The International Working Men's Association, 1872

Resolution on the establishment of working-class parties

Adopted by the Hague Congress as Article 7 of the General Statutes, September 1872;

Drafted: in July 1872;

Against the collective power of the propertied
classes the working class cannot act, as a class, except by constituting
itself into a political party, distinct from, and opposed to, all old parties
formed by the propertied classes.

This constitution of the working class into a political party
is indispensable in order to insure the triumph of the social revolution
and its ultimate end -- the abolition of classes.

The combination of forces which the working class has already
effected by its economical struggles ought at the same time to serve as
a lever for its struggles against the political power of landlords and
capitalists.

The lords of the land and the lords of capital will always use
their political privileges for the defense and perpetuation of their economical
monopolies and for enslaving labor. To conquer political power has therefore
become the great duty of the working classes.