The International Working Mens Association

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id470611897 The French Revolution Was Not Just a Russian Revolution, It Was a French Revolution

Key takeaways:

• The French Revolution of 1789 was seen by different groups as either a precursor or a stepping stone to later revolutions.
• Some radical republicans believed that true political liberty and social equality were only achieved in the subsequent revolution of 1792.
• A minority group represented the spirit of 1796 and believed that economic equality was necessary for true liberty and equality.
• This group argued that simply transferring wealth from the aristocracy to the bourgeoisie was not a true revolution.
• Their demands for economic equality laid the groundwork for future social revolutions, including the Russian Revolution.
  Transcript:
  Speaker 1
  Then beyond them, there were those representing the spirit of 17 92, radical democratic republicans who believed 17 89 was the unsatisfying precursor to the much more important and Much more glorious revolution of 17 92, which ushered in real political liberty and social equality. Finally, there was this weird and obscure minority representing what we might call the spirit of 17 96, those who saw 17 89 as a step to 17 92, but who so saw 17 92 as a step towards the aborted Promise of 17 96, represented by gracchus babeuf and the conspiracy of equals. They believed that the liberty and equality espoused even by the radical republicans would be impossible without economic equality. That it was not enough to declare the rights of man if the wealth of the nation was still unequally distributed. That simply transferringand in capital from a dying aristocracy to a rising bourgeoisie was no revolution at all, especially not as the idealism of the revolution gave way to the cynicism And despotism of the directory, and then the consulate and then the empire. It was this last group that first asked the social question, and as the nineteenth century progressed, their demands for an answer only grew louder. And it is from that tiny seed, from the spirit of 17 96, that we find the origins of the russian revolution, a social revolution to match the size and scope of the merely political french Revolution. 🔗

• [N] Here's a note
• [?] A dumb question?

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Fourier's Great Project Was to Discover Laws of Human Relations to Match Newton's Physics
Key takeaways:

• Saint Simon and Fourier were both interested in administration and the ideal environment for individuals and communities to flourish.
• Fourier believed that society should be molded to fit the individual, not the other way around.
• Fourier developed complex theories based on human attraction and passion to create harmonious communities.
• He envisioned four-story complexes where members could work and live in a tailored environment that turned labor into pleasure.
• Fourier believed that with capital and reason, human conflict, poverty, and misery could be overcome.
  Transcript:
  Speaker 1
  Saint simon, no less than porfirio dias, wanted not much politics and a lot of administration. A younger contemporary of saint simon's was charles furier, a trenchant and witty social critic of post revolutionary france who developed full blown and very detailed theories About the ideal environment for the flourishing of both individuals and the community in which they lived. That the individual should not be moulded to fit society, but that society should be moulded to fit the individual. Like saint simon, fourier believed that his great project was to discover laws of human relations to match newton's physics. And he thought he cracked it with a very complicated metaphysics based on types of human attraction and passion that, onceenize and set free, would allow human communities to fall Into a voluntary, natural and harmonious balance. To help this process along, fourier developed schemes for networks of four story complexes where one thousand, 620 members would work and live doing work that was tailored to their Own proclivities and talents and passions, so that labor would cease to be labor, and instead, om pleasure. Again, armed with capital or reason, human conflict, poverty and misery would be overcome. 🔗

The Second International

The Second International
Key takeaways:

• An international workingmen's association was founded in Saint Martin's Hall.
• Eventually, it became known as simply the International.
• The meeting attendees were unaware that they were forming the First International.
• A German socialist, Karl Marx, was present at the meeting.
• Karl Marx was invited to make the meeting more international.
• Karl Marx was known primarily as a radical journalist and polemicist at that time.
  Transcript:
  Speaker 1
  Those assembled in saint martin's hall voted unanimously to found an international workingmen's association, which they then creatively dubbed the international working men's Association. This is a bit of a mouthful, so in time, it became known as simply the international, and is known to us to day as the first inter national. Because in the decades to come, there would be a second international, and a third international and a fourth international. But let's not worry about them, because nobody at the meeting at saint martin's hall in 18 64 knew that they were forming merely the first international. So among the small contingent of ponderous and philosophically inclined german socialists at this meeting was an exile from the revolution of 18 forty eight, who had been living in London with his family since 18 forty nine. This guy was not particularly important. He didn't even know about the meeting until a week before it was held, and was invited practically just because the organizers wanted the meeting to be as international as possible, And they needed some more germans. He was, at that point known principally as a radical journalist and polemacist with a penchant for indulging in cat fights with other members of the emigre and exile communities where He had lived in germany, belgium, france and the u. K. If you haven't guessed by now, i am, of course, talking about forty six year old karl marx. 🔗

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Social Revolution - The Seizing of Political Power
Key takeaways:

• The working classes must achieve their own emancipation without relying on any other class or group.
• The economic subjection of labor to the monopolizer of the means of labor is the source of servitude and social misery.
• The economic emancipation of the working classes should be the main goal of every political movement.
• Political power is an important aspect of solving the social question.
• The rules of the organization aimed to attract as many affiliates as possible without imposing a doctrinal test for membership.
• The general council in London acted as a coordinating and correspondence bureau, not a central executive.
• Membership only required acknowledging justice and morality as the basis of conduct towards others irrespective of color, creed, or nationality.
  Transcript:
  Speaker 1
  Marks also drafted the general s of the international which were prefaced by more strong language that followed from his own analysis of the situation. He wrote that the emancipation of the working classes must be conquered by the working classes themselves. That is, they can't rely on any other class or group, neither friendly aristocrats nor charitable bourgeois liberals. They must do it for themselves. He also wrote that the conomical subjection of the man of labor to the monopolizer of the means of labor that is the source of life lies at the bottom of servitude in all its forms, of all Its social misery, mental degradation and political dependence. That the economical emancipation of the working classes is therefore the great end to which every political movement ought to be subordinate as a means. So clearly, the social question must always take precedence, that mere political rights and constitutions aren't going to be enough to magically solve the problem. But that said, political power was a key component of the answer to the social question. But though what every one would later understand to be very marxus language being coted into the dna of the first international, the actual rules of the organization were very clear That this was meant to attract as many affiliates as possible and not have some doctrinal lipmis test for membership. The inaugural address was just that and nothing more. The general council in london would be there to act as a co ordinating and correspondence bureau, not some central executive handing down orders from on high. In fact, all somebody had to do to join was acknowledge tr justice and morality as the basis of their conduct toward each other and toward all men, without regard to color, creed or nationality. 🔗

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The Inaugural Address and Challenges of the International Working Men's Association
Key takeaways:

• The inaugural address outlined the role of the general council as a coordinating and correspondence bureau, emphasizing the importance of justice and morality in their conduct.
• Affiliation with the international allowed for flexibility in how national, local, and individual groups operate, promoting self-directed autonomy and ideological freedom.
• The majority of French sections that joined the international were mutualist anarchists, not Marxists, highlighting the influence of Prudon's followers.
• The founding of the international working men's association had significant historical impact on labor, socialism, communism, anarchism, and revolution.
• The wide range of affiliations within the international led to conflicts between reformists and revolutionaries, secretive vanguardists and advocates of mass movement, and supporters and opponents of unions.
• Disagreements also arose regarding the need for central authority versus bottom-up organization within the international movement.
  Transcript:
  Speaker 1
  The inaugural address was just that and nothing more. The general council in london would be there to act as a co ordinating and correspondence bureau, not some central executive handing down orders from on high. In fact, all somebody had to do to join was acknowledge tr justice and morality as the basis of their conduct toward each other and toward all men, without regard to color, creed or nationality. There would be lots of latitude about how national, local and individual groups who elected to affiliate with the international could operate. Self directed autonomy and freedom of ideological choice was literally in the rules. And it said, while united in perpetual bond of fraternal co operation. The workingmen societies joining the international association will preserve their existing organizations intact. This meant, for example, that whatever shots marks had just taken at prudons mutualists, that the vast majority of french sections that affiliated with the international were mutualist Anarchists. And really, up through the paris commune, it was the followers of prudon, not marks, were the single most advanced and influential faction inside the international. The founding of the international working men's association was a momentous event in the history of labor, socialism, communism, anarchism and revolution. It was also the beginning of a hot, holy mess of disagreement and rivalry between those who now affiliated with the international. Intentionally casting the net as wide as poss able was the point. But that meant that every fish in the sea wound up coming on board. And that would produce some major conflicts. And just to give you a flavor of some of these disputes, british union leaders wanted this all to be a reformist movement. Continental radicals demanded full blown revolution. Professional revolutionaries who followed blanke wanted this to be a secretive and focused vanguard, while others, like mark himself, wanted it to be an out in the open mass movement. Some supported union activity as a necessary focus for worker direct action, while many anarchists hated the unions because they granted the capitalist premise that some were powerful Owners while others were mere workers. The anarchists instead, wanted to emphasize worker own collectives, not organizing factories for better wages. Some felt that the international movement couldn't work without powerful direction from a central authority giving orders from the top down. Others thought that it would be pointless if it wasn't an inverted pyramid built from the bottom up, with the guis at the center working for those at the periphery, not the other way around. 🔗

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Episode AI notes

1. The French Revolution of 1789 was seen as a precursor or stepping stone to later revolutions, with some groups believing that true political liberty and social equality were only achieved in subsequent revolutions.
2. A minority group represented the spirit of 1796 and believed that economic equality was necessary for true liberty and equality, arguing that simply transferring wealth from the aristocracy to the bourgeoisie was not a true revolution. Their demands for economic equality laid the groundwork for future social revolutions, including the Russian Revolution.
3. Charles Fourier developed complex theories based on human attraction and passion to create harmonious communities, envisioning four-story complexes where members could work and live in a tailored environment that turned labor into pleasure. He believed that with capital and reason, human conflict, poverty, and misery could be overcome.
4. The international workingmen's association, later known as the First International, was founded in 1864 in Saint Martin's Hall. Karl Marx, a radical journalist and polemicist, was invited to the meeting to make it more international. Marx emphasized in the principles of the international that the working classes must emancipate themselves and not rely on other classes.
5. The general council in London served as a coordinating and correspondence bureau for the international, without authoritarian executive power. Joining the international only required acknowledging justice and morality as the basis of conduct towards others, regardless of color, creed, or nationality.
6. The founding of the international working men's association brought various groups with different ideologies together. Disputes arose over the direction of the movement, with conflicts between reformists, radicals, and anarchists. There were disagreements over the role of unions and the need for a central authority, resulting in a hot and messy beginning to the influential movement. 🔗

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