The Internationale, or L'Internationale with its original French title, has remained one of the most important and widespread left-wing anthems since its creation close to 150 years ago. If you have not heard the song this video below will be helpful:
This is just one of the several versions of the song in English alone. Originating as a French song, L'Internationale has been translated into languages across the world ranging from Czech to Esperanto to Zulu to Bengali reflecting the international ideal of the socialist movement. Especially among Marxists and anarchists, although there are exceptions, there has been a desire to build an international movement; borders were, and still argued to be, another way to exploit the working-class. It can be argued that internationalism is coded into the DNA of modern socialism - Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and Mikhail Bakunin were all political exiles so had to rely on international support. L'Internationale emerged as part of this socialist internationalism.
The Origins of the Song
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| Eugene Pottier |
The song was written by French socialist Eugene Pottier during the aftermath of the ill-fated Paris Commune of 1871. Following defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, and the declaration of the newly founded German Empire in the Palace of Versailles, French emperor Louis Napoleon, (the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte), fled and a shaky Third Republic was formed. In Paris, and a few other cities, the working-classes seized control and formed communes with the intention of radically changing society. Despite being called the 'Paris Commune' it always had an international trend to it - many of its leaders were Polish and Russian exiles, and workers from Britain, Germany, and Algeria helped construct the commune. However, the Paris Commune was brutally crushed by the French army, and it caused a rift in the first attempt to create an international movement of socialist - the First International. To summarise this rift, bear in mind this is a very simplified explanation, the followers of Karl Marx argued that it failed as the Commune was to ready to remove the state, while the followers of Mikhail Bakunin argued that they had left too much of the state intact which caused its failure. This rift has never been healed, and is why we have two main branches of socialist thought: Marxism and anarchism. It was this background that Pottier wrote the song. Pottier was a member of both the Commune and the Internationale, and his song became its anthem until it was dissolved in 1876.
Debout, les damnés de la terreDebout, les forçats de la faimLa raison tonne en son cratèreC'est l'éruption de la finDu passé faisons table raseFoule esclave, debout, deboutLe monde va changer de baseNous ne sommes rien, soyons toutChorusC'est la lutte finaleGroupons-nous, et demainL'InternationaleSera le genre humain.Il n'est pas de sauveurs suprêmesNi Dieu, ni César, ni tribunProducteurs, sauvons-nous nous-mêmesDécrétons le salut communPour que le voleur rende gorgePour tirer l'esprit du cachotSoufflons nous-mêmes notre forgeBattons le fer quand il est chaud.ChorusL'État comprime et la loi tricheL'impôt saigne le malheureuxNul devoir ne s'impose au richeLe droit du pauvre est un mot creuxC'est assez, languir en tutelleL'égalité veut d'autres loisPas de droits sans devoirs dit-elleÉgaux, pas de devoirs sans droits.ChorusHideux dans leur apothéoseLes rois de la mine et du railOnt-ils jamais fait autre choseQue dévaliser le travail ?Dans les coffres-forts de la bandeCe qu'il a créé s'est fonduEn décrétant qu'on le lui rendeLe peuple ne veut que son dû.ChorusLes rois nous saoulaient de fuméesPaix entre nous, guerre aux tyransAppliquons la grève aux arméesCrosse en l'air, et rompons les rangsS'ils s'obstinent, ces cannibalesÀ faire de nous des hérosIls sauront bientôt que nos ballesSont pour nos propres généraux.ChorusOuvriers, paysans, nous sommesLe grand parti des travailleursLa terre n'appartient qu'aux hommesL'oisif ira loger ailleursCombien de nos chairs se repaissentMais si les corbeaux, les vautoursUn de ces matins disparaissentLe soleil brillera toujours.Chorus
As Pottier became exiled in New York following the aftermath of the Paris Commune he translated it into English:
Arise, ye workers from your slumber,
Arise, ye prisoners of want.
For reason in revolt now thunders,
and at last ends the age of cant!
Away with all your superstitions,
Servile masses, arise, arise!
We'll change henceforth the old tradition,
And spurn the dust to win the prize!
Chorus
So comrades, come rally,
And the last fight let us face.
The Internationale
Unites the human race.
No more deluded by reaction,
On tyrants only we'll make war!
The soldiers too will take strike action,
They'll break ranks and fight no more!
And if those cannibals keep trying,
To sacrifice us to their pride,
They soon shall hear the bullets flying,
We'll shoot the generals on our own side.
Chorus
No saviour from on high delivers,
No faith have we in prince or peer.
Our own right hand the chains must shiver,
Chains of hatred, greed and fear.
E'er the thieves will out with their booty,
And to all give a happier lot.
Each at his forge must do their duty,
And we'll strike the iron while it's hot.
Chorus
The tune we now sing L'Internationale to now was not the original tune. Instead, it was originally sang to the tune of the famous anthem of the French Revolution, La Marseillaise. Even after L'Internationale became popular, La Marseillaise was still sung - in his account of the Russian Revolution Leon Trotsky argued that Russian workers sang both. In 1888 Belgian socialist Pierre De Geyter changed the tune to the one we now know, although the lateness of his evolution of the song would explain why Russian workers sang both songs. Russia's isolation likely meant that De Geyter's update was not widely known by the time of the outbreak of revolution in 1905 and 1917.
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| Pierre De Geyter |
L'Internationale becomes International
After De Geyter updated the tune, and thanks to the arrival of an internationalist anarchist and Marxist labour movement, allowed the lyrics to become international. The United States got its own lyrics by Charles Hope Kerr, which became the established lyrics in the USA thanks to its inclusion into the Little Red Book released by the Industrial Workers of the World. In 1902 Arkady Kots made the first Russian translation, in 1910 Emil Luckhardt made the first German translation, 1923 Qu Qiubai made the first Mandarin translation, and during the last decades of British rule in India until the 1950s it was translated into Bengali, Malayalam, Assamese, and Urdu. Although new translations were also made for various reasons. To celebrate the fifty-fifth anniversary of the Paris Commune leftists in the Koumintang's army made a new Mandarin translation in 1926, and to honour the first decade of Maoist rule in China Shen Baoji made a third translation. Billy Bragg in 1989 controversially made a new English version, the one shown at the top of this post, as he thought the lyrics required updating - something other socialists like left-wing Labour politician Tony Benn disagreed with. Bragg's version still remains controversial as it does flow much better, but the lyrics are much less explicitly socialist compared to the original or Kerr's version.
One of Jiang Qing's operas
L'Internationale has had a long and varied history on the Left. Until 1944 it was the national anthem of the Soviet Union when it was replaced by the Hymn of the Soviet Union, possibly as Stalin hoped to use the hymn to further bolster his image. While states have tried to co-opt L'Internationale the masses used it themselves. During the Cultural Revolution in China the state played the song on the radio, but tried to silence it when the Red Guards and communes began using the song themselves. One of the key figures in the radical Shanghai Commune, Jiang Qing, regularly used the song in her operas which would be banned by the counter-revolutionary government under Deng Xiaoping which emerged in the post-Mao era. Similarly, the anti-state, but still left-wing, protesters during the 1953 Berlin Uprising, 1968 Prague Spring, and 1989 protests in China and East Germany all used the song. By using it they wished to show their own radicalism, and also protest the state claiming to be radical. Even now, the song remains a key protest song, and represents the long history of leftist internationalism, something deeply needed in a growing climate of intolerance.
Thank you for reading, and for other Left-Wing and the 'Other' history posts please see our list here. For other blog updates please see our Facebook or catch me on Twitter @LewisTwiby.
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