Basel Congress (1869)

The Basel Congress of 1869 is the common name assigned to the 4th General Congress of the International Workingmen's Association (IWA), commonly known as the First International. The meeting was held in the city of Basel, Switzerland from September 6 to 12, 1869 and was attended by 75 delegates, representing the socialist and labor movements of United States, England France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and Spain.[1]

International Workingmen's Association – Basel section banner. Photo taken at (now defunct) museum of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, USSR, Moscow

The conference was mainly noted for the confrontation between the Proudhonist mutualists and the collectivist position, defended by Marx's envoy for the General Council and Bakunin both. But the Belgian socialist de Paepe played a decisive role in bringing the Belgian delegation across to the collectivist side and isolating the mainly French Proudhonists.

Delegates

According to G. M. Stekloff's account,[2] in attendance were:

Seventy-five delegates assembled: from Great Britain, the 6 members of the General Council, Applegarth, Eccarius, Cowell Stepney, Lessner, Lucraft, and Jung; from France, which sent 26 delegates, among whom we may mention Dereure, Landrin, Chémalé, Murat, Aubry, Tolain, A. Richard, Palix, Varlin, and Bakunin: Belgium sent 5 delegates, among whom were Hins, Brismée, and De Paepe; Austria 2 delegates, Neumayer and Oberwinder; Germany sent 10 delegates, among whom were Becker, Liebknecht (Member of Parliament), Rittinghausen, Spier (Party chairman) and Hess; Switzerland had 22 representatives, among whom were Burkly, Greulich, Fritz Robert, Guillaume, Schwitzguébel, and Perret; Italy sent but one delegate, Caporusso; from Spain there came Farga-Pellicer and Sentinon; and the United States of America was represented by Cameron. Jung was elected chairman of the congress.

Name Affiliation Country Perspective Notes
Andrew Cameron National Labor Union United States of America
Robert Applegarth Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners Great Britain Delegate of the General Council
Benjamin Lucraft Great Britain
John Cowell-Stepney Delegate of General Council Great Britain Editor of Social Economist
Hermann Jung Delegate of General Council Great Britain Elected chair of congress
Johann Eccarius Great Britain
Frederick Lessner Great Britain
Émile Aubry France
Jean-Claude Creusot France
Eugène Pieton France
Wilhelm Liebknecht Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany Prussia

[1][3]

References
  1. Mollin, Gabriel (1870). Rapport sur le congrès de Bâle. Paris: A. Le Chevalier. p. 37.
  2. Steklov, Yuri Mikhailovich (1928). History of the First International Chapter 10 The Basle Conference. London: M. Lawrence. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  3. McLellan, David. Karl Marx A Biography. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 357.
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