The Social Democratic Workers' Party of Romania (, PSDMR), established in 1893, was the first modern

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

political party in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. A

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

organization, the PSDMR was part of the

Second International The Second International, also called the Socialist International, was a political international of Labour movement, socialist and labour parties and Trade union, trade unions which existed from 1889 to 1916. It included representatives from mo ...

and sent its representatives to the first five congresses of that organization. Never a strong organization, the RSDWP was further weakened following an organizational split in February 1900. In February 1910 the former members of PSDMR joined a new organization, the Romanian Social Democratic Party (PSDR).

Organizational history

Background

The history of socialism in Romania begins in 1834, when an aristocrat named Teodor Diamant (1810–1841) established a utopian socialist

colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

based on the ideas of French writer

Charles Fourier François Marie Charles Fourier (; ; 7 April 1772 – 10 October 1837) was a French philosopher, an influential early socialist thinker, and one of the founders of utopian socialism. Some of his views, held to be radical in his lifetime, have be ...

in the town of Scăieni, located north of

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

.James C. Docherty, ''Historical Dictionary of Socialism.'' Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1997; pp. 202-204. This experiment in agricultural

communitarianism Communitarianism is a philosophy that emphasizes the connection between the individual and the community. Its overriding philosophy is based on the belief that a person's social identity and personality are largely molded by community relation ...

was terminated in 1836. During the decade of the 1870s, socialist ideas again began to gain attention in Romania, particularly among certain university students in

Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea (born Solomon Katz; 21 May 1855 – 7 May 1920) was a Romanian Marxist theorist, politician, sociologist, literary critic, and journalist. He was also an entrepreneur in the city of Ploiești. Constantin Dobroge ...

(1855–1920) is the best remembered among these early advocates of Marxist ideas in Romania.

Establishment

In 1893 the PSDMR was established in an effort to unite various radical individuals in a unitary political organization. The PSDMR was particularly strong in the city of Bucharest and it grew to about 6,000 members by 1897.

Split

In February 1900 the PSDMR split between a reformist wing that sought to unite all pro-democracy forces, socialist and non-socialist, in a single political party and a radical wing that sought to continue the political fight not just for political democracy but also for the cause of socialist economy. The reform wing was absorbed into the ranks of the National Liberal Party and continued their political efforts in that organization. After about five years of a weak underground existence, the radical wing of the PSDMR reemerged as the Socialist Union of Romania ''(Uniunea Socialistă din România),'' working closely with the emerging

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

movement in Bucharest.

New organization

In February 1910 the Socialist Union of Romania determined to establish a new national political organization known as the Romanian Social Democratic Party (PSDR) and dissolved itself to join the ranks of that new organization.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romanian Social Democratic Workers' Party 1893 establishments in Romania 1900 disestablishments in Romania Defunct socialist parties in Romania Marxist parties Political parties disestablished in 1900 Political parties established in 1893 Political parties in the Kingdom of Romania