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Second International

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Second International
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(1889 – 1914) Federation of socialist political parties and trade unions that greatly influenced the European labour movement while supporting parliamentary democracy and opposing anarchism. Unlike the centralized First International, it was a loose federation that met in a number of cities at various intervals. By 1912 it represented the socialist parties of all European countries, the U.S., Canada, and Japan, with a membership of about nine million. It reaffirmed Marxist doctrine, but its main concern became the prevention of a general European war. When that failed, the International ended in 1914.

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This article is about the Marxist alliance. For the dictionary, see Webster's Second.
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The Second International (1889–1916) was an organization of socialist and labour parties formed in Paris on July 14, 1889. At the Paris meeting delegations from 20 countries participated.[1] 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 most famous actions were its (1889) declaration of May 1 as International Workers' Day and its (1910) declaration of March 8 as International Women's Day. It initiated the international campaign for the 8-hour working day.[2]

The International's permanent executive and information body was the International Socialist Bureau (ISB), based in Brussels and formed after the International's Paris Congress of 1900. Emile Vandervelde and Camille Huysmans of the Belgian Labour Party were its chair and secretary. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a member from 1905.

The Second International dissolved during World War I, 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's assassination, a few days before the beginning of the war, symbolized the failure of the antimilitarist doctrine of the Second International. In 1915, at the Zimmerwald Conference, anti-war socialists attempted to maintain international unity against the social patriotism of the social democratic leaders. The International continued in skeleton form in neutral Switzerland through the war, as the Berne International.

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 (IWUSP) ("Second and a half International" or "Two-and-a-half International"), heavily influenced by Austromarxism. In 1923, IWUSP and the Second International merged to form the social democratic Labour and Socialist International. This international continued to exist until 1940. After World War II, the Socialist International was formed to continue the policies of the Labour and Socialist International, and it continues to this day.

Contents

Congresses of the Second International

  1. 1889: International Workers Congresses of Paris, 1889
  2. 1891: International Socialist Labor Congress of Brussels, 1891
  3. 1893: Zurich Socialist and Labor Congress, 1893
  4. 1896: International Socialist Workers and Trade Union Congress, London 1896
  5. 1900: International Socialist Congress, Paris 1900
  6. 1904: Amsterdam
  7. 1907: International Socialist Congress, Stuttgart 1907
  8. 1910: Copenhagen
  9. 1912: Basel (Extraordinary Congress)

Prominent members of the Second International by country

Germany

France

Russia

Austria

Netherlands

Belgium

Switzerland

Ireland

Italy

Spain

Ottoman Empire

Latin America

In Latin America, the International had two affiliates; the Socialist Party of Argentina and the Socialist Party of Uruguay.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ Rubio, José Luis. Las internacionales obreras en América. Madrid: 1971. p. 42.
  2. ^ Rubio, José Luis. Las internacionales obreras en América. Madrid: 1971. p. 43
  3. ^ Rubio, José Luis. Las internacionales obreras en América. Madrid: 1971. p. 49

External links


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