Jules Guesde
Jules Guesde
Veteran founder of French Marxist socialism who entered the Union sacrée government in 1914
After war began in 1914, Guesde left the socialist antiwar camp and entered the French government as minister without portfolio. At Stuttgart in 1907 he had rejected special antiwar measures apart from the socialist struggle; wartime office brought that position into government practice.
A journalist exiled for supporting the Paris Commune, he drafted the programme of the French Workers’ Party with Marx in 1880 and became the standard-bearer of French Marxism. He long opposed the reformist Jaurès and took part in founding the unified Socialist Party (SFIO) in 1905. At Stuttgart in 1907 he argued that class struggle would abolish war and that no special anti-war action was needed. In August 1914, seeing France itself in danger, he joined the Union sacrée government as a minister without portfolio and stayed until 1916.
Career timeline
- 1880Drafted the French Workers’ Party programme with Karl Marx; the party adopted it at its founding congress in November.
- 1907At the Second International’s Stuttgart Congress, presented the French minority’s resolution rejecting special antiwar measures apart from the general socialist struggle.
- 1914–1916Entered the French government as minister without portfolio after war broke out and served until 1916.