France 1889

Synopsis

On 14 July 1889 over 1,000 representatives of the socialist movement met in Paris to establish the Second International. It had been 17 years since the First International had dissolved at the Hague Congress in 1872. In that time, scattered groups of socialists had developed into organized parties in many countries. In Germany, despite persecution by the government, socialism had evolved into a mass working-class political movement. The time was right to demonstrate again international solidarity against the capitalist system that exploited workers everywhere. At the very moment of its foundation, however, the fractured nature of the socialist movement, which had caused the demise of the First International, returned to cause confusion and acrimony in the Second. In particular, the divisions between reformist and revolutionary socialism and between anarchists and Marxists created complications. The founding congress also demonstrated the organization and strength of the German socialists and indicated the...