Second International Founded

1889

In Paris, socialist and labor parties from twenty countries founded the Second International, uniting European social democracy. They set May Day as international workers' day, in memory of the Haymarket martyrs, and committed themselves - on paper - to opposing imperialist war. The commitment would evaporate in August 1914. When war came, socialist parties in every belligerent nation voted for war credits, and the International collapsed into national loyalties.