The Vienna Socialist Conference of 1915 gathered representatives from the Socialist parties of Germany, Austria and Hungary to the only meeting of the pro-war socialist parties of the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

during

World War I 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 ...

. Seen by some as a response of answer to the first conference of pro-

Entente Entente, meaning a diplomatic "understanding", may refer to a number of agreements: History * Entente (alliance), a type of treaty or military alliance where the signatories promise to consult each other or to cooperate with each other in case o ...

socialists that had gathered in London that February, the Vienna Conference met on April 12–13, 1915. It was attended by

Friedrich Ebert Friedrich Ebert (; 4 February 187128 February 1925) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the first President of Germany (1919–1945), president of Germany from 1919 until his death in office in 1925. Eber ...

Hugo Haase Hugo Haase (29 September 1863 – 7 November 1919) was a German socialist politician, jurist and pacifist. With Friedrich Ebert, he co-chaired of the Council of the People's Deputies after the German Revolution of 1918–19. Early life Hugo Haa ...

Luise Zietz Luise Catharina Amalie Zietz (née: Körner) (1865–1922) was a German socialist and feminist. She was the first woman to occupy a leading party post in Germany. She also helped bring the socialist women's movement into the Social Democratic Pa ...

, Hermann Molkenbuhr and Hermann Müller representing the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

;

Ernő Garami Ernő Garami (born as Ernő Grünbaum, 13 December 1876 – 28 May 1935) was a Hungary, Hungarian mechanic who became a social democracy, social democratic politician and editor, who served as Minister of Justice in 1919. References Magyar Életr ...

and

Zsigmond Kunfi Zsigmond Kunfi (born as Zsigmond Kohn; 28 April 1879 – 18 November 1929) was a Hungarian politician, literary historian, journalist and translator, who served as Minister without portfolio of Croatian Affairs and as Minister of Labour and We ...

for the

Hungarian Social Democratic Party The Social Democratic Party of Hungary ( hu, Magyarországi Szociáldemokrata Párt, MSZDP) is a social democratic political party in Hungary. Historically, the party was dissolved during the occupation of Hungary by Nazi Germany (1944–1945) ...

and an unknown number of representatives of the

Social Democratic Workers Party of German 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 ...

. The conference passed a resolution declaring that the predictions of the socialist movement made at its international congresses had come true—that the armaments race would lead to a world-wide catastrophe. They proclaimed that the proletariat suffers most from the war, and it was only natural that people in the belligerent as well as the neutral countries would be longing for peace and that the Social Democratic parties have always, and still do, strive for world peace and the brotherhood of peoples. However, the resolution also states that peoples were fighting to defend their independence and "that only such a peace as would not humiliate any of the peoples is possible, for only such a peace could establish a lasting co-operation among all civilized peoples. The resolution stated four specific conditions that would be necessary for peace: *the establishment of international courts with

compulsory arbitration Compulsion may refer to: * Compulsive behavior, a psychological condition in which a person does a behavior compulsively, having an overwhelming feeling that they must do so. * Obsessive–compulsive disorder, a mental disorder characterized by i ...

in international conflicts *subjection of all international treaties to parliamentary, democratic control *limitation of armaments with disarmament as the final aim *national self-determination The resolution concluded by noting that the fact that Social Democratic parties defended their countries should not be an obstacle to maintaining international contact with other parties, or result in the suspension of activities of their international institutions.Gankin and Fisher p.285

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vienna Socialist Conference Of 1915 History of socialism Second International World War I conferences World War I socialist conferences 1915 conferences 1915 in Austria 1910s in Vienna April 1915 events

See also

References