1.
Paris Congress, July 14–20, 1889
Introductory Note
As the centennial year of the French Revolution, 1889 was the scene of a number of exhibitions and events in Paris. Among these were two important international congresses of working-class organizations.
At the time, French socialism was divided into opposing wings: a revolutionary Marxist current led by Jules Guesde and Paul Lafargue, and a reformist organization led by Paul Brousse. This latter tendency, whose overriding goal was to achieve reforms that it felt were possible under the capitalist system, came to be known as the “Possibilists.”
Allied with the French Possibilists were the British Trades Union Congress and some other workers’ organizations around the world. A November 1888 international conference initiated by the British unions voted to convene an international workers’ congress in Paris in 1889, entrusting the organization of this to the French Possibilists. At about the same time, the Guesde-Lafargue party in France decided to convene a separate world congress of revolutionary-minded forces.
The prospect of two rival meetings at the same time and place was troubling to many in the workers’ movement internationally. The leadership of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)—at the time the largest and most influential Marxist party in the world—invited both sides to attend a conference, held in The Hague on February 28, 1889, with the goal of uniting the two events. The Possibilists refused to attend, however. Instead, they went ahead on their own, issuing a call on March 11 for their congress. The Marxists responded by taking steps to convene a separate congress, sending out invitations to socialist parties, trade unions, and other workers’ organizations.
One person deeply involved in helping to organize the Marxist gathering was Frederick Engels, the lifelong collaborator of Karl Marx. After Marx’s death in 1883, he was considered by most socialists to be the most authoritative figure in the world movement. Engels grasped the significance of the proposed meeting, seeing its potential to revive the work of the of 1864–76 International Workingmen’s Association— the First International, which Marx and he had helped lead.
In the months leading up to the congress, Engels maintained a voluminous correspondence with the leaders of the international socialist movement. His letters on the preparations and organization of this congress would fill a small volume.[1] He also did what he could to publicize the event.
One concern of Engels was that the organizers might be so eager to unify the two competing congresses that they would conciliate with the Possibilists on programmatic questions, watering down the movement’s revolutionary principles and thereby bringing unclarity into the world socialist movement. While not opposed in principle to a united congress, Engels was convinced that only one based around a clear socialist program and perspective could provide a lasting basis for effective international working-class organization and action.
On July 14, 1889 (the centenary of Bastille Day), the two congresses convened separately in Paris, attended by delegates from socialist parties and trade unions. The gatherings were roughly comparable in size: the Marxist congress drew 408 delegates from 24 countries; the Possibilist event was attended by 567 delegates from 14 countries.
Many prominent world socialist leaders were present at the Marxist congress: Wilhelm Liebknecht, August Bebel, Eduard Bernstein, and Clara Zetkin from Germany; Jules Guesde, Édouard Vaillant, and Paul Lafargue from France; Eleanor Marx, William Morris, and Keir Hardie from Britain; Victor Adler from Austria; Georgy Plekhanov from Russia; Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis from the Netherlands. Several delegates had been participants in the First International, such as César de Paepe and Leo Frankel. A number were veterans of the Paris Commune of 1871.
As Engels had foreseen, it was the Marxist congress, with its programmatic clarity and broader representation, that won the day. Even while both congresses were still in session, a few delegates from the Possibilist gathering started drifting into the Marxist event. Within a relatively short time, the Possibilist congress was largely forgotten, relegated to the status of a historical footnote. The Marxist congress, on the other hand, was the first meeting of what would become known as the Second International.
One of the resolutions of the 1889 congress was to have an especially important and lasting impact on the international working-class movement: the decision to embrace the initiative of the American Federation of Labor in calling for an internationally coordinated day of action on behalf of the eight-hour day. That initiative was meant to commemorate the movement begun in the United States in 1886—a struggle that became known worldwide because of the Haymarket events that year in Chicago.[2] With this in mind, May 1, 1890, was set as a day of demonstrations and strikes around the world to fight for the eight-hour-day demand. May Day has since become institutionalized as an international workers’ holiday—a day for demonstrating the power of the labor movement around the world.
Giving a balance sheet of the Paris Congress, Engels wrote that it proved to be “a brilliant success.”[3]
* * *
UNITY OF THE SOCIALIST MOVEMENT
AND INTERNATIONAL CONGRESSESResolution presented by Wilhelm Liebknecht. The subject concerns the continued efforts toward unification with the Possibilist congress that was meeting in Paris at the same time.
The Congress notes that participants in the Hague conference and the Paris organizational committee have expressed their sincere desire for an agreement among all socialist parties and workers’ organizations with respect to the International Congress, and regrets that the steps taken to this end have not led to achievement of this goal.[4]
The Congress affirms that unity is the indispensable precondition for liberation of the proletariat. Every Social Democrat is therefore duty-bound to leave no stone unturned in taking measures to overcome discord.
The Congress therefore declares that it still stands ready to come to an understanding for unity, provided that the forces taking part in the other congress adopt a resolution along these lines that is acceptable to all participants in our Congress.
* * *
INTERNATIONAL LABOR PROTECTION LEGISLATION
Resolution based on drafts by August Bebel and Jules Guesde.
The International Socialist Labor Congress of Paris:
Having affirmed that the emancipation of labor and humanity cannot occur without the international action of the proletariat—organized in class-based parties—which seizes political power through the expropriation of the capitalist class and the social appropriation of the means of production;
Considering:
That the rapid development of capitalist production has been imposed on all countries, one after the other;
That the advance of capitalist production implies the increasing exploitation of the working class by the bourgeoisie;
That this increasingly intensive exploitation results in the political oppression of the working class, its economic subjugation, and its physical and moral degeneration;
That it is therefore the duty of workers of all countries to struggle, by all means at their disposal, against this social structure that weighs down on them and simultaneously threatens the free development of humanity. Above all, the task is to oppose the destructive actions of the present economic order.
The Congress resolves:
Effective protective legislation is an absolute necessity in all countries where capitalist production prevails.
As the basis of this legislation, the Congress calls for:
(a) Limiting the workday to a maximum of eight hours for adults.
(b) Ending labor for children under fourteen years of age; from fourteen to eighteen, the workday to be reduced to six hours for both sexes.
(c) Eliminating night work, except for certain branches of industry that by their nature require uninterrupted functioning.
(d) Ending labor for women in all branches of industry that are especially harmful to women’s bodies.
(e) Eliminating night work for women and workers under the age of eighteen.
(f) Uninterrupted rest of at least thirty-six hours a week for all workers.
(g) Ending certain types of industry and certain methods of manufacturing that are prejudicial to the health of workers.
(h) Ending the system of subcontracting (truck system).
(i) Eliminating payment in kind as well as company stores.
(j) Eliminating hiring intermediaries (sweating system).
(k) Ban on private labor certification offices.
(l) Monitoring of all workshops and industrial establishments, including domestic industry, by inspectors paid by the state, at least half of whom are to be elected by the workers themselves.
The Congress declares that all these measures of public health must be defined by law and international treaties, which proletarians of all countries are urged to impose on their governments. The application of these laws and treaties, obtained in the manner deemed most effective, must be subject to monitoring and supervision.
The Congress declares, further, that it is the duty of workers to admit women into their ranks, on the basis of equality, and on the principles of equal work and equal pay for workers of both sexes and irrespective of nationality.
For this reason, as well as for the complete emancipation of the proletariat, the Congress considers it essential to organize workers in all fields, and consequently to demand absolute freedom of association and coalition.
* * *
WAYS AND MEANS FOR WINNING DEMANDS
FOR WORKER PROTECTIONThe International Socialist Labor Congress of Paris:
Urges workers’ organizations and socialist parties of all countries to immediately set themselves to work, using all means (meetings, journals, petitions, demonstrations, etc.) to lead their respective governments:
1. To adhere to the intergovernmental conference of Bern, proposed by the Swiss government.[5]
2. To support at that congress the resolutions of the Paris International Congress.
In all countries with socialist elected representatives, these should bring the resolutions of the Paris Congress into municipal councils and parliaments.
In all elections, both municipal and legislative, these same resolutions should be part of the program of socialist candidates.
An executive commission is hereby created for the Paris Congress resolutions, with regard to the international labor legislation projected by the Swiss republic.
This commission, composed of five members, is charged with directly transmitting to the Bern conference the key demands that the labor organizations and socialist parties of Europe and America, meeting in Paris July 14–20, view as indispensable elements of international labor protection.
This commission is also given authority to convene the next international congress, which shall be held in a locality of Switzerland or Belgium, to be designated later.
Under the title La Journée de huit heures [the eight-hour day], a newspaper will be published, with the help of socialist parties represented at the Paris International Congress. The goal of this weekly organ is to centralize all information about the various national movements aimed at legislation to reduce the workday.[6]
* * *
INTERNATIONAL DEMONSTRATION ON MAY 1, 1890
Motion presented by Raymond Lavigne, as amended by the congress.
The Congress resolves that a great international demonstration shall be organized in such a manner that on a fixed day the workers in all countries and in all cities shall simultaneously present to the public powers the demand that the duration of the working day be set at eight hours, and that the other resolutions of the International Congress at Paris be enacted into law.
In view of the fact that the holding of such a demonstration on May 1, 1890, has already been resolved by the American Federation of Labor at its congress of December 1888 in St. Louis, this date is herewith fixed as the day for the international demonstration.[7]
The workers of the various nations shall organize such a demonstration in a manner best suited to the conditions in their country.
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ABOLITION OF STANDING ARMIES /
GENERAL ARMING OF THE POPULATIONResolution originally drafted by Édouard Vaillant.
The International Socialist Labor Congress of Paris,
Considering:
That the standing army or the armed force in the service of the ruling or possessing class is the negation of all democratic or republican rule, the military expression of the monarchic or oligarchic and capitalist regime, and an instrument of reactionary coup d’états and social oppression;
That the standing army, and the offensive policy of which it is the organ, is the result and cause of the system of aggressive wars and poses a constant danger of international conflicts. This system must give way to the defensive and peaceful policy of democracy, to the organization of the whole nation drilled and armed, not for pillage and conquest, but to safeguard its independence and its liberty;
That the standing army, incessant cause of war, is, as history proves, incapable of defending a country against the superior forces of a coalition. Its defeat leaves the country disarmed, at the mercy of the conquerors, while a nation prepared, organized, and armed would be inaccessible to invasion;
That a standing army is the disorganization of all civil life, taking from every nation the flower of its youth in order to shut it in barracks, demoralize it, at the period of apprenticeship, study, greater activity, and action;
That work, science, and art are thus sterilized and stunted; the very existence and development of the citizen, the individual, and the family are harmed;
That on the other hand, in a really national army, or armed nation, the citizen follows the development of his aptitudes, his faculties in the national life; he executes his military duties as a necessary attribute of his capacity as a citizen;
Considering that:
The standing army, by the cost of the continuously accrued war debt, by the ever-increasing taxes and loans that it brings about, is a cause of misery and ruin;
The Congress:
Resolutely repudiates the bellicose proposals entertained by the governments for evil ends;
Declares that peace as a primary condition is indispensable to all labor emancipation;
And demands, with the abolition of standing armies, the general arming of the people on the following lines:
The national army or the armed nation formed of all available citizens, organized by district in such a way that each town, each canton, has its own battalion, composed of citizens who know each other, assembled, armed, equipped and ready to march, if necessary, in twenty-four hours. Each one shall keep his own rifle and equipment, as in Switzerland, for the defense of public liberty and national security.
Moreover, the Congress declares that war, fatal outcome of the present economic conditions, will disappear entirely only with the disappearance of the capitalist order, with the emancipation of labor, and the international triumph of socialism.
* * *
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC ACTION
Presented by J. F. Busche, delegate of the US Socialist Labor Party, and L. E. Miller, delegate of the Jewish Federation of Trade Unions of New York.
Whereas the reports of the delegates of all countries to this Congress have shown that the organization of labor (trade unions and similar groups) is in itself insufficient for obtaining the emancipation of the working class, while agitation to reduce the workday, limit the labor of women and children, and establish protective labor laws has demonstrated its capacity to develop class consciousness among workers, a necessary preliminary for the self-emancipation of the working class;
Whereas the history of the workers’ movement shows that appeals by the workers to the bourgeoisie have no effect, and only work to the political advantage of the ruling class;
Whereas the possession of political power by the ruling class allows it to maintain its exploitative system of private ownership and capitalist production;
Whereas this political power blocks the control of industry by the state, and the control of the state by the people;
The Paris International Congress resolves:
1. That in all the countries where proletarians possess the vote, they should join the ranks of the Socialist Party. They should tolerate no compromise with any other political party, and through the use of the ballot and under the authority of their respective constitution, obtain the conquest of political power.
2. That within all countries in which proletarians are denied the electoral franchise and constitutional rights, they should struggle by all possible means to obtain the right to vote.
3. That every use of repressive force on the part of the ruling class to hinder the peaceful evolution of society toward cooperative organization, both industrial and social, would be a crime against humanity. Such inhumanity would subject the aggressors to punishment carried out by those who fight for the defense of their life and their liberty.
Footnotes
- Engels’s letters on plans, preparations, and strategic considerations in organizing the 1889 congress can be found in volume 48 of Marx Engels Collected Works (New York: International Publishers, 2001). ↑
- Following a rally at Haymarket Square in Chicago on May 4, 1886, to support striking workers, a bomb was thrown at police officers by an unknown person, after which the police opened fire on the crowd, killing a number of workers. The incident was used to stage a frame-up against the workers’ leaders, who were anarchists. Eight were tried and convicted of murder. Four were hanged, and one committed suicide before his scheduled execution. The Haymarket martyrs were defended and honored by the workers’ movement throughout the world, and they became associated with the establishment of May Day as an international workers’ holiday. ↑
- Engels, letter to Friedrich Adolph Sorge, July 17, 1889, in Marx Engels Collected Works, vol. 48, p. 352. ↑
- An international conference was held at The Hague on February 28, 1889, sponsored by the German Social Democratic Party, in an effort to unite the two rival international labor congresses. The attempt failed, as the Possibilists refused to attend. The Organizing Committee for the Convocation of an International Working Men’s Congress was formed in Paris prior to the 1889 Marxist congress. Its secretaries were Paul Lafargue and Bernard Besset. ↑
- In 1889 the Swiss government had proposed an international conference to be held in Bern to discuss factory legislation. That initiative was superseded by the Berlin conference of 1890, convened by the German government. ↑
- Concerning La Journée de huit heures, the following is included as an afternote in the French edition of the congress resolutions: “In conformity with the decision taken by the International Socialist Labor Congress, the permanent bureau, at its second session of July 20, designated Switzerland as the site of the executive commission. The delegation of this country has been charged with constituting this commission, to be composed of five members from the same town, which will also be the site of the publication of the journal La Journée de huit heures.” International ouvrier socialiste de Paris (Paris: Imprimerie de la Presse, 1889), p. 21. The Zurich executive committee that was charged with overseeing this journal was composed of E. Wullschleger (editor), K. Bürkli, O. Manz, O. Lang, and A. Merk, and backed by the Allgemeiner Schweizerische Gewerkschaftsbund (Swiss General Trade Union Confederation). Planned as a fortnightly, the journal was published in three languages beginning in December 1889: Der achtstündige Arbeitstag in German, La Journée de huit heures in French, and the Eight Hours Working Day in English. The journal ceased publication in early 1891. ↑
- On May 1, 1886, strikes began in the United States to demand the eight-hour day, with 350,000 workers walking off the job. The strike extended to May 4, when the Haymarket bombing and subsequent police massacre occurred in Chicago. With this tradition in mind, the third annual convention of the American Federation of Labor, meeting in St. Louis December 11–15, 1888, voted to set May 1, 1890, as a day for mass meetings in cities throughout the United States in support of the eight-hour day. ↑