the marxism of the first international

8/13/2019 The Marxism of the First International

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Karl Korsch 1924

The Marxism of the First International

Written: by Karl Korsch in 1924;

Source:Marxism and Philosophy. Karl Korsch, translated and with

an Introduction by Fred Halliday, Monthly Review ress, 19!";

Transcribed: by #ndy $lunden%or &ar'ists(or), 2""4(

*n 2+ e-te&ber 1+.4 it was decided at an international &eetin) o%

wor/ers in 0ondon to %ound the International or/in)&ens #ssociation(

*n 23 uly 1+.!, Karl Mar' wrote the -re%ace to the %irst edition o% the

%irst volu&e o% 5a-ital( ithin one sin)le -eriod o% history, in the 1+."s,

both as-ects o% Mar'is& attained their %ull reali6ation: the new

autono&ous science o% the wor/in) class attained its develo-ed theoretical

%or& in literature at the sa&e ti&e as the new autono&ous &ove&ent o%

the -roletariat achieved its -ractical %or& in history( 7he 8silent %i)ure on

the -lat%or& o% t Martins Hall who 8-resented the er&an wor/er

ccarius to the %oundin) con%erence o% the International or/in)&ens

#ssociation, also -resented the 8real %orces o% the inci-ient world

-roletarian &ove&ent with their theoretical e'-ression which he hadevolved a%ter enor&ous intellectual labour(

7he e-och&a/in) event that initiated this new sta)e in the theory and

-ractice o% the wor/in) class &ove&ent was the #&erican 5ivil ar o%

1+.13( #%ter the %ailure o% the revolutions o% 1+4+, all the uro-ean

countries had under)one a -eriod o% un-aralleled econo&ic -ros-erity

which had sent the %orces o% reaction into a %ren6ied s-ate o% counter

revolutionary or)ies( 7he )reat econo&ic crisis o% 1+3! had -ut an end to

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econo&y o% the wor/in) class a)ainst the 8-olitical econo&y o% the

bour)eoisie( #t the sa&e ti&e the e&-loyers threatened to brin) in chea-

continental labour durin) these stru))les and there were in %act already

traces in so&e n)lish industries o% increased co&-etition %ro& er&an

wor/ers( 7his was a -ractical lesson to n)lish wor/ers o% the need to

have a uni%ied international trade union &ove&ent( 7he uro-ean

wor/in) class was also stron)ly in%luenced by the do&estic and %orei)n

-olicies o% $ona-artist social i&-erialis& in France, by the liberation

&ove&ent in Italy and by the abolition o% ser%do& in Russia in 1+.1( $ut

it was the )reat worldhistorical event o% a %ouryear 5ivil ar between,

the >orthern #&erican states and the slaveownin) states o% the outh

which was able to -roduce the )reat u-sur)e in -roletarian class

consciousness out o% which there e&er)ed the uro-ean -roletariats %irstinternational class or)ani6ation( It was the 5ivil ar which co&bined the

enor&ous -olitical i&-ortance o% 8a noble stru))le %or the liberation o% an

enslaved race with a dee- econo&ic e%%ect on the wor/in) and livin)

conditions o% the n)lish and French wor/in) classes( It is only

su-er%icially that the olish risin) o% 1+.? can be seen as the occasion %or

the %oundin) o% the International in 1+.4( 7he uro-ean -roletariat were

%ar &ore in%luenced by the -ractical econo&ic %act o% the #&erican 5ivil

ar, as a result o% which n)lish i&-orts o% cotton %ell %ro& 114"(.

&illion lbs in 1+." to ?"9(? &illion lbs in 1+.2( 7his &eant that by

*ctober 1+.2, ."(? -er cent o% the s-indles and 3 + -er cent o% the loo&s

in the n)lish te'tile centres were idle, and the n)lish and French te'tile

wor/ers were under)oin) &ass une&-loy&ent and illness %ro& hun)er

and &isery( @urin) this -eriod the n)lish wor/in) class, under the heavy

-ressure o% these econo&ic develo-&ents, also wa)ed an ener)etic and

heroic resistance a)ainst the n)lish )overn&ents inclination to intervene

in the 5ivil ar on the side o% the slaveownin) states( 7hese -ractical

contradictions within their own situation and actions tau)ht the& the%unda&entals o% the 8-olitical econo&y o% the wor/in) class which %ound

its or)ani6ational and theoretical e'-ression in the %oundin) o% the

International and in Mar's 5a-ital( Mar', in the introduction to the %irst

volu&e o% 5a-ital, -ointed out the decisive i&-ortance o% the #&erican

5ivil ar in unshac/lin) a really international revolutionary -roletarian

&ove&ent that would swee- the whole o% uro-e alon) with it( 80et us

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not deceive ourselves about this he warns those readers o% his wor/ on

the uro-ean continent who &i)ht be inclined to see in 5a-ital only the

history and theory o% ca-italist relations o% -roduction in one -articular

country: 8#s in the ei)hteenth century, the #&erican ar o%

Inde-endence sounded the tocsin %or the uro-ean &iddle class, so in the

nineteenth century, the #&erican 5ivil ar has sounded it %or the

uro-ean wor/in) class( In n)land the -ro)ress o% social disinte)ration

is -al-able( hen it has reached a certain -oint, it &ust have an e%%ect on

the continent(

7he #&erican 5ivil ar o% 1+.13 as the 8tocsin %or the uro-ean

wor/in) classA In this e'-ression we can see the revived revolutionary

enthusias& o% the 1+."s( #t last, a%ter %i%teen years o% de&orali6ation and

lac/ o% -artici-ation by the &asses, the revival o% the wor/in) class was

visible all at once in n)land, France, er&any and Italy( 7his was

already clear %ro& theInaugural Address o% 1+.4, which Mar' wrote as

the ro)ra&&e o% the new international class or)ani6ation and which was

unani&ously ado-ted with )reat enthusias& by the eneral 5o&&ittee o%

the International( It cul&inates in the -assa)e statin) that theseizure of

political power is the &aBor tas/ which the wor/in) class now %aces and is

the ai& o% the newly %ounded international class or)ani6ation o% the

uro-ean -roletariat( 7his thesis is concretely develo-ed in the de&andthat the wor/in) class in the di%%erent countries &ust also -rove its

%raternal coo-eration by -reventin)foreign policy %ro& 8-layin) on

national -reBudices and sCuanderin) the -eo-les )oods and blood in

-redatory wars, as did al&erstons -olicy towards the #&erican 5ivil

ar and the olish Risin), and the -olicies o% $ona-artist France and o%

56arist Russia( For this -ur-ose the wor/in) class should 8&aster the

&ysteries o% international -olitics, watch the di-lo&atic actions o% their

)overn&ents and counter the&, i% necessary, by all the &eans at their

dis-osal(D

It re&ained %or the 8Mar'ists o% the econd International, %or Messrs

Kauts/y, Hil%erdin) and 5o(, to %alsi%y these e'-licit %or&ulations o% the

revolutionary -ractice and theory o% the Marxism of the First

International, and to ar)ue that Karl Mar', the revolutionary o% 1+4+, had

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&atured to &anhood in the subseCuent %i%ty years, and had been

8converted to a -olitical 8theory o% relativity based on re%or&s 8within

the ca-italist state( *n this basis they contrasted the 8-er%ected and

develo-ed Mar'is& o% the 1+."s which was 8also a--licable to non

revolutionary -eriods to the 8-ri&itive Mar'is& o% their early wor/s,

which Mar' and n)els -roduced in the -eriod %ro& their twenties to the

revolution o% 1+4+ and its a%ter&ath in 1+493",

the marxism of the first international

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