Labour and Socialist International Archives

Period (1917-) 1923-1946 (-1958)
Total size   12.88 m.
Consultation Not restricted
User restriction  Only microfilms can be consulted

History

Founded in 1923 by the member parties of the Labour and Socialist International (LSI, 1921-1923) and the International Working Union of Socialist Parties (IWUSP) at the Hamburg International Socialist Congress; the Sozialistische Arbeiter-Internationale/Labour and Socialist International (SAI/LSI) reunited the social democratic parties with the exception of the left wing of the pre-war International now organized in the COMINTERN; as a reaction to the collapse of the Second International in 1914 the members gave up a part of their autonomy, recognizing the SAI's decisions in international questions as binding on all member parties; its triennial congresses resolved on issues such as peace and international disarmament, the colonial question, democratization of the League of Nations and the struggle against fascism; reactions of the member parties to the latter problem, as well as their response to the popular front politics of the communists in the 1930s, differed widely and paralyzed the SAI on the eve of the Second World War; practically ceased to function, when its dominant secretary Friedrich Adler resigned in 1939; formally liquidated in 1946 and succeeded by the Socialist International (SI) in 1951; published Internationale Information.

Content

Documents relating to congresses 1923, 1925, 1928, 1931 and to meetings of the Executive, the Bureau and the Administrative Committee; circulars 1924-1939; financial documents 1923-1939; files concerning commissions and conferences on special issues, mainly political 1923-1937; files on a report on the period 1931-1936/1937 with questionnaires filled out by member parties 1923-1926, 1930, 1937; files on political questions and historical themes; correspondence with, and documents on member parties, other organizations and persons in different countries (all over the world, but with emphasis on Europe) and international organizations; files on the staff and the offices in London, Zurich and Brussels; documents relating to publications of the SAI and to its liquidation in 1946; printed material with some documents relating to the political situation in various countries and to international communism 1917-1932, 1938-1939; some papers of Friedrich Adler, including some drafts of articles and telegrams of congratulation on his fiftieth birthday.

Records of the women's organization within the SAI: documents on International Women's Conferences of the SAI 1923, 1925, 1928, 1931; circulars of and files on the International Women's Committee 1926-1940; correspondence of its secretariat 1926-1939; documents on International Study Weeks 1936, 1939.

Processing information

Inventory made by J.R. van der Leeuw, L.E.G. Schwidder and A.H. van der Horst in 1993

Secondary creator

Sozialistische Arbeiter-Internationale (SAI)

Alternate Form of Material

116 safety microfilms (2003)