The Anarchist St. Imier International was an international anarchist organization formed in 1872 when the anarchist sections were expelled from the First International after the Hague Congress (1872)

Hague Congress (1872)

The Hague Congress was the Fifth congress of the International Workingmen's Association held in in The Hague, Holland, which anarchists consider as null and void....

.

The St. Imier International was created when the Swiss

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 Jura Federation

Jura federation

The Jura Federation was the federalist and anarchist section of the International Workingmen's Association , based largely among watch-makers in the Jura mountain range in Switzerland. The Jura federation was founded on October 9, 1870 at a meeting in Saint-Imier of local sections of the IWA...

, the most important anarchist section of the old International, sent out a call to other expelled sections who then assembled at St. Imier to create a new anarchist, anti-authoritarian organization. The organization was made up of several groups, mainly the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and Swiss sections, who opposed Karl Marx

Karl Marx

Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...

's control of the Central Council and favoured the autonomy of national sections free from centralized control.

At the St. Imier Congress (1872) the delegates proclaimed "[t]hat the aspirations of the proletariat can have no other aim than the creation of an absolutely free economic organisation and federation based upon work and equality and wholly independent of any political government, and that such an organisation or federation can only come into being through the spontaneous action of the proletariat itself, through its trade societies, and through self-governing communes."

The St. Imier International lasted until 1877, while the First International dissolved in 1876. In July 1881, international anarchists would launch the Black International.

Contemporary anarchist internationals include the International Workers Association

International Workers Association

The International Workers' Association is an international federation of anarcho-syndicalist labour unions and initiatives based primarily in Europe and Latin America....

 (est. 1922), the International of Anarchist Federations

International of Anarchist Federations

The International of Anarchist Federations was founded during an international anarchist conference in Carrara in 1968 by the three existing European federations of France, Italy and Spain as well as the Bulgarian federation in French exile...

 (est. 1968), and Black Bridge International

Black Bridge International

Black Bridge International is a "decentralized anarchist mutual aid network" set up to facilitate the sharing of resources and information.Like other anarchist organizations, Black Bridge rejects hierarchy and has no leaders...

(est. 2001).

External links

• Steklov's history of the First International
• Le Congrès de l'Internationale Anti-autoritaire Saint Imier, 15-16 September 1872