ABSTRACT
Figure 13.1 The campaign against foot binding in China 154 Figure 13.2 The International Cooperative Alliance (1895) 159
The international workers’ movement in the 1860s
Workers from France and Germany were among the visitors at the world exhibition of 1862 in London. Looking for workers’ support, the French government had enabled 750 working men from large cities to travel to the London exhibition. Some were selected by their employers, others by their co-workers. Once in London they met representatives of the British trade unions. When they returned to France they told the home front about the freedom of organization in the UK and argued in favour of abolishing the ban on workers’ organizations that dated back to the French Revolution. The German workers who came to London were introduced to politically-engaged German emigrants. After a demonstration in London to support the Polish uprising of 1863, British trade union leaders, a delegation of French workers and representatives of Polish and German workers agreed to establish an international association. The British unions were entrusted with the necessary preparations, and in September 1864 the International Working Men’s Association was founded, which later became known as the First International. A delegation from France, together with workers from Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland and Switzerland who lived in the UK, decided to establish a Central Council, consisting of representatives from their countries, to set up national committees in their capitals and to investigate the conditions and needs of workers by means of international congresses.
