Second International
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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 delegation 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 (I.S.B.), 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. 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 socialist 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.
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[edit] Congresses of the Second International
- 1889 - Paris
- 1891 - Brussels
- 1893 - Zürich
- 1896 - London
- 1900 - Paris
- 1904 - Amsterdam
- 1907 - Stuttgart
- 1910 - Copenhagen
- 1912 - Basel (Extraordinary Congress)
[edit] Prominent Members of the Second International
Germany:
France:
Russia:
Austria:
The Netherlands:
Belgium:
Switzerland:
Ireland:
[edit] In Latin America
In Latin America, the International had two affiliates; the Socialist Party of Argentina and the Socialist Party of Uruguay.[3]
[edit] See also
- First International
- Socialist International
- International Working Union of Socialist Parties ("Second and a half international"/"Two-and-a-half International")
- Third International (Comintern)
- Fourth International and Trotskyist internationals
- Section Française de l'Internationale Ouvrière (SFIO, the French section of the Second International)
