First International

In 1862 there would be an industrial world exhibition in London. The French emperor Napoleon III wanted to appear popular and invited some workers into the official delegation. When they arrived, they sought contact with English union leaders in order to create international cooperation. Two years later, a gathering of trade union leaders and democrats from several countries gathered in London to form The International Working Men’s Federation, or ”The International”.

The form of cooperation was international strike support. First, raising money internationally so that the strikers could persevere. Second, warning of international strike-breaking; it was common for business to recruit strike breakers abroad so that they would not be affected by local and national workers’ solidarity.

At the second mobilization, they had brilliant success. That was when the founders of Paris went on strike in February 1867. Thanks to the support of the ”International”, they won a brilliant victory. And the victory led workers to start organizing unions and going on strike throughout Western Europe.

This rapid growth was too much for the International to catch up with. Instead, the organization became a home for furious tactical discussions about how to take advantage of the situation. One phalanx, the ”Anarchists”, argued that one should organize only the active to avoid being bureaucratized. And another phalanx, the ”Social Democrats”, argued that everyone should be organized to gain weight and to get in touch with all workers. The discussions degenerated into angry quarrels and personal attacks that broke the organization.

But it paid off – for the mass mobilization of 1867-68 had already established the organized labor movement throughout Western Europe.

Reading
K. Knudsen: The strike history of the First International, i F van Holthoon & Marcel van der Linden (ed): Internationalism in the labor movement 1830-1940, E.J. Brill 1988.