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The movement of international socialism prior to World War I overcame internal disunity and external obstacles by developing a new style of political culture and communication centered on mass-based demonstration. This culture consisted of a diverse repertoire of activities such as public display, political symbolism, the popular press, the issuance of manifestos, massive antiwar rallies, and the convening of impressive political spectacles. As the largest international movement of its era, international socialism articulated a powerful indictment against the European imperialist and militaristic order. Claiming to represent all of humanity and to reconcile national and international identity, international socialism facilitated the expression of political dissent, the expansion of democratic citizenship and the spread of innovative techniques we now consider an essential part of modern political communication and culture. This interdisciplinary book touches upon several fields of scholarship including European Socialism; political communication; social movement; peace studies and World War I.--From publisher description

AbstractThis study of the action and motivation of Austrian socialist Friedrich Adler, who assassinated the Austrian Prime Minister Stürgkh during World War I, considers the possibility that an instance of targeted political violence could be a defensible means to further peace. Adler used the publicity of his act and subsequent trial to galvanize public opposition against World War I. Situating Adler's statements about the assassination within their historical context and moral psychologist James Rest's four‐component model of morality lends support to Adler's self‐professed contention that his deed is morally defensible. This insight complicates the widespread view within the peace studies literature of nonviolent action as the most effective tactic to bring about a just and peaceful society. Adler's moral peace activism, when framed as an unusual form of civil disobedience, permits tentative and surprising connections with the moral reasoning of renowned nonviolent peacemakers of the twentieth century like Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.

International socialism's campaign of peace on the eve of World War I mobilized up to one million European workers to protest against the insanity of a European bloodletting. Yet the skewed image of "all" Europeans rallying to their fatherland in a patriotic frenzy is alive and well. The knowledge of this expansive peace movement largely has been marginalized and its nature misunderstood or interpreted ideologically. This article revisits the peace crusade of international socialism on the eve of World War I so that its size, complexity, and accomplishments can be appreciated fully. Instead of emphasizing the divisions and weaknesses of the movement—the conventional approach—the article attempts to describe and to explain how European socialist parties were able to stitch together an expansive international peace movement in spite of ideological, legal, and logistical challenges. The article starts with a brief overview of the peace activism of the Second International from 1889 to 1912 and then focuses on the spectacular antiwar campaign of "War against War!" and its concomitant International Socialist Congress of Basle in the autumn of 1912 to demonstrate three points: first, to shed new light on the peace movement of international socialism; second, to explain how the 1912 antiwar campaign informed socialist peace strategies on the eve of World War I (and thereby to dispel the myth of "war celebration" among Europe's working classes); and finally, to consider briefly the importance of this history for peace activists of today.