Geneva Congress (1866)

The Geneva Congress of 1866 is the common name assigned to the 1st General Congress of the International Workingmen's Association, held in Geneva, Switzerland from September 3 to 8, 1866. The gathering was attended by 46 regular and 14 fraternal delegates from a total of five countries. The Geneva Congress is best remembered for its watershed decision to make universal establishment of the 8-hour working day a main goal of the International Socialist movement.

The International Workingmen's Association (IWA), commonly known as the First International, was an international association of trade unionist and socialist political activists which attempted to coordinate labor activities across national boundaries. The organization is remembered for the active participation of many pioneer leaders of the modern socialist and anarchist movements, including Karl Marx and Mikhail Bakunin. Membership in the IWA was numerically small, its funding inadequate, and its institutional life short — lasting a mere 8 years from its establishment in 1864 until its termination at the Hague Congress of 1872.

Establishment of the IWA was related to ongoing efforts to coordinate the activities of the trade union movements in Great Britain and France, a project begun in connection with the 1862 London World's Fair. Economic crisis had led the imperial French government to concede the right to French workers to elect a delegation of 750 to the London exhibition. While in London certain members of this delegation headed by Henri Tolain (1828-1897) established contact with British trade union leaders and opened the door for a formal meeting in London the following summer in support of the Polish uprising of 1863.

The 1st General Congress of the International Workingmen's Association was convened in Geneva, Switzerland on September 3, 1866. The gathering remained in session for six days, adjourning sine die on September 8 of that same month.

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