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The Socialist Workers' Federation (french: Fédération Socialiste Ouvrière, lad, Federacion Socialista Laboradera, tr, Selanik Sosyalist İşçi Federasyonu), was a socialist organisation in the
Salonica Vilayet The Vilayet of Salonica ( ota, ولايت سلانيك, Vilâyet-i Selânik) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire from 1867 to 1912. In the late 19th century it reportedly had an area of .Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
(present-day
Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
), led by Avraam Benaroya. It was an attempt at union of different nationalities' workers in
Salonica Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
within a single labor movement.


The Federation in the Ottoman Empire

Idealistic and pragmatist at the same time, Avraam Benaroya, a
Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
from
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
, played a leading role in the creation of the mainly Jewish ''Fédération Socialiste Ouvrière'' in Thessaloniki, in May–June 1909. His main associates were militant
Sephardic Jews Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...
, Alberto Arditti, David Recanati and Joseph Hazan, as well as Bulgarians like Angel Tomov and
Dimitar Vlahov Dimitar Yanakiev Vlahov ( bg, Димитър Янакиев Влахов; mk, Димитар Јанакиев Влахов; 8 November 1878 – 7 April 1953) was a Macedonian Bulgarian politician from the region of Macedonia and member of t ...
. The organization took this name because, built on the federative model of the
Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...
, it was conceived as a federation of separate sections, each representing the four main ethnic groups of the city:
Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
s,
Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely understo ...
,
Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
and
Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...
. It initially published its literature in the languages of these four groups (i.e. Ladino,
Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...
,
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and
Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...
, respectively) but in practice the two latter sections were under-represented if not nonexistent. The publication's title was ''Journal del Labourador'' (Ladino) - ''Amele Gazetesi'' (Ottoman Turkish). The democratic ''Fédération'' soon became, under Benaroya's leadership, the strongest
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 th ...
in the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, while the "
Ottoman Socialist Party The Ottoman Socialist Party ( tr, Osmanlı Sosyalist Fırkası, OSF) was the first Turkish socialist political party, founded in the Ottoman Empire in 1910. Ottoman Socialist Party (1910–1913) Before the formation of the party, socialist par ...
" was essentially an intellectual club, and the other socialist parties were at the same time national parties, like the
Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
Greek Socialist Center, the
Social Democrat Hunchakian Party The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (SDHP) ( hy, Սոցիալ Դեմոկրատ Հնչակյան Կուսակցություն; ՍԴՀԿ, translit=Sots’ial Demokrat Hnch’akyan Kusakts’ut’yun), is the oldest continuously-operating Armenian ...
or the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...
. It created combative trade unions, attracted important intellectuals and gained a solid base of support among Macedonian workers. By 1910, the ''Fédération'' comprised fourteen syndicates, and in 1912 it mobilized about 12,000 workers in various demonstrations. From 1910 to 1911 Benaroya edited its influential newspaper, the ''
Solidaridad Ovradera The Solidaridad Network is an international civil society organisation founded in 1969. Its main objective is facilitating the development of socially responsible, ecologically sound and profitable supply chains. It operates through eight regio ...
'', printed in Ladino. ''Fédération'' cultivated strong links with the
Second International The Second International (1889–1916) was an organisation of socialist and labour parties, formed on 14 July 1889 at two simultaneous Paris meetings in which delegations from twenty countries participated. The Second International continued th ...
and had its own representative, Saul Nahum, in the
International Socialist Bureau The International Socialist Bureau (French: ''Bureau Socialiste International'') was the permanent organization of the Second International, established at the Paris congress of 1900. Before this there was no organizational infrastructure to the "Se ...
. Unlike other parties which were organised on ethnic lines, as a cross-community group the ''Fédération'' was tolerated by the Ottoman authorities. A prominent Bulgarian member,
Dimitar Vlahov Dimitar Yanakiev Vlahov ( bg, Димитър Янакиев Влахов; mk, Димитар Јанакиев Влахов; 8 November 1878 – 7 April 1953) was a Macedonian Bulgarian politician from the region of Macedonia and member of t ...
, was a socialist MP in the new Ottoman parliament, which was dominated by the
Committee of Union and Progress The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) ( ota, اتحاد و ترقى جمعيتی, translit=İttihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti, script=Arab), later the Union and Progress Party ( ota, اتحاد و ترقى فرقه‌سی, translit=İttihad ve Tera ...
(CUP) party until 1912. Indeed, its leaders initially supported the Young Turks, and Benaroya participated in the "Action Army" march on
Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
to help put down the Countercoup of 1909. Alarmed by the growing power of socialist groups, the CUP subsequently launched a crackdown, during which Benaroya was jailed. In their reference book over the Balkan Jews,
Esther Benbassa Esther Benbassa (born 27 March 1950) is a French-Turkish-Israeli historian and politician. She specializes in the history of Jews and other minorities. Since 2011, Benbassa has served as a French senator, representing Paris from 2017 onwards an ...
and Aron Rodrigues show that the internationalist socialists of the ''Fédération'' defended the Ladino language against the
Zionists Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Jew ...
, favouring
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
, and the ''
Alliance Israélite Universelle The Alliance Israélite Universelle (AIU; he, כל ישראל חברים; ) is a Paris-based international Jewish organization founded in 1860 with the purpose of safeguarding human rights for Jews around the world. It promotes the ideals of Jew ...
'', who favoured French, thus remaining in some way close to the traditional Jewish world, they represented a form of westernization without assimilation.


The Federation and the labour movement in Greece

In the aftermath of the incorporation of Thessaloniki into the Greek state during the
Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...
, Benaroya resisted the attempts to impose ethnic divisions in the city. Opposed to the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Benaroya and another Jewish socialist were exiled for two and a half years at the island of
Naxos Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best abr ...
. In contrast to most of the prominent socialists in the pre-1913 Greece who followed
Eleftherios Venizelos Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos ( el, Ελευθέριος Κυριάκου Βενιζέλος, translit=Elefthérios Kyriákou Venizélos, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Greek statesman and a prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movem ...
, Benaroya and the ''Fédération'', adhering to its internationalist ideals, mobilized for neutrality. As this happened to the same policy as pursued by King
Constantine I of Greece Constantine I ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Αʹ, ''Konstantínos I''; – 11 January 1923) was King of Greece from 18 March 1913 to 11 June 1917 and from 19 December 1920 to 27 September 1922. He was commander-in-chief of the Hellenic Army ...
and his militaristic entourage (see
National Schism The National Schism ( el, Εθνικός Διχασμός, Ethnikós Dichasmós), also sometimes called The Great Division, was a series of disagreements between Constantine I of Greece, King Constantine I and Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizel ...
), this led to the loss of support for ''Fédération'' in Macedonia. After the departure of its Slavic element, the ''Fédération'' was numerically dominated by Jews. From 1915 onwards the ''Fédération'' was buoyed by the popular reaction to the war. Both
monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...
and Venizelist policy actually assisted the emancipation and the radicalization of the left, and Benaroya, keeping equal distance from both established political groups, was quick to turn the situation to advantage. In the May 1915 general elections the ''Fédération'' sent two deputies representing Thessaloniki to the Greek Parliament, while it lost by only a few votes for a third seat. It already had strong links with internationalist groups and organizations all over Greece and abroad; from them the Socialist Workers' Party was to spring up in due time.Benbassa, Esther, and Rodrigue, Aaron: ''Historia de los judíos sefardíes. De Toledo a Salónica''. Abada, Madrid, 2004 , pp. 308-310. However, another socialist faction, headed by the future Prime Minister
Alexandros Papanastasiou Alexandros Papanastasiou ( el, Αλέξανδρος Παπαναστασίου; 8 July 1876 – 17 November 1936) was a Greek lawyer, sociologist and politician who served twice as the Prime Minister of Greece in the interwar period, being a pion ...
, who sided with Venizelos in foreign affairs, also had deputies elected in the same election. Papanastasiou and other reform-minded socialists strongly supported Venizelos' liberal brand of nationalism. Benaroya and the ''Fédération'', on the other hand, were influenced by
Austromarxists Austromarxism (also stylised as Austro-Marxism) was a Marxist theoretical current, led by Victor Adler, Otto Bauer, Karl Renner, Max Adler and Rudolf Hilferding, members of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria in Austria-Hungary a ...
such as
Victor Adler __NOTOC__ Victor Adler (24 June 1852 – 11 November 1918) was an Austrian politician, a leader of the labour movement and founder of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP). Life Adler was born in Prague, the son of a Jewish merchant, who c ...
,
Otto Bauer Otto Bauer (5 September 1881 – 4 July 1938) was one of the founders and leading thinkers of the left-socialist Austromarxists who sought a middle ground between social democracy and revolutionary socialism. He was a member of the Austrian Parli ...
and
Karl Renner Karl Renner (14 December 1870 – 31 December 1950) was an Austrian politician and jurist of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria. He is often referred to as the "Father of the Republic" because he led the first government of German-A ...
, who, sensitive to matters national, searched ways to utilize socialism as a cohesive force for the decrepit
Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...
; they elaborated the principle of personal autonomy, according to which national consciousness should be depoliticized and become a personal matter. Modern states should be based on free association and allow self-definition and self-organization of ethnicities in cultural affairs, while a mixed parliament, proportionally representing all nations of the realm, should decide on economic and political questions. The ''Fédération'' traced the origins of its federative position in Balkan authors of the Enlightenment like
Rigas Velestinlis Rigas Feraios ( el, Ρήγας Φεραίος , sometimes ''Rhegas Pheraeos''; rup, Riga Fereu) or Velestinlis (Βελεστινλής , also transliterated ''Velestinles''); 1757 – 24 June 1798), born as Antonios Rigas Velestinlis ( el ...
, and stressed that the forthcoming peace should exclude any change of borders or transfer of populations. The
Socialist Labour Party of Greece The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece. Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curren ...
(later renamed as Communist Party of Greece, KKE), created by Benaroya's initiative near the end of the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, followed closely the ''Fédérations theses on national
self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...
, and wanted to transform the Greek state into a federation of
autonomous provinces Autonomous province is a term for a type of province that has administrative autonomy.Collins Dictionar ...
that would safeguard the rights of minorities and participate in a federative Republic of the Balkan peoples.


References


Sources


H. Şükrü Ilicak (September 2002). "Jewish Socialism in Ottoman Salonica"
Southeast European and Black Sea Studies. 2 (3): 115–146. ISSN 1468-3857
Iakovos J. Aktsoglou, ''The emergence / development of social and working class movement in the city of Thessaloniki (working associations and labor unions)''
“Balkan Studies”, Thessaloniki, Vol. 38, No. 2, 1997, pp. 285–306.
Joshua Starr, ''The Socialist Federation of Saloniki'', Jewish Social Studies, Vol. 7, No. 4 (Oct. 1945), pp. 323-336

Abraham Benaroya, ''A Note on "The Socialist Federation of Saloniki"'', Jewish Social Studies, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Jan. 1949), pp. 69-72
* Nicole Cohen-Rak, ''La "Solidaridad ovradera", journal socialiste judéo-espagnol de Salonique, 1911: édition de 7 numéros, traductions, index divers, considérations linguistiques'', Vol. 1 and 2, Université de Paris III, 1986. {{DEFAULTSORT:Socialist Workers' Federation Jewish socialism Political parties in the Ottoman Empire Defunct socialist parties in Europe Ottoman Thessalonica Modern history of Thessaloniki Defunct political parties in Greece Defunct socialist parties in Greece 1909 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Jewish Greek history category:Jews and Judaism in Thessaloniki Politics of Thessaloniki