Socialist Worker's Party (Midrasia)
Socialist Worker's Party Partit Socialiste Obriers | |
|---|---|
| Founder | Ricarde Esquerra Pere Espases |
| Founded | 3 January 1846 |
| Dissolved | 1865 |
| Succeeded by | Communist Party of Midrasia Social Democratic Party |
| Ideology | Democratic Socialism Centrist Marxism |
| Political position | Left-wing |
| Colours | Brown |
| Election symbol | |
| PSO | |
The Socialist Worker's Party (Midrasian: Partit Socialiste Obriers) was a democratic socialist political party in Midrasia active between 1846 and 1865. The party was formed by trade unionists Ricarde Esquerra and Pere Espases with the party being an avenue for advancing the cause for socialist reform. The party was able to amass considerable support, gaining 5 seats within the Public Assembly during the 1847 election. By 1863 the party held 35 seats, making it a significant parliamentary force. However, following a number of Marxist inspired terrorist incidents across the country the party was banned and identified as a terrorist organisation. The ban on openly Socialist political parties would not be lifted until 1881 leading to the formation of the Social Democratic Party.
History
The party was formed following the meeting of a number of trade unions in Lotrič in 1846. Throughout the mid-nineteenth century, there was a growing concern about the levels of working-class representation within parliament. With the political sphere dominated by a liberal-conservative status-quo of the Chartist and Conservative parties, the newly emerging socialist ideology gained a considerable following within Midrasia, particularly among the country's few trade unions and guilds. The creation of a political party was believed to be a necessary step in furthering the cause of socialist revolution in Midrasia.
At its first election in 1847, the party was able to gain 5 seats within the Public Assembly, immediately gaining the ire of both the Chartists and Conservatives. PSO MPs were seen as rowdy, boisterous, and not at all in tune with the traditions and etiquette of parliament, leading to attempts by MPs to expel the PSO for breaking parliamentary codes. Nevertheless, the gains by the PSO were not unnoticed by the traditional parties, leading Conservative leader Antoine d'Erimar to promote an agenda based on widening the voter franchise and improving worker conditions. Nevertheless, the PSO continued its rise, gaining 7 seats in 1851. By 1863 the party held 35 seats, the most in the entirety of its electoral history.
First Socialist international
The Socialist Worker's Party played a major role in the founding of the First Socialist International in Lotrič in 1864, a major factor in the decision to ban the party the following year. The congress saw the meeting of various trade unionists, socialist politicians, and theorists. The meeting called for the development of an international union of the working class to bring about social reform and justice through political and violent means if necessary.
The party's founder Ricarde Esquerra was placed on the executive committee of the organisation and would later go on to play a major role in the Socialist International in the coming years. Ultimately the First International laid the basis for the later publication of the Communist Manifesto and the development of a truly global socialist movement.
Crackdown
Throughout the mid-nineteenth century, the Midrasian government had been dealing with a number of small-scale terrorist incidents in major cities, believed to be the work of socialist and anarchist radicals. Whilst these incidents led to very few deaths and usually only damage to factory complexes, much of the blame was placed on the PSO. The rising vote share of the PSO combined with the formation of a Socialist International threatened the existing political status-quo, leading Consul Georges Vasquen to place a ban on any openly Socialist political organisations or trade unions.
Successors
Following the banning of the party in 1868 many of its members went underground, attempting to bring about socialist reform through violent revolution. In the following years the number of far-left terror attacks rose, a factor exploited by Veleaz during the Perpignan War. Most of the prominent members of the PSO such as Pere Espases were arrested, though a few such as Ricarde Esquerra fled into political exile. The ban on socialist political parties did not stop socialists from running for political office however. In the following decades socialist campaigners simply ran as independent candidates within elections. Within the 1870 election Independent Socialist candidates gained 38 seats, forming a short-lived government with the Radical Party. By 1872 Independent Socialists held 42 seats, retaining this number within the following election.
In 1881 due to growing pressures and the inability to stop socialist candidates from competing, the ban was lifted leading to the development of the Social Democratic Party. Most Independent socialist elected to join the PSD, though a few elected to join the Radicals. A further group dissatisfied with the democratic intentions of the PSD chose to create a new party under the label of the Communist Party of Midrasia which committed itself to violent Marxist revolution.