Before Baku: The Second International and the Debate on Race and Colonialism

The chapter reconstructs a debate on colonialism, imperialism, and race that took place between 1896 and 1914 in the Second International. Using minutes from the congresses of the Second International and writings from selected leaders who were prominent in the debate (including Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Kautsky, Eduard Bernstein, Ernest Belfort Bax, Henry Hyndman, and Henri van Kol), the chapter argues that two positions confronted one another in the International. Both groups claimed the legacy of Marx and Engels for themselves; both used social evolutionist language and concepts to frame their stance. However, while the first group saw colonialism as an inevitable midway step favouring the spread of capitalism and the eventual victory of socialism, the second group rejected the idea of a monolinear path towards socialism and explored the possibility that different societies would follow different paths towards socialism. This debate, cut short by the collapse of the organization in 1914, laid the foundations upon which the Third International built its anti-colonial position.