The International
La Internacional (L'Internationale in French) is the most iconic song of the labor movement. It is considered the official anthem of the workers of the entire world and of most socialist and communist parties, as well as some anarchist organizations. The original lyrics, in French, are by Eugène Pottier, and were written in 1871 within of his work Revolutionary Songs. In 1888 Pierre Degeyter put it to music on behalf of Gustave Delory, leader of the French Workers' Party in the city of Lille (France) for the repertoire of the party choir the Workers' Lyre (La Lyre des Travailleurs).
It was performed for the first time by the Workers' Lyre in the La Liberté tavern on rue de la Vignette in Lille. In 1889 it was adopted as the anthem of the Second International (now Socialist International) and the anthem of the USSR from its creation in 1922 until 1944.
History
On June 15, 1888, Gustave Delory, one of the organizers of the Workers' Lyre choir (La Lyre des Travailleurs) belonging to the French Workers' Party and who he would be mayor of Lille (a city in northern France in the Hauts-de-France region) and that he was interested in the choir expanding its repertoire of socialist and worker songs, he was attracted by the poem entitled The Internationale published in Eugène Pottier's book Revolutionary Songs and commissioned Pierre Degeyter, a member of the party, who had a good reputation as a composer, to set it to music, telling him to do something with a lively and captivating rhythm.
Pierre Degeyter was working at the time as an editor in the Fives-Lille workshops, and, with the only help of a harmonium, he set the poem of The Internationale to music in three days. After discussing it with his co-workers and making small modifications, he handed it over to La Lyre des Travailleurs for its premiere, which was held on July 23, 1888 by the Workers' Lyre at the La Liberté tavern. on rue de la Vignette de Lille in the popular Saint-Sauveur district for a meeting of the Newspaper Sellers Union Board. Its score was published in 1889, from which the 6,000 copies of the first and clandestine edition were printed. It was a complete success, first in Lille and then throughout France. On December 8, 1896 The Internationale was adopted as the official anthem of the revolutionaries. On December 8, 1899, it was adopted by all the French socialist organizations at the end of the First General Congress in Paris.
In 1892, the Second International popularized it and adopted it as an anthem. At the International Congress in Copenhagen on November 3, 1910, it became the anthem of all the workers of the world. In 1919 Lenin made it official in the Third International and it became the national anthem of the Soviet Union until on March 15, 1944 it was replaced by the one composed with music by Aleksandr Aleksandrov and lyrics by Sergei Mijalkov in collaboration with Gabriel El-Reguistan. According to Maurice Thorez in 1928, at the VI Congress of the Communist International held in Moscow, Pierre Degeyter himself personally directed, with tears in his eyes, the choir that performed the song.
In 1904, after being used for the Amsterdam Congress of the Second International, it became the anthem of the workers who wanted radical changes in the world. It is the anthem of most anarchist, Marxist, communist or socialist organizations.
Her lyrics have been translated into almost every language in the world and have been interpreted in almost every language. Its presence is important in countries with a socialist system, such as Cuba and North Korea. Different versions of the lyrics have been made in several languages and even in the same language.
In 1900 the Italian anarchist Sante Ferrini in the prison of Narni (Italy) heard the piece for the first time; he describes the event this way
The one who sang it, a prisoner of Bielle, had learned the hymn of Pottier in Paris [...] It is thus listening to this prisoner that, in this castle of famine, we must not leave only dead or, worse still, those living skeletons, for the first time that the political prisoners heard La Internacional.
On November 23, 1922, the Seine Court proclaimed Pierre Degeyter author of the music for The Internationale after a lawsuit between the brothers Adolphe and Pierre Degeyter. Previously, a ruling had been made in favor of Adolphe Degeyter, who in a letter to his brother dated April 26, 1915, acknowledged that he was not the author. [citation needed ]
The singing of La Internacional has been and is prohibited in various countries around the world as it is considered "anti-system" or "anti-social" and subversive. It is considered illegal due to its relationship with communist and anarchist organizations and the revolutionary ideas they defend.
The lyrics
In June 1871 Eugène Pottier, who was known as a singer, poet and goguettier (the gogueta is a French tradition of popular singing (in French goguette) in which the music of a well-known song with different lyrics is used) in the middle of the repression unleashed against the Paris Commune, he was mayor of the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, he wrote the poem that he included in his work Revolutionary Songs . The poem was dedicated to the glory of the International Workingmen's Association (AIT), the first supranational union of various politically divergent groups in the labor movement, which had been started by Karl Marx in 1864. Due to the fundamental conflict with the communists (around Karl Marx), anarchists (around Bakunin) were excluded from this organization, later also known as the First International, dissolved in 1876.
Historian Robert Brécy is of the opinion that: {{Quote|Pottier undoubtedly, like most chansonnier poets, had written his words with a seal in mind, probably La Marseillaise , which has the same cut, but did not specify it.
In 1883 Pottier submitted the poem to the "Goguette de la Lice chansonnière" where he won the silver medal. In that contest he coincided with the singer Gustave Nadaud, whom he had previously met in 1848, with whom he established a good relationship, Nadaud admired his poetic talent although he did not share his political ideology, he published in 1884 a collection of poems with about 50 poems de Pottier. This fact would give rise to the publication of the collection of poems in 1887, which included La internacional, "Revolutionary Songs" with a preface by Henri Rochefort.
The Internationale is dedicated to the master anarchist Gustave Lefrançais.
Lyrics from «The International»
La Internacional has versions in many languages, many of them are translations of the original lyrics in French, other adaptations, such as the version by the Spanish anarchists of the CNT.
There are notable variations in content between the different translations of the hymn, and some languages, such as Spanish or English, have two or more different versions. There are also variations in terms of length. All this due to the ideological differences of the different sectors of the labor movement.
The International expresses the need for the working class to fight to end oppression regardless of race or nationality. In Lenin's words:
Whatever the country in which a conscious worker prays, whatever the place for him to push his destiny, whatever his feeling of being a foreigner, deprived of language and friends, far from his homeland, can find comrades and friends thanks to the family song of La Internacional.
- Retazos en 64 lenguas de La Internacional
Lyrics from «The International»
| English Original in French | Spanish version |
|---|---|
| Debout! Debout ! les forçats de la faim ! La raison tonne en son cratère: C’est l’éruption de la fin. Du passé faisons table rase, Foule esclave, mustut! Le monde va changer de base: Nous ne sommes rien, soyons tout! Stribillo: (2 times followed but with different melody) C’est la lutte finale: Groupons-nous, et demain, L’Internationale Sera le genre humain. Il n’est pas de sauveurs suprêmes: Neither Dieu, nor Caesar, nor tribun, Producteurs, sauvons-nous nous-mêmes! Décrétons le salut commun! Pour que le voleur rende gorge, Pour tire l’esprit du cachot, Soufflons nous-mêmes notre forge, Battons le fer quand il est chaud ! Stribilly L’État comprim et la loi triche; L’Impôt saigne le malheureux; Nul devoir ne s’impose au riche; Le droit du pauvre est un mot creux. C’est assez languir en tutelle, L’Égalité veut d’autres lois; « Pas de droits sans devoirs, dit-elle « Égaux, pas de devoirs sans droits ! » Stribilly Hideux dans leur apothéose, Les rois de la mine et du rail Ont-ils jamais fait autre chose That devaliser will travail you? Dans les coffres-forts de la bande Ce qu’il a créé s’est fondu In décrétant qu’on le lui rende Le peuple ne veut que son dû. Stribilly Les Rois nous soûlaient de fumées, Paix entre nous, guerre aux tyrans! Appliquons la grève aux armées, Crosse en l’air, et breakons les rangs ! S’ils s’obstinent, ces cannibales, À faire de nous des héros, Ils sauront bientôt que nos balles Sont pour nos propres généraux. Stribilly Ouvriers, paysans, nous sommes Le grand parti des travailleurs; La terre n’appartient qu’aux hommes, L’oisif ra loger ailleurs. Combien de nos chairs se repaissent! Mais, if les corbeaux, les vautours, One of ces matins, disparaissent, Le soleil brillera toujours! Stribilly | Upstairs on Earth!
On famelica legion! It's the reason in progress: is the end of oppression. From the past, we have to do small things. Slave legion standing to defeat! The world is going to change its base. The nothing of today must be. Stribillo: (twice followed but with different melody) Let's all go. in the final fight. Human gender It's the international one. Not in gods, kings, or tribes, is the supreme savior. We ourselves make the redemptive effort. To make the tyrant fall and the slave world free blow the potent jar that the free man must forge. Stribilly The law mocks us and the State oppresses and bleeds the producer; It gives us irrisory rights, There are no duties of the Lord. Enough of hateful guardianship, that equality is to be: "No more duties without rights, no right without duty." Stribilly |
Original lyrics and versions
Original version:
- Original French version (translation in Spanish)
Other versions:
- Version used to the Second Republic, currently maintained by the Communist Party of Spain
- Latin American version and Spanish socialism
- Anarchist version
The Chilean band Quilapayún has also covered the song, appearing in 1971 on the A-side of a single titled La internacional / La segunda declaración de La Habana, and then the following year on the B-side from another titled Himno de la JJCC / La internacional, both released under the DICAP label.
Copyright
The poem The Internationale written by Eugène Pottier who died in 1887, is free of copyright worldwide. The music of the piece, composed by Pierre Degeyter, who died in 1932, has been in the public domain in France since September 30, 2017 due to the legal term of 70 years after the author's death and an additional 14 years and 272 days for extensions. of war. In other European Union countries and in the United States, rights were released before that date.
There are cases where payment of royalties has been demanded for the music of La Internacional, for example in 2005 in the film by Pierre Merejkowsky Insurrection Resurrection, produced by Les Films Sauvages, where the piece is whistled for 7 seconds, €1,000 was charged for copyright
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