Under the influence of an Italian and a Frenchmen. Fanelli and Lafargue at the foundation of the International in Spain

Abstract

An organised workers’ movement took root in Spain in the wake of the 1868 revolution. The International arrived in Spain through Bakunin’s envoy, Giuseppe Fanelli, who brought with him the ideas of the International, founded in 1864, and of the Alliance of Socialist Democracy. Two years later, Paul Lafargue, Marx’s son-in-law, arrived in Spain fleeing the repression against the Paris Commune. Both had a strong ideological and organisational influence on the Spanish workers’ movement. They were instrumental in it developing its own identity and in its initial splits. The past experiences of both figures in their own countries (Italy and France, respectively) were useful to the Spanish workers, as a reflection. Although Fanelli is a lesser known figure, Lafargue exercised an enormous influence on the Spanish workers’ movement and later became one of the leading figures of French and international Socialism.