Julius Braunthal (1891–1972) was an

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n-born historian, magazine editor, and political activist. Braunthal is best remembered as the Secretary of the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism, consisting mostly of Social democracy, social democratic political parties and Labour mov ...

from 1951 to 1956 and for his massive three volume ''History of the International,'' first published in

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between 1961 and 1971.

Biography

Early years

Julius Braunthal was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

on 5 May 1891. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Braunthal was an officer in the

Austro-Hungarian army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...

, winning a decoration for valor and rising to the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

by the end of the war.James C. Docherty, "Julius Braunthal," in ''Historical Dictionary of Socialism.'' Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1997; pg. 48.

Interwar period

After the war Braunthal served as an Assistant Secretary of State for the newly established

Republic of Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

from 1918 to 1920. A committed

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

, following his departure from government service Braunthal edited several socialist publications. He published the first article on

Fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

entitled "Der Putsch der Fascisten" in '' Der Kampf'', a theoretical monthly journal of the Socialist Party of Austria (SPÖ), in November 1922 shortly after

March on Rome The March on Rome () was an organized mass demonstration in October 1922 which resulted in Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party (, PNF) ascending to power in the Kingdom of Italy. In late October 1922, Fascist Party leaders planned a march ...

which was an organized mass demonstration and a coup d'état by

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

National Fascist Party The National Fascist Party (, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian fascism and as a reorganisation of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The party ruled the Kingdom of It ...

. In 1924 Braunthal was editor of the '' Arbeiter-Zeitung,'' the official organ of the SPÖ. From 1927 to 1934 he served as editor of the popular socialist newspaper, '' Das Kleine Blatt'' (German: The Little Leaf), also published by the SPÖ. He also founded and edited the illustrated magazine '' Der Kuckuck'' (The Cuckoo) between 1929 and 1934. Austrofascism began to rise in the middle 1930s and Brauthal was soon embroiled with difficulties with the new right wing regime. In 1934 Braunthal was arrested and jailed, charged with

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

.Emile Schwidder
"Biography,"
Julius Braunthal Papers finding aid. Amsterdam: International Institute of Social History, 1977. He was ultimately expelled from the country in 1935, narrowly escaping the annexation of Austria to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

three years later. In 1938, Braunthal went into exile in

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, where his elder sister Bertha Clark (1887-1967) had been living and working with her Scottish born husband since 1933, and where he would remain for the rest of his life. Julius Braunthal was named an assistant secretary of the

Labour and Socialist International The Labour and Socialist International (LSI) was an international organization of socialist and labourist parties, active between 1923 and 1940. The group was established through a merger of the rival Vienna International and the Berne Intern ...

in 1938, remaining in that capacity until the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

World War II and after

During World War II, Braunthal was the editor of the journal of the Labour and Socialist International, ''International Socialist Forum.'' He would serve in that capacity until 1948. Thereafter Braunthal was named as the Secretary of the International Socialist Conference, a transitional organization which preceded establishment of the new

. In 1951 Braunthal was named the first Secretary General of this new international institution. He would hold this post until 1956. Following the end of his time as the head of the Socialist International, Braunthal turned his attention to the writing of history. He authored a three volume ''History of the International,'' detailing the institutional development of international socialism from the

First International The International Workingmen's Association (IWA; 1864–1876), often called the First International, was a political international which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, social democratic, communist, and anarchist ...

until the present day. The first volume of this work was published in 1961, with the third and final volume seeing print in 1971.

Death and legacy

Julius Braunthal died on 24 April 1972 in Teddington, England. He was 78 years old at the time of his death. Braunthal's papers reside at the

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Works

* ''Die Arbeiterräte in Deutschösterreich.'' Vienna, 1919. * ''Die Sozialpolitik der Republik.'' Vienna: Wiener Volksbuchhandlung, 1919. * ''Kommunisten und sozialdemokraten.'' Vienna: Verlag der Wiener Volksbuchhandlung, 1920. * ''Die Wiener Julitage 1927.'' Vienna: Verlag der Wiener Volksbuchhandlung, 1927. * ''40 Jahre 1. Mai.'' Vienna, 1929. * ''Festschrift zur 2. Arbeiter-Olympiade.'' Vienna: Rotationstiefdruck: "Vorwärts," 1931. * ''Need Germany Survive?'' London: Victor Gollancz, 1943. * ''The Future of Austria: A Plea for the United States of Europe.'' London: Victor Gollancz, 1943. * ''In Search of the Millennium.'' London: Victor Gollancz, 1945. * ''The Paradox of Nationalism: An Epilogue to the Nuremberg Trials: Common-Sense Reflections in the Atomic Age.'' London: St. Botolph Publishing Co., 1946. * ''The Tragedy of Austria.'' London: Victor Gollancz, 1948. * "The Rebirth of Social Democracy," ''Foreign Affairs,'' vol. 27, no. 4 (July 1949), pp. 586–600
In JSTOR
* ''Der gegenwärtige Stand der sozialistischen Literatur.'' Bielefeld : Verlag Neue Gesellschaft, n.d. . 1955 * ''Yearbook of the International Socialist Labour Movement.'' London: Lincolns-Prager, 1956. * ''The Significance of Israeli Socialism and the Arab-Israeli Dispute.'' With J.B. Kripalani. London: Lincolns-Prager, 1958. * ''Sozialistische Weltstimmen.'' Berlin: Verlag nach J.H.W. Dietz, 1958. * ''Geschichte der Internationale, Vol. 1.'' Hannover, Germany: Verlag J.H.W. Dietz, 1961. * ''Geschichte der Internationale, Vol. 2.'' Hannover, Germany: Verlag J.H.W. Dietz, 1963. * ''Auf der Suche nach dem Millennium.'' Vienna: Europa Verlag, 1964. * ''Socialism. The First 100 Years.'' Rome: Centre for Labour and Social Studies, 1964. * ''Victor und Friedrich Adler; zwei Generationen Arbeiterbewegung.'' Vienna: Verlag der Wiener Volksbuchhandlung, 1965. * ''History of the International: Volume 1: 1864-1914.'' New York: Frederick A. Praeger, Publishers, 1967. * ''History of the International: Volume 2: 1914-1943.'' New York: Frederick A. Praeger, Publishers, 1967. * ''Geschichte der Internationale, Vol. 3.'' Hannover, Germany: Verlag J.H.W. Dietz, 1971. * ''History of the International: Volume 3: 1943-1968.'' London: Victor Gollancz, 1980.

Footnotes

External links

* Emile Schwidder
"Julius Braunthal Papers online finding aid,"
International Institute of Social History, 1977. {{DEFAULTSORT:Braunthal, Julius 1891 births 1972 deaths 20th-century Austrian people People from Austria-Hungary Austrian newspaper editors British people of Austrian-Jewish descent Jewish socialists European democratic socialists Socialist International Austrian emigrants to the United Kingdom Austrian magazine founders Austrian magazine editors