First Geneva Congress of the First International in 1866

First congress of the International Workingmen’s Association held September 3 to 8, 1866 in Geneva, Switzerland. The Congress was attended by delegates from 25 branches of the International and 11 workers' cooperatives, 60 people in total. Marx was unable to attend the conference because he was busy writing Capital.

The Congress eliminated the interference of Proudhonism and adopted resolutions on the international combination of efforts in the struggle between labor and capital, on the limitation of the working day, on the co-operative system (co-operation), on the trade unions, on the Polish question, and on standing armies, and repudiated the Proudhonist claim that only manual laborers could be elected members. Meanwhile, the Administrative Regulations were adopted. The Congress adopted resolutions affirming the necessity of the workers' struggle for strikes and political struggle in the spirit of the Instructions for the Delegates of the Provisional General Council. The Different Questions written by Marx before the meeting. The Congress also adopted the Resolution on Annihilating Russian Encroachments upon Europe and Restoring Poland, which supported the Polish people in their struggle for national liberation.

This Congress was the first major struggle between Marxists and Proudhonists for the leadership of the First International, which led to the defeat of the Proudhonists on a number of important issues.