Labour and Socialist International

Founding

The Labour and Socialist International (LSI) was an international organization of socialist and labour parties, created at Hamburg in 1923 by the merger of the Berne International (the reconstituted Second International) and the Vienna International (the International Working Union of Socialist Parties). The Hamburg congress of 21 May 1923 brought together some 620 delegates representing 41 parties in 30 countries, ranging from the left wing of the French SFIO and the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) to moderate reformists of the British Labour Party. Eighty delegates of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) dominated the gathering, which included Karl Kautsky, Eduard Bernstein, Rudolf Hilferding, Arthur Henderson, Friedrich Adler, Otto Bauer and Emile Vandervelde.

The founding congress adopted no preconditions for admission and no binding policy program. The Hamburg congress issued a manifesto stating that the new International "must grow naturally from the process through which Socialist parties get adapted to one another," and total agreement on fundamental principles was not expected "at the moment of its birth."

Organization

The LSI remained a federation of fully independent and autonomous parties. Member parties were free under the organization's statutes to determine their own internal policies and programs. Supreme authority lay with the international congress, which could be convened at any time on the demand of ten or more affiliated parties. Between congresses, governance was conducted by an executive committee elected by the member parties, which had the power to elect its own chair and officers and to determine the location of the central office. The first executive committee, elected by the 1923 congress, chose Arthur Henderson of the British Labour Party as chairman and Harry Gosling as treasurer, with London as the seat of the committee. The headquarters later moved to Zurich and then to Brussels.

Rivalry with the Communist International

The LSI competed with the Communist International (Comintern) over the leadership of the international socialist and labour movement. Unlike the Comintern, however, it maintained no direct control over the actions of its sections. The Comintern often referred to the LSI as the "Second International," and the LSI functioned as a continuation of the Second International. The Social Democratic Party of Germany was the dominant party within the LSI.

In 1922 the left wing of the social-democratic movement sought a "union of the whole proletariat," but the initiative ended when the Comintern's Fourth World Congress decisively rejected calls for a broad and inclusive international body. The Vienna and London Internationals then began preparing a joint international body from January 1923.

Response to Nazism

The rise of Nazism in Germany increased pressure on the LSI and the Comintern to cooperate. On 19 February 1933 the LSI Bureau called for joint action by the SPD and the Communist Party of Germany against Hitler's regime; the Comintern replied that it was not convinced of the sincerity of the declaration. The Comintern nevertheless soon called on its national sections to form united fronts with social-democratic parties locally, while the LSI did not accept local united fronts with the Communist parties. As the Comintern adopted a more conciliatory tone, the LSI's resistance to such united fronts at the national level softened.

A north-south cleavage emerged within the LSI: the Mediterranean parties built fronts with the Communists, while the British and Scandinavian parties rejected cooperation with them. With the German party in disarray, the British and Scandinavians became more influential, and the space for socialist-Communist cooperation decreased. On 25 September 1934 the Comintern Executive issued a call for "peace negotiations" between the two internationals, but the LSI rejected the offer.

After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, the LSI and the International Federation of Trade Unions launched an "Aid for Spain" campaign, channelled through the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT).

Colonial question

The LSI had no uniform position on the colonial question. Its largest party, the British Labour Party, supported reform of colonial administration rather than opposing colonialism; the French SFIO position was unclear or divided; by contrast, the Austrian and Scandinavian parties were more anti-colonial. On the Rif War, the second LSI congress, held at Marseille on 22-27 August 1925, adopted a resolution calling for support of the independence of the Rif and urging the League of Nations to accept the Rif Republic as a member.

Many issues were divisive, including the China question. The participation of the British Independent Labour Party in the League against Imperialism was another notable point of contention. Formed at the behest of the Comintern, the League sought the membership and support of certain European LSI parties as well as anti-colonial parties in the colonised world. The majority of the LSI leadership regarded it as an instrument of a Comintern front organization, and the LSI congress asked the ILP to break its ties with it.

Dissolution

With the outbreak of the Second World War the LSI ceased operating in 1940. The Socialist International, founded at Frankfurt in July 1951, was established as its successor, and the LSI is regarded as its direct forerunner. Accounts differ on the exact date of dissolution, with some sources stating that it dissolved in Brussels in April 1940; this article confines itself to the year in which it ceased operating.