 Liebknecht and Bernstein , like the left wing of the party , felt the general strike should not be used to provoke the state but rather to defend political rights ( especially the right to vote ) should the state should seek to abolish them . The more conservative faction in the party was opposed to this concept . In 1904 , Friedeberg , speaking for the FVdG , advanced the view that the general strike must be a weapon in the hands of the proletariat and would be the last step before the socialist revolution . In 1905 , his speech on the topic was even more radical . He claimed that historical materialism , a pillar of Marxism , was to blame for social democracy 's alleged powerlessness , and introduced the alternative concept of historical <unk> — which held that human psychology was more significant for social development than material conditions . He also recommended the anarchist literature especially Kropotkin 's writings rather than Marx 's works , which were most influential in the SPD . 
