The revolutions of 1848 were the first important stage in the history of the working class. The second important stage of the revolutionary movement was the establishment of the International Workers’ Union, the First International, at Saint Martin’s Hall in London, on September 28, 1864.
First International initially established branches in Switzerland, Belgium, France and Germany, starting from 1867 in many countries including Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Austria and the United States.
The main goal of the First International, founded mainly on the initiative of French, British, German and Italian workers and activists, was to coordinate the developing labor movement in the newly industrialized countries of Europe.
Towards this purpose, titles such as “international labor solidarity”, “union movement”, “strike”, “political action”, “abolition of private ownership of production vehicles and continuous armies” were discussed at the congresses organized on various dates.
The organization’s first congress was organized in Geneva in 1866, initially included different streams such as British unionists, anarchist and socialist French and republican Italians and during its most powerful period it had 1.2 million members.
In 1869, there was a difference of opinion between the supporters of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, who supported the central administration of the union and the establishment of political parties, and the supporters of anarchist Mikhail Bakun.
The defeat of the Commune of Paris in 1871 and the subsequent pressures inflamed the debate, leading to a definite division between the two tendencies. Bakunin was exported by the Hague Congress in 1872.
The First International abolished itself in 1876 and was replaced by the Second International, founded under the name of Labor International at a congress held in Paris on 14 July 1889.
