The First International and Imperial Administrative Models

The Workers' International Association

The International Workingmen's Association (IWA/AIT) was founded in London by representatives of British and French workers' associations and political migrants. It incorporated Italian and German workers' societies from different countries, along with personalities involved in the social struggle. It was led by a General Council headed by Karl Marx, and its basic principles were the emancipation of the working class to destroy bourgeois society and establish socialism.

The first congresses of the IWA, held in Geneva, Lausanne, and Brussels, adopted agreements to promote labor mobilizations in each country. They defined measures affecting workers' demands, including:

• Reducing working hours
• Abolition of child labor
• Improving working conditions
• Disappearance of the standing army
• Socialization of the means of production
• The strike as the best way to achieve these objectives

Internal disagreements led to a confrontation between Marx and Bakunin. While Marx controlled the IWA, Bakunin advocated for the abolition of the state and remained hostile to any political authority.

Colonial Administration Systems

The vast extent of empires, their remoteness from the metropolis, and the social diversity of their populations pushed the metropolis to create specific systems. There were two primary types of colonies:

• Colonies of exploitation: Focused on the exploitation of their natural resources.
• Settler colonies: Territories where the European population emigrated and displaced the indigenous population.

British Administrative Organization

The British Empire introduced a specific model of administrative organization:

• The colonies: These relied on self-government, though the metropolitan administration exercised a policy of occupation. These territories were subject to the economic interests of the metropolis.
• The protectorates: The metropolis created and imposed a parallel government, exercising unilaterally dominant defense functions and external representation.
• The dominions: Territories with a small indigenous population in which the white minority government established its own parliamentary system.
• The mandates: Created after World War I to administer the dependent territories of powers defeated in the conflict.