Second International

This article is about the Marxist alliance. For the dictionary, see Webster's Second.

Second International
Founded	14 July 1889
Dissolved	1916
Preceded by	International Workingmen's Association (not legal predecessor)
Succeeded by	Communist International International Working Union of Socialist Parties Labour and Socialist International
Ideology	Orthodox Marxism Socialism
Colours	Red

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The Second International (1889–1916), the original Socialist International, was an organization of socialist and labour parties formed in Paris on 14 July 1889. At the Paris meeting, delegations from twenty countries participated.^[1] The International continued the work of the dissolved First International, though excluding the still-powerful anarcho-syndicalist movement and unions, existing until 1916.

Contents

• 
  1 History
  
  • 
    1.1 Latin America
    
  
  
  • 
    1.2 The exclusion of anarchists
    
  
  


• 
  2 Congresses and Conferences of the Second International
  


• 
  3 Related international gatherings
  


• 
  4 See also
  


• 
  5 Footnotes
  


• 
  6 External links
  

History

Among the Second International's famous actions were its 1889 declaration of 1 May (May Day) as International Workers' Day and its 1910 declaration of the International Women's Day, first celebrated on 19 March and then on 8 March after the main day of the women's marches in 1917 during the Russian Revolution. It initiated the international campaign for the eight-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 Lenin was a member from 1905.

The Second International dissolved in 1916 during World War I because the separate national parties that composed the International 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. At the Zimmerwald Conference in 1915, anti-war socialists attempted to maintain international unity against the social patriotism of the social democratic leaders.

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 which continued to exist until 1940. After World War II, a new Socialist International was formed to continue the policies of the Labour and Socialist International and it continues to this day.

Another successor was the Third International organized in 1919 under the soon-to-be Communist Party of the Soviet Union. It was officially called the Communist International (Comintern) and lasted until 1943 when it was dissolved by then Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

Latin America

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

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".^[4] This exclusion received the criticism from anti-authoritarian socialists present at the meetings.^[5] It has been argued that at some point the Second International turned "into a battleground over the issue of libertarian 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 Henry Hyndman.^[6]

Congresses and Conferences of the Second International

Source: Julius Braunthal (1980). History of the International: Volume 3, 1943-1968. London. Victor Gollancz. p. 562.

Event	Location	Date	Notes
First Congress	Paris	14–19 July 1889
Second Congress	Brussels	3–7 August 1891
Third Congress	Zurich	9–13 August 1893
Fourth Congress	London	26–31 July 1896
Fifth Congress	Paris	23–27 September 1900
Sixth Congress	Amsterdam	14–20 August 1904	The "Grand Old Man of India", Dadabhai Naoroji, attended the Congress and pleaded the cause of India's freedom
Seventh Congress	Stuttgart	18–24 August 1907
Eighth Congress	Copenhagen	28 August–3 September 1910
Extraordinary Ninth Congress	Basel	24–25 November 1912

After World War I, there were three Socialist Conferences in Switzerland. These were as a bridge to the creation of the Labour and Socialist International.

Event	Location	Date	Notes
Berne Conference of 1919	Bern	3–8 February 1919
International Socialist Conference, Lucerne, 1919	Lucerne	1–9 August 1919
International Socialist Congress, Geneva, 1920	Geneva	31 July–4 August 1920

Related international gatherings

Source: Julius Braunthal (1980). History of the International: Volume 3, 1943-1968. London. Victor Gollancz. pp. 562–563.

Event	Location	Date	Notes
Conference of Socialist Parties of Neutral Countries	Copenhagen	17–18 January 1915
Conference of Central European Socialist Parties	Vienna	12–13 April 1915
First Conference of the Zimmerwald Movement	Zimmerwald	5–8 September 1915
Second Conference of the Zimmerwald Movement	Kienthal	24–30 April 1916
Third Conference of the Zimmerwald Movement	Stockholm	5–12 September 1917
First Conference of Inter-Allied Socialist Parties	London	14 February 1915
Second Conference of Inter-Allied Socialist Parties	London	28–29 August 1917
Third Conference of Inter-Allied Socialist Parties	London	20–24 February 1918
Fourth Conference of Inter-Allied Socialist Parties	London	15 September 1918

See also

• 
  Communist International (Third International or Comintern)


• Fifth International


• 
  Fourth International and Trotskyist internationals
  


• 
  French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO, the French section of the Second International)


• Inter-Allied Socialist Conferences of World War I


• International Anarchist Congresses


• International Federation of Socialist Young People's Organizations


• International Socialist Women's Conferences


• 
  International Workingmen's Association (First International)


• 
  International Working Union of Socialist Parties (Second and a half international or Two-and-a-half International)


• Neutral Socialist Conferences during the First World War


• Socialist International


• Vienna Socialist Conference of 1915

Footnotes

1. 
   ^ José Luis Rubio (1971). Las internacionales obreras en América. Madrid. p. 42.
   


2. 
   ^ José Luis Rubio (1971). Las internacionales obreras en América. Madrid. p. 43.
   


3. 
   ^ Rubio, José Luis (1971). Las internacionales obreras en América. Madrid. p. 49.
   


4. 
   ^ George Woodcock (1962). Anarchism: A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements. pp. 263–264.
   


5. 
   ^ George Woodcock (1962). Anarchism: A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements. pp. 263–264. "As well as all the anarchist leaders, Keir Hardie and Tom Mann appeared on the platform to make speeches asserting the rights of minorities, and William Morris, now nearing his death, sent a message to say that only sickness prevented him from adding his own voice to the chorus of protest".
   


6. 
   ^ George Woodcock (1962). Anarchism: A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements. pp. 263-264.
   

External links

• 
  "The Second International". Marxists.org.


• 
  "History of the Second International" (in French and English).


• 
  "German social-democratic party and the Second International". Fractal-vortex.


• 
   Dutt, R. Palme (1922). "International, The". Encyclopædia Britannica (12th ed.). 
  

v t e Political internationals
Active	Centrist Democrat International Committee for a Workers' International E2D International Fourth International (post-reunification) Global Greens Humanist International International Alliance of Libertarian Parties International Committee of the Fourth International International Democrat Union International League of Peoples' Struggle International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties International Communist Seminar International of Anarchist Federations International Workers' Association Liberal International Liberty International Muslim Brotherhood Pirate Parties International Progressive Alliance Socialist International
Historical	First International Anarchist St. Imier International Black International Second International Vienna International Third International Communist Workers' International Fourth International Labour and Socialist International International Revolutionary Marxist Centre Fascist International Situationist International Revolutionary Internationalist Movement
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