Iconographisk Post • Nordisk tidskrift för bildtolkning Nordic Review of Iconography Nr 3/4, 2020. issn 2323-5586. pp. 157–205. Iconographisk Post Fred Andersson Nordisk tidskrift för bildtolkning Ph.D. in Art History, Adjunct prof. (Docent), Senior lecturer, Art History & Visual Nordic Review of Iconography studies, Åbo Akademi University, Finland. Email: [email protected] Nr 3/4, 2020 Iconography of the Labour Movement. Part 2: Socialist Iconography, 1848–1952 innehåll / contents Abstract: This is Part 2 of a two-part study which aims at preliminary conclusions re- garding the iconography of the international labour movement. Earlier research in the Förord / Editorial 3 fields of social history, art history and visual rhetorics has been consulted for this pur- pose. After 1848, emerging socialist parties and labour unions depended on republican Søren Kaspersen “Quale sit intus in his” – A Note about Abbot Suger's 9 iconography for their manifestation of collective identity. The republican virtues of Bronze Doors in Saint-Denis Liberty, Equality and Fraternity remained important, but Fraternity was gradually re- placed or merged with Unity and Solidarity. In a process akin to the identification of Anders Ödman the goddess of Liberty with a more common “Marianne”, the representation of Unity Östra Sallerups kyrka i Frosta härad, Skåne: 27 and manual work in socialist iconography became focused on images of individual kolonisation och kulturella kontakter male or female workers. In earlier prints and illustrations, these representations have Ragnhild M. Bø strong affinities with how the concept of labour was personified in official monuments Miracle, Moral and Memory: Situating the Miracles 53 of the same period. Later, the doctrine of socialist solidarity between agricultural and in the Margins of the Lamoignon Hours (c. 1415) industrial workers transformed the bipartite iconographic scheme of earlier personifi- Herman Bengtsson cations of Unity into a representation of agriculture and industry, or country and city. Sant och falskt om Gripsholmstavlorna 97 After 1917, the dilemma of how to represent dual aspects of society and its functions Lars Berggren also included questions about the representations of the socialist leader. The Hjalmar Sex ”dalmålningar” på Svenska institutet i Rom 127 Branting monument in Stockholm serves as an example of how the iconography of re- formist social democracy is not always comparable to Soviet socialist realism. Fred Andersson Iconography of the Labour Movement. Part 2: Socialist 157 Keywords: Labour Unions, Social Democracy, Communism, Russian Revolution, Iconography, 1848–1952 Soviet Union, Austria, Germany, United States of America, Sweden, Personification, Bokrecensioner & presentationer / Book reviews & presentations 206 Composition nordic review of iconography 157 Iconography of the Labour Movement Part 1: Socialist Iconography, 1848–1952 Fred Andersson The origin of the strong connection between labour unionism and socialist ide- ology in Europe is conveniently traced back to the events of 1848. In February of that year, and in anticipation of anti-monarchist and nationalist uprisings all over Europe, Karl Marx (1818–1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820–1895) pub- lished their Communist manifesto. It was written for the League of Commu- nists, formed in Paris by groups of immigrant German labourers. In the mani- festo, Marx and Engels famously stated that the interests of the communists are no other than those of the proletariat; communists will temporarily unite with liberal and bourgeois factions in the revolt against monarchy and feudal tradi- tion, but the union will be short indeed. At this stage Marx and Engels did not foresee the extent to which real events would soon prove them right in a most ironic fashion. The deep divide be- tween liberal-democratic and radical-popular opposition was one of the main reasons for the failure of all revolts outside France. In the Austrian empire, the strong nationalist component created further tensions between Pan-Germanic, Fig. 1. Ange-Louis Janet (1811–1872), La République, 1848. Oil on canvas, 72.5 x 59 cm. Musée Carnavalet, Paris, acquisition number P188 (acquired in 1888). Image source: Hungarian and Slavic movements. The violence of March and October 1848 Online catalogue of Musée Carnavalet, http://www.carnavalet.paris.fr/fr/collections in Vienna ended with small steps towards liberal reform, but more large-scale outcomes of these would not materialise until much later. nordic review of iconography 159 fred andersson Iconography of the Labour movement – part 11 To some extent the modern or radical labour unions grew out of fraternities Pan-Germanic nationalism already had its own tricolour: the black, red and which were part of the old guilds of trades and crafts. The influence of social- yellow one, which is still the flag of unified Germany, black and yellow (or gold) ist ideas in literate circles of skilled labourers and craftsmen was an important being the old Habsburg colours – and liberally inclined fraternities of craftsmen factor. But because the guild system was protected by conservative legislators tended to favour blue for their standards and banners. It was therefore quite in most parts of Europe, except in England and France, it hampered both free logical that red should become the main colour of the socialist labour move- trade and the development of new forms of political organisation, such as free ment in all German-speaking regions, and soon also in the Nordic countries. labour unions.1 As Marx and Engels realised early on, it was industrial capital- Initially, the importance of the colour was expressed in verbal discourse more ism and its large-scale exploitation that brought workers together and provided than in actual use. The inaugural speech of Ferdinand Lasalle (1825–1864) at the necessary conditions for a unified labour movement; as long as industrial the constitutional meeting of Der Allgemeine Deutsche Arbeiterverein (Gen- development was controlled by conservative and protectionist state policies, eral German Worker’s Association) in 1863 is often quoted as decisive. In the socialism would not attract the masses. In that respect, the German-speaking speech, Lasalle stressed the importance of a unified front of all wage labourers parts of Europe were a lost cause for Marx and Engels after 1848. They both irrespective of origin, industry or skill, and he associated this unity and solidar- took refuge in Britain, with Engels acting in the double role of political organ- ity with the image of one single banner, the colour of which would preferably iser and British representative of the profitable industrial business of the Engels be red.5 family. It fell to others to inspire and organise the early socialist labour move- Already for Lasalle’s funeral the following year, a song was written in which ment in Germany, Austria, and later the Nordic countries. one verse referred to “the banner given us by Lasalle”.6 However, not until 1873 was a red banner officially inaugurated in one of the sections of Lasalle’s move- Socialist iconography in German-speaking Europe and in the USA ment. The banner, now in the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Bonn, is inscribed In the work Blutigrot und silbrig hell, from 1991, the art historian Josef Seiter with two mottos on its front side: that of the French Revolution (“Freiheit, (b. 1950) has summarised his long inquiry into the imagery, symbolism and agi- Gleichheit, Brüderlichkeit!”), and that of strength through unity (“Einigkeit tational traditions of the social-democratic movement in Austria. The title of macht stark!”). The symbol of the handshake inside a wreath of oak leaves the book, which roughly translates as “Red as blood and light as silver”, refers adorns the centre of the banner; the oak branches are bound together with a to the red and white of both the party of the Austrian social democrats and the white band, and on it is written Ferdinand Lasalle’s name and the date “23 Mai flags of the post-1918 republics of Austria. Seiter traces this colour symbolism 1863” (the foundational date of Der Allgemeine Deutsche Arbeiterverein).7 back to March 1848 in Vienna. He quotes an eyewitness, Andreas Scheu, whose This was not the first red flag or banner to be displayed at meetings and mother sold flowers and decorations. Sympathetic with the revolutionaries, she manifestations of socialist societies and groups. A red banner had a prominent distributed all her red and white items for free until nothing was left.2 White placement at the first congress of the Socialist International in Geneva in 1866, stood for the quest for freedom of the press, and it was the dominant colour of and the red banner of the Danish section of the International was inaugurated the revolutionary movement before this goal was reached on 14 March 1848.3 in 1872.8 The years 1866, 1872 and 1873 mark greater formalisation and rituali- Red was already closely associated with the attributes of radical French republi- sation of the status of the red banner. The novelty of a costly and official banner canism, such as the bonnet rouge, and the red flag of the sans-culottes. In Paris of the German labour movement, a jubilee banner in honour of its founder earlier the same year, both public opinion and leading intellectuals such as Lasalle, was symbolically important. It was soon to be followed by similar ban- Louis Blanc (1811–1882) were in favour of replacing the French Tricolour with ners and standards of labour unions and social-democratic parties in Germany, a red flag. According to Blanc, a single colour would be a more proper symbol Austria, Hungary and the Nordic countries. The general message of the Lasalle of the unity of the people. However, the proposition was turned down.4 banner is symptomatic of how republican symbols and mottos were now assim- 160 iconographisk post nr 3/4, 2020 nordic review of iconography 161 fred andersson Iconography of the Labour movement – part 11 ilated by the labour movement and adapted to its cause.