19th Century Socialist & Labor Movements
Utopian Socialism
A term used by Friedrich Engels to describe ideal societies envisioned by thinkers who didn’t actively participate in the necessary struggles or organization. Some, like Blanqui, believed social equality required violent action by a minority imposing a revolutionary dictatorship. However, most believed in peaceful social transformation through education and example. Charles Fourier advocated for phalansteries, collective communities sharing property and tasks. Cabet designed Icaria, and Owen championed worker cooperatives, implementing this in his textile factory.
Chartism
A UK social and political reform movement named after the “People’s Charter,” outlining its principles.
Marxism
Developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the mid-19th century, Marxism was the first socialist thought to develop a theory and action plan for societal change, known as scientific socialism. Its core tenets were outlined in The Communist Manifesto. Marxism focuses on:
- Analyzing the past through class struggle between oppressors and oppressed.
- Critiquing the capitalist system.
- Advocating for overcoming the present with a future-oriented project.
Anarchism
A less homogenous doctrine than Marxism. Proudhon, an early anarchist, viewed property as theft and advocated for a system based on work autonomy, mutualism, and cooperatives. Bakunin, a key revolutionary anarchist, believed revolution should involve all oppressed sectors, aiming to abolish the state and create an egalitarian society based on free association of communes.
The First International
The International Workingmen’s Association (IWA) was founded in London in 1864 by British and French worker delegates, along with Italian and German political emigrants. Organized nationally, it had a General Council led by Marx, who drafted its statutes and principles. Early IWA congresses in Geneva, Lausanne, and Brussels yielded agreements on worker rights and influenced worker positions. Internal differences, particularly between Marx and Bakunin, emerged. Marx controlled the IWA General Council, while Bakunin advocated for abolishing, not conquering, the state.
The Paris Commune
The International watched with concern the rising Franco-German tension and called for worker opposition to war. Parisian working classes rejected the government’s capitulation, leading to a popular insurrection. The government fled to Versailles, creating a power vacuum. Elections established a popular government in Paris, embodying a democratic and social republic.
Resolution of the Crisis and International Levels
The Marx-Bakunin ideological clash fueled a crisis within the IWA, exacerbated by the Franco-Prussian War and the Commune’s defeat. The split formalized at the Hague Congress. Marxists favored forming labor parties, while Bakunin rejected this, leading to his expulsion and the formation of a new organization. The weakened IWA moved to New York, dissolving in 1876.
The Second International
Foundation and Aims
Founded in Paris during the French Revolution’s centennial, it was an ideological organization comprising socialist parties. Its founding congress demanded worker protection laws, an 8-hour workday, and the abolition of child labor. It condemned war as a consequence of capitalism. The Second International adopted labor movement symbols like The Internationale anthem and May Day celebrations. It also promoted various agencies, including the International Conference of Socialist Women.
The Great Debates
: internacinal was the great forum discussion of the issues that affected the socialist movement, colonialism set up a second major area of debate a sector denounced it as another form of capitalist exploitation and defended conbatirlo’s liability in the colonies and promote capitalist exploitation | before the warmonger is esperial rejection of war in the Congress in Copenhagen and Basel.