Second International

The Second International, also called the Socialist International, was a political international of socialist and labour parties and trade unions which existed from 1889 to 1916. It included representatives from most of Europe's major working-class organizations, though was dominated by the Social Democratic Party of Germany. The international continued the work of the First International, which had dissolved in 1876. It was ideologically dominated by Marxism, although other viewpoints were represented, notably anarchism before the anarchists were expelled in 1896. Leading theorists within the Second International included Friedrich Engels, Karl Kautsky, and Georgi Plekhanov, as well as Vladimir Lenin and Rosa Luxemburg.

The Second International was primarily concerned with developing and coordinating strategy and tactics, and with establishing common policies for its member parties. Congress meetings were held every two to four years, and an International Socialist Bureau administered and coordinated its affairs. On the issue of socialist cooperation with bourgeois governments, the international deemed it permissible as a temporary expedient. The question of reform or revolution to achieve socialism resolved against revisionist thinker Eduard Bernstein, who argued for a gradualist and electoralist strategy. On colonialism, the international deemed that it was never a progressive force. The international's position on war was to prevent it, and if it broke out to exploit it to bring about the collapse of capitalism. However, the outbreak of World War I in 1914 saw the international split into pro-Allied, pro-Central Powers, and antimilitarist factions and cease to function by 1916. After the war, the remaining factions of the international went on to found the Communist International, International Working Union of Socialist Parties, and Labour and Socialist International.