The French Workers' Party (french: Parti Ouvrier Français, POF) was the French

socialist party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

created in 1880 by

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 ...

and

Paul Lafargue Paul Lafargue (; 15 January 1842 – 25 November 1911) was a Cuban- Haitian revolutionary Marxist socialist, political writer, economist, journalist, literary critic, and activist; he was Karl Marx's son-in-law having married his second dau ...

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

's son-in-law (famous for having written '' The Right to Be Lazy'', which criticized

work Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an animal t ...

as such, criticizing heavily liberal moral frameworks of "Right to Work"). A revolutionary party, it had as aim to abolish

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

and replace it with a

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

society. The party originated with a secession from Federation of the Socialist Workers' Party of France, which was founded in 1879, after a split with

Paul Brousse Paul Brousse (; 23 January 18441 April 1912) was a French socialist, leader of the '' possibilistes'' group. He was active in the Jura Federation, a section of the International Working Men's Association (IWMA), from the northwestern part of Swit ...

's possibilists. The party's programme, written by Guesde with input from Marx, Lafargue and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Blanquist Blanquism refers to a conception of revolution generally attributed to Louis Auguste Blanqui (1805–1881) which holds that socialist revolution should be carried out by a relatively small group of highly organised and secretive conspirators. Hav ...

Central Revolutionary Committee The Central Revolutionary Committee (french: Comité révolutionnaire central, CRC) was a French Blanquist political party founded in 1881 and dissolved in 1898. The CRC was founded by Édouard Vaillant to continue the political struggle of Augu ...

to form the

Socialist Party of France The Socialist Party (french: Parti socialiste , PS) is a French centre-left and social-democratic political party. It holds pro-European views. The PS was for decades the largest party of the "French Left" and used to be one of the two major p ...

and finally merged in 1905 with

Jean Jaurès Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; oc, Joan Jaurés ), was a French Socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became one of the first social dem ...

' French Socialist Party to form the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO).

Marcel Cachin Marcel Cachin (20 September 1869 – 12 February 1958) was a French Communist politician and editor of the daily newspaper ''L'Humanite''. In 1891, Cachin joined Jules Guesde's French Workers' Party (POF). In 1905, he joined the new French ...

, who would lead the split in 1920 which led to the creation of the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...

and edited ''

L'Humanité ''L'Humanité'' (; ), is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organ of the French Communist Party, and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, ''L'Humanité'' would not exist." History and profile Pre-World Wa ...

'' newspaper, became a member of the POF in 1891. The Nord,

Pas-de-Calais Pas-de-Calais (, " strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments ...

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

and

Allier Allier ( , , ; oc, Alèir) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region that borders Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire to the east, Puy-de-Dôme to the south, and Creuse to the south-west. Named afte ...

were the principal bastions of POF electoral strength.

Principal members

(1845–1922), founding member and elected deputy *

(1842–1911), son-in-law of

and elected deputy *

(1869–1958), member from 1891, led the SFIO Tours split in 1920, future director of ''

'' * (1861–1955), professor (Greek Philosophy) and future elected deputy for the SFIO * (1873–1953), elected deputy

Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.Bernard Cadenat (1853–1930), shoemaker, elected deputy

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in Southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and large ...

(1898–1919 and 1924–1930) and mayor of

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

(1910–1912) * Ulysse Pastre (1864–1930), researcher and elected deputy

Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;Hérault Hérault (; oc, Erau, ) is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault River, its prefecture is Montpellier. It had a population of 1,175,623 in 2019.Hubert Lagardelle Hubert Lagardelle (8 July 1874 – 20 September 1958) was a pioneer of French revolutionary syndicalism. He regularly authored reviews for the Plans magazine, was co-founder of the journal Prélude, and Minister of Labour in the Vichy regime. ...

(1875–1968),

revolutionary syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence i ...

* , elected deputy for Marseille in 1898–1910, mayor of

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

(1893) and vice president of the General Council (1914–1915) * Jean Bertrand, elected deputy for

Corbeil Corbeil may refer to: Places * Corbeil, Ontario, Canada * Corbeil, Marne, a commune in the Marne département in north-eastern France * Corbeil-Cerf, a commune in the département of Oise in northern France * Corbeil-Essonnes, a commune in the so ...

* Pierre Mélin (1863–1929)

luthier A luthier ( ; AmE also ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally French and comes from the French word for lute. The term was originally used for makers o ...

, vice president of the Valenciennes's Labour Court and elected deputy *

Georges Vacher de Lapouge Count Georges Vacher de Lapouge (; 12 December 1854 – 20 February 1936) was a French anthropologist and a theoretician of eugenics and racialism. He is known as the founder of anthroposociology, the anthropological and sociological study of race ...

(1854–1936), antisemitic anthropologist and eugenist, Attorney of the Republic and professor

Bibliography

French

* C. Willard C. (1965). ''Le Mouvement socialiste en France, 1893-1905. Les guesdistes''. Ed. sociales. * J. Verlhac (1997). ''La formation de l’unité socialiste (1898-1905)''. L'Harmattan. Reissue of a memoir published in 1947

External links

"Sur le POF à Reims, un mémoire de maîtrise"

Marxists.org"].
"Collection of Paul Lafargue's writings"
Marxists.org].
"Socialist Party of France. 1871-1905: history"
{{Authority control Socialist parties in France Political parties of the French Third Republic Second International Political parties established in 1880 1880 establishments in France

Principal members

See also

Bibliography

French

External links