The International Association (IA), established in 1855 as the International Committee (IC), was a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

political international that advocated for

social revolution Social revolutions are sudden changes in the structure and nature of society. These revolutions are usually recognized as having transformed society, economy, culture, philosophy, and technology along with but more than just the political syst ...

and the abolition of

class stratification Class stratification is a form of social stratification in which a society is separated into parties whose members have different access to resources and power. An economic, natural, cultural, religious, interests and ideal rift usually exists be ...

. It brought together representatives from several different nations, including the French

Revolutionary Commune A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

(CR), the

German Workers Educational Association The German Workers Educational Association (GWEA) (German: ''Deutscher Arbeiter-Bildungs-Verein)'' was a London-based organisation of radical German political émigrés established in 1840 by Karl Schapper and his associates. The organisation served ...

(DABV), the British

National Charter Association The National Charter Association (NCA) (1840-1958) was formed on July 20th 1840, in a conference chaired by James Leach, of twenty three Chartist delegates in Manchester. Origin The NCA was formed in response to the decline of the Chartist p ...

(NCA) and the Polish Revolutionary Society (GRP).

Background

Following the

Revolutions of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...

, thousands of political refugees from throughout Europe fled political repression in their home countries and sought asylum in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, these refugees were extended

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...

such as

freedom of assembly Freedom of peaceful assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right or ability of people to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their collective or shared ide ...

and

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic News media, media, especially publication, published materials, should be conside ...

, which they used to hold meetings and publish radical publications throughout the early 1850s. The

Fraternal Democrats Fraternal Democrats was an international society, founded at a meeting held in London on September 22. 1845. The society embraced representatives of Left Chartists, German workers and craftsmen – members of the League of the Just – and revoluti ...

, an international organisation founded by

British radicals British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

that had brought together many of these polticial refugees, struggled to handle the turmoil of 1848 and ultimately dissolved in 1854.

History

Establishment

After

Armand Barbès Armand Barbès (18 September 1809 – 26 June 1870) was a French Republican revolutionary and an opponent of the July monarchy (1830–1848). He is remembered as a man whose life centers on two days: * ''12 May 1839'', the day of the uprising ...

was pardoned by

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

and subsequently fled into exile, in the autumn of 1854, British Chartists led by Ernest Jones established a "Welcome and Protest Committee" to respectively welcome Barbès to Britain and protest Napoleon's upcoming state visit to the country. When neither Barbès nor Bonaparte ultimately travelled to Britain, the Chartists took the opportunity to expand the scope of the organisation, reorienting the committee to establishing connections with other European democrats. On 21 January 1855, they decided to organise a meeting for the anniversary of the

French Revolution of 1848 The French Revolution of 1848 (french: Révolution française de 1848), also known as the February Revolution (), was a brief period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation ...

, during which they would establish a political international for democrats of different nationalities. In February 1855, this committee formed the nucleus for the creation of the International Committee (IC), which brought together representatives from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain, with the intention of coordinating revolutionaries of different countries in a single political international. On 10 August 1856, members of the IC held a meeting at the John Street Institution; there they established the International Association (IA), a political international dedicated to the abolition of

through

. The IA brought together organisations from four different nations: the French socialists of the

(french: Commune révolutionnaire; CR), led by

Félix Pyat Félix Pyat (4 October 1810 – 3 August 1889) was a French socialist journalist, playwright, politician and a leading figure of the Paris Commune. Biography He was born in Vierzon ( Cher), the son of a Legitimist lawyer. Called to the bar in Pari ...

;

German communists German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

of the

(german: Deutscher Arbeiterbildungsverein; DABV), led by Karl Schapper; British Chartists of the

(NCA), led by Ernest Jones; and

Polish nationalists Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

of the Polish Revolutionary Society ( pl, Gromada Rewolucyjna Polska; GRP), led by . The IA also established a section in the United States, where German and French exiles set up branches in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Activities

The IA hosted celebrations to mark the anniversaries of various revolutionary events in history, including the establishment of the

French First Republic In the history of France, the First Republic (french: Première République), sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, and officially the French Republic (french: République française), was founded on 21 September 1792 ...

(21 September 1792), the

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in W ...

(29 November 1830), the

February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...

(24 February 1848) and the June Days uprising (22 June 1848).

Dissolution

By the end of the 1850s, the IA was experiencing a marked decline. In 1858, the National Charter Association held its last convention and, the following year, its leadership merged into the newly established Liberal Party. In 1859, after Napoleon III proclaimed a general amnesty, many of the IA's French members withdrew and returned to their home country. In 1861, the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...

also proclaimed an amnesty, and the IA's German members likewise left for their home country.

Ideology

The International Association's ultimate objective was the overthrow the existing order of

in a

. It was opposed to the

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

and class collaboration, associated with Giuseppe Mazzini's interpretation of internationalism. The IA also advocated for full

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

; one member, the French feminist

Jeanne Deroin Jeanne Deroin (31 December 1805 – 2 April 1894) was a French socialist feminist. She spent the latter half of her life in exile in London, where she continued her organising activities. Early life Born in Paris, Deroin became a seamstress. In ...

, argued that no true democrat could object to gender equality. The IA was

anti-capitalist Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and Political movement, movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. In this sense, anti-capitalists are those who wish to replace capitalism with another type of economi ...

at its core and called for

solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...

between working people although not all its members agreed on the specifics of its socialist programme.

Organization

The executive organ of the IA was its Central Council, which published the IA's bulletin. The IA allowed women to join as members, which was a rarity at the time.

Legacy

According to Arthur Lehning, the International Association was "the first international organization of a proletarian and socialist character, and forms the last and most important link in the series of international manifestations during the three decades prior to the foundation of the First International." In contrast, Henry Collins and Chimen Abramsky pointed out that the IA was relatively small, short-lived and uninfluential, describing it more as a "herald of the future than a thing of actual flesh and blood". Although the IA's influence during its own time was limited, many of its members went on to join the International Workingmen's Association (IWMA), which was established in London in 1863.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{refend 1855 establishments in the United Kingdom 1861 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Chartism Defunct international non-governmental organizations International socialist organizations Organizations established in 1855 Organizations disestablished in 1861