International Workingmen's Association
The International Workingmen's Association, sometimes called the International or the the First International, was an international organization which aimed at uniting a variety of different political and trade union organisations which were based on the working class. It was founded in 1864, having its first meeting in London.
Originally the organisation contained British trade unionists, anarchists, French socialists, Italian republicans and was organised by a small group around Karl Marx. Later disputes between Marx and Mikhail Bakunin, the most prominent anarchist in the International, led to a split between the Marxists and Bakuninists in which Bakunin's followers were ejected from the International. In order to maintain control of the International, in 1872 Marx relocated the organization to New York City. The organization disbanded 4 years later, at the 1876 Philadelphia conference. Latter attempts to revive the organization over the next five years failed.
The First International was largely considered to be a major factor leading to the creation of the Paris Commune of 1871. Although this was not in fact true, Marx did write a defense of the Commune.
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