Sixth Amsterdam Congress of the Second International in 1904

Congress of the Second International, held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from 14 to 20 August 1904. It was attended by 476 delegates from 40 workers' and socialist organizations in 24 countries. One of the main items on the agenda was the question of “international principles of socialist tactics”. The Bernstein revisionists sought to tamper with the revolutionary principles of Marxism and to make a fuss about socialist tactics, making the fundamental line of the socialist parties and the workers' movement in all countries. Two proposals were put forward by the Congress during the discussion of this question: one by the French delegate, Guesde, which made the resolution of the Dresden Congress of the Social Democratic Party of Germany against revisionism the resolution of this International Congress; and a motion jointly put forward by the Belgian delegate, Vandervelde, and the Austrian delegate, Adler, which avoided the question of opposition to revisionism at all. The opportunists, such as Jaurès and Adler, vigorously opposed the words on revisionism in the Guesde proposal. In the committee vote, the Gide proposal was adopted and submitted to the Congress for discussion. During the discussion, a heated debate developed between the Left and the Right, in which Bebel, Luxemburg and others denounced the “ministerialism” of Jaurès, Anseele and others as a betrayal of the fundamental proletarian standpoint, and exposed their revisionist behavior of selling out the principles of the revolution under the pretext of a change of tactics. The Congress adopted the Guesde proposal by a vote of 25:5 and rejected the Vandervelde-Adler proposal by a vote of 25:21. In its resolutions, the Congress clearly raised the question of opposition to revisionism and the substitution of a policy of concessions to the existing social system for a policy of conquest of political power. However, the congress resolution, in addressing primarily the question of party unity raised by the French socialist movement, failed to take care to draw a clear line with revisionism. When the two socialist parties in France, Parti socialiste de France (formed in 1901) led by the Guesdeists, and Parti socialiste français (formed in 1902) led by Jaurès, effected a merger in in 1905, they failed to adhere to the principles of Marxism, which essentially resulted in a surrender to revisionism.

In discussing the question of the Social Democratic Party's colonial policy, the relevant motion adopted by the Congress officially condemned the colonial policy of imperialism and the exploitation of weak and small nations, but it only called for the improvement of the living conditions of the colonized people and the introduction of a certain degree of political freedom without opposing the colonialism of imperialism, reflecting the reformist and great-power chauvinist ideology at work within the parties of the Second International in various countries. The Congress also discussed the question of general strike. The Bernsteinite elements held that parliamentary struggle and the trade union movement were the only correct paths, shouting ‘general strike is no weapon’, and caused the Congress to pass a resolution denying general strikes. Although it also acknowledged the possibility of general strikes, it deliberately avoided the connection between strikes and armed uprisings. The Congress also discussed the question of the First of May, but its resolution remained ambiguous and open to interpretation.

Apart from condemning revisionism in principle with regard to the strategy of the Social Democratic Party, the Congress achieved no substantive results. Judging from the resolutions adopted and the discussions at the congress, it reflected the deepening of internal disputes and the trend of the Second International towards degeneration into revisionism.