After Marx, Before Lenin: Marxism and Socialist Working-Class Parties in Europe, 1884-1914

The 30 years preceding World War I were critical for the development of European workers’ parties. When Marx died in 1883, only Germany had a viable working-class movement; by 1914 most central and western European countries had large and growing workers’ parties with leaders committed both to what they understood as Marx’s political ideas and to full participation in respresentative politics.