, a collaboration between workers and farmers and capital and labor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through Denmark for the People, the Social Democratic Party wanted to take the lead and bridge the differences into open cooperation. Together with songs, films and books, Denmark for the People became one of the best-known party programs in Denmark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sources<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In the archive and library collection, there is also Social Democratic material that sheds light on the political context of the program. We have digitized and transcribed some of it and put it here for free use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Denmark for the People<\/a>, the Social Democratic Party’s program from 1934.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Th. Stauning: Denmark for the People. Socialdemokratiets Nutids-Program<\/a> (The Socialist 7\/1934)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Workers and the Crisis<\/a>, AOF 1934.
Collection of material from AOF containing a number of texts about the work on the new program (the complete publication).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ib Kolbj\u00f8rn: The People for Denmark<\/a>. The Workers and the Nation, Arbejderungdommens Forlag, 1935<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Denmark for the People<\/a>, AOF 1936.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheet music for “Denmark for the People<\/a>” with lyrics by Oskar Hansen and music by Oskar Gyldmark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DKP: Program and Practice<\/a>. In front of the Social Democratic Congress, Kommunistisk Tidsskrift 1935.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Literature<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Bertolt, Oluf: En bygning vi rejser : den politiske arbeiderbev\u00e6gelses historie i Danmark. Kbh. : Fremad, 1954-1955. Volume 2<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bryld, Claus: Det danske socialdemokrati og revisionismen : en analyse af socialdemokratisk samfundsforst\u00e5else, strategi og taktik f\u00f8r 2. verdenskrig med udgangspunkt i forholdet til marxismen og revisionismen. Kbh. 1979.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planned economy and popular front : about Social Democracy and DKP in the interwar period \/ [by] J\u00f8rgen Bloch-Poulsen, Hans Erik Avlund Frandsen and Morten Thing. Kbh 1979.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Socialdemokratiet og krisen i 30’erne \/ [By] Karin Hansen and Lars Torpe. \u00c5rhus 1977.<\/p>\n\n\n\r\n\r\n

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THE STAUNING OF ALL OF DENMARK<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Thorvald Stauning was a beacon in Danish politics and is the longest-serving prime minister in the 20th century<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WITH THE LAW OR WITHOUT<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In 1871, the living conditions for the few industrial workers in Denmark at the time were appalling. But when the labor..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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THE BATTLE FOR TIME<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Working 48 hours a week. It sounds like a lot for a Danish worker in 2019. But 100 years ago, it was just..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In 1934, the Social Democratic Party adopted a new party program, “Denmark for the People”, which was to be the party’s response to the crises and political unrest of the 1930s. The program was the preliminary culmination of the Social Democratic Party’s shift from class party to people’s party. By: Henning Grelle and H.U. Petersen…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":41841,"parent":41485,"menu_order":16,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-kildepakke.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-41839","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDenmark for the people - Arbejdermuseet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arbejdermuseet.dk\/en\/library-archive\/party\/social-democratic-party\/denmark-for-the-people\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Denmark for the people - Arbejdermuseet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In 1934, the Social Democratic Party adopted a new party program, “Denmark for the People”, which was to be the party’s response to the crises and political unrest of the 1930s. 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