The International Workingmen's Association, historiographically known as the Black International to distinguish it from the preceding First International (1864–1872) and Anti-authoritarian International (1872–1881), was an international anarchist organization founded, or reconstituted, at the London Congress (1881). The organization, which dissolved all visible structures of the Anti-authoritarian International except for a central correspondence bureau held by Errico Malatesta, Johann Sebastian Trunk, and Nikolai Tchaikovsky, and for which the influence of Johann Most was decisive, engaged in a series of insurrectionary and propaganda of the deed activities during the 1880s designed to launch a global revolution. It disappeared in the second half of the 1880s following internal conflicts, heavy state repression, and the use of agents provocateurs, giving rise to anarchist companionship in its place.
Born from the repression of the movement and an alliance between Most's revolutionary socialists and the anarchists of the Anti-authoritarian International, the organization spread across a significant portion of the world. This included the United States, where it was linked to the New York Social Revolutionary Club, the emergence of the Chicago idea and the Haymarket Square massacre, the event that gave birth to May Day, as well as Europe. For instance, in Switzerland, the organization's congresses sought to coordinate insurrectionary actions and propaganda of the deed on a global scale; in France, its influence was felt through the Montceau-les-Mines troubles and the Trial of the 66. It even eventually reached Africa, with Malatesta joining the Anglo-Egyptian War in 1882. In Germany, it was parallel to the Bruderkrieg, a huge rift dividing the 'leaders' of the German movement and increasingly making them ineffective during the 1880s.
The memory of the organization remained significant for anarchists long after its disappearance, with several anarchist organizations claiming its legacy. Other groups, like police forces, were also impacted by it. Thus, during the Ère des attentats (1892–1894), the French police fell into a state of deep paranoia, believing they had rediscovered the Black International behind anarchist attacks. While this interpretation was mistaken, as the organization had disappeared by then, it testified to the enduring power of its legacy, even for the states once impacted by its presence.
History
General context and founding at the London Congress (1881) In 1872, the International Workingmen's Association, better known as the First International, split between the anarchists and anti-authoritarians, who formed the majority of the organization, and the Marxists and Blanquists. This division, formalized during the congresses of The Hague and Saint-Imier, led to the formation of two opposing internationals. The anti-authoritarians and anarchists gathered within an organization called historiographically as the Anti-authoritarian International (1872–1880s), while their opponents formed the Marxist International (1872–1876), with both sides claiming to be the First International.
The Anti-authoritarian International underwent several evolutions throughout its history; as the first anarchist organization, it developed many of the movement's central tenets as they emerged. It also faced heavy state repression; for instance, it was banned in France by the Dufaure Law (1872), which punished any French citizen holding a position within the organization with five years' imprisonment or was harshly repressed in Germany and Italy. In response to this significant crackdown, anarchists began to theorize new forms of political action, such as propaganda of the deed, a strategy seeking to carry out spectacular or striking actions to incite the population to revolt and spark a revolution. One of the anarchist figures experiencing repression and a significant supporter of this strategy was Errico Malatesta.This strategy was hotly debated between the late 1870s and the early 1880s, even as the Anti-authoritarian International was losing members and generally fading from the scene. Propaganda of the deed was not the exclusive domain of anarchists; German revolutionary socialists, many of whom were becoming or would become anarchists, most notably Johann Most, also supported this strategy, which found a certain resonance among anarchists of the period.
In 1881, Most's revolutionary socialists, the anarchists of the Anti-authoritarian International, and various other disparate socialist factions gathered at the London Congress. They voted to refound (or perpetuate) the International on a platform that accepted propaganda of the deed as its central strategy. The formal structures of the International were abolished, save for a correspondence bureau based in London intended to keep groups in contact. The London Congress championed the autonomy of individual groups and actions, decreeing that solidarity should be extended to all revolutionary acts, thus marking the birth of the Black International on anti-organizational lines.
The London Congress, held in the presence of Peter Kropotkin and Malatesta, was not a homogenous one. The anarchists debated there, and Kropotkin opposed Malatesta by generally being much less favorable toward propaganda of the deed and this Black International. However, he was outvoted during the congress, partly by the French and German factions, composed of figures such as Serraux and Louise Michel, who were, on the contrary, very much in favor of the idea. At the end, Malatesta and two other anarchists, Johann Sebastian Trunk and Nikolai Tchaikovsky were named as part of the communication bureau.
The Black International in Europe
The Black International in Switzerland
Switzerland, where the anarchist movement had been born about a decade earlier, stood at the time as a center of both thought and action. Indeed, the country was officially neutral, though in practice it conducted significant surveillance on anarchists, and was situated at the crossroads of several European powers, namely Germany, Italy, France, and Austria-Hungary. Within the country, the Jura Federation remained active and had participated in the London Congress.
In the period following that congress, the Federation met on several occasions to confirm and even reinforce the decisions made at London. For instance, on 4 June 1882, a Federation congress held in Lausanne, where Emil Werner and Élisée Reclus successfully passed a motion strengthening the London resolutions, bore witness to this evolution. Two months later, on 13 and 14 August 1882, a new international congress intended for the entire organization was held in the city of Geneva, taking advantage of an ongoing music festival to meet discreetly. It was attended by delegates from France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Austria, etc., and was organized to coordinate the revolutionary action between the anarchist movement in each country. According to French police reports on the event given by informant Droz, the Black International would have decided there the total separation of anarchists from socialists and also the means of revolutionary action they should adopt, which would have included : The organization of strikes in all industrial centers as quickly as possible; 2. The use of pyrotechnics: dynamite, etc.; 3. In the event of action, the seizure of all army officers, to be held as hostages and partially executed; 4. The destruction by fire, preferably using petroleum, of all public buildings, including barracks; 5. Finally and above all, as a primary measure, the looting of public funds and of wealthy individuals; the immediate takeover of all industrial establishments, stores, and distribution centers.Furthermore, the congresses and the organization of propaganda of the deed or revolutionary activities continued in the country, for instance, in August 1883, German and Austrian anarchists gathered for a secret meeting in St. Gallen to prepare a series of attacks or actions to be carried out in Austria and the German Empire.
The Black International in Germany
Divisions of the German clubs in London and increasing inefficiency
Although most German anarchists were fervent supporters of propaganda of the deed, and were therefore entirely in line with the strategy of the London Congress, divisions began to affect them starting in the 1880s.
Indeed, two groups, overlapping anarcho-collectivist lines on one side, and anarcho-communist lines on the other, with Johann Most, Victor Dave, and John Neve on one hand, and Josef Peukert, Otto Rinke, or Balthasar Grün on the other, began to clash over both theoretical questions and personal rivalries.
Because of these divisions, known as the Bruderkrieg (Brothers' War), the Germans became increasingly ineffective throughout the 1880s. Ultimately, this rift caused the collapse of the German movement for decades to come, when most of the involved 'leaders' left the movement.
The Black International in France
{ "type": "FeatureCollection", "features": [ { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "title": "Lyon", "marker-color": "000" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [4.8357, 45.7640] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "title": "Saint-Étienne", "marker-color": "000" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [4.3873, 45.4397] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "title": "Dijon", "marker-color": "000" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [5.0415, 47.3220] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "title": "Genève", "marker-color": "000" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [6.1432, 46.2044] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "title": "Lausanne", "marker-color": "000" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [6.6323, 46.5197] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "title": "Grenoble", "marker-color": "000" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [5.7245, 45.1885] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "title": "Chambéry", "marker-color": "000" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [5.9178, 45.5646] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "title": "Annecy", "marker-color": "000" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [6.1266, 45.8992] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "title": "Valence", "marker-color": "000" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [4.8924, 44.9334] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "title": "Villefranche-sur-Saône", "marker-color": "000" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [4.7217, 45.9891] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "title": "Roanne", "marker-color": "000" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [4.0747, 46.0367] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "title": "Tarare", "marker-color": "000" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [4.4320, 45.8964] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "title": "Oullins", "marker-color": "000" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [4.8038, 45.7155] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "title": "Le Creusot", "marker-color": "000" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [4.4362, 46.8049] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "title": "Montceau-les-Mines", "marker-color": "000" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [4.3622, 46.6669] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "title": "Mâcon", "marker-color": "000" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [4.8322, 46.3051] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "title": "Saint-Vallier", "marker-color": "000" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [4.8153, 45.1747] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "title": "Bellegarde", "marker-color": "000" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [5.8256, 46.1082] } },