The Second International (1889–1916) was an organisation of socialist and labour parties, formed on 14 July 1889 at two simultaneous

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

meetings in which delegations from twenty countries participated. The Second International continued the work of the dissolved First International, though excluding the powerful anarcho-syndicalist movement. While the international had initially declared its opposition to all

warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regu ...

between European powers, most of the major European parties ultimately chose to support their respective states in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. After splitting into pro- Allied, pro-

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in W ...

, and

antimilitarist Antimilitarism (also spelt anti-militarism) is a doctrine that opposes war, relying heavily on a critical theory of imperialism and was an explicit goal of the First and Second International. Whereas pacifism is the doctrine that disputes (esp ...

factions, the international ceased to function. After the war, the remaining factions of the international went on to found the

Labour and Socialist International The Labour and Socialist International (LSI; german: Sozialistische Arbeiter-Internationale, label=German, SAI) was an international organization of socialist and labour parties, active between 1923 and 1940. The group was established through a me ...

, the

International Working Union of Socialist Parties The International Working Union of Socialist Parties (IWUSP; also known as the 2½ International or the Vienna International; german: Internationale Arbeitsgemeinschaft Sozialistischer Parteien, IASP) was a political international for the co-oper ...

, and the Communist International.

History

Pre-foundation conferences (1881–1889)

The foundation of a new international was first discussed at a conference at Chur in October 1881. Delegates included members of the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been ...

(SPD), Belgian socialists, the

Federation of the Socialist Workers of France The Federation of the Socialist Workers of France (french: Fédération des travailleurs socialistes de France, FTSF) was France's first socialist party, being founded in 1879. The party was characterised as possibilist because it promoted gradu ...

(SFIO), French and German-speaking Swiss delegations, two Polish delegates, and one delegate each for Russia and Hungary. The conference did not form an international that year, but decided to write a new socialist manifesto to be approved at a subsequent meeting. According to Yuri Steklov, the conference was exceedingly poorly organized, and thus didn't engender confidence that a new international could be founded. Efforts to found a new international were greatly complicated by a factional divide within the Federation of the Socialist Workers of France between the Marxists and Possibilists. From its founding in 1879, a faction inspired (though not always endorsed) by Paul Brousse had moved away from

revolutionary socialism Revolutionary socialism is a political philosophy, doctrine, and tradition within socialism that stresses the idea that a social revolution is necessary to bring about structural changes in society. More specifically, it is the view that revolut ...

towards a more

reformist Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can ...

approach, arguing that socialists should pursue whichever reforms are "possible" at any given time, while still taking advantage of revolutionary opportunities. A Marxist faction led by Jules Guesde and Paul Lafargue, and supported by

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' French Workers' Party in 1882. Confusingly, both parties would call themselves the ''Parti Ouvrier'' (worker's party), and so were generally known as the Marxist party and possibilist party. YP0084980 Parisian-Fantasies-Theater-former-Beaumarchais-theatre-25-boulevard-Beaumarchais-October-1881

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The possibilist party would convene international socialist conferences several times, in 1883, 1884, and 1886. At the 1886 convention, it was decided that another convention would be held in 1889, but the

disagreed with the decision, and the decisions at the 1886 convention were generally seen to have lacked legitimacy. The SPD held its own convention in St. Gallen in 1887, whereupon the SFIO decided to hold their own international conference the following year. When the London International

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, representing the majority of trade unions. There are 48 affiliated unions, with a total of about 5.5 million members. Frances ...

declared that a new international meeting would be called in Paris in 1889, both the SPD and Possibilists decided to fold their next congress into the new one, creating one large international meeting. However, the SPD had only joined the new meeting on the condition that the hosts would not ask for records and names from the delegates, since the SPD could have faced immediate dissolution and ejection from the Reichstag if the German government discovered it had sent delegates abroad. When the Trade Union Congress responded that delegates would only be considered legitimate if they could prove their mandate with appropriate records, the SPD and their Marxist supporters decided to hold a separate congress near the Possibilist congress, with the hope of uniting the two at a later date. The separation into two congresses in 1889 effectively forced foreign delegations to divide themselves up between supporters of the Possibilists, and supporters of the SPD.

Foundation and pre-war period (1889–1914)

When the first meetings of the new international were held in Paris on July 14, 1889, the two factions were still discussing the possibility of unity. The two meetings had effectively divided the entire European socialist movement into two camps: the Possibilists, supported by the British

Social Democratic Federation The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James C ...

, and the Marxists, supported by the SPD, the British Socialist League, and most of the other European delegates. The Possibilists insisted upon recording the names and documentation of delegates so as to verify their mandate, while the Marxists (many of whom faced conditions of illegality at home) were concerned about information being discovered by the authorities. However, according to

John Burns John Elliot Burns (20 October 1858 – 24 January 1943) was an English trade unionist and politician, particularly associated with London politics and Battersea. He was a socialist and then a Liberal Member of Parliament and Minister. He was ...

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He w ...

, and some of the Marxist delegates, there were no real concerns around verification until

Henry Hyndman Henry Mayers Hyndman (; 7 March 1842 – 20 November 1921) was an English writer, politician and socialist. Originally a conservative, he was converted to socialism by Karl Marx's ''Communist Manifesto'' and launched Britain's first left-wi ...

proposed the measure, and the dispute was a deliberate ploy to split the congress in two, an allegation strongly rebuked by

Annie Besant Annie Besant ( Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was a British socialist, theosophist, freemason, women's rights activist, educationist, writer, orator, political party member and philanthropist. Regarded as a champion of human ...

. Regardless of which account is true, the split between the Possibilists and Marxists threatened to create two separate internationals, with subsequent conferences in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and

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respectively. However, after the anger aroused during the split congresses had died down, the Marxists ultimately agreed to join the Brussels conference and create a single, unified international. While the factional divide between the possibilists and Marxists abated to a degree, the international continued to be plagued by major factional disputes at each congress. By the time of the 1896 congress in London, considered "the most agitated, the most tumultuous, and the most chaotic of all the congresses of the Second International", a more concrete rift had developed between reformist and revolutionary approaches to socialist power, which resulted in many factions along national lines. Among the Second International's famous actions were its 1889 declaration of 1 May ( May Day) as

International Workers' Day International Workers' Day, also known as Labour Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs every year on 1 May, ...

and its 1910 declaration of the

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wo ...

, 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 The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

. It initiated the international campaign for the

eight-hour working day The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses. An eight-hour work day has its origins in the 16 ...

. The International's permanent executive and information body was the International Socialist Bureau (ISB) based in

and formed after the International's Paris Congress of 1900.

Emile Vandervelde Emile Vandervelde (25 January 1866 – 27 December 1938) was a Belgian socialist politician. Nicknamed "the boss" (''le patron''), Vandervelde was a leading figure in the Belgian Labour Party (POB–BWP) and in international socialism. Career Em ...

and

Camille Huysmans Jean Joseph Camille Huysmans (born as Camiel Hansen 26 May 1871 – 25 February 1968) was a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 1946 to 1947. Biography He studied German philology at the University of Liège a ...

of the Belgian Labour Party were its chair and secretary.

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

was a member from 1905. Flag of India 1907 (Nationalists Flag)

The pre-war period is notable for the repeated statements against militarism jointly issued by members of the international, which were largely ignored in 1914. At the founding of the international, Paul Lafargue affirmed that socialists were "brothers with a single common enemy ..private capital, whether it be Prussian, French, or Chinese." The 1907 conference at Stuttgart resulted in a joint resolution which stated that "struggle against militarism cannot be separated from the Socialist class struggle in general." The extraordinary congress in

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in 1912 was largely devoted to a discussion of rising militarism, which resulted in a manifesto stating that the working classes should "exert every effort in order to prevent the outbreak of war by the means they consider most effective." Finally on July 29, 1914, the ISB held an emergency meeting wherein it “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.”

First world war and dissolution (1914–1916)

The antimilitarist

French Section of the Workers' International The French Section of the Workers' International (french: Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière, SFIO) was a political party in France that was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the modern-day Socialist Party. The SFIO was foun ...

(SFIO) leader Jean Jaurès's assassination a few days before the beginning of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

generated an outpouring of antimilitarist sentiment from many members of the socialist international. Nonetheless, immediately after the outbreak of war, all of the major socialist parties in belligerent nations (with the notable exception of the Independent Labour Party) had issued statements in full support of war. This took many socialist parties in neutral countries by surprise, such as the Romanian Social Democrats, who initially refused to print the SPD's endorsement of war, believing it to be a forgery. Zimmerwald 1864

The war effectively split the international into three factions: the pro-war social democratic parties in the Central Powers, the pro-war parties of the Triple Entente, and the various anti-war parties, including the parties in neutral countries and many

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campai ...

or revolutionary socialist parties. The leadership of the international, especially Secretary General of the ISB Camille Huysmans, attempted to coordinate meetings between the various parties, including one-on-one meetings between pro-war leaders from opposing sides, but by July 1916 the ISB's attempts had failed. Despite the failure to bring the various parties together into a single congress, each faction would hold its own conferences during the war. The German, Austrian, and Hungarian pro-war parties successfully met at the Vienna Socialist Conference of 1915. The pro-war parties in the allied powers successfully met four times at the Inter-Allied Socialist Conferences of World War I. Anti-war parties first met as representatives from the neutral countries at the Neutral Socialist Conferences during the First World War, then as part of the Zimmerwald movement which successfully convinced the neutral, pacifist and revolutionary parties to split from the international. The Zimmerwald movement would lead to a much greater schism between the reformist and revolutionary wings of the international, which would eventually result in the Third International.

Attempted re-establishment and successor organizations (1918–1923)

In July 1920 at Geneva, the last congress of the Second International was held, following its functional collapse during the war. However, some European socialist parties refused to join the reorganised International and decided instead to form the

(IWUSP) (Second and a half International or Two-and-a-half International), heavily influenced by

Austromarxism Austromarxism (also stylised as Austro-Marxism) was a Marxist theoretical current, led by Victor Adler, Otto Bauer, Karl Renner, Max Adler and Rudolf Hilferding, members of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria in Austria-Hungary ...

. In 1923, IWUSP and the Second International merged to form the social democratic

which continued to exist until 1940. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, a new

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of socialist and labour-oriented political parties and organisation ...

was formed to continue the policies of the Labour and Socialist International, which continues to this day. Another successor was the Third International organised in 1919 by revolutionary socialists after the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mom ...

and the creation 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 Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...

Analysis

Relationship to anarchism

The Second International had a complex and changeable relationship to

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessar ...

groups and individuals. The conflict between anarchist and Marxist factions dated back to the days of the First International, which was frequently characterized by clashes between the state socialists (ie. the Lassallists, Marxists and Blanquists) on one hand, and the anarchists (ie. the mutualists and collectivists) on the other. Tensions reached their peak after the Hague Congress of 1872, wherein an attempt was made to expel Mikhail Bakunin and

James Guillaume James Guillaume (February 16, 1844, London – November 20, 1916, Paris) was a leading member of the Jura federation, the anarchist wing of the First International. Later, Guillaume would take an active role in the founding of the Anarchist St. ...

and move the general council to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, effectively disbanding the organization. Competing anarchist and state socialist internationals attempted to continue on alone, but both ultimately ended in failure within five years. Mikhail Bakunin,
On the International Workingmen's Association and Karl Marx
, 1872 As a result of the 1872 split, anarchist and social democratic factions were reluctant to work with one another. The anarchist organizations ultimately refused to participate in the Chur congress of 1881, instead opting to hold a separate congress in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

which would result in the International Working People's Association or "black" international. As a result, anarchist organizations were not involved in discussions to found the second international in 1889. Nonetheless, several anarchist individuals would hold positions in the international, and anarchists were actually the dominant faction within several of the ostensibly Marxist organizations, such as the Social Democratic League. Despite holding positions as delegates, and ostensibly being welcome during the first two congresses, expressions of anarchist ideas were often shouted down, and in one incident

Francesco Saverio Merlino Francesco Saverio Merlino (9 September 1856 – 30 June 1930) was an Italian lawyer, anarchist activist and theorist of libertarian socialism. Life Merlino was born on 9 September 1856 in Naples.Errico Malatesta Errico Malatesta (4 December 1853 – 22 July 1932) was an Italian anarchist propagandist and revolutionary socialist. He edited several radical newspapers and spent much of his life exiled and imprisoned, having been jailed and expelled from ...

and Christiaan Cornelissen, supported by some Marxist figures including Keir Hardie, Tom Mann, and a very sickly William Morris. Discussion of anarchism would dominate the congress, but the anarchists were not successful in reversing their expulsion.

Bolshevik critique

LeninEnSuizaMarzo1916--barbaroussovietr00mcbr

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

figures like Vladimir Lenin and

Nikolai Bukharin Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Буха́рин) ( – 15 March 1938) was a Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet politician, Marxist philosopher and economist and prolific author on revolutionary theory. ...

gained international notability during the war years for their criticisms of the international's inability to coordinate an anti-war opposition. Lenin and Bukharin based their critique in a theory of imperialism, associating the reformism and

social imperialism As a political term, social imperialism is the political ideology of people, parties, or nations that are, according to Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, " socialist in words, imperialist in deeds". In academic use, it refers to governments that en ...

of the various pro-war parties with the rise of monopoly capital and imperialist

superprofit Superprofit, surplus profit or extra surplus-value (german: extra-Mehrwert) is a concept in Karl Marx's critique of political economy subsequently elaborated by Vladimir Lenin and other Marxist thinkers. Origin of the concept in Karl Marx's '' ...

s. The Bolsheviks believed that monopoly capitalists had created large national blocs of capital which sought to divide the world among themselves, a process which created superprofits either through tariffs, or as a side-effect of capital export. Superprofits extracted from colonized areas were diverted to the advanced countries, whereupon a portion was given over to a labor aristocracy as a "bribe", in the form of higher wages. The Bolsheviks saw this privileged, highly-skilled strata of workers organized into craft unions as a threat within the labor movement, which would try to take leadership positions in order to gain higher wages at the expense of other proletarians. Lenin and Bukharin believed that the leadership of the international, especially in the pro-war parties, were largely labor aristocrats or else were influenced by a labor aristocratic ideology. While the labor aristocracy thesis informed the Bolsheviks' general critique of the international, Lenin also had more specific criticisms of the leaders of the international who had sided with the pro-war parties. Lenin believed that there were really two pro-war ideologies in the international, the "who started it?" theorists represented by

Georgi Plekhanov Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov (; rus, Гео́ргий Валенти́нович Плеха́нов, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj vəlʲɪnˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ plʲɪˈxanəf, a=Ru-Georgi Plekhanov-JermyRei.ogg; – 30 May 1918) was a Russian revoluti ...

, and the more nuanced "saccharo-conciliatory chauvinis s represented by

Karl Kautsky Karl Johann Kautsky (; ; 16 October 1854 – 17 October 1938) was a Czech-Austrian philosopher, journalist, and Marxist theorist. Kautsky was one of the most authoritative promulgators of orthodox Marxism after the death of Friedrich Engels ...

. Plekhanov generally agreed with the Entente, believing that German warmongering was a criminal act that needed to be punished by an international coalition. Kautsky suggested that the principle of national self-determination gave each national proletariat the right to defend itself, including violence against other proletarians. Lenin believed that both positions represented different attempts to rationalize labor aristocratic ideology.

Anti-colonial critique

Despite issuing a statement against colonialism at the 1896 London congress, the international was criticized by anti-colonial figures for providing insufficient opposition to colonial expansion. While the pre-war international was relatively consistent in its opposition to an inter-imperialist conflict between European powers, it was often paternalistic towards colonial areas, and statements often mentioned a need to educate or civilize conquered peoples. By the Stuttgart congress of 1907, parties in the international had substantially shifted away from their earlier consensus on ostensible anticolonialism towards a mix of overtly pro-colonial, anti-colonial and neutral views. These divisions were made apparent in a proposal by the Dutch delegate Henri van Kol that the international drop its anticolonial position, which was defeated 128 votes to 108. Part of this was due to a concerted effort by non-socialist parties and the media to question the patriotism of anti-colonial parties, for example the SPD and Catholic Centre Party of Germany initially opposed the Herero and Namaqua genocide before giving in to extreme political pressure. The Dutch Social Democratic Workers' Party was particularly insistent on the legitimacy of a "socialist colonialism", and opposed most anti-colonial resolutions on the basis that colonialism under a socialist government could be benevolent and mutually beneficial. The French SFIO likewise supported a policy of "national colonialism", while the right wing of the SPD supported "national imperialism", and the

British Labour Party The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The Labour Party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. In all ...

's stated policy was "ethical imperialism". The pro-colonial reputation of the second international would later drive

Ho Chi Minh (: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as (' Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), (' Old father of the people') and by other aliases, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman. He served as P ...

to join the third international.

Antisemitism

From its outset, one of the objectives of the international was to build a consensus on the "

Jewish question The Jewish question, also referred to as the Jewish problem, was a wide-ranging debate in 19th- and 20th-century European society that pertained to the appropriate status and treatment of Jews. The debate, which was similar to other " national ...

", a contemporary term for debates on the civil, legal, national, and political status and treatment of

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

as a minority group. The founders of the international in 1889 included some noted

antisemites Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

including Henry Hyndman, who led the English attendees at the Possibilist congress, but also a great many Jewish-led organizations and Jewish delegates.Virdee, Satnam. "Socialist Antisemitism and Its Discontents in England, 1884–98." Patterns of Prejudice 51.3-4 (2017):362-363Hirshfield. Claire. ‘The Anglo-Boer War and the issue of Jewish culpability’, Journal of Contemporary History 15.4 (1980):622 Despite these differences, at the 1891 congress in Brussels the delegates managed to pass a unanimous resolution against antisemitism; however, at the insistence of the Blanquist delegates Dr. A. Regnard and M. Argyriades, the congress would pass an amended resolution targeting "philo-semitic tyranny", noting that many Jewish bankers were "great oppressors of labour". Regnard stated that he believed many Jews owned the newspapers, while Argyriades stated his belief that Jews owned the banks and many industries. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' reported that the pair's amendment was greeted with applause and was passed with only minor opposition. This has been noted as a major instance of antisemitism within the international, as although all of the delegates were ostensibly opposed to antisemitism, the resolution indicates that many delegates believed in the antisemitic canard that Jews controlled the banking system, or that

financial capital Financial capital (also simply known as capital or equity in finance, accounting and economics) is any economic resource measured in terms of money used by entrepreneurs and businesses to buy what they need to make their products or to provi ...

was somehow intrinsically tied to Jews. In addition to antisemitism against Jewish bankers and capitalists, the British socialist newspaper ''

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

'' reported that " ere appears to be a strong feeling against the Jews in the Congress." The "Jewish question" was not revisited after the 1891 congress; however, after the establishment of the ISB there appears to have been some attempt to rectify the imbalance against Jewish organizations within the international by granting them additional consultative votes on relevant issues. Such votes were granted to the

Jewish Socialist Workers Party The Jewish Socialist Workers Party (russian: Социалистическая еврейская рабочая партия, 'SERP', which means 'sickle' in Russian), often nicknamed ''Seymists'', was a Jewish socialist political party in the Rus ...

and Zionist Socialist Workers Party at the 1907 congress.Frankel, Jonathan.
Prophecy and Politics: Socialism, Nationalism, and the Russian Jews, 1862–1917
'.

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

: Cambridge University Press, 1981. p. 283Jacobs, Jack Lester. ''Jewish Politics in Eastern Europe: The Bund at 100''. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001. p. 185

Affiliated organizations

Sub-organizations

* International Socialist Bureau (1900–1916): The BSI was the only permanent organizing committee of the international, founded to provide a degree of continuity between conferences. It met yearly alongside the regular conferences to coordinate decision-making between the member parties. After 1914 the BSI failed to meet aside from sporadic attempts at one-on-one meetings between delegates, contributing to the dissolution of the international. * International Federation of Socialist Young People's Organizations (1907–1916): Socialist youth groups were common among member parties of the international from its foundation, and the need to create youth organizations was encouraged at the 1900 and 1904 conferences. At the 1907 Stuttgart conference a youth federation was officially formed, with a headquarters in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. This organization actually outlasted the international as the

International Union of Socialist Youth The International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) is an international organization, founded in 1907, whose activities include publications, support of member organizations and the organization of meetings. It was formed as the youth wing of the ...

. *

Women's International Council of Socialist and Labour Organizations The Women's International Council of Socialist and Labour Organizations was a body established within the Second International to enable special conferences of the socialist and labour movements to be held. It was founded at the First International ...

(1907–1916): The women's international was formed out of the

International Socialist Women's Conferences During the period of the Second International several International Socialist Women's Conferences were held by the representatives of the women organizations of the affiliated Socialist parties. The first two were held in conjunction with the main I ...

held in conjunction with the regular congresses of 1907, 1910, and 1915.

Clara Zetkin Clara Zetkin (; ; ''née'' Eißner ; 5 July 1857 – 20 June 1933) was a German Marxist theorist, communist activist, and advocate for women's rights. Until 1917, she was active in the Social Democratic Party of Germany. She then joined the ...

was elected as secretary of the organization, with ''

Die Gleichheit ''Die Gleichheit'' (Equality) was a Social Democratic bimonthly magazine issued by the women's proletarian movement in Germany from 1890 to 1923. For many years it was the official organ of the international women's socialist movement. Foundation ...

'' chosen as the official newspaper. The women's grouping outlasted the international as

Socialist International Women Socialist International Women is the international organization of the women's organizations of the socialist, social democratic and labour parties affiliated to the Socialist International. History The Women's International Council of Soci ...

.Marion Philips ed. ''Women and the Labour Party'' B.W. Huebsch, 1920 p.103

Member parties and unions

Congresses and Conferences of the Second International

Prewar congresses

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

Postwar conferences

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

Related international gatherings

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

Footnotes

External links

"The Second International"

Marxists.org Marxists Internet Archive (also known as MIA or Marxists.org) is a non-profit online encyclopedia that hosts a multilingual library (created in 1990) of the works of communist, anarchist, and socialist writers, such as Karl Marx, Friedrich En ...

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Igor Mikhailovich Krivoguz. "The Second International 1889-1914: The History and Heritage"
Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1989.

(in French and English).

Fractal-vortex. * {{Authority control 1889 establishments in France Political internationals History of socialism History of social movements Political parties established in 1889 Organizations disestablished in 1916 International Socialist Organisations