THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL IN FRANCE 1864-1872

Its Origins, Theories, and Impact

Julian P. W. Archer

University Press of America, Inc. Lanham • New York • Oxford CONTENTS

Abbreviations ix

Preface xi

Introduction xiii

PART ONE: THE PROUDHONIST PERIOD

Chapter 1 Faint Trails 1862-1864 1

The August 5, 1862 Tea Party 1 Henri Louis Tolain 2 Tolain and Bonapartism 5 The Polish Revolt of 1863 8 The "Address to the Workmen of France" and the "Manifesto of the Sixty" 10 Revising the Law on Coalitions 12 Trail's End 13

Chapter 2 The Founding of the International 1864-1865 19

September 28, 1864 19 Character of the International 23 The French Version of the Provisional Rules 24 44 Rue des Gravilliers 27 Bonapartist Agents in the International? 28 The Secret History of the Founding of the International 33 First Members 35 The Activity of Other Branches in France 40 Character of the Paris Branch 41

Chapter 3 From London to Geneva 1865-1866 59

The London Conference of 1865 59 The Paris Branch, 1865-1866 61 Slow Provincial Growth 65 The : High-water Mark of Proudhonism 66 The Significance of the Geneva Congress 75

Chapter 4 A Year of Stagnation 1866-1867 79

Paris Tries Cooperatives 79 The Strikes of 1867 and the International 82 Rumbles of War Again 85 Potential Conflicts in the Paris Branch 85 The Universal Exposition of 1867 87 Expansion and Dissension in the Provinces 89 The Congress 98

Chapter 5 Persecution and Collapse 1867-1868 111

Trials in Paris 111 Provincial Parallels 117 The 119

Chapter 6 Retrospective on the Proudhonist Years 1864- 1868 135

PART TWO: REDIRECTION THROUGH TRADE UNIONS AND STRIKES

Chapter 7 Return of Energy 1868-1869 145

Paris: Living with Constraint 145 The Paris Branch and the Labor Movement 151 Provincial Agitations 155 Basel, the Last Genuine Congress 166

Chapter 8 Preparing the Bases 1869-1870 189

A Time for Federations 189 Republicanism Unmasked 192 A Pause for Reflection 195 The Federal Council of Parisian Trade Unions 197 "An Avalanche of Strikes" 200 Liberalization and Repression 203 Provincial Reemergence 211 Chapter 9 A Cataclysmic Finale 1870-1871 239

Paris and "the old deluded belief 239 Provincial Echoes 264

Chapter 10 Epilogue 1871-1872 291

Death in France 291 "Disintegrating Elements" 293 The Place of the First International in the History of and Labor 300

Bibliography 313

Index 337

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