French Workers' Party
Encyclopedia
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in France
France in the nineteenth century
The History of France from 1789 to 1914 extends from the French Revolution to World War I and includes:*French Revolution *French First Republic *First French Empire under Napoleon...
, created in 1880 by Jules Guesde
Jules Guesde
Jules Basile Guesde was a French socialist journalist and politician.Guesde was the inspiration for a famous quotation by Karl Marx. Shortly before Marx died in 1883, he wrote a letter to Guesde and Paul Lafargue, both of whom already claimed to represent "Marxist" principles...
and Paul Lafargue
Paul Lafargue
Paul Lafargue was a French revolutionary Marxist socialist journalist, literary critic, political writer and activist; he was Karl Marx's son-in-law, having married his second daughter Laura. His best known work is The Right to Be Lazy...
, Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
's son-in-law (famous for having written The Right to Be Lazy, which criticized labour
Workforce
The workforce is the labour pool in employment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic region like a city, country, state, etc. The term generally excludes the employers or management, and implies those involved in...
's alienation
Marx's theory of alienation
Marx's theory of alienation , as expressed in the writings of the young Karl Marx , refers to the separation of things that naturally belong together, or to put antagonism between things that are properly in harmony...
). A revolutionary party, it had as aim to abolish capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
and replace it with a socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
society.
The Parti Ouvrier was created in 1882, after the split with Paul Brousse
Paul Brousse
Paul Brousse was a French socialist, leader of the possibilistes group. He was active in the Jura Federation, a section of the International Working Men's Association , from the northwestern part of Switzerland and the Alsace. He helped edit the Bulletin de la Fédération Jurassienne, along with...
's possibilists
Possibilism (French Socialist)
The Possibilists was a trend in the French socialist movement led by Paul Brousse, Benoît Malon and others who brought about a split in the French Workers' Party in 1882...
, and became the POF in 1893. In 1902, it merged with the Blanquist
Blanquism
In left-wing discourse, Blanquism refers to a conception of revolution generally attributed to Louis Auguste Blanqui which holds that socialist revolution should be carried out by a relatively small group of highly organised and secretive conspirators. Having taken power, the revolutionaries would...
Central Revolutionary Committee
Central Revolutionary Committee
The Central Revolutionary Committee was a French Blanquist political party founded in 1881 and dissolved in 1898.The CRC was founded by Édouard Vaillant to continue the political struggle of Auguste Blanqui...
to form the Socialist Party of France
Socialist Party of France (1902)
The Socialist Party of France was founded in 1902, during a congress in Commentry, by the merger of the Marxist French Workers' Party led by Jules Guesde and the Blanquist Central Revolutionary Committee of Édouard Vaillant....
, and finally merged in 1905 with Jean Jaurès
Jean Jaurès
Jean Léon Jaurès was a French Socialist leader. Initially an Opportunist Republican, he evolved into one of the first social democrats, becoming the leader, in 1902, of the French Socialist Party, which opposed Jules Guesde's revolutionary Socialist Party of France. Both parties merged in 1905 in...
' French Socialist Party
French Socialist Party (1902)
The French Socialist Party was founded in 1902. It came from the merger of the "possibilist" Federation of the Socialist Workers of France , Jean Allemane's Revolutionary Socialist Workers' Party and some independent socialist politicians like Jean Jaurès...
to form the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO). Marcel Cachin
Marcel Cachin
Marcel Cachin was a French politician.In 1891, Cachin joined Jules Guesde French Workers' Party . In 1905, he joined the new French Section of the Workers' International and won election to the Chamber of Deputies representing the Seine in 1914...
, who would lead the split in 1920 which led to the creation of the French Communist Party
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
and edited L'Humanité
L'Humanité
L'Humanité , formerly the daily newspaper linked to the French Communist Party , was founded in 1904 by Jean Jaurès, a leader of the French Section of the Workers' International...
newspaper, became a member of the POF in 1891.
The Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Loire
Loire
Loire is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.-History:Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. This was a response to counter-Revolutionary activities in Lyon...
and Allier
Allier
Allier is a department in central France named after the river Allier.- History :Allier is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Auvergne and Bourbonnais.In 1940, the government of Marshal...
were the principal bastions of POF electoral strength.
Principal members
- Jules GuesdeJules GuesdeJules Basile Guesde was a French socialist journalist and politician.Guesde was the inspiration for a famous quotation by Karl Marx. Shortly before Marx died in 1883, he wrote a letter to Guesde and Paul Lafargue, both of whom already claimed to represent "Marxist" principles...
(1845-1922), Founding member, elected deputy. - Paul LafarguePaul LafarguePaul Lafargue was a French revolutionary Marxist socialist journalist, literary critic, political writer and activist; he was Karl Marx's son-in-law, having married his second daughter Laura. His best known work is The Right to Be Lazy...
(1842-1911), son in law of Karl MarxKarl MarxKarl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
, elected deputy. - Marcel CachinMarcel CachinMarcel Cachin was a French politician.In 1891, Cachin joined Jules Guesde French Workers' Party . In 1905, he joined the new French Section of the Workers' International and won election to the Chamber of Deputies representing the Seine in 1914...
(1869-1958), member from 1891, led the SFIO Tours split in 1920, future director of L'HumanitéL'HumanitéL'Humanité , formerly the daily newspaper linked to the French Communist Party , was founded in 1904 by Jean Jaurès, a leader of the French Section of the Workers' International...
. - Alexandre Bracke-Desrousseaux (1861-1955), professor (Greek Philosophy), future elected deputy for the SFIO.
- Alexandre Zévaès (1873-1953), elected deputy IsèreIsèreIsère is a department in the Rhône-Alpes region in the east of France named after the river Isère.- History :Isère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Dauphiné...
(1898-1910). - Bernard Cadenat (1853-1930), shemaker, elected deputy Bouches-du-RhôneBouches-du-RhôneBouches-du-Rhône is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the most populous department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its INSEE and postal code is 13.-History of the department:...
(1898-1919 et 1924-1930), Mayor of MarseilleMarseilleMarseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
(1910-1912). - Ulysse Pastre (1864-1930), researcher, elected deputy GardGardGard is a département located in southern France in the Languedoc-Roussillon region.The department is named after the River Gard, although the formerly Occitan name of the River Gard, Gardon, has been replacing the traditional French name in recent decades, even among French speakers.- History...
(1898-1910). - Jean-Baptiste Bénézech (1852-1909), printer, elected deputy HéraultHéraultHérault is a department in the south of France named after the Hérault river.-History:Hérault is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
(1898-1909), president of the typography workers union. - René Chauvin (1860-1936), barber, elected deputy Seine (1893-1898), founder of the coiffeurs workers union. In 1914, he quit the SFIO to found a small workers party promoing a return to class war.
- Hubert LagardelleHubert LagardelleHubert Lagardelle was a French syndicalist thinker, influenced by Proudhon and Georges Sorel. He gradually moved to the right and served as Minister of Labour in the Vichy regime under Pierre Laval from 1942 to 1943....
(1875-1968), revolutionary syndicalist. - Prosper Ferrero, elected deputy for Marseille in 1898-1910, mayor of ToulonToulonToulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
(1893), vice-président du conseil général (1914-1915). - Jean Bertrand : elected deputy for CorbeilCorbeil- Places :* Corbeil, Ontario, Canada* Corbeil-Essonnes, Essonne, France, a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris* The Corbeil Cathedral* Corbeil, Marne, France, a commune in north-eastern France...
- Other elected deputies : Philippe Krauss, Bernard, Dufour, etc.
- Pierre Melin(1863-1929) Lutheran, vice-président of Prud'hommes de Valenciennes, elected deputy.
- Georges Vacher de LapougeGeorges Vacher de LapougeGeorges Vacher de Lapouge was a French anthropologist and a theoretician of eugenics and racialism.- Biography :...
(1854-1936) antisemitic antropologist et eugenist, Procureur de la République and professor.
French
- WILLARD C., Le Mouvement socialiste en France, 1893-1905. Les guesdistes, Ed. sociales, 1965.
- VERLHAC J., La formation de l’unité socialiste (1898-1905), L’Harmattan, 1997 (réed. d'un mémoire paru en 1947).
See also
- French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) in which the party merged in 1905
- French Third RepublicFrench Third RepublicThe French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
- France in the nineteenth centuryFrance in the nineteenth centuryThe History of France from 1789 to 1914 extends from the French Revolution to World War I and includes:*French Revolution *French First Republic *First French Empire under Napoleon...
- SocialismSocialismSocialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
and MarxismMarxismMarxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th... - History of the Left in FranceHistory of the Left in FranceThe Left in France at the beginning of the 20th century was represented by two main political parties, the Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party and the French Section of the Workers' International , created in 1905 as a merger of various Marxist parties...
External links
- Sur le POF à Reims, un mémoire de maîtrise.
- Programme du Parti ouvrier français (1880)
- Collection of Guesde's writings from marxists.org
- Collection of Paul Lafargue's writings from marxists.org
- Socialist Party of France. 1871-1905 : historique: La marche à l’Unité Les Congrès ouvriers et socialistes (1876-1905), 17 March 2005.