Kienthal Conference
Encyclopedia
The Kienthal Conference was held from April 24 to 30, 1916. Like its 1915 predecessor in Zimmerwald
, it was an international conference of socialists
who opposed the First World War
.
was putting up against the Zimmerwald movement, the opposition of the bourgeois nationalists and the "gradually maturing plans for peace".
A number of delegates named by groups in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, Sweden, Norway and by the General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland and Russia were unable to attend. Additionally, the Revolutionary Socialist League
of the Netherlands had transferred its mandate to Radek and the Social-Democracy of the Lettish Territory had transferred its mandate to Zinoviev. A Lithuanian group around the magazine Social-Democratas in London tried to affiliate with the Zimmerwald Left
and authorized Jan Berzin to sign a draft manifesto of left wing delegates for them, but he had already transferred his mandate to Zinoviev and their vote was "lost". A member of the Independent Labour Party
was present as a "guest".
from April 24 to 30, 1916. Portuguese delegate Edmondo Peluso gave a very detailed account:
The conference began with a speech by Robert Grimm, chairman of the ISC, on the work of the Commission. In order to save time it was decided that oral reports would only be heard by delegates of Germany and France. Hoffman gave the first report, representing Germany. Brizons began his speech with the statement "Comrades, though I am an internationalist, I am still a Frenchman...I will note utter one word, nor will I make any gesture which might injure France, France, the land of the Revolution" He then turned to Hoffman and told him to inform Kaiser Wilhelm that France would gladly exchange Madagascar
for the return of Alsace-Lorraine
. Brizons speech lasted several hours, was interrupted by him drinking coffee
and eating and included at least two attempts to physically assault
him. declared that he would vote against all war credits - which brought forth a great applause - and then added "but only one hostile troops leave France" which resulted in the second aforementioned assault attempts. He then offered a text of a draft manifesto that included, among other things, all of the criticism which the were being made against him and the French opportunists. None of the controversy around Brizons speech was reported in the official proceedings of the conference, but recorded in the memoirs of Guilbeaux.
A commission was elected to try to settle the issue. The commission consisted of Lazzari, Naine, Hoffman, Axelrod, Lenin, Warski and an unnamed "German of the Internationale group. Two drafts came out of this commission. The majority endorsed by Lazzari, Naine, Hoffman and Axelrod called for the meeting of the ISB so that a new Executive Committee could be elected from socialist of the neutral countries; that all sections of the International expel members who entered into cabinets of belligerent countries; that all parliamentary representatives of section of the International vote against war credits; civil peace be broken and class struggle resumed; and all sections should use "all means" to hasten a peace without annexations or indemnities on the basis of national self determination.
After debate in the conference at vote was taken: 10 votes for the majority report of the commission; 12 for the minority report of the Lefts; a new draft introduced by Lapinski, 15; another draft by Hoffman favoring calling the Bureau, 2; a draft by Serrati "approximately the same as the majority report" 10; and a draft by Zinoviev, 19. After this poll the resolutions were handed back to the commission, which now included Zinoviev and Nobs. This commission hammered out a compromise based on Lapinkis draft. Zinoviev called it the "Lapinski-Zinoviev-Modigliani draft...with amendments" and noted that the Italians gave an ultimatum reserving individual parties the right to call for a session of the Bureau. Though the official report claimed that the vote in favor of this resolution was unanimous, Zinoviev claimed in his report that Axelrod abstained and Dugoni voted against.
The final document condemned the Executive Committee of the ISB for not carrying out the resolutions of past Socialist Congresses not calling a session of the Bureau despite demands for it from various parties; having the Chairman of the ISB (Emile Vandervelde
) serve in a belligerent cabinet, thus making the ISB a tool of an "imperialist coalition"; its amicable relations with "social patriotic" parties and opposition to the Zimmerwald movement. The resolution did note, however, that under the pressure of the "growing indignation of the masses" the Executive Committee was examining the possibility of holding a session of the ISB. A session called under these circumstances, however, might be made to serve the interest of either or both imperialist coalition. Therefore the resolution demanded the Zimmerwald parties to "watch carefully all the activities of the Executive Committee of the International Socialist Bureau". The resolution further stated that the International could recover its political power only if it liberated itself from imperialist and chauvinist influences and resumed class struggle and mass action. If a plenum of the ISB should be called those Zimmerwaldist parties participating had to use the opportunity to expose the real intentions of the social patriots, while reaffirming the fundamental principles of the International. Two annexes provided for a meeting of the Enlarged Committee of the ISC should a plenary session of the ISB be called, to discuss joint action by the Zimmerwaldists. A second reaffirmed each individual parties right to call a session of the ISB on its own volition.
, disarmament, compulsory courts of arbitration etc. only deceived the masses because they gave the illusion of a "capitalism without war". The revolutionary struggle would arise out of the misery of the masses and the unification of a number of struggles - such as abolishing imperialist debts, unemployed movements, republicanism
, repudiating annexations, liberating colonies and "abolishing state boundaries" - into a sing struggle for political power, socialism and the "unification of socialist peoples." The peace program of social democracy was for the proletariat to turn their weapons on their common enemy - the capitalist governments.
The German Internationle groups draft, which also dealt with the ISB question, likewise blamed the war on imperialism and listed the various ways the war had immersirated the German proletariat. It set out a program of practical action against the war and the pro-war socialist party that included refusal to vote for war credits, war tax resistance and the utilization of every organizational and parliamentary opportunity to harass and criticize the pro-war majority socialists and government in order to arouse the masses to action. It also encouraged particular attention toward propaganda among women, youth and the unemployed, who were particularly affected or radicalized by the war. The draft resolution also took a very firm line against the official party and unions, urging a clear socialist reformation from below to restore the party to its original principles and the party bureaucracy replaced by functionaries responsible to the membership. Every "crisis" or dislocation caused by the war was to be used to develop class conscientious and develop a revolutionary situation.
While the delegates were in broad agreement on the causes of the war, the fact that the proletariat must take an active role in struggle against war and for peace, and condemnation of "bourgeois" peace schemes, there was disagreement on what exact measures the working class should take to end the war. They also agreed that the resolution should be more detailed in its reasons for taking its position, so as not to allow false interpretations. When the question was sent to a commission, there was further debate on the merits of such reforms as international arbitration and disarmament. While all agreed that these reforms could not abolish imperialist-rooted war, others felt they might have some use as ameliorative measures. When these measures could not be resolved in commission they were sent back to the conference plenum. However, the plenum never got around to discussing the issue and when the time came to vote on a peace declaration a number of different declarations were submitted. Because there was fundamental agreement on most issue and the delegates felt an exhaustive debate over every detail was unnessary a resolution based on the Grimm draft was then unanimously adopted. The commission also received a lengthy and ponderous draft manifesto submitted by Axelrod, Martov and Lapinski on behalf of the Mensheviks and the Polish Socialist Party - Left which mostly dealt with post-war plans for supra-national government schemes and why bourgeois attempts would continue the regime of imperialism while a "complete economic and political unification of all civilized nations" should be the chief tasks of socialists once the proletariat had taken power and abolished private property.
The resolution finally adopted stated categorically that the war was a consequence of bourgeois property relations which had produced a series of imperialist antagonisms. The war would not end the capitalist economy or imperialism so therefore it would not do away with the causes of future wars. Things such as courts of international arbitration, disarmament and the democratization of foreign policy could not end wars, as long as the capitalist system existed. "The struggle for lasting peace can, therefore, be only a struggle for the realization of socialism" (emphasis in the original). On the basis of the Stuttgart, Copenhagen and Basel resolutions the delegates declared that it is a vital commandment to raise a call for an immediate truce and peace negotiations. The workers would succeed in hastening the end of the war and influencing the nature of the peace only to the extend that this call finds a response within the international proletariat and led them to "forceful action directed toward overthrowing the capitalist class." The proletariat also must struggle against annexations and attempts to create "pseudo-independent states" on the "pretext of liberating oppressed peoples". Socialist did not oppose annexations in order to return to the pre-1914 borders but because "...socialism strives to eliminate all national oppression by means of an economic and political unification of the peoples on a democratic basis, something which cannot be realized within the limits of capitalist states." So long as socialism has not achieved this, the proletariat's duty was still to oppose national oppression, attacks on weaker states, war indemnities, support the protection of minorities, and the autonomy of peoples on a "basis of real democracy". Finally socialists should take advantage of mass movement originating in the dislocations of the war, such as unemployed movements and protest against the high cost of living and unite them into one international struggle for socialism.
The Commission reminded the conference that they received no compensation, even for translation services.
Zimmerwald Conference
The Zimmerwald Conference was held in Zimmerwald, Switzerland, from September 5 through September 8, 1915. It was an international socialist conference, which saw the beginning of the end of the coalition between revolutionary socialists and reformist socialists in the Second International.-...
, it was an international conference of socialists
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,...
who opposed the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Background
The conference had been called by an Enlarged Session of the International Socialist Commission in February 1916. The reasons for a second conference included the opposition that the International Socialist BureauInternational Socialist Bureau
The International Socialist Bureau was the permanent organization of the Second International, established at the Paris congress of 1900. Before this there was no organizational infrastructure to the "Second International" beyond a series of periodical congresses, which weren't even given a...
was putting up against the Zimmerwald movement, the opposition of the bourgeois nationalists and the "gradually maturing plans for peace".
Entente countries
- Serbian Social Democratic Party - Trisa Kaclerovic
- Anti-war opposition within the French Socialist Party - SFIOSection française de l'Internationale ouvrièreThe French Section of the Workers' International , founded in 1905, was a French socialist political party, designed as the local section of the Second International...
- Pierre Brizon, Jean Pierre Raffin-Dugens, Alexandre Blanc, Henri GuilbeauxHenri GuilbeauxHenri Guilbeaux was a French socialist politician. Active in the Zimmerwald Anti-War Movement during World War I. Became a Communist and was active in the Comintern. Supporter of Trotsky....
(editor of Demain) - Italian Socialist PartyItalian Socialist PartyThe Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...
- Oddino MorgariOddino MorgariOddino Morgari was an Italian socialist journalist and politician.-Early life:Initially a Mazzinian radical, he became a member of the Italian Socialist Party in 1891, and was elected leader of its local section in Turin the following year...
, Constantino Lazzari, Elia Musati, Giuseppe Modigliani, Giacinto Serrati, Camillo Prampolini, Enrico Dugani - Socialist Party (Portugal)Socialist Party (Portugal)The Socialist Party , abbreviated to PS, is a social-democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel, by militants from Portuguese Socialist Action ....
- Edmondo Peluso
Russian Empire
- Central Committee of the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party (Bolsheviks) - Vladimir LeninVladimir LeninVladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
, Gregory Zinoviev, Inessa ArmandInessa ArmandInessa Armand , born Elisabeth-Inès Stéphane d'Herbenville, was a French communist politician and feminist who spent most of her life in Russia. She was also known for her affair with Vladimir Lenin.... - Organization Committee of the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party (Mensheviks)MenshevikThe Mensheviks were a faction of the Russian revolutionary movement that emerged in 1904 after a dispute between Vladimir Lenin and Julius Martov, both members of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party. The dispute originated at the Second Congress of that party, ostensibly over minor issues...
- Julius MartovJulius MartovJulius Martov or L. Martov was born in Constantinople in 1873...
, Pavel AxelrodPavel AxelrodPavel Borisovich Axelrod was a Russian Menshevik.- Early life and career :Born Pinches Borutsch in Potscheff near Chernigov and raised to Shklov, a small provincial town in and Mogilev, the biggest town of the three in the Russian Empire , Axelrod was the son of a Jewish innkeeper.In 1875 in... - Socialist-Revolutionary PartySocialist-Revolutionary Partythumb|right|200px|Socialist-Revolutionary election poster, 1917. The caption in red reads "партия соц-рев" , short for Party of the Socialist Revolutionaries...
- Mark NatansonMark NatansonMark Andreyevich Natanson was a Russian revolutionary and one of the founders of the Circle of Tchaikovsky, Land and Liberty, and the Socialist-Revolutionary Party...
(using the pseudonym Bobrov), VlasovVlasovVlasov or Vlasoff is a common Russian surname formed from the first name Vlas or from the Slavonic vlas meaning hair. The feminine form of the surname is Vlasova...
, Savelev - Regional Presidium of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and LithuaniaSocial Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and LithuaniaThe Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania was a Marxist political party founded in 1893. Its original name was the "Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland" and it eventually became part of the Communist Workers Party of Poland...
- Karl RadekKarl RadekKarl Bernhardovic Radek was a socialist active in the Polish and German movements before World War I and an international Communist leader after the Russian Revolution....
, Mieczyslaw Bronski, Bronislaw Stein - Main Presidium of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and LithuaniaSocial Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and LithuaniaThe Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania was a Marxist political party founded in 1893. Its original name was the "Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland" and it eventually became part of the Communist Workers Party of Poland...
- Adolf WarskiAdolf WarskiAdolf Warski, born Jerzy Adolf Warszawski , was a leader and theoretician of the Polish communist movement.... - Polish Socialist Party – Left - Lapinski
Neutral countries
- Swiss Social Democratic Party - Fritz PlattenFritz PlattenFritz Platten was a Swiss Communist.After the collapse of the Second International, Platten joined the Zimmerwald Movement and became a Communist....
, Ernst NobsErnst NobsErnst Nobs was a Swiss politician.He was the mayor of Zürich from 1942 to 1944. He was elected to the Swiss Federal Council on December 15, 1943, as the first member of the Social Democratic Party...
, Paul Graber, Agnes Robmann
Central Powers
- Anti-war opposition within the Social Democratic Workers Party of German AustriaSocial Democratic Party of AustriaThe Social Democratic Party of Austria is one of the oldest political parties in Austria. The SPÖ is one of the two major parties in Austria, and has ties to trade unions and the Austrian Chamber of Labour. The SPÖ is among the few mainstream European social-democratic parties that have preserved...
- Franz KoritschonerFranz KoritschonerFranz Koritschoner was an Austrian communist politician. Koritschoner was one of the founders of the Communist Party of Austria in 1918, and a member of its Central Committee until 1927. He edited the central party organ, Die Rote Fahne.... - Anti-war opposition within the Social Democratic Party of GermanySocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
- Adolph Hoffman, Hermann Fleisher of the "Ledebour-Haase" group, Bertha Thalheimer, Ernst Meyer of the Internationale group, and Paul FrölichPaul FrölichPaul Frölich was a journalist and left wing political activist who was a founding member of the Communist Party of Germany and founder of the party's paper, Die Rote Fahne. A Communist Party deputy in the Reichstag on two occasions, Frölich was expelled from the Party in 1928, after which he...
of the Bremen Radical group.
International
- The ISC was represented by - Robert GrimmRobert GrimmRobert Grimm was the leading Swiss Socialist politician during the first half of the 20th century.As a leading member of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland he opposed the First World War. Grimm was the main organiser of the Zimmerwald Movement and the chairman of the International...
, Charles Naine, Oddino MorgariOddino MorgariOddino Morgari was an Italian socialist journalist and politician.-Early life:Initially a Mazzinian radical, he became a member of the Italian Socialist Party in 1891, and was elected leader of its local section in Turin the following year...
and Angelica BalabanoffAngelica BalabanoffAngelica Balabanoff was a Jewish-Italian communist and social democratic activist.-Revolutionary activities:...
. - Socialist Youth InternationalSocialist Youth InternationalSocialist Youth International was an international union of socialist youth organisations. It was founded in Hamburg 1923, through the merger of the Young Workers' International and the International Community of Socialist Youth Organisations...
- Willi MünzenbergWilli MünzenbergWilli Münzenberg was a communist political activist. Münzenberg was the first head of the Young Communist International in 1919-20 and established the famine-relief and propaganda organization Workers International Relief in 1921...
A number of delegates named by groups in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, Sweden, Norway and by the General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland and Russia were unable to attend. Additionally, the Revolutionary Socialist League
Revolutionary Socialist League
The Revolutionary Socialist League is the name of more than one group:*Revolutionary Socialist League **Revolutionary Socialist League **Revolutionary Socialist League *Revolutionary Socialist League...
of the Netherlands had transferred its mandate to Radek and the Social-Democracy of the Lettish Territory had transferred its mandate to Zinoviev. A Lithuanian group around the magazine Social-Democratas in London tried to affiliate with the Zimmerwald Left
Zimmerwald Left
The Zimmerwald Left was a revolutionary minority fraction at the Zimmerwald Peace Conference of 1915, headed by Lenin. The Left of the Zimmerwald Congress was made up of eight out of 38 people: Lenin, Zinoviev , Jānis K. Bērziņš , Karl Radek , Julian Borchardt , Fritz Platten , Zeth Höglund and...
and authorized Jan Berzin to sign a draft manifesto of left wing delegates for them, but he had already transferred his mandate to Zinoviev and their vote was "lost". A member of the Independent Labour Party
Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party was a socialist political party in Britain established in 1893. The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party from 1906 to 1932, when it voted to leave...
was present as a "guest".
The Conference opens
The delegates met at the small Swiss village of Kienthal at the foot of the Blumlis AlpsBlüemlisalp
The Blüemlisalp is a massif of the Bernese Alps, in the territory of the municipalies of Kandersteg and Reichenbach im Kandertal.Its main peaks are:*Blüemlisalphorn *Wyssi Frau *Morgenhorn...
from April 24 to 30, 1916. Portuguese delegate Edmondo Peluso gave a very detailed account:
The spacious dining room of the Hotel Baren was transformed into conference chamber. The presidents chair was in the center and, as behooved an international conference, the Presidium consisted of a German, a Frenchmen, an Italian and a Serb. Two tables for the delegates were placed on either side and perpendicularly to the presidents table. These the right and the left, exactly as in parliaments. The Italian delegation, being very numerous, took their seats at another table in front of the president.
The conference began with a speech by Robert Grimm, chairman of the ISC, on the work of the Commission. In order to save time it was decided that oral reports would only be heard by delegates of Germany and France. Hoffman gave the first report, representing Germany. Brizons began his speech with the statement "Comrades, though I am an internationalist, I am still a Frenchman...I will note utter one word, nor will I make any gesture which might injure France, France, the land of the Revolution" He then turned to Hoffman and told him to inform Kaiser Wilhelm that France would gladly exchange Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
for the return of Alsace-Lorraine
Alsace-Lorraine
The Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east...
. Brizons speech lasted several hours, was interrupted by him drinking coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
and eating and included at least two attempts to physically assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
him. declared that he would vote against all war credits - which brought forth a great applause - and then added "but only one hostile troops leave France" which resulted in the second aforementioned assault attempts. He then offered a text of a draft manifesto that included, among other things, all of the criticism which the were being made against him and the French opportunists. None of the controversy around Brizons speech was reported in the official proceedings of the conference, but recorded in the memoirs of Guilbeaux.
Documents
Unlike the first conference, the manifesto did not engender much controversy and the text presented by the Brizon as modified by a Commission was accepted unanimously. The manifesto stated that the war was caused by imperialism and militarism and would only end when all countries abolished their own militarism. While repeating the Zimmerwald Conferences condemnation of bourgeois governments, parties and press, it also criticized the social patriots and bourgeois pacifists and state categorically that the only way wars would end was if the working class took power and abolished private property.International Socialist Bureau
the The major debate revolved around resolutions on the proletarian "peace policy" and the attitude toward the International Socialist Bureau, particularly in the event of its reconvening. With respect to the latter, three opinions emerged at the beginning of debate: the view of the Zimmerwald Left that the ISB was entirely discredited and focus should be on laying the groundwork for a Third International, though they did not rule out the possibility of attending the ISB in order to "tear the masks from their social chauvinist faces"; the view of some, like P. Axelrod, who wished for the Zimmerwaldists to try and win over more of the elements within the ISB, and therefore did not advocate calling a meeting of the Bureau, but did not rule out participation; and a tendency represented by the Italians that claimed the ISB could be "conquered" if reconvened with the participation of South African, Japanese, Australian and even Indian delegates, and therefore advocated calling a meeting of the Bureau.A commission was elected to try to settle the issue. The commission consisted of Lazzari, Naine, Hoffman, Axelrod, Lenin, Warski and an unnamed "German of the Internationale group. Two drafts came out of this commission. The majority endorsed by Lazzari, Naine, Hoffman and Axelrod called for the meeting of the ISB so that a new Executive Committee could be elected from socialist of the neutral countries; that all sections of the International expel members who entered into cabinets of belligerent countries; that all parliamentary representatives of section of the International vote against war credits; civil peace be broken and class struggle resumed; and all sections should use "all means" to hasten a peace without annexations or indemnities on the basis of national self determination.
After debate in the conference at vote was taken: 10 votes for the majority report of the commission; 12 for the minority report of the Lefts; a new draft introduced by Lapinski, 15; another draft by Hoffman favoring calling the Bureau, 2; a draft by Serrati "approximately the same as the majority report" 10; and a draft by Zinoviev, 19. After this poll the resolutions were handed back to the commission, which now included Zinoviev and Nobs. This commission hammered out a compromise based on Lapinkis draft. Zinoviev called it the "Lapinski-Zinoviev-Modigliani draft...with amendments" and noted that the Italians gave an ultimatum reserving individual parties the right to call for a session of the Bureau. Though the official report claimed that the vote in favor of this resolution was unanimous, Zinoviev claimed in his report that Axelrod abstained and Dugoni voted against.
The final document condemned the Executive Committee of the ISB for not carrying out the resolutions of past Socialist Congresses not calling a session of the Bureau despite demands for it from various parties; having the Chairman of the ISB (Emile Vandervelde
Emile Vandervelde
thumb|upright|Emile VanderveldeEmile Vandervelde was a Belgian statesman, born at Ixelles. He studied law at the Free University of Brussels and became doctor of laws in 1885 and doctor of social science in 1888.-Activities:Vandervelde became a member of the Parti Ouvrier...
) serve in a belligerent cabinet, thus making the ISB a tool of an "imperialist coalition"; its amicable relations with "social patriotic" parties and opposition to the Zimmerwald movement. The resolution did note, however, that under the pressure of the "growing indignation of the masses" the Executive Committee was examining the possibility of holding a session of the ISB. A session called under these circumstances, however, might be made to serve the interest of either or both imperialist coalition. Therefore the resolution demanded the Zimmerwald parties to "watch carefully all the activities of the Executive Committee of the International Socialist Bureau". The resolution further stated that the International could recover its political power only if it liberated itself from imperialist and chauvinist influences and resumed class struggle and mass action. If a plenum of the ISB should be called those Zimmerwaldist parties participating had to use the opportunity to expose the real intentions of the social patriots, while reaffirming the fundamental principles of the International. Two annexes provided for a meeting of the Enlarged Committee of the ISC should a plenary session of the ISB be called, to discuss joint action by the Zimmerwaldists. A second reaffirmed each individual parties right to call a session of the ISB on its own volition.
Peace Policy
There is some disagreement on the number of draft resolutions for a peace policy initially presented to the conference. The conferences official report states that three resolutions were presented: that of Robert Grimm, of the Zimmerwald Left and the German Internationale group. However, another source states that the third draft was one drafted by Lenin and the Central Committee of the RSDLP, and that there was a heated disagreement between Bolsheviks and other members of the Zimmerwald Left over the conception of national self-determination, as well as disarmament and the "arming of the people". In any event the "Left Zimmerwald" draft was endorsed by Lenin, Zinoviev and Armand on behalf of the Central Committee of the RSDLP, as well as Radek, Bronski and Dobrowski of Poland, "one delegate from town X" of the German Opposition, Platten, Nobs, Robmann, Kaclerovic, and Serrati. The Zimmerwald Left draft stated that imperialist rivalry was the cause of the war and that plans developed by the opportunists and "social pacifists" such as a United States of EuropeUnited States of Europe
Since the 1950s, European integration has seen the development of a supranational system of governance, as its institutions move further from the concept of simple intergovernmentalism. However, with the Maastricht Treaty of 1993, new intergovernmental elements have been introduced alongside the...
, disarmament, compulsory courts of arbitration etc. only deceived the masses because they gave the illusion of a "capitalism without war". The revolutionary struggle would arise out of the misery of the masses and the unification of a number of struggles - such as abolishing imperialist debts, unemployed movements, republicanism
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
, repudiating annexations, liberating colonies and "abolishing state boundaries" - into a sing struggle for political power, socialism and the "unification of socialist peoples." The peace program of social democracy was for the proletariat to turn their weapons on their common enemy - the capitalist governments.
The German Internationle groups draft, which also dealt with the ISB question, likewise blamed the war on imperialism and listed the various ways the war had immersirated the German proletariat. It set out a program of practical action against the war and the pro-war socialist party that included refusal to vote for war credits, war tax resistance and the utilization of every organizational and parliamentary opportunity to harass and criticize the pro-war majority socialists and government in order to arouse the masses to action. It also encouraged particular attention toward propaganda among women, youth and the unemployed, who were particularly affected or radicalized by the war. The draft resolution also took a very firm line against the official party and unions, urging a clear socialist reformation from below to restore the party to its original principles and the party bureaucracy replaced by functionaries responsible to the membership. Every "crisis" or dislocation caused by the war was to be used to develop class conscientious and develop a revolutionary situation.
While the delegates were in broad agreement on the causes of the war, the fact that the proletariat must take an active role in struggle against war and for peace, and condemnation of "bourgeois" peace schemes, there was disagreement on what exact measures the working class should take to end the war. They also agreed that the resolution should be more detailed in its reasons for taking its position, so as not to allow false interpretations. When the question was sent to a commission, there was further debate on the merits of such reforms as international arbitration and disarmament. While all agreed that these reforms could not abolish imperialist-rooted war, others felt they might have some use as ameliorative measures. When these measures could not be resolved in commission they were sent back to the conference plenum. However, the plenum never got around to discussing the issue and when the time came to vote on a peace declaration a number of different declarations were submitted. Because there was fundamental agreement on most issue and the delegates felt an exhaustive debate over every detail was unnessary a resolution based on the Grimm draft was then unanimously adopted. The commission also received a lengthy and ponderous draft manifesto submitted by Axelrod, Martov and Lapinski on behalf of the Mensheviks and the Polish Socialist Party - Left which mostly dealt with post-war plans for supra-national government schemes and why bourgeois attempts would continue the regime of imperialism while a "complete economic and political unification of all civilized nations" should be the chief tasks of socialists once the proletariat had taken power and abolished private property.
The resolution finally adopted stated categorically that the war was a consequence of bourgeois property relations which had produced a series of imperialist antagonisms. The war would not end the capitalist economy or imperialism so therefore it would not do away with the causes of future wars. Things such as courts of international arbitration, disarmament and the democratization of foreign policy could not end wars, as long as the capitalist system existed. "The struggle for lasting peace can, therefore, be only a struggle for the realization of socialism" (emphasis in the original). On the basis of the Stuttgart, Copenhagen and Basel resolutions the delegates declared that it is a vital commandment to raise a call for an immediate truce and peace negotiations. The workers would succeed in hastening the end of the war and influencing the nature of the peace only to the extend that this call finds a response within the international proletariat and led them to "forceful action directed toward overthrowing the capitalist class." The proletariat also must struggle against annexations and attempts to create "pseudo-independent states" on the "pretext of liberating oppressed peoples". Socialist did not oppose annexations in order to return to the pre-1914 borders but because "...socialism strives to eliminate all national oppression by means of an economic and political unification of the peoples on a democratic basis, something which cannot be realized within the limits of capitalist states." So long as socialism has not achieved this, the proletariat's duty was still to oppose national oppression, attacks on weaker states, war indemnities, support the protection of minorities, and the autonomy of peoples on a "basis of real democracy". Finally socialists should take advantage of mass movement originating in the dislocations of the war, such as unemployed movements and protest against the high cost of living and unite them into one international struggle for socialism.
Declaration of Sympathy
As at Zimmerwald, the Kienthal conference passed a resolution of sympathy for its "persecuted" comrades. It stated that there have been repressions in Russia, Germany, France, England and even neutral Switzerland and that these repression belie the stated objectives of a "war for liberation" and that these were inspiring examples of revolutionaries who fought social patriotism as much as the policy of the governments. The resolution particularly condemned the persecution of the Jews in Russia and greeted the French and German women who were being released from captivity. It urged the affiliated organization to follow the example of the persecuted comrades to continue to stir up discontent and hasten the overthrow of capitalism.The Commission
Interspersed within the debates, the ISC presented a financial statement to the conference.Financial Statement
| Francs | |
|---|---|
| Income | 5,209.73 |
| Expense | 4,517.35 |
| Balance | 0692.38 |
Income
| Income sources | Francs |
|---|---|
| Affiliated parties | 3,478.30 |
| Local groups and individuals | 1,553.65 |
| Total | 5,031.95 |
Expenses
| Francs | |
|---|---|
| Publishing the Bulletin | 2,950.90 |
| Postage and general expen. | 988.50 |
| First conference | 4,238.65 |
| Total | Example |
The Commission reminded the conference that they received no compensation, even for translation services.
See also
- Neutral Socialist Conferences during the First World WarNeutral Socialist Conferences during the First World WarDuring the First World War there were three conferences of the Socialist parties of the non-belligerent countries.- Lugano, 1914 :The first joint meeting of any of the socialist parties after the out break of the war was held by representatives of the Swiss Social Democratic Party and the Italian...
- Third Zimmerwald ConferenceThird Zimmerwald ConferenceThe Third Zimmerwald Conference or the Stockholm Conference of 1917 was the third and final of the anti-war socialist conferences that had included Zimmerwald and Kienthal .- Background :...