The International Institute of Social History (Dutch: Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis, abbreviation: IISG) is a historical research institute in Amsterdam. It was founded in 1935 by Nicolaas Posthumus. The IISG is part of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
It was founded as a new location for documents relating to the history of social movements, in particular the labour movement, after the Nazi takeover of Germany rendered that country an unsuitable place for their safekeeping; the Soviet Union was not considered a trustworthy alternative, owing in large part to its model of "socialist competition".
The institute is one of the world's largest documentary- and research-centres for social history. It owns items relating to Wolfgang Abendroth, Friedrich Adler, Angelica Balabanoff, Alexander Berkman, Christiaan Cornelissen, Friedrich Engels, Emma Goldman, Albert Grzesinski, Wolfgang Harich, Karl Kautsky, Arthur Lehning, Karl Marx, Max Nettlau, Augustin Souchy, Leon Trotsky (six running metres of material) and Georg von Vollmar, as well as the archives of Russia's Socialist-Revolutionary Party (1834–1934). Items belonging to anarchist and Trotskyist fighters in the Spanish Civil War are also numerous. Furthermore, the archive of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (214 running metres of material) is located at the IISG.
Read more about International Institute Of Social History: Publications, Conferences
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