The Revolutionary Socialist Workers' Party (french: Parti ouvrier socialiste révolutionnaire, POSR) was a French

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

founded by

Jean Allemane Jean Allemane (25 August 1843, Sauveterre-de-Comminges, Haute-Garonne – 6 June 1935, Herblay in Seine-et-Oise) was a French socialist politician, veteran of the Paris Commune of 1871, pioneer of syndicalism, leader of the Revolutionary Sociali ...

in 1890 and dissolved in 1901. It is indirectly one of the founding factions of the

French Section of the Workers' International The French Section of the Workers' International (french: Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière, SFIO) was a political party in France that was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the modern-day Socialist Party. The SFIO was found ...

(SFIO), which was founded in 1905. The POSR was founded by a dissidence from the

Federation of the Socialist Workers of France The Federation of the Socialist Workers of France (french: Fédération des travailleurs socialistes de France, FTSF) was France's first socialist party, being founded in 1879. The party was characterised as possibilist because it promoted gradu ...

(FTSF) led by Jean Allemane. The party, which along with Allemane was a strong believer of the primacy of

syndicalism Syndicalism is a Revolutionary politics, revolutionary current within the Left-wing politics, left-wing of the Labour movement, labor movement that seeks to unionize workers Industrial unionism, according to industry and advance their demands t ...

in politics, became a base of future revolutionary syndicalism and parties of a similar ideology would occasionally be described as Allemaniste. However, next to the working-class socialism of Allemane, an intellectual socialist movement developed within the POSR, led by

Lucien Herr Lucien Herr (17 January 1864 – 18 May 1926) was a French intellectual, librarian at the ''École Normale Supérieure'' in Paris, and mentor to a number of well-known socialist politicians and writers, including Jean Jaurès and Charles Péguy ...

, a librarian. This movement's priority was the

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

of the people. Overall, the POSR was a moderate

reformist Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can eve ...

party, influenced by possibilism which believed that socialism could be achieved through democratic action, such as

decentralization Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...

and legislative participation. In 1901, the POSR merged with the FTSF and Independent Socialists to form the

French Socialist Party 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 ...

(PSF). In 1905, the PSF was along with 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 ...

a founding member of the

(SFIO).

See also