Federation of the Socialist Workers of France

France's first socialist party, the Federation of the Socialist Workers of France ("Fédération des travailleurs socialistes de France "or FTSF), was founded in 1879. It was characterised as "possibilist" because it promoted gradual reforms.

Formation

After the failure of the Paris commune (1871), French socialism was beheaded. Its leaders were dead or exiled. In 1879, during the Marseille Congress, workers' associations created the FTSF. However, three years later, Jules Guesde and Paul Lafargue (the son-in-law of Karl Marx) left the federation, which they considered too moderate, and founded the French Workers' Party ("Parti ouvrier français" or POF). The FTSF, led by Paul Brousse, was defined as "possibilist" because it advocated gradual reforms, whereas the POF promoted Marxism.

In the same time, Edouard Vaillant and the heirs of Louis Auguste Blanqui founded the Central Revolutionary Committee ("Comité révolutionnaire central" or CRC), which represented the French revolutionary tradition.

Electoralism and split

In the 1880s, the Socialists knew their first electoral success, conquering some municipalities. Jean Allemane and some FTSF members criticized the focus on electoral goals. In 1890, they split and created the Revolutionary Socialist Workers' Party ("Parti ouvrier socialiste révolutionnaire" or POSR), which advocated the revolutionary "general strike". Additionally, some deputies identified as socialists without being members of any party. These mostly advocated moderation and reform.

End of the FTSF

In the 1890s, while the Dreyfus Affair divided the country, a debate opposed the Socialists organizations about the alliance with the other left-wing forces in the struggle for the defense of Alfred Dreyfus and against the nationalism and the clericalism. Contrary to Jean Jaurès, Jules Guesde thought the Socialists should not ally with groups which supported the "bourgeois democracy". In 1899, a debate raged among Socialist groups about the participation of Alexandre Millerand in Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau's cabinet, which included the Marquis de Gallifet, best know for having directed the bloody repression during the Paris Commune.

In 1902, the FTSF, the POSR and Jaurès's followers merged into the French Socialist Party. This one merged three years later with the Socialist Party of France of Guesde in the French Section of the Workers' International.

ee also

* French Section of the Workers' International 1905-1969
* French Socialist Party 1969-
* History of communism
* History of socialism
*History of the Left in France