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The political slogan "Workers of the world, unite!" is one of the rallying cries from The Communist Manifesto (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (German: Proletarier aller Länder, vereinigt Euch!, literally 'Proletarians of all countries, unite!', but soon popularised in English as "Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!").

A variation of this phrase ("Workers of all lands, unite") is also inscribed on Marx's tombstone. The essence of the slogan is that members of the working classes throughout the world should cooperate to defeat capitalism and achieve victory in the class conflict.

Overview

Five years before The Communist Manifesto, this phrase appeared in the 1843 book The Workers' Union by Flora Tristan.

The International Workingmen's Association, described by Engels as "the first international movement of the working class" was persuaded by Engels to change its motto from the League of the Just's "all men are brothers" to "working men of all countries, unite!". It reflected Marx's and Engels' view of proletarian internationalism.

The phrase has overlapping meanings: first, that workers should unite in unions to better push for their demands such as workplace pay and conditions; secondly, that workers should see beyond their various craft unions and unite against the capitalist system; and thirdly, workers of different countries have more in common with each other than workers and employers of the same country.

The phrase was used by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in their publications and songs and was a mainstay on banners in May Day demonstrations. The IWW used it when opposing World War I in both the United States and Australia.

The slogan was the Soviet Union's state motto (Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь!; Proletarii vsekh stran, soyedinyaytes'!) and it appeared in the State Emblem of the Soviet Union. It also appeared on 1919 Russian SFSR banknotes (in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian and Russian), on Soviet ruble coins from 1921 to 1934 and was the slogan of Soviet newspaper Pravda.

Some socialist and communist parties continue using it.

Variations

In the first Swedish translation of The Communist Manifesto, published in 1848, the translator Pehr Götrek substituted the slogan with Folkets röst, Guds röst! (i.e. Vox populi, vox Dei, or "The Voice of the People, the Voice of God"). However, later translations have included the original slogan.

The guiding motto of the 2nd Comintern congress in 1920, under Lenin's directive, was "Workers and oppressed peoples of all countries, unite!". This denoted the anti-colonialist agenda of the Comintern, and was seen as an attempt to unite racially-subjugated black people and the global proletariat in anti-imperialist struggle.

In other languages

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This slogan was used by several socialist states and communist parties as their official motto.

Motto of the Soviet Union

In each Soviet republic, the same motto was used in the local language.

Motto of other countries

Motto of communist parties

The English phrase and its variants (the variant "All power to the workers" is used by some parties such as the Communist Party of Australia) are used by communist parties in the English-speaking world. The list below does not include the mottos of communist parties of the above countries or in languages listed above.

See also

• Communist society
• From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs
• Labour movement
• Proletarian internationalism
• Social patriotism
• World communism
• World revolution
• Emblem of the Soviet Union

Notes

1. The final paragraph of The Communist Manifesto was translated by Samuel Moore as follows: "The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. WORKING MEN OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE!". This translation is the authorized translation by Marx and Engels and is the most commonly used version in English.
2. This is not the usual modern Chinese translation of the slogan. The most common one nowadays is 全世界無産者，聯合起來！ (Quánshìjiè wúchǎnzhě, liánhé qǐlái!)

1. Literally "Workers of all countries and oppressed people, unite!

References

1. Gabrijela Kišiček; Igor Ž. Žagar (3 October 2013). What Do We Know About the World?: Rhetorical and Argumentative Perspectives. University of Windsor. p. 471. ISBN 978-0-920233-70-2. One of the most famous rallying cries of communism Workers of the world, unite!
2. Simon Levis Sullam (21 October 2015). Giuseppe Mazzini and the Origins of Fascism. Palgrave Macmillan US. p. 91. ISBN 978-1-137-51459-2. only a few years later, would give the famous rallying cry Workers of t...
3. Edward R. Kantowicz (1999). The Rage of Nations. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-8028-4455-2. titled The Communist Manifesto, which contained the famous rallying cry: "Workers of the w...
4. Ronald Niezen (15 April 2008). A World Beyond Difference: Cultural Identity in the Age of Globalization. John Wiley & Sons. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-4051-3710-2. The famous rallying cry from The Communist Manifesto, "workers of the world unite!" was meant only to hasten the
5. ^ "Translator's note to the Communist Manifesto". Marxists.org. Marxist Internet Archive. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
6. Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (2002). Jones, Gareth Stedman (ed.). The Communist Manifesto (New ed.). London: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-140-44757-6.
7. Wheen, Francis (2002). "Introduction". Karl Marx: A Life. New York: Norton.
8. Ayres, Robert U. (2023). The history and future of economics. Cham: Springer. ISBN 978-3-031-26208-1.
9. Marie M. Collins and Sylvie Weil-Sayre (1973). "Flora Tristan: Forgotten Feminist and Socialist". Nineteenth-Century French Studies. 1 (4): 229–234. JSTOR 23535978.
10. Lucia Pradella in 'The Elgar Companion to Marxist Economics.' Edited by Ben fine and Alfredo Saad-Filho, 2012, p.178.
11. Wiktionary, entry for "Workers of the World"
12. Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1848). "Manifesto of the Communist Party". Translated by Moore, Samuel. Zodiac; Baggins, Brian; Blunden, Andy.
13. Grim Feinberg, Joseph (July–August 2005). "The Gifts of the IWW". Against the Current (117). Solidarity. Archived from the original on 2018-03-26.
14. ^ Melvyn Dubofsky, We Shall Be All, Quadrangle Books, 1969.
15. Mick Armstrong, "The Industrial Workers of the World," Socialist Alternative, June 2005.
16. Anderson, Joel. "RUSSIAN COINS AND CURRENCY". Interesting World Coins.
17. "Communist States: Russia and China". www.coinlands.com. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
18. Heritage, Timothy (4 May 2012). "Russia's Pravda hits 100, still urging workers to unite". Reuters. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
19. Thurston, Robert W.; Bonwetsch, Bernd (2000). The People's War: Responses to World War II in the Soviet Union (illustrated ed.). University of Illinois Press. p. 64. ISBN 9780252026003. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
20. Götrek, Pehr (1848). Kommunismens röst : förklaring af det kommunistiska partiet, offentliggjord i februari 1848. Pogo Press. ISBN 91-7386-018-2.. libris 7639421. reprint of libris 2683080.
21. ^ Pateman, Joe (2 January 2020). "V. I. Lenin on the 'Black Question'". Critique. 48 (1): 77–93. doi:10.1080/03017605.2019.1706786. ISSN 0301-7605. S2CID 213348492. Retrieved 9 November 2020.

External links

• Manifesto of the Communist Party by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Translated by Samuel Moore in cooperation with Frederick Engels, 1888.
  • Chapter 4 of The Communist Manifesto.
• Collection of Quotes by Karl Marx Archived 2022-06-29 at the Wayback Machine

• 1840s neologisms
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