dissensions, by the struggles between the adherents of Marx and those of the anarchist, Bakunin. After the break-up of the First International, the growth of socialist parties began in various countries. The more rapid the development of industry, the more rapid was the growth of these parties. The need for mutual support was felt so strongly, that in 1889 there was held an international socialist congress attended by delegates of the socialist parties of numerous countries. Thus the Second International came into being. The Second International remained in existence till 1914, when the war gave it its death blow. The causes of its failure will be discussed in the next section.
In the Communist Manifesto, Marx already sounded the war cry: “Proletarians of all lands, unite!” Here are the concluding lines of the manifesto: “The communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can only be attained by the forcible overthrow of the existing social order. Let the ruling classes tremble at a communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Proletarians of all lands, unite!”
It thus appears that the international solidarity of the proletariat is not a toy or a fine phrase, but a vital necessity, without which the working-class movement would be foredoomed to failure.
36. The Collapse of the Second International and its Causes.
When the great world war began in August, 1914, the socialist and social-democratic parties of the various belligerent lands (with the exception of Russia, Serbia, and at a later date Italy), instead of declaring war upon the war and instead of inciting the workers to revolt, rallied to the side of their respective governments, and gave their assistance to the campaign for plunder. On one and the same day, the socialist deputies in France and Germany voted the war credits in parliament, thus solidarising themselves with the robber governments. Instead of joining