The Birth of the Alliance

Abstract

When Bakunin left the League of Peace and Freedom, he had been for two months past enrolled as a member of the Inter-national. He had declared, from the tribune of the League, his allegiance to the International; and the ordinary observer might have supposed that now at length he would place his restless energy unconditionally and unreservedly at the disposal of that organisation. But it still did not occur to him to follow this simple course. He still had no intention of taking his place in the ranks of the International in the humble and inconspicuous capacity of a new recruit. He would march in as a general at the head of his men. And since the League of Peace and Freedom had disappointed his hopes by refusing to supply him with an army, he must create an army of his own. On the same day on which he handed in to the Berne Congress the document announcing his exit from the League, he rallied around him his faithful followers, and founded an International Social-Democratic Alliance.