Socialist Parties

In time, working-class leaders formed socialist parties based on Marx's ideas. Most important was the German Social Democratic Party(SPD), which emerged in 1875. In 1889, leaders of the various socialist parties joined together and formed the Second International, an association of national socialist groups that would fight against capitalism worldwide. Pure Marxists thought that capitalism would be overthrown in a violent revolution. Other Marxists, called revisionist, rejected the revolutionary approach and argued that workers must continue to organize in mass political parties.

Trade Unions

Another force working for evolutionary rather than revolutionary socialism was the trade union. After Great Britain won the right to strike, workers in factories were organized into trade unions so they could use strikes to achieve reforms.