This book analyzes how the Second International reacted to international diplomatic crises and what was the attitude of French, German and Italian socialists between 1889 and 1915, the year in which Italy entered the World War. This book shows that the Second International became over the years more and more involved in the fight against war and learnt to respond to situations of diplomatic crisis. An example of this is the fact that its last congress before the outbreak of the First World War, the Basel Congress of 1912, was nothing less than a great international socialist demonstration of opposition to war. However, the fact that France, Germany or Italy were involved in a diplomatic crisis hindered the International's ability to respond effectively to it. For all these factors, the attitude of the International is very different from one crisis to another.

Offers a new contribution to the English-speaking debates on socialism, internationalism and nationalism in Europe Highlights non-anglophone (mainly French and Italian) scholarship Provides a methodologically rich transnational and comparative approach

Autorentext

Elisa Marcobelli is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Picardie-Jules Verne, France. In 2015 she defended a doctoral thesis at the EHESS in Paris, France, and at the FU in Berlin, Germany. She is a specialist of international socialism and of the French, German and Italian socialist parties, as well as of the history of the First World War. She has published, among others, La France de 1914 était-elle antimilitariste? (2013) and L'Internationalisme a l'épreuve des crises (2019). She is a member of the international research group on socialism EuroSoc, the Société d'études jaurésiennes and the editorial board of the review Cahiers Jaurès.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. Creating a Sense of Community: the II International between 1889 and 1900.- 3. "Doppelkrise" and Shy Reactions.- 4. Two-Speed Reactions.- 5. Commitment Against the War.- 6. Internationalism in Crisis?.- 7. Conclusion.