internationalist–defencist schism
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Internationalist and defencist were the broad opposing camps in the international socialist movement during and shortly after 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 ...
. Prior to 1914, anti-militarism had been an article of faith among most European socialist parties. Leaders of 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 ...
had even suggested that socialist workers might foil a declaration of war by means of a general strike. However, when war broke out in August 1914, the leaders of most European socialist parties rallied to the support of their respective countries, while a minority continued to oppose the war. Those in favour of their country's war efforts were variously called 'social patriots' or 'defencists'. Those opposed to the war called themselves 'Internationalists' and were often called ' defeatists' by their opponents.


Division

The 'defencist' camp included many venerable figures of European socialism:
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
Édouard Vaillant Marie Édouard Vaillant (26 January 1840 – 18 December 1915) was a French politician. Born in Vierzon, Cher, son of a lawyer, Édouard Vaillant studied engineering at the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, graduating in 1862, and then law ...
in France,
Gustav Noske Gustav Noske (9 July 1868 – 30 November 1946) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He served as the first Minister of Defence (''Reichswehrminister'') of the Weimar Republic between 1919 and 1920. Noske has been a cont ...
and
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 ...
in Germany,
Georgi Plekhanov Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov (; rus, Гео́ргий Валенти́нович Плеха́нов, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj vəlʲɪnˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ plʲɪˈxanəf, a=Ru-Georgi Plekhanov-JermyRei.ogg; – 30 May 1918) was a Russian revoluti ...
and Ekaterina Breshkovskaia among the Russians. Leaders of the anti-war 'Internationalist' camp included
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 demo ...
(who was murdered for his anti-war stance in 1914),
Karl Liebknecht Karl Paul August Friedrich Liebknecht (; 13 August 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a German socialist and anti-militarist. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) beginning in 1900, he was one of its deputies in the Reichstag from ...
and
Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg (; ; pl, Róża Luksemburg or ; 5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Polish and naturalised-German revolutionary socialist, Marxist philosopher and anti-war activist. Successively, she was a member of the Proletariat party, ...
, and later also
Karl Kautsky Karl Johann Kautsky (; ; 16 October 1854 – 17 October 1938) was a Czech-Austrian philosopher, journalist, and Marxist theorist. Kautsky was one of the most authoritative promulgators of orthodox Marxism after the death of Friedrich Engels in ...
and
Eduard Bernstein Eduard Bernstein (; 6 January 1850 – 18 December 1932) was a German social democratic Marxist theorist and politician. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Bernstein had held close association to Karl Marx and Friedric ...
, in Germany, Iulii Martov,
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
,
Viktor Chernov Viktor Mikhailovich Chernov (russian: Ви́ктор Миха́йлович Черно́в; December 7, 1873 – April 15, 1952) was a Russian revolutionary and one of the founders of the Russian Socialist-Revolutionary Party. He was the primar ...
and
Mark Natanson Mark Andreyevich Natanson (russian: Марк Андре́евич Натансо́н; party name: Bobrov) (25 December 1850 ( N.S. 6 January 1851) – 29 July 1919) was a Russian revolutionary who was one of the founders of the Circle of Tchaikov ...
among the Russians. The anti-war socialists held two international conferences at
Zimmerwald Zimmerwald was an independent municipality in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland until 31 December 2003. It is located on a hill in the proximity of the city of Bern in the Bernese Mittelland. On 1 January 2004 Zimmerwald united with the municipality ...
and
Kienthal Reichenbach im Kandertal is a village and municipality in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Until 1957 it was known as Reichenbach bei Frutigen. Besides the village of Reichenbach, the mun ...
in Switzerland in 1915 and 1916. The defencist–internationalist schism did not necessarily coincide with earlier, pre-existing splits, such as that between reformists and revolutionaries, Revisionists and orthodox Marxists,
Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
and
Mensheviks The Mensheviks (russian: меньшевики́, from меньшинство 'minority') were one of the three dominant factions in the Russian socialist movement, the others being the Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. The factions eme ...
, etc. For example, Guesde and Vaillant in France had belonged to the intransigent, revolutionary left of the
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 ...
, and in 1914, anti-war sentiment was strongest on the far left. Yet both of these veterans were ardent supporters of the French war effort, while the old reformist leader Jaurès opposed the war. Likewise, Kautsky and Bernstein had been on opposite sides during the Revisionism controversy of the 1890s, Kautsky defending orthodox Marxism and Bernstein being the principal exponent of Revisionism; they both joined the anti-war faction. Meanwhile, the left wing Marxists
Paul Lensch Paul Lensch (31 March 1873 in Potsdam, Province of Brandenburg – 18 November 1926 in Berlin) was a war journalist, editor, author of several books and politician in the SPD. From 1912, Lensch was a member of the German Reichstag for the SPD, a ...
,
Heinrich Cunow Heinrich Cunow (11 April 1862, in Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Schwerin – 20 August 1936) was a German Social Democratic Party politician and a Marxist theorist. Cunow was originally against the First World War in 1914 but he changed his viewpoint. ...
and
Konrad Haenisch Konrad Haenisch (13 March 1876 – 28 April 1925) was a German Social Democratic Party politician and part of "the radical Marxist Left" of German politics. He was a friend and follower (''Parvulus'' in his own words) of Alexander Parvus. Life ...
went on to form the
Lensch-Cunow-Haenisch group The Lensch-Cunow-Haenisch group was a political faction within the Social Democratic Party of Germany founded in 1915 by anti-revisionist Marxists who despite previously opposing participation in the First World War now supported it. Its name comes ...
, which argued that the First World War was a revolutionary war against the liberal capitalism of the
Triple Entente The Triple Entente (from French '' entente'' meaning "friendship, understanding, agreement") describes the informal understanding between the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as well a ...
. 'Defencism' and 'Internationalism' were broad categories; within each camp, there were further differences and divisions. Out-and-out 'Social Patriots' who supported their countries' war efforts unconditionally, including territorial ambitions, were fairly rare, though they included some of the most prominent representatives of the pre-war socialist movement: people like
Henry Hyndman Henry Mayers Hyndman (; 7 March 1842 – 20 November 1921) was an English writer, politician and socialist. Originally a conservative, he was converted to socialism by Karl Marx's ''Communist Manifesto'' and launched Britain's first left-wing p ...
, Plekhanov and Guesde. More common was an attitude of conditional support for the war, approving a 'defensive' war but rejecting annexations and indemnities. A special case arose in Russia in 1917: After the
February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...
, several
Mensheviks The Mensheviks (russian: меньшевики́, from меньшинство 'minority') were one of the three dominant factions in the Russian socialist movement, the others being the Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. The factions eme ...
and
Socialist-Revolutionaries The Socialist Revolutionary Party, or the Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries (the SRs, , or Esers, russian: эсеры, translit=esery, label=none; russian: Партия социалистов-революционеров, ), was a major politi ...
(SRs) who had previously been Internationalists and Zimmerwaldists now favoured ' revolutionary defencism' – continued war effort in defence of the revolution. This was the case with Mensheviks like
Fedor Dan Fyodor Ilyich Dan (surname at birth: Gurvich) (died 22 January 1947) was a political activist and journalist who helped found the Menshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. Background Fyodor Dan was born to a Jewish family ...
and
Irakli Tsereteli Irakli Tsereteli, ' russian: link=no, Ира́клий Гео́ргиевич Церете́ли, ' ( – 20 May 1959) was a Georgian politician and a leading spokesman of the Social Democratic Party of Georgia and later Russian Social Democrati ...
, SRs like
Avram Gots Abram Rafailovich Gots (Russian: Абра́м Рафаи́лович Гоц; 1882 – 4 August 1940) was a Russian Socialist-Revolutionary leader, active in the Revolutions of 1905 and 1917. Biography Early years Abram Gots came from a wealth ...
and
Nikolai Avksentiev Nikolai Dimitrovich Avksentyev (russian: Николай Дмитриевич Авксентьев; 28 November 1878, Penza – 24 March 1943, New York City) was a leading member of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party (PSR). He was one of the 'Heid ...
and
Trudoviks The Trudoviks (russian: Трудова́я гру́ппа, translit=Trudovaya gruppa, lit=Labour Group) were a social-democratic political party of Russia in early 20th century. History The Trudoviks were a breakaway of the Socialist Revolut ...
like
Alexander Kerensky Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky, ; Reforms of Russian orthography, original spelling: ( – 11 June 1970) was a Russian lawyer and revolutionary who led the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic for three months ...
. In 1917 some Bolsheviks took also this position, before Lenin returned to Russia and successfully opposed this view. On the Internationalist side, too, there were divisions. Most Internationalists favoured passive resistance to the war and called for an international peace agreement, 'without annexations or indemnities'. Jaurès, Kautsky, Bernstein, Martov and Chernov belonged to this camp; so, at first, did the Bolshevik
Lev Kamenev Lev Borisovich Kamenev. (''né'' Rozenfeld; – 25 August 1936) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a prominent Soviet politician. Born in Moscow to parents who were both involved in revolutionary politics, Kamenev attended Imperial Moscow Uni ...
. A minority led by Lenin advocated '
revolutionary defeatism Revolutionary defeatism is a concept made most prominent by Vladimir Lenin in World War I. It is based on the Marxist idea of class struggle. Arguing that the proletariat could not win or gain in a capitalist war, Lenin declared its true enemy is ...
': instead of seeking a peace agreement that would restore the ''status quo ante'', socialists should seek to convert the 'imperialist war' into a revolutionary 'civil war', with each socialist party working for the defeat of its own country.


Effects by country

The schism caused splits in many European socialist parties. In France, the split between socialists and communists did not occur until 1920. In Germany, the Independent Social-Democrats (USPD) formally separated from the majority
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 ...
(SPD) in 1917, and the more radical
Spartacist League The Spartacus League (German: ''Spartakusbund'') was a Marxist revolutionary movement organized in Germany during World War I. It was founded in August 1914 as the "International Group" by Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht, Clara Zetkin, and other ...
formed the nucleus of the post-war
German Communist Party The German Communist Party (german: Deutsche Kommunistische Partei, ) is a communist party in Germany. The DKP supports left positions and was an observer member of the European Left. At the end of February 2016 it left the European party. His ...
(KPD). Italy was a special case: whereas, in most European socialist parties, Defencists predominated (at least at the beginning of the war), in Italy, the majority of the members and most of the leaders of the
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 ...
, from reformists to radicals, were against Italy's entry into the war, while a minority, led by the former Maximalist and future
fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
dictator
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
, campaigned for Italian intervention and was expelled from the party for it. Only the Serbian socialists remained fairly uniformly anti-war.


Russia

Divisions in Russia were especially complicated and affected party alignments during the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
. The Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries were badly divided. A small minority on the right took an out-and-out Social Patriotic stance, even supporting territorial expansion as a war aim. Plekhanov and the 'Grandmother of the Revolution, Breshkovskaia, belonged to this group. Slightly more moderate were Mensheviks like
Aleksandr Potresov Alexander Nikolayevich Potresov (, ''Aleksándr Nikolájevič Potrésov'') (September 13, 1869 – July 11, 1934) was a Russian social democratic politician and one of the leaders of the Menshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour P ...
and SRs like
Vadim Rudnev Vadim Viktorovich Rudnev (russian: Вадим Викторович Руднев) (1874 – 19 November 1940) was a Russian politician and editor. On 11 July 1917, Moscow City Duma elected him Moscow's Gorodskoy Golova (Московский го ...
. The Menshevik and SR majority, including Dan, Tsereteli, Abramovich,
Liber In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Liber ( , ; "the free one"), also known as Liber Pater ("the free Father"), was a god of viticulture and wine, male fertility and freedom. He was a patron deity of Rome's plebeians and was part of the ...
, Gots, Avksentiev, Zenzinov and so on, were 'Revolutionary Defencists'; they had been Zimmerwaldists and opponents of the war until February 1917 but now favoured limited defensive war. Some later returned to the Internationalist camp (such as Dan and Abramovich). The Revolutionary Defencists dominated the soviets and the Provisional Government until the
October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...
of 1917. The Menshevik/SR Revolutionary Defencists in the soviet supported the Provisional Government, but with increasing misgivings. Kerensky had been one of them, a Zimmerwaldist until 1917, then a Revolutionary Defencist; however, as, initially, the only socialist in the Provisional Government, he had adopted a more and more unqualified stance in support of the war, in line with his liberal colleagues. To the left of the revolutionary defencists stood Internationalists like Chernov, who collaborated with the soviet leaders and even joined the Provisional Government, although he opposed both a continuation of the war and a coalition with the liberals. More principled in his opposition to the war was the Menshevik Internationalist leader Martov, who, however, was in a minority in his party until the Bolsheviks had taken power. The
Mezhraiontsy The Mezhraiontsy ( rus, межрайонцы, p=mʲɪʐrɐˈjɵnt͡sɨ), usually translated as the "Interdistrictites,"''Mezhraionka'' and ''Mezhraiontsy'' are derived from the Russian ''"mezh-"'' (meaning "inter-" or "between'") + ''"raion"'' (me ...
group, headed by
Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
, was firmly internationalist but not necessarily revolutionary defeatist; in 1918, Trotsky resigned his ministry rather than sign the harsh peace agreement of Brest-Litovsk proposed by the Germans. The
Left Socialist-Revolutionaries The Party of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries (russian: Партия левых социалистов-революционеров-интернационалистов) was a revolutionary socialist political party formed during the Russian Revol ...
, who counted the veteran
Mark Natanson Mark Andreyevich Natanson (russian: Марк Андре́евич Натансо́н; party name: Bobrov) (25 December 1850 ( N.S. 6 January 1851) – 29 July 1919) was a Russian revolutionary who was one of the founders of the Circle of Tchaikov ...
and many young militants among their number, were also firmly Internationalist but broke their short-lived coalition with the Bolsheviks when the latter signed the
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (also known as the Treaty of Brest in Russia) was a separate peace, separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Russian SFSR, Russia and the Central Powers (German Empire, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Kingdom of ...
. The Bolsheviks were fairly united in opposing the war, but not all Bolsheviks were comfortable with Lenin's Revolutionary Defeatism. Before Lenin's return to Russia,
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
had even briefly adopted a Revolutionary Defencist position. Divisions over the war vitiated the attempts occasionally made, both before and after the October Revolution, to set up an all-socialist government, from the Bolsheviks to the
Popular Socialists The Popular Socialist Party () emerged in Russia in the early twentieth century. History The roots of the Popular Socialist Party (NSP) lay in the 'Legal Populist' movement of the 1890s, and its founders looked upon N.K. Mikhailovsky and Alexa ...
.


Post-war impact

After World War I was over, divisions over the war could not be healed. Many internationalists wanted nothing to do with the Defencist leaders of the old
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 ...
. Some affiliated with Lenin's communist
Third International The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by a ...
. A minority, who opposed both communism and 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 ...
leadership, formed the
International Working Union of Socialist Parties The International Working Union of Socialist Parties (IWUSP; also known as the 2½ International or the Vienna International; german: Internationale Arbeitsgemeinschaft Sozialistischer Parteien, IASP) was a political international for the co-opera ...
, based in Vienna and known as the 'Second-and-a-Half International'. This included many former Internationalists, German Independent Social-Democrats like
Rudolf Hilferding Rudolf Hilferding (10 August 1877 – 11 February 1941) was an Austrian-born Marxism, Marxist economist, Socialism, socialist theorist,International Institute of Social History, ''Rodolf Hilferding Papers''. http://www.iisg.nl/archives/en/files ...
, Austro-Marxists like Max and Friedrich Adler, Mensheviks like Dan, centre-left SRs like Chernov and the Left SRs. Eventually this third camp dissolved; some rejoined the majority socialist parties of their countries, others the communists. The split between Defencists and Internationalists continued to fester, however, until the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
was on the horizon. A belated echo of the split was the division among French socialists in the late 1930s over what attitude to take if Hitler invaded Poland. Most French socialists were firmly anti-fascist; though none contemplated the prospect of another war with Germany with joy, they were prepared to take that step if Germany attacked Poland. A minority, however, wanted to maintain peace at any cost. Some were motivated by unconditional pacifism, others by fascist sympathies which subsequently manifested themselves, as in the case of the ex-socialist and future premier of the Vichy régime,
Pierre Laval Pierre Jean Marie Laval (; 28 June 1883 – 15 October 1945) was a French politician. During the Third Republic, he served as Prime Minister of France from 27 January 1931 to 20 February 1932 and 7 June 1935 to 24 January 1936. He again occu ...
.


See also

*
Social chauvinism Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...
* ''
Manifesto of the Sixteen The ''Manifesto of the Sixteen'' (french: Manifeste des seize), or ''Proclamation of the Sixteen'', was a document drafted in 1916 by eminent anarchists Peter Kropotkin and Jean Grave which advocated an Allied victory over Germany and the Cen ...
'', a defencist declaration that split the international anarchist movement


Sources and links

The Defencist/Internationalist split over World War I is discussed in virtually all histories of socialism, communism, anarchism, particular socialist parties or the biographies of socialist personalities then living. * Lenin, V.I., ''The Tasks of the Proletariat in Our Revolution'' (1917) contains a critique of Revolutionary Defencism, online at: http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/tasks/ch05.htm. * Lenin, V.I., ''The Revolution of 1917: From the March Revolution to the July Days.'' New York, 1929. * Gorter, H., ''Der Imperialismus, der Weltkrieg, und die Sozialdemokratie.'' Amsterdam, 1915. * Braunthal, J., ''Geschichte der Internationale.'' Dietz, 1963. * Cole, G.D.H., ''Communism and Social Democracy, 1914–1931.'' Two parts. London, 1958. *
The Second International
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Internationalist-defencist schism Political terminology History of socialism World War I Internationalism