Anarchist St. Imier International

The Anarchist St. Imier International was an international anarchist organization formed in 1872 when the anarchist sections were expelled from the First International after the Hague Congress (1872).

The St. Imier International was created when the Swiss Jura federation, the most important anarchist section of the old International, sent out a call to other expelled sections who then assembled at St. Imier to create a new anarchist, anti-authoritarian organization. The organization was made up of several groups, mainly the Italian, Spanish, Belgian, American, French and Swiss sections, who opposed Karl Marx's control of the Central Council and favoured the autonomy of national sections free from centralized control.

At the St. Imier Congress (1872) the delegates proclaimed "[t]hat the aspirations of the proletariat can have no other aim than the creation of an absolutely free economic organisation and federation based upon work and equality and wholly independent of any political government, and that such an organisation or federation can only come into being through the spontaneous action of the proletariat itself, through its trade societies, and through self-governing communes."

The St. Imier International lasted until 1877, while the First International dissolved in 1876. In July 1881, international anarchists would launch the famous Black International.

Contemporary anarchist internationals include the International Workers Association (est. 1922), the International of Anarchist Federations (est. 1968), and Black Bridge International (est. 2001).

External links

• Steklov's history of the First International
• Le Congrès de l'Internationale Anti-autoritaire Saint Imier, 15-16 September 1872

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