The Foundation of Socialist Political Parties in European and American Countries

A number of socialist workers’ political parties or groups established in European and American countries in the 1870s and1880s.

The in-depth development of the world workers’ movement and the wide spread of Marxism have created conditions for the establishment of socialist political parties in European and American countries. In European and American countries, a number of socialist and workers’ political parties or groups were established during the 1870–1880s. The main political parties and groups were: Portuguese Socialist Party (1875), Danish Social Democratic Union (1876), Socialist Workers’ Party of America (1876), Czech Social Democratic Party (1878), Belgian Workers’ Party (1885), French Workers’ Party (1879), Socialist Labor Party of Spain (1879), Hungarian National Workers’ Party (1880), British Social Democratic Union (1881), Social Democratic Union of the Netherlands (1882), Italian Workers’ Party (1882), Polish Proletarian Party (1882), Russian Society for the Emancipation of Labor (1883), Norwegian Workers’ Party (1887), Social-Democratic Party of Austria (1888), Social Democratic Party of Sweden (1889), Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (1889).

The development of socialist parties from one country to many is the crystallization of the wide spread of Marxism, a hallmark of the deep development of the international workers' movement, and closely related to the great efforts of Marx and Engels to create working-class political parties over a long period of time. After the establishment of socialist political parties in European and American countries, they played an active role in disseminating Marxism and pushing the workers’ movement towards the path of independent development.