International Socialist Congress (1910)

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The 8th International Socialist Congress of the Second International took place in Copenhagen from August 23 to September 3, 1910 . The Second International Socialist Women's Conference preceded the actual congress on August 26th and 27th. An international youth congress took place after the congress. The introduction of international women's day was decided at the women's congress .

Attendees

Participants in the congress
Call for the second international women’s conference

896 delegates were present. They represented 23 countries. The largest delegations came from Sweden , Denmark , Germany and Austria . The SPD and the free trade unions in Germany alone were represented by 189 delegates. Delegates also came from Serbia , the Ottoman Empire , Romania , Argentina , Spain , Portugal , Japan , Greece , South Africa , Australia , Luxembourg , Italy , Switzerland , Russia , Poland , Belgium , Hungary and Croatia , Bohemia , Holland , France , Finland , the US , Norway and the UK . In total, the delegates represented 8 million members. Among those present were Clara Zetkin , Georg Ledebour , Rosa Luxemburg , Julian Marchlewski , Vladimir Ilyich Lenin , Georgi Plekhanov and Jean Jaurès . The congress met in the concert palace of the Danish capital.

Agenda

  • Relations between cooperatives and political parties - rapporteur Benno Karpeles
  • Arbitration and disarmament - rapporteur Georg Ledebour
  • International results of labor protection legislation - rapporteur Hermann Molkenbuhr
  • Resolutions on trade union uniformity in Austria - Rapporteur Georgi Plechanow, Antonín Němec
  • Agreement of the socialist organizations, the situation in Argentina, Finland, Persia and Turkey - rapporteur Wilhelm Ellenbogen

Debates and decisions

An important topic was the imminent danger of a war between the great powers. With regard to the possible reactions to the outbreak of war, the Congress discussed on the basis of the resolutions of the Socialist Congress in Stuttgart of 1907 . Both the left wing and the reformists tried to change these results. The radicals around Édouard Vaillant and Keir Hardie pleaded for the general strike to be recognized as a decisive means of preventing war. For various reasons, they met with resistance from the Russian Bolsheviks , but also from German, Austrian and Italian representatives. Congress obliged the socialist members of parliament to prevent further rearmament by all means and to refuse the necessary funds. Instead, they should press for disputes to be settled by an international arbitration tribunal. In addition, the MPs were asked to request disarmament by means of appropriate motions. The International Bureau of the Second International was given the task of coordinating the actions of the individual parties in the event of the threat of war.

Congress also deals with unemployment insurance and labor legislation. He also expressed himself again on the relationship between the party and the trade unions and, at Leni's instigation, emphasized that the cooperative system could be an important instrument for the class struggle. Therefore, all members and supporters were asked to join a cooperative. The assembly also decided to protest internationally against the death penalty .

Women and youth conference

At the previous international women's congress, a motion submitted by Clara Zetkin , Käte Duncker and others to agitate for women's suffrage was approved . It was decided that the socialist women of all countries should hold a women's day every year to agitate for women's suffrage, following the example of North America.

An international youth meeting also took place after the congress. A possible war was also debated there. There Karl Liebknecht spoke about the increasing militarism in society as well.

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