International Workingmen's Association

The International Workingmen's Association, later called the First International was founded on September 28, 1864 at a meeting in St. Martin's Hall, London, England. Among those in attendance was a not well known representative of the German workers to the conference, a refugee named Karl Marx. In time, he would come to dominate the International Workingmen's Association (IWMA).

In December of 1868, the International Alliance of Socialist Democracy, whose most well-known spokesperson was Mikhail Bakunin, applied to join the IWMA. The IWMA rejected this on the grounds that the Alliance was an international organization, and the IWMA was made up of national groups. The groups within the alliance then joined the IWMA as their separate national groups.

One of the major historical events to occur during the existence of the First International was the formation of the Paris Commune in 1871.

The communist faction led by Marx and the anarchist faction led by Bakunin had been at odds from the entrance of the Alliance into the International. On September 2nd, 1872, the Hague Congress convened. At the Congress, the majority present voted that the anarchist faction be expelled from the International. The headquarters of the International was also moved to New York City, USA. Between the expulsion of the anarchists, the move of the headquarters to a city remote from most of the members, and Marx's gradual withdrawal from the International to work on Das Kapital, this marked the beginning of the end of the First International. In 1876, the IWMA disbanded.

On September 15th, anarchists from different countries met in Saint-Imier. The anarchists continued having congresses in this group until 1877.