Socialist Parties And Trade Unions: The First Half Of The 19th Century

During the first half of the 19th century, socialist parties and trade unions were formed by workers of the middle class. As the trade unions functioned as mutual aid societies, they provided assistance to the unemployed. The working class worked under harsh conditions and the working and living conditions of these industrial workers had to be changed. The most important socialist party was formed in Germany in 1975 by two Marxist leaders, by the names of Wilhelm Liebknecht and August Bebel, which was the German Social Democratic Party (SPD). The SPD considered itself to be a mass political party that would be involved in the elections for the Reichstag (German parliament). Once the SPD was in the German parliament, there main focus was to improve the working conditions of the industrial workers. As the parliament tried to destroy it, the SPD continued to grow, …show more content…
The Second International was created by various socialist party leaders that was organized as a loose association of national groups. Among the Second International where two major problems that needed to be addressed, which were revisionism and nationalism. As some Marxists believed in pure Marxism, which accepted the collapse of capitalism. However, a severe challenge arose in the form of revisionism. One of the prominent figures of the SPD, Eduard Bernstein, challenged several of Marx’s ideas in his book entitled, Evolutionary Socialism. He made the argument that capitalism had not fallen apart but was expanding. The expansion of the working class brought about a higher standard of living, which allowed individuals the right to vote. Eventually, the Second International organization along with French and German socialist leaders condemned evolutionary socialism (revisionism) as heresy and