The International Workingmen's Association (IWA; 1864–1876), often called the First International, was a

political international A political international is a transnational organization of political parties having similar ideology or political orientation (e.g. liberalism, socialism, Islamism). The international works together on points of agreement to co-ordinate activ ...

which aimed at uniting a variety of different

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

, and

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

groups and

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

s that were based on the

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

and

class struggle In political science, the term class conflict, class struggle, or class war refers to the economic antagonism and political tension that exist among social classes because of clashing interests, competition for limited resources, and inequali ...

. It was founded in 1864 in a workmen's meeting held in St. Martin's Hall,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Its first congress was held in 1866 in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. In Europe, a period of harsh reaction followed the widespread

Revolutions of 1848 The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

. The next major phase of revolutionary activity began almost twenty years later with the founding of the IWA in 1864. At its peak, the IWA reported having 8 million members while police reported 5 million. In 1872, it split in two over conflicts between

statist In political science, statism or etatism (from French, ''état'' 'state') is the doctrine that the political authority of the state is legitimate to some degree. This may include economic and social policy, especially in regard to taxation an ...

and

factions and dissolved in 1876. The

Second International The Second International, also called the Socialist International, was a political international of Labour movement, socialist and labour parties and Trade union, trade unions which existed from 1889 to 1916. It included representatives from mo ...

was founded in 1889.

St. Martin's Hall Meeting, London, 1864

On 28 September an international crowd of workers gathered to welcome the French delegates in St Martin's Hall in London. Among the many European radicals were English Owenites, followers of

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (, ; ; 1809 – 19 January 1865) was a French anarchist, socialist, philosopher, and economist who founded mutualist philosophy and is considered by many to be the "father of anarchism". He was the first person to ca ...

and Louis Auguste Blanqui, Irish and Polish nationalists, Italian republicans and German socialists.Saul K. Padover (ed. and trans.), "Introduction: Marx's Role in the First International," in Karl Marx, ''The Karl Marx Library, Volume 3: On the First International.'' Saul K. Padover, ed. and trans. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1971; pg. xiv. One of the German socialists, a 46-year-old

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social exile or self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French verb ''émigrer'' meaning "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Hugueno ...

journalist named

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

, would play a decisive role in the organisation but did not speak at the meeting. The positivist historian Edward Spencer Beesly, a professor at

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

, was the chair. The meeting unanimously decided to found an international organisation of workers. The centre was to be in London, directed by a committee of 21, which was instructed to draft a programme and constitution. Most of the British members of the committee were drawn from the Universal League for the Material Elevation of the Industrious Classes and were noted trade-union leaders like Odger, George Howell (former secretary of the London Trades Council, which itself declined affiliation to the IWA, although remaining close to it), Cyrenus Osborne Ward and Benjamin Lucraft and included Owenites and

Chartists Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of ...

. The French members were Denoual, Victor Le Lubez and Bosquet. Italy was represented by Fontana. Other members were Louis Wolff, Johann Eccarius. This executive committee in turn selected a subcommittee to do the actual writing of the organisational programme—a group which included Marx and which met at his home about a week after the conclusion of the St. Martin's Hall assembly. This subcommittee deferred the task of collective writing in favour of sole authorship by Marx who ultimately drew up the fundamental documents of the new organisation. On 5 October, the General Council was formed with co-opted additional members representing other nationalities. It was based at the headquarters of the Universal League for the Material Elevation of the Industrious Classes at 18

Greek Street Greek Street is a street in Soho, London, leading south from Soho Square to Shaftesbury Avenue. The street is famous for its restaurants and cosmopolitan nature. History It is thought to take its name from a Greek church that was built in ...

Internal tensions

At first, the IWA had mostly male membership, although in April 1865 it was agreed that women could become members. The initial leadership was exclusively male. At the IWA General Council meeting on 16 April 1867, a letter from the

secularist Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...

speaker Harriet Law about

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

was read and it was agreed to ask her if she would be willing to attend council meetings. On 25 June 1867, Law was admitted to the General Council and for the next five years was the only woman representative.

Congresses

Geneva Congress (1866) The Geneva Congress of 1866 is the common name assigned to the 1st General Congress of the International Workingmen's Association, held in Geneva, Switzerland from 3 to 8 September 1866. The gathering was attended by 46 regular and 14 fraternal d ...

* Lausanne Congress (1867) * Brussels Congress (1868) * Basel Congress (1869)

Hague Congress, 1872

The fifth Congress of the IWA was held from 2-7 September 1872 in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, the Netherlands with 65 delegates attending. Though Bakunin's Alliance of Socialist Democracy had disbanded the previous year, Marx and Engels believed that the organisation still existed and was secretly plotting to control the IWA, resulting in the expulsion of Bakunin and members of the Alliance from the IWA. After the suppression of the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...

(1871), Bakunin characterised Marx's ideas as

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

and argued that if a Marxist party came to power its leaders would end up as oppressive as the

ruling class In sociology, the ruling class of a society is the social class who set and decide the political and economic agenda of society. In Marxist philosophy, the ruling class are the class who own the means of production in a given society and apply ...

they had fought against (notably, in '' Statism and Anarchy''). In 1874, Marx wrote notes rebutting Bakunin's claims in this book, referring to them as mere political

rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...

without a theory of the State and without the knowledge of social class struggles and economic factors. The Portuguese section was one of the first to evolve into a party structure. Debates to create a socialist party began in 1873 and the party was formed 10 January 1875.

After 1872: two First Internationals

The anarchist wing of the First International held a separate congress in September 1872 at St. Imier, Switzerland. The anarchists considered the expulsion of Bakunin and Guillaume as illegitimate and The Hague Congress as unrepresentative and improperly conducted. On 15–16 September 1872 at Saint-Imier, the Anarchist St. Imier International declared itself to be the true heir of the International. The Spanish Regional Federation of the IWA formed the largest national chapter of the anarchist bloc. On the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

, the conflict within the IWA was acutely felt, rapidly transforming the region into another battleground between the two factions. The General Council attempted to curb the Alliance’s influence through the new Madrid Federation and Portuguese internationalists. On the opposing side, the anarchists, who held complete control of the working-class movement in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, tried to recruit Portuguese socialists to the Alliance.

Footnotes

External links

at Marxists.org
Libertarian Communist Library

* ttps://libcom.org/library/secret-societies-and-first-international-boris-i-nicolaevsky Secret Societies and the First Internationalby Boris Nicolaevsky {{Authority control Far-left politics History of anarchism History of socialism 1864 establishments in England 1876 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Trade unions established in 1864 Trade unions disestablished in the 1870s Organizations disestablished in 1876 Communist organizations in Europe International and regional union federations International socialist organizations

St. Martin's Hall Meeting, London, 1864

Internal tensions

Congresses

Hague Congress, 1872

After 1872: two First Internationals

See also

Footnotes

Further reading

Primary sources

Secondary sources

External links