First International

The International Workingmen’s Association was a transnational workers’ organization founded in London in 1864. It brought together trade unions, socialist groups, and other working-class organizations before dissolving in 1876.

London: The capital of England and the United Kingdom, situated on the River Thames. The association was founded here in 1864, with its General Council based in the city.
International Workingmen’s Association General Council: The central executive body of the International Workingmen’s Association, based in London. It coordinated the association’s sections and carried out decisions between congresses.
Mikhail Bakunin: A Russian revolutionary and anarchist theorist who advocated a decentralized, anti-authoritarian social revolution. Bakunin’s conflict with Marx over authority and organization became a defining internal struggle.
International Workingmen’s Association Hague Congress: The association’s 1872 congress, where delegates approved moving its General Council to New York. Its decisions marked a decisive victory for Marx’s faction and a break with Bakunin’s supporters.
Chartism: A British working-class movement that campaigned for political reforms in the nineteenth century. Its veteran activists helped connect earlier British labor politics to the association’s founding.
International Workingmen’s Association Congress: A periodic gathering of delegates from the association’s sections to debate policy and organization. Congress decisions reveal how the association tried to govern a diverse international membership.
Friedrich Engels: A German philosopher and socialist who collaborated with Karl Marx and helped develop Marxism. Engels supported Marx’s political current and later helped preserve the association’s organizational legacy.
International Workingmen’s Association Philadelphia Conference: An 1876 meeting in Philadelphia that formally ended the association’s central organization. The conference concluded the organization after its headquarters had been moved to New York.
Polish January Uprising: An 1863–1864 insurrection against Russian rule in the Congress Kingdom of Poland. A London meeting in support of the uprising helped prompt the international labor gathering that founded the association.
Trade union: An organization formed by workers to represent their shared interests, especially in employment. Affiliated unions supplied members and practical organizing experience to the international body.

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