Marseille Congress
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The Third Socialist Workers' Congress of France was held in
Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
, France, in 1879. At this congress the socialist leaders rejected both
cooperation Cooperation (written as co-operation in British English and, with a varied usage along time, coöperation) takes place when a group of organisms works or acts together for a collective benefit to the group as opposed to working in competition ...
and
anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...
, both of which would allow the existing
regime In politics, a regime (also spelled régime) is a system of government that determines access to public office, and the extent of power held by officials. The two broad categories of regimes are democratic and autocratic. A key similarity acros ...
to continue, and adopted a program based on
collectivism In sociology, a social organization is a pattern of relationships between and among individuals and groups. Characteristics of social organization can include qualities such as sexual composition, spatiotemporal cohesion, leadership, struct ...
. The congress also adopted a motion that women should have equal rights to men, but several delegates felt that essentially woman's place was in the home. The congress has been called a triumph of Guesdism and the birthplace of French Marxist
socialism 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 ...
, but both claims are open to question. The attendees soon split into rival groups with disparate beliefs.


Location

The Third Socialist Workers' Congress was held in Marseille on 20–31 October 1879. It was held in the Salle des Folies-Bergères. The Marseilles Congress followed the Congress of Lyon of 1878, and was the most important socialist congress in France before 1889 in terms of attendance, resolutions and its effect on the socialist party's constitution. The congress was followed by the 1880 Congress of Le Havre.


Collectivism

Jules Guesde Jules Bazile, known as Jules Guesde (; 11 November 1845 – 28 July 1922) was a French socialist journalist and politician. Guesde was the inspiration for a famous quotation by Karl Marx. Shortly before Marx died in 1883, he wrote a letter ...
was a former anarchist who had converted to Marxism in 1876. Guesde was sick and bedridden in Paris at the time of the congress, but was represented by two jewelry workers, Jean Lombard of Marseille and Eugène Fournière of Paris. A motion composed by Guesde was moved by the delegates from Paris and carried by a large majority. It was: The congress adopted a Marxist program and supported collectivism by 73 votes to 27. The collectivists rejected efforts to found cooperatives as being petty bourgeois and covert capitalism. The delegates were also opposed to cooperation and to anarchism, both of which left the status quo undisturbed, and declared themselves in favor of political action. The congress has been described as a triumph of Guesdism, but in fact was a triumph of collectivism, which Guesde's opponents
Paul Brousse Paul Louis Marie Brousse (; 1844–1912) was a French socialist politician. After training as a physician, he was radicalised by the events of the Paris Commune and joined the anarchist faction of the International Workingmen's Association (I ...
and
Benoît Malon Benoît Malon (23 June 1841 – 13 September 1893), was a French Socialist, writer, communard, and political leader. Biography Malon came from a poor peasant family. An opportunity to escape the life of a rural labourer presented itself wh ...
also supported.


Foundation of the Socialist Party

The suppression of the
Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...
in 1871 was a severe blow to socialism in France, and for several years afterwards workers were reluctant to get involved in politics. At the congresses of Paris (1876), Lyon (1878) and Marseille (1879) only working men could speak and vote, and discussion of politics was banned. However Guesde wanted to organize a political party. He claimed that unlike conventional parties the new party would serve the interests of the workers rather than the ambitions of the party leaders. The congress decided that the proletariat should separate itself from all the bourgeois parties and form a new party. At first the party represented artisans such as hatters and shoemakers, but not weavers, miners or foundry workers. The new party had to compete for the attention of the workers with the
Blanquist Blanquism () refers to a conception of revolution generally attributed to Louis Auguste Blanqui (1805–1881) that holds that socialist revolution should be carried out by a relatively small group of highly organised and secretive conspirators. H ...
s, the
Anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...
s, after 1881 with the Possiblists, and after 1890 with the Allemanists. Although the launch of the Parti Ouvrier (Party of Labour) by the 1879 congress has been treated by socialist and communist historians as the date when Marxist socialism was born in France, the new "party" was a loosely defined movement dominated by anti-political anarchists and anti-socialist radicals, with few members with recognizably Marxist views. It was only between the congress and the 1882 split that Guesde and Lafargue developed hardline Marxist positions. The party suffered from internal disagreements from the start. Anarchists such as
Jean Grave Jean Grave (; October 16, 1854, Le Breuil-sur-Couze – December 8, 1939, Vienne-en-Val) was an important activist in French anarchism and the international anarchist communism movements. He was the editor of three major anarchist periodicals, ...
disliked political involvement of any type, while Brousse was suspicious of Guesde's Marxist authoritarianism and thought the nationalization program would lead to a socialist dictatorship.


Women's rights

Some of the delegates defended the concept of the family wage, and argued against women's wage labour. One delegate said "woman's place is in the home, where so many daily concerns call her, and not in a factory or workshop ... The young girl should never learn any trade except those which, later, when she has become a wife and a mother, she can carry out in the home."
Isidore Finance Isidore Finance (7 February 1848, Sainte-Croix-aux-Mines – 16 October 1918), Paris was a French house painter and decorator and syndicalist. He was involved with the Cercle des prolétaires positivistes and contributed to ''Le Positivisme au Con ...
, who represented the building painters of Paris, urged "tough-fisted and hardheaded workingmen ... to demand a wage that is not simply the equivalent to the product of their labours, but sufficient to keep women and the aged at home."
Hubertine Auclert Hubertine Auclert (; 10 April 1848 – 4 August 1914) was a leading French feminist and a campaigner for women's suffrage. Early life Born in the Allier '' département'' in the Auvergne area of France into a middle-class family, Hubertine Aucl ...
made passionate pleas for women's rights, but argued that they needed economic independence due to their "natural" motherhood. Auclert was on a special committee to consider the equality of women, and was given an hour to speak to the congress on this subject. After her speech she was invited to head a committee to prepare a statement on women's rights. This statement, which said women should have the same social, legal, political and working rights as men was approved by the congress.


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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Socialist Workers' Congress 1879 History of socialism Political congresses 1879 in politics 1870s conferences 1879 in France October 1879 19th-century political conferences