Formation of the International October 1881 (Chur) Founding Conference of the Second International. “The Belgian socialists, the French Parti Ouvrier, the German social democracy, and the Swiss social democracy, participated in the preparations for the congress. But whereas at Ghent the anarchists had also participated, they had nothing to do with the Chur Congress, but ... called a congress of their own in London.” Delegates included: Wilhelm Liebknecht (Germany); McGuire, General Secretary of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters (Socialist Labor Party of North America); Louis Bertrand (The Belgian Socialist Party); J. Joffrin and Benoît Malon (The French Parti Ouvrier); J. P. Becker and Solari for French-speaking Switzerland, and Conzetti, Herter, Lenbert, and Schwartz for German-speaking Switzerland; Rachow (German communist, London); Varinski and Limonowski for various Polish socialist groups, and Paul Axelrod (Russia), Ferenezi Siula (Budapest). The Conference did not succeed in bringing the parties into a new International, but called for the drafting of a joint socialist manifesto to be submitted to the next international congress, to be organised by the Parti Ouvrier in Paris in 1886. 1886 (Paris) International Labour Conference, showed progress towards a new International with socialist parties in Italy, Spain, Holland, Belgium, Great Britain, the Scandinavian countries, France, the United States, etc. July 1889 (Paris) International Socialist Congress, attended by delegates from 20 countries, founded the new Socialist International, formally adopting the principles of the International Workingmen's Association founded in London in 1864. May Day was declared as an international working-class holiday. International Socialist Congresses 2. 1891 (Brussels) 3. 1893 (Zürich) Engels was elected honorary president of International Socialist Congress, but died in 1895. The Congress established the International Metalworkers Federation, uniting metalworkers across the world to this day. 4. 1896 (London) affirmed right of nations to self-determination and opposition to colonialism. 5. September 1900 (Paris) Established a standing International Socialist Bureau composed of representatives of the socialist parties of all countries, its secretariat to be in Brussels. At this Congress, there was a split within the 28-strong Russian delegation. Lenin cast his vote for Plekhanov as the Russian delegate to the International, against Krichevsky, one of the editors of Rabocheye Dyelo. In 1903, the Russian party split between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. See the Stenographic Record of the Second Congress of the RSDLP. 6. 1904 (Amsterdam) The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) was founded in Chicago in June 1905, and over the next few years, the Social Democrats were active in a struggle against Anarcho-Syndicalism within the IWW. See the Report of the Australian Socialist League to the International Socialist Congress at Amsterdam, and Colonies and dependencies: Report to the International Socialist Congress, by H. M. Hyndman. 7. August 1907 (Stuttgart), there were 884 delegates from 25 nations including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, England, Germany, Italy, India, Japan, Norway, Poland, Russia, the USA and one delegate from South Africa. The First International Conference of Socialist Women was held just prior to the opening of the Congress The Fourth convention of the IWW in 1908 resulted in a split between “political actionists”, led by Daniel DeLeon of the SLP, and “direct actionists”, led by Vincent St. John and J.H. Walsh. DeLeon set up a rival “Detroit” IWW in opposition to the “Chicago” IWW who were opposed to participation in Parliament. 8. August 1910 (Copenhagen). Second International Conference of Socialist Women held prior to opening of Congress, set International Women's Day for March 8 every year. November 1912 Extraordinary Congress (Basel) - see Manifesto. The final session of the International Socialist Bureau was held at Brussels on July 29, 1914 and “resolved unanimously that it shall be the duty of the workers of all nations concerned not only to continue but to further intensify their demonstrations against the war, for peace, and for the settlement of the Austro-Serbian conflict by international arbitration, ...” Imperialism and Arbitration Courts, Report by Hugo Haase to the International Socialist Congress of Vienna, August 1914. 1915 September (Zimmerwald, near Berne, Switzerland) organised opposition to the War. 1916 April (Kienthal) follow-up to Zimmerwald Conference. 1917 July - August (Stockholm) did not convene due to delegates being prevented from attending. Final meeting of Zimmerwald group at Stockholm The Social Democratic Party of Germany The defeat of the Paris Commune in 1871 plunged Europe into a period of reaction, leading to the disintegration of the First International by 1873. The reconstruction of the international socialist movement began in Gotha in 1875. The German Socialists were the founding and most powerful section of Social-Democracy throughout the period of its existence. The Socialist Workers' Party of Germany was founded in May 1875 at Gotha, uniting Liebknecht and Bebel's Social-Democratic Workers' Party and the Lassallean General German Workers' Union. See Marx's Critique of the Gotha Programme and Engels' 1891 Foreword to the Critique. |