What is Internationalism? The Dream of a Global Working Class (S1E6)

Socialism didn’t begin as a national project—it began as a wager that workers could unite across borders. In this episode, we trace the birth of internationalism: the idea that the working class, wherever it lives, shares a common struggle—and a common enemy.We open in London, September 28, 1864, inside St. Martin’s Hall, where English trade unionists and French artisans gathered for what was supposed to be a simple gesture of solidarity. By nightfall, it had become something else entirely: the founding moment of the International Workingmen’s Association—the First International. A quiet Karl Marx sat in the pews, soon to draft the documents that would give this new movement its voice.From there, we follow internationalism’s roots back through the aftershocks of 1848 and the age of exile—through Garibaldi’s “liberty without borders,” the multinational currents of romantic nationalism, and the growing disillusionment with bourgeois betrayal. Then we step into the First International itself: a messy, pluralistic federation of reformers and revolutionaries, trade unionists and mutualists, Marxists and anarchists—united only by the shared conviction that solidarity must cross frontiers.As the organization surges in the late 1860s, its promise collides with its contradictions. Marx and Bakunin, surprisingly aligned on collectivism, began to diverge on the question that would fracture the socialist movement for generations: do you seize the state—or abolish it? And in the coalfields of Belgium, theory meets gunfire, as strikes and massacres reveal both the power—and peril—of international working-class coordination.By 1870, “the International” had become a symbol feared by rulers and cherished by workers. But then history would accelerate when war, siege, and hunger gripped Paris, launching a revolution that would become socialism’s most enduring myth and most contested proof.This is Season One—The Origins of Socialism: Paris and the Making of Modern RevolutionNext: Paris 1871: The Birth of the CommuneWritten and produced by Matt Payne.Support, Subscribe, Read on Substack: https://ismhistorypodcast.substack.com/Original Musical Compositions by Ian Payne: https://www.jamesianpayne.com/Support the Show: PayPalContact: [email protected] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ismhistorypodcast.substack.com