International Socialist Workers Congress, Zürich 1893

The International Socialist Workers Congress in Zürich that met from 6 to 13 August 1893 was the third congress of the Second International. The congress passed the "Zurich resolution" which expelled anarchists from the Congress.[1] On 12 August, Friedrich Engels was designated the honorary president for the day and delivered the closing address,[2] the only time that Engels addressed a Second International period Congress.[3]

Friedrich Engels (fourth from left) pictured in Zürich during the International Socialist Workers' Congress with Clara Zetkin to his right, and Julie and August Bebel

Resolutions

Before deliberations could begin, the Congress voted to exclude the anarchists led by Gustav Landauer, who left in protest.[1] Engels later emphasised the need to remain separate from the anarchists in his closing speech.[1] The mandate of Rosa Luxemburg as a delegate of the Socialists of Poland and Lithuania, in opposition to the Polish Social Democratic Party, was also rejected.[1]

The congress passed resolutions on the eight-hour work day, the attitude of socialist in case of war, international manifestations on the first of May, the political tactics of Social Democrats, the protection of labour, the agrarian question, and the formation of national and international syndicates of professionals. Commissions also worked on resolutions on the international organization of Socialists and the general strike, but the congress ran out of time and could not examine them. Motions were made on the question of Siam, on universal suffrage, and in support of striking English miners.

Delegations
Country # of delegates Notes
Australia 1
Austria 27 Victor Adler
Bohemia 7
Belgium 17 Emile Vandervelde
Brazil 2 Brazilian mandates held by Wilhelm Liebknecht (Ger.) and Robert Seidel (Swiss)
Bulgaria 2 Nikola Gabrovski
Denmark 2
France 41
Germany 92 August Bebel, representing the Social Democratic Party of Germany
Great Britain 65
Hungary 9
Italy 21 Filippo Turati
Poland 11 Stanislaw Mendelson; Ignacy Daszyński[1]
Romania 5
Russia 1 Pavel Axelrod
Serbia 1
Spain 2
Switzerland 101 Verena Conzett[4]
United States 3

References
  1. Lenz, J. (1932). The Rise and Fall of the Second International. New York: International Publishers Co., Inc. pp. 16–23.
  2. International Socialist Congress Zurich, Switzerland (1894). Protokoll des Internationalen sozialistischen Arbeiterkongresses in der Tonhalle, Zürich, vom 6. bis 12. august 1893 (in German). Grütlivereins. p. 52.
  3. Hunt, Tristram (2009). The Frock-Coated Communist: The Revolutionary Life of Friedrich Engels. London: Allen Lane. p. 344. ISBN 978-0-7139-9852-8.
  4. Treichler, Hans Peter (2011). Die Arbeiterin in Zürich um 1900: Sozialgeschichtliches auf den Spuren Verena Conzetts (1861–1947) (in German). Conzett Verlag. p. 38. ISBN 978-3-03760-023-8 – via Issuu.com.

Bibliography
  • Braunthal, Julius. History of the International, Volume 1: 1864–1914.
  • Haupt, Georges. La Deuxième Internationale, 1889–1914: étude critique des sources, essai bibliographique.


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