1881 London Social Revolutionary Congress

Anarchist meeting August 2023 August 2023 Participants of the London Congress.png In black, where delegates at the 1881 London Congress came from, in grey, what countries were part of the colonial empires of the countries sending delegates 1881 07 14 1881 07 20 y London, United Kingdom Political conference The International Social Revolutionary Congress was an anarchist meeting in London between 14 and 20 July 1881, with the aim of founding a new international organisation for anti-authoritiarian socialism (i.e., anarchists). Preparations Planning for the London congress began following a small Brussels conference in 1880. The intent of the London meeting would be to explore founding an international organisation dedicated to anti-authoritarian and decentralist socialism. The congress had 45 delegates,Woodcock 1990 179 including anarchist luminaries Peter Kropotkin, Errico Malatesta, and Louise Michel. Planned in secret, delegates were known by code number.Avrich 1984 56 John Most, who contributed to the impetus for the meeting, ultimately did not attend from jail, having written in celebration of the assassination of Alexander II of Russia some weeks before the congress.Avrich 1984 55–56 The new Social Revolutionary outgrowths of the American Socialistic Labor Party did not send delegates but were represented in spirit by other delegates.Avrich 1984 56 Despite security measures, an attendee named Serreaux was later determined to have been an agent provocateur from the French police.Woodcock 1990 179 Proceedings and results The congress was ultimately unproductive, marred by bombastic speech and obsessive sensationalism related to Alexander II's assassination.Woodcock 1990 179–180 Though the delegates moved to form a new international organisation based on autonomous federations, resuscitating the International Working Men's Association, the resulting Black International did not grow beyond a loose association of groups. The Black International had no central power, which would have conflicted with its federalist orientation, apart from a bureau of information, which itself did not last long. While governments would blame assassinations and terrorism on the Black International, the group truthfully held little organised power. A follow-up congress, planned for 1882, was abandoned.Avrich 1984 58 Primary sources Resolutions and debates in Le Révolté added to Wikisource (1) See also Marie Le Compte References Bibliography Avrich Paul Paul Avrich The Haymarket Tragedy 1984 978-0-691-04711-9 Princeton University Press Goyens Tom Beer and Revolution: The German Anarchist Movement in New York City, 1880–1914 2007 978-0-252-03175-5 Urbana, Illinois University of Illinois Press Graham Robert We Do Not Fear Anarchy, We Invoke It: The First International and the Origins of the Anarchist Movement 2015 en 978-1-84935-211-6 AK Press mdy-all Messer-Kruse Timothy Timothy Messer-Kruse The Haymarket Conspiracy: Transatlantic Anarchist Networks 2014 978-0-252-09414-9 Urbana, Illinois University of Illinois Press The Working Class in American History mdy-all Woodcock George George Woodcock Peter Kropotkin: From Prince to Rebel 1990 en 978-0-921689-60-7 Black Rose Books mdy-all Further reading Bantman Constance The French Anarchists in London, 1880-1914: Exile and Transnationalism in the First Globalisation 2013-04-05 en 978-1-78138-658-3 Oxford University Press mdy-all Category:1881 conferences Category:1881 in politics Category:1881 in London Category:Anarchism in England Category:History of anarchism Category:Anarchist congresses Category:July 1881 in the United Kingdom Category:19th-century political conferences Category:Propaganda of the deed