II.

The First International

In 1864 representatives of English and French industrial workers founded the International Workingmen's Association in London, abandoning the secret socialist brotherhoods of the past in favor of an open and more permanent alliance dedicated to the overthrow of the capitalist system. Karl Marx, then living in London, was elected to the International's provisional general council. He became the dominant figure in the International, drafting its general rules and a carefully worded inaugural address that was designed to safeguard unity of purpose.

From the first, however, anarchist followers of Pierre Joseph Proudhon and Mikhail Bakunin opposed Marx's model of a centralized state dominated by the workers. Bakunin precipitated an organizational crisis by denouncing Marx's despotic manner and calling for the creation of an “antiauthoritarian” International. At The Hague Congress of 1872, Marx prevailed, and Bakunin was expelled from the International. In the wake of the Marxist-anarchist split, however, the decision was made to remove the general council to the U.S., where it maintained a shadow existence until it was formally dissolved in 1876. Although the First International caused anxiety in European political circles, it never numbered more than 25,000 individual members and was chronically short of funds.