Parti ouvrier français
At first, the Independent Socialists were a diverse set of socialists who refused to affiliate with an organized party. Indeed, before the creation of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) in 1905, French socialism was divided between the French Socialist Party (PSF), the Socialist Party of France (PSdF) and the French Workers' Party (POF). Later, the name was applied to parliamentarians and local politicians who believed they held their legitimacy from voters and thus refused to follow the instructions of party leaders. Indeed, the SFIO, the main socialist party, had a strong party organization, something relatively unique in the Third Republic.