Inaugural Conference of the First International

The International Workingmen’s Association (IWA), which arose in the late 1850s and early 1860s in the context of the renewed upsurge of the workers' and democratic movements in Europe.

In 1863 a large-scale armed uprising of the Polish people against the oppression of Tsarist Russia was jointly suppressed by Tsarist Russia and Prussia. On July 22, 1863, the English workers convened a mass conference in London in solidarity with the just struggle of the Polish people. The conference was attended by a delegation of French workers. After the conference, the London Trades Council arranged a meeting between the French delegation and representatives of the English workers, during which an agreement was reached on the establishment of an international organization of the proletariat, and a preparatory committee was elected, consisting of the leaders of the British trade unions George Odger (1820–1877), William Cremer (1838–1908), and others. George Odger drafted the appeal, To the Workmen of France from the Workmen of England, suggesting that an international meeting be convened to strengthen solidarity among workers of all countries. It was warmly echoed by the French workers. In May 1864, the delegate of the French workers, Tolain (1828–1897), drafted a letter of reply, fully endorsing the claims of the British workers.

On September 28, 1864, the English workers again held a conference at St. Martin's Hall in London in support of the Polish Uprising. Delegates of French workers, as well as delegates of German, Italian, Polish and Irish workers living abroad in England, also attended the conference. Marx was invited to the conference and was elected to its presidium. The appeal was read out by the delegates of English workers, and the response was read out by the delegates of French workers. These two documents, which unanimously expressed the common desire of the international proletariat for greater international solidarity and joint struggle against the bourgeoisie, were warmly welcomed by the conference. The conference introduced the draft for an international alliance of the proletariat proposed by the delegates of the French workers. The draft proposed the establishment of a central committee in London as the center of organizational activities, with sections in the capitals and major cities of Europe. After discussion at the conference, it was decided the founding of an international workers' organization, and a committee composed of delegates from the workers of England, France, Germany and Italy was elected as the leading body. A total of more than 30 people were elected to the committee, with Marx as a member and corresponding secretary for Germany. At the meeting of the committee on 11 October, the name of the organization was officially determined as International Workingmen's Association (IWA), or “International” for short. From October 18, the committee was known as Central Council, and in 1866 it was renamed General Council, which is the name under which it is recorded in history. In the history of the international communist movement, the International Workingmen’s Association established during this period was commonly called the “First International”.

After the founding of the International, the primary task was to draw up the programmatic documents of the Association, such as its constitution and rules. Marx was elected to the sub-committee to draft the programmatic documents of the International. The first few meetings of the sub-committee presented a document in the absence of Marx, which consisted of two parts: One part was an address as a preamble, proofread by the Owenite Le Lubez, and the other was a constitution by the Italian group, drawn up by Giuseppe Mazzini and translated into English by Luigi Wolff. The sub-committee commissioned Marx to redraft the Inaugural Address of the International Working Men’s Association and the Provisional Rules of the International Working Men’s Association. The Provisional Rules stipulated that the Congress of the Association is the supreme authority of the Association; that the General Council is the executive body, with a President, a General Secretary and Corresponding Secretaries; that the Congress is convened once a year to hear the report of the General Council; that democratic centralism is the organizational principle of the Association; and so on. At the General Council meeting held on November 1, the Inaugural Address and the Provisional Rules were highly praised and unanimously adopted. It was of great significance to ensure the proletarian nature of the International Workingmen’s Association and to make the international workers’ movement advance along the right path. The adoption of the documents demonstrated that Marx was the true leader and soul of the First International.

The Inaugural Address and the Provisional Rules of the International Workingmen’s Association, which not only carry through the fundamental spirit of the revolutionary principles in the Communist Manifesto, but also adopt the most general form of expression acceptable to the representative figures of all factions of the European workers' movement at that time, have become the first important documents in the international communist movement that unite the broad masses of workers in unity and combat and have won the approval of the broad masses of workers and workers' organizations of all countries.