About this session

At its height, the Second International united millions of workers across the globe under the banner of socialism. From the fight for the eight-hour day to the birth of International Women’s Day, it left an enduring mark on the international workers’ movement. But its collapse in 1914, when most of its parties backed their own ruling classes in the First World War, marked a turning point in the history of socialism.

This session explores the strengths, contradictions, and ultimate failure of the Second International. We’ll examine the key debates that shaped it—reform versus revolution, imperialism, war, and the role of socialists in parliament—and ask what lessons today’s revolutionaries can draw from this experience.

Recommended Reading

Sean Larson "The Rise and Fall of the Second International"

German social democracy, 1905-1917 by Carl Schorske

War on War: Lenin, the Zimmerwald Left, and the Origins of Communist Internationalism by R. Craig Nation

Karl Kautsky and the Socialist Revolution 1880-1938 by Massimo Salvadori