Second International
Encyclopedia
The Second International (1889–1916), the original Socialist International, was an organization of socialist and labour parties formed in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 on July 14, 1889. At the Paris meeting delegations from 20 countries participated. It continued the work of the dissolved First International, though excluding the still-powerful anarcho-syndicalist movement and unions, and was in existence until 1916.

Among the Second International's famous actions were its (1889) declaration of May 1 as International Workers' Day
International Workers' Day
International Workers' Day is a celebration of the international labour movement and left-wing movements. It commonly sees organized street demonstrations and marches by working people and their labour unions throughout most of the world. May 1 is a national holiday in more than 80 countries...

 and its (1910) declaration of March 8 as International Women's Day
International Women's Day
International Women's Day , originally called International Working Women’s Day, is marked on March 8 every year. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and...

. It initiated the international campaign for the 8-hour working day.

The International's permanent executive and information body was the International Socialist Bureau
International Socialist Bureau
The International Socialist Bureau was the permanent organization of the Second International, established at the Paris congress of 1900. Before this there was no organizational infrastructure to the "Second International" beyond a series of periodical congresses, which weren't even given a...

 (ISB), based in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

 and formed after the International's Paris Congress of 1900. Emile Vandervelde
Emile Vandervelde
thumb|upright|Emile VanderveldeEmile Vandervelde was a Belgian statesman, born at Ixelles. He studied law at the Free University of Brussels and became doctor of laws in 1885 and doctor of social science in 1888.-Activities:Vandervelde became a member of the Parti Ouvrier...

 and Camille Huysmans
Camille Huysmans
Jean Joseph Camille Huysmans was a Belgian politician.Huymans studied German philology at the University of Liège. He was a teacher from 1893 until 1897...

 of the Belgian Labour Party
Belgian Labour Party
The Belgian Labour Party, called Belgische Werkliedenpartij in Dutch and Parti Ouvrier Belge in French, was the first socialist party in Belgium, founded in 1885.-History:...

 were its chair and secretary. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a member from 1905.

The Second International dissolved during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, in 1916, as the separate national parties that composed it did not maintain a unified front against the war, instead generally supporting their respective nations' role. French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) leader Jean Jaurès
Jean Jaurès
Jean Léon Jaurès was a French Socialist leader. Initially an Opportunist Republican, he evolved into one of the first social democrats, becoming the leader, in 1902, of the French Socialist Party, which opposed Jules Guesde's revolutionary Socialist Party of France. Both parties merged in 1905 in...

's assassination, a few days before the beginning of the war, symbolized the failure of the antimilitarist
Antimilitarism
Antimilitarism is a doctrine commonly found in the anarchist and, more globally, in the socialist movement, which may both be characterized as internationalist movements. It relies heavily on a critical theory of nationalism and imperialism, and was an explicit goal of the First and Second...

 doctrine of the Second International. In 1915, at the Zimmerwald Conference
Zimmerwald Conference
The Zimmerwald Conference was held in Zimmerwald, Switzerland, from September 5 through September 8, 1915. It was an international socialist conference, which saw the beginning of the end of the coalition between revolutionary socialists and reformist socialists in the Second International.-...

, anti-war socialists attempted to maintain international unity against the social patriotism
Social Patriotism
Social Patriotism is an openly patriotic standpoint which combines patriotism with socialism. It was first identified at the outset of the First World War when a majority of Social Democrats opted to support the war efforts of their respective governments and abandoned socialist internationalism...

 of the social democratic leaders. The International continued in skeleton form in neutral Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 through the war, as the Berne International
Berne International
The International Socialist Commission, also known as the International Socialist Committee or the Berne International was a coordinating committee of socialists parties that adhered to the idea of the Zimmerwald Conference of 1915....

.

In 1920, the defunct Second International was reorganized. However, some European socialist parties refused to join the reorganized international, and decided instead to form the International Working Union of Socialist Parties
International Working Union of Socialist Parties
The International Working Union of Socialist Parties was a political international for the co-operation of socialist parties.-History:...

 (IWUSP) ("Second and a half International" or "Two-and-a-half International"), heavily influenced by Austromarxism
Austromarxism
Austromarxism was a Marxist theoretical current, led by Victor Adler, Otto Bauer, Karl Renner and Max Adler, members of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria during the late decades of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the First Austrian Republic...

. In 1923, IWUSP and the Second International merged to form the social democratic Labour and Socialist International
Labour and Socialist International
The Labour and Socialist International was an international organization of socialist and labour parties, active between 1923 and 1940. The LSI was a forerunner of the present-day Socialist International....

. This international continued to exist until 1940. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, a new Socialist International
Socialist International
The Socialist International is a worldwide organization of democratic socialist, social democratic and labour political parties. It was formed in 1951.- History :...

 was formed to continue the policies of the Labour and Socialist International, and it continues to this day.

The exclusion of anarchists

Anarchists tended to be excluded from the Second International, nevertheless "anarchism had in fact dominated the London Congress of the Second International". This exclusion received the criticism from other non-marxists present at the meetings. It has been argued that at some point the Second International turned "into a battleground over the issue of libertarian
Libertarian socialism
Libertarian socialism is a group of political philosophies that promote a non-hierarchical, non-bureaucratic, stateless society without private property in the means of production...

 versus authoritarian socialism. Not only did they effectively present themselves as champions of minority rights; they also provoked the German Marxists into demonstrating a dictatorial intolerance which was a factor in preventing the British labor movement from following the Marxist direction indicated by such leaders as H. M.
Hyndman".

Congresses of the Second International

  1. 1889: International Workers Congresses of Paris, 1889
    International Workers Congresses of Paris, 1889
    Two congresses were held in Paris, beginning on July 14, 1889. They had been called for by the London International Trades Union Congress, meeting in London in November 1888, and the French Syndicalist Congress, meeting at the same time. Internecine conflicts within the French socialist movement,...

  2. 1891: International Socialist Labor Congress of Brussels, 1891
    International Socialist Labor Congress of Brussels, 1891
    International Socialist Labor Congress, the second congress of the Second International met in Brussels, Belgium from August 16 - 22 1891 at the Maison du Peuple, the headquarters of the Belgian Workers Party.- Delegates :...

  3. 1893: Zurich Socialist and Labor Congress, 1893
    Zurich Socialist and Labor Congress, 1893
    The Zurich Socialist and Labour Congress that met from August 6 - 13 1893 was the third congress of the Second International. Among other things it is remember for the "Zurich resolution" which expelled anarchists from the Congress, and for Friedrich Engels' closing address...

  4. 1896: International Socialist Workers and Trade Union Congress, London 1896
    International Socialist Workers and Trade Union Congress, London 1896
    The International Socialist Workers and Trade Union Congress held in London from July 26 - August 1 1896 was the fourth congress of the Second International...

  5. 1900: International Socialist Congress, Paris 1900
    International Socialist Congress, Paris 1900
    The 5th International Socialist Congress of the Second International era was held in Paris from September 23rd to 27th in Paris. It was originally supposed to be held in Germany in 1899, but difficulties with the German authorities prevented this....

  6. 1904: International Socialist Congress, Amsterdam 1904
    International Socialist Congress, Amsterdam 1904
    The International Socialist Congress, Amsterdam 1904 was the Sixth Congress of the Second International It was held from 14 to 18 August 1904.The Congress was held in the Gebow, Amsterdam....

  7. 1907: International Socialist Congress, Stuttgart 1907
    International Socialist Congress, Stuttgart 1907
    The International Socialist Congress, Stuttgart 1907 was the Seventh Congress of the Second International. It was held from 18 to 24 August, 1907.-Debates:# Militarism and international conflicts...

  8. 1910: Copenhagen
    Copenhagen
    Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

  9. 1912: Basel
    Basel
    Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...

     (Extraordinary Congress)

Prominent members of the Second International by country

Germany
  • August Bebel
    August Bebel
    Ferdinand August Bebel was a German Marxist politician, writer, and orator. He is best remembered as one of the founders of the Social Democratic Party of Germany.-Early years:...

  • Hugo Haase
    Hugo Haase
    Hugo Haase was a German politician, jurist and pacifist.-Biography:Haase was born in Allenstein , Province of Prussia, the son of Jewish shoemaker and small businessman, Nathan Haase, and Pauline née Anker. He studied law in Königsberg and established himself as a lawyer...

  • Karl Kautsky
    Karl Kautsky
    Karl Johann Kautsky was a Czech-German philosopher, journalist, and Marxist theoretician. Kautsky was recognized as among the most authoritative promulgators of Orthodox Marxism after the death of Friedrich Engels in 1895 until the coming of World War I in 1914 and was called by some the "Pope of...

  • Karl Liebknecht
    Karl Liebknecht
    was a German socialist and a co-founder with Rosa Luxemburg of the Spartacist League and the Communist Party of Germany. He is best known for his opposition to World War I in the Reichstag and his role in the Spartacist uprising of 1919...

  • Wilhelm Liebknecht
    Wilhelm Liebknecht
    Wilhelm Martin Philipp Christian Ludwig Liebknecht was a German social democrat and a principal founder of the SPD. His political career was a pioneering project combining Marxist revolutionary theory with practical, legal political activity...

  • Rosa Luxemburg
    Rosa Luxemburg
    Rosa Luxemburg was a Marxist theorist, philosopher, economist and activist of Polish Jewish descent who became a naturalized German citizen...

  • Clara Zetkin
    Clara Zetkin
    Clara Zetkin was a German Marxist theorist, activist, and fighter for women's rights. In 1910, she organized the first International Women's Day....



France
  • Jean Allemane
    Jean Allemane
    Jean Allemane was a French socialist politician, veteran of the Paris Commune of 1871, pioneer of syndicalism, leader of the Socialist-Revolutionary Workers' Party and co-founder of the unified French Section of the Workers' International in 1905...

  • Jules Guesde
    Jules Guesde
    Jules Basile Guesde was a French socialist journalist and politician.Guesde was the inspiration for a famous quotation by Karl Marx. Shortly before Marx died in 1883, he wrote a letter to Guesde and Paul Lafargue, both of whom already claimed to represent "Marxist" principles...

  • Jean Jaurès
    Jean Jaurès
    Jean Léon Jaurès was a French Socialist leader. Initially an Opportunist Republican, he evolved into one of the first social democrats, becoming the leader, in 1902, of the French Socialist Party, which opposed Jules Guesde's revolutionary Socialist Party of France. Both parties merged in 1905 in...

  • Gustave Hervé
    Gustave Hervé
    Gustave Hervé was a French politician. At first he was a fervent antimilitarist socialist and pacifist, but he later turned to equally zealous ultranationalism, declaring his patriotisme in 1912 when released from 26 months of imprisonment for anti-militarist publishing activities.Hervé in 1919...

  • Édouard Vaillant
    Édouard Vaillant
    Marie Édouard Vaillant was a French politician.Born in Vierzon, Cher, son of a lawyer, Édouard Vaillant studied engineering at the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, graduating in 1862, and then law at the Sorbonne. In Paris he knew Charles Longuet, Louis-Auguste Rogeard, and Jules Vallès...


Russia
  • Vladimir Lenin
    Vladimir Lenin
    Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...

  • Georgi Plekhanov
    Georgi Plekhanov
    Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov was a Russian revolutionary and a Marxist theoretician. He was a founder of the Social-Democratic movement in Russia and was one of the first Russians to identify himself as "Marxist." Facing political persecution, Plekhanov emigrated to Switzerland in 1880, where...

  • Pavel Axelrod
    Pavel Axelrod
    Pavel Borisovich Axelrod was a Russian Menshevik.- Early life and career :Born Pinches Borutsch in Potscheff near Chernigov and raised to Shklov, a small provincial town in and Mogilev, the biggest town of the three in the Russian Empire , Axelrod was the son of a Jewish innkeeper.In 1875 in...

  • Julius Martov
    Julius Martov
    Julius Martov or L. Martov was born in Constantinople in 1873...

  • Leon Trotsky
    Leon Trotsky
    Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....



Austria
  • Victor Adler
    Victor Adler
    ----Victor Adler was an Austrian Social Democratic leader.Born in Prague, Adler received a university degree in Vienna in 1881. He founded the Socialist movement in Austria and created the Marxist journals Gleicheit in 1886 and Arbeiter-Zeitung in 1889...

  • Karl Renner
    Karl Renner
    Karl Renner was an Austrian politician. He was born in Untertannowitz in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and died in Vienna...



Netherlands
  • Anton Pannekoek
  • Herman Gorter
    Herman Gorter
    Herman Gorter was a Dutch poet and socialist. He was a leading member of the Tachtigers, a highly influential group of Dutch writers who worked together in Amsterdam in the 1880s, centered around De Nieuwe Gids .Gorter's first book, a 4,000 verse epic poem called "Mei" , sealed his reputation...

  • Pieter Jelles Troelstra
    Pieter Jelles Troelstra
    Pieter Jelles Troelstra was a Dutch politician active in the socialist workers' movement. He is most remembered for his fight for universal suffrage and his failed call for revolution at the end of World War I...



Belgium
  • Camille Huysmans
    Camille Huysmans
    Jean Joseph Camille Huysmans was a Belgian politician.Huymans studied German philology at the University of Liège. He was a teacher from 1893 until 1897...

  • Emile Vandervelde
    Emile Vandervelde
    thumb|upright|Emile VanderveldeEmile Vandervelde was a Belgian statesman, born at Ixelles. He studied law at the Free University of Brussels and became doctor of laws in 1885 and doctor of social science in 1888.-Activities:Vandervelde became a member of the Parti Ouvrier...


Switzerland
  • Robert Grimm
    Robert Grimm
    Robert Grimm was the leading Swiss Socialist politician during the first half of the 20th century.As a leading member of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland he opposed the First World War. Grimm was the main organiser of the Zimmerwald Movement and the chairman of the International...



Ireland
  • James Connolly
    James Connolly
    James Connolly was an Irish republican and socialist leader. He was born in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh, Scotland, to Irish immigrant parents and spoke with a Scottish accent throughout his life. He left school for working life at the age of 11, but became one of the leading Marxist theorists of...



Italy
  • Filippo Turati
    Filippo Turati
    Filippo Turati was an Italian sociologist, poet and Socialist politician.-Early life:Born in Canzo, province of Como, he graduated in law at the University of Bologna in 1877, and participated in the Scapigliatura movement with the most important artists of the period in Milan, publishing poetry...

  • Amadeo Bordiga
    Amadeo Bordiga
    Amadeo Bordiga was an Italian Marxist, a contributor to Communist theory, the founder of the Communist Party of Italy, a leader of the Communist International and, after World War II, leading figure of the International Communist Party.- Early life :Bordiga was born at Resina, in the province of...



Spain
  • Pablo Iglesias
    Pablo Iglesias
    Paulino Iglesias Posse , better known as Pablo Iglesias, was a Spanish socialist and labour leader...



Ottoman Empire
  • Avraam Benaroya
    Avraam Benaroya
    Avraam Eliezer Benaroya was a Bulgarian Narrow socialist, leader of the workers' movement in the Ottoman Empire and founder of the Communist Party of Greece....



India
  • Dadabhai Naoroji
    Dadabhai Naoroji
    Dadabhai Naoroji , known as the Grand Old Man of India, was a Parsi intellectual, educator, cotton trader, and an early Indian political leader. His book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India brought attention to the draining of India's wealth into Britain...



Latin America

In Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

, the International had two affiliates; the Socialist Party of Argentina and the Socialist Party of Uruguay
Socialist Party of Uruguay
The Socialist Party of Uruguay is an Uruguayan political party founded in 1910. Its main leader and spokesman was Dr Emilio Frugoni, the most prominent advocate of socialist ideas in Uruguay....

.

See also

  • First International
  • Socialist International
    Socialist International
    The Socialist International is a worldwide organization of democratic socialist, social democratic and labour political parties. It was formed in 1951.- History :...

  • International Working Union of Socialist Parties
    International Working Union of Socialist Parties
    The International Working Union of Socialist Parties was a political international for the co-operation of socialist parties.-History:...

     ("Second and a half international"/"Two-and-a-half International")
  • Third International (Comintern)
    Comintern
    The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...

  • Fourth International
    Fourth International
    The Fourth International is the communist international organisation consisting of followers of Leon Trotsky , with the declared dedicated goal of helping the working class bring about socialism...

     and Trotskyist internationals
  • Section Française de l'Internationale Ouvrière
    Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière
    The French Section of the Workers' International , founded in 1905, was a French socialist political party, designed as the local section of the Second International...

    (SFIO, the French section of the Second International)
  • Fifth International
    Fifth International
    The phrase Fifth International refers to the efforts made by sections of the far-left to create a new Workers' International.-Previous Internationals:...


External links

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