Workers of the world, unite!

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. The original phrase () literally meant , but was soon popularised in English as "Workers of the world, unite!" along with the rest of the phrase: "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 Communist League, 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!",Lucia Pradella in 'The Elgar Companion to Marxist Economics.' Edited by Ben fine and Alfredo Saad-Filho, 2012, p.178. reflecting Marx 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;Wiktionary, entry for "Workers of the World" secondly, that workers should see beyond their various craft unions and unite against the capitalist system; and thirdly, that 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 songsMelvyn Dubofsky, We Shall Be All, Quadrangle Books, 1969. 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.Mick Armstrong, "The Industrial Workers of the World," Socialist Alternative, June 2005.

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.. libris 7639421. reprint of libris 2683080.

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

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.

Language Motto Transliteration Used by Russian Proletarii vsekh stran, soyedinyaytes'! (BGN/PCGN)Proletarii vseh stran, soědinäjteś! (Scientific) Russian SFSR,Soviet Union Ukrainian Proletarii vsikh krayin, yednaytesya! (BGN/PCGN)Proletari vsich kraïn, jednajtesä! (Scientific) Ukrainian SSR Byelorussian Pralyetarye, wsikh krain, yadnaytsesya! (BGN/PCGN)Pralětaryi wsich krain, jadnajcěsya! (Scientific) Byelorussian SSR Uzbek Butun dunyo proletarlari, birlashingiz!/Butun dunyo proletarlari, birlaşingiz! Uzbek SSR Kazakh Barlıq yelderdiñ proletarları, birigiñder! Kazakh SSR Georgian Proletarebo qvela kveqnisa, šeertdit! Georgian SSR Azerbaijani Bütün ölkələrin proletarları, birləşin! Azerbaijan SSR,Dagestan ASSR Lithuanian Lithuanian SSR Romanian (Moldovan Cyrillic) Proletari din toate țările, uniți-vă! Moldavian SSR Latvian Latvian SSR Kyrgyz Bardıq ölkölordün proletarları, birikkile! Kirghiz SSR Tajik Proletarhoi hamai mamlakatho, yak šaved! Tajik SSR Armenian Proletarner bolor yerkrneri, miac’ek’! Armenian SSRNagorno-Karabakh AO Turkmen Ähli ýurtlaryň proletarlary, birleşiň!/Ähli yurtlarıñ proletarları, birleşiñ! Turkmen SSR Estonian Estonian SSR Abaza Aqralıkua zьmyua rproletarkua, şvadgьl! Karachay-Cherkess AO Abkhaz Atwylaqwa zeğy rproletarcwa, šwč’eidyšwkyl! Abkhaz ASSR Altai Bastıra oroondordıñ proletariyleri, birikkileger! Gorno-Altai AO Avar Kinalgo ulkabazul proletaral, col’e nuž! Dagestan ASSR Bashkir Böte ilderceń proletariycäre, berläşegec! Bashkir ASSR Buryat Bühy oronuudaj proletarinar, negedegty! Buryat ASSR Chechen Masso a mеxkiyn prolеtariyš, cẋänaqеta! Checheno-Ingush ASSRDagestan ASSR Chuvash Pétém ténçeri proletarisem, pérleşér! Chuvash ASSR Crimean Tatar Bütün memleketleriniñ proletarları, birleşiñiz! Crimean ASSR Erzya Vese mastoronj proletarijtj, vejsendjavodo! Mordovian ASSR Finnish Karelo-Finnish SSR,Karelian ASSR Gagauz Moldavian SSR Hill Mari Cila sändälÿkvlaštyš proletarijvla, ušnyda! Mari ASSR Ingush Massa a mеxkaškara prolеtarеš, vjašaghqеta! Checheno-Ingush ASSR Kabardian Xeğegu psteuxem japroletariěxer, zy š’uhu! Kabardino-Balkarian ASSRKarachay-Cherkess AO Kalmyk Cug-orn nutgudyn proletarmud, negdchâtn! Kalmyk ASSR Karachay-Balkar Bütew duniyanı proletarları, birleşigiz! Kabardino-Balkar ASSRKarachay-Cherkess AO Karakalpak Barlıq ellerdiñ proletarları, birlesiñiz! Karakalpak ASSR Karelian Karelian ASSR (until 1940) Khakas Pray stranalarnıñ proletariylerį, pįrįkleñer! Khakas AO Komi Stav muvyvsa proletarijjas, otuvtčöj! Komi ASSR Kurdish Proletared ħamu wəlata, jənbьn! Kurds Meadow Mari Çyla ellase proletarij-vlak, uşnyza! Mari ASSR Moksha Sembe mastoronj proletarijatnje, puromoda mars! Mordovian ASSR Ossetian Æppæt bæstæty proletartæ, baiu ut! North Ossetian ASSRSouth Ossetian AO Sakha Barı doydular proletariydara, xolbohuň! Yakut ASSR Tat Пролетарьой гьеме билеетгьо, ек бошти! Proletar'oy heme bileetho, ek boşti! Dagestan ASSR Tatar Barlıq illärneñ proletariyları, berläşegez! Tatar ASSR Tuvan Bügü delegeyniñ proletarları, kattıjıñar! Tuvan ASSR Udmurt Vań stranaosyś proletarijjos, ogazejaśke! Udmurt ASSR

Motto of other countries Language Motto Transliteration Used by Albanian Albania Bulgarian Proletárii ot vsíchki straní, sǎеdinyávaite se! Bulgaria Chinese Quánshìjiè wúchǎnjiējí hé bèi yāpò de mínzú liánhé qǐlai! Chinese Soviet Republic Czech Czechoslovakia Dari Kârgarân-e jahân mottahed šavid! Afghanistan French Benin,Madagascar German East Germany,Volga German ASSR Hungarian Hungarian People's Republic,Hungarian Soviet RepublicKoreanChŏnsegyelodongchadŭrŭn tangyŏl'ala!North Korea Malagasy Madagascar Mongolian Oron büriin proletari nar negdegtün! Mongolia Polish Polish People's Republic Romanian Romania Slovak Czechoslovakia,Slovak Soviet Republic Tuvan Pygy delegejniꞑ вroledarlarь polgaş tarladkan araddarь kaddьƶьꞑar! Tuvan People's Republic

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.

Language Motto Transliteration Used by Active in Arabic Ya ‘ummāla l-‘ālami wa yā shu‘ūbahu l-muṭṭahada, ittaḥidū! Jordanian Communist Party Jordan Bengali Duniẏār môjdur, ēk hôō! Communist Party of Bangladesh Bangladesh Greek Proletárioi ólon ton chorón, enotheíte! Communist Party of Greece Greece Indonesian Communist Party of Indonesia Indonesia Macedonian Proleteri od site zemji, obedinete se! League of Communists of Macedonia Yugoslavia Malay Malayan Communist Party Malaysia Serbo-Croatian League of Communists of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia Slovene League of Communists of Slovenia Yugoslavia Tagalog Communist Party of the Philippines Philippines Turkish Socialist Liberation Party Turkey

Workers of the world, unite!

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