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opportunity to participate in the actual struggles of labor. Marx was
at work on "Capital" and schooling, in his leisure hours, a few of the
notable men who were later to become leaders of the working class in
Europe. It was a dull period, wearisome and vexatious enough to men who
were boldly prophesying that industrial conditions would create a
world-wide solidarity of labor. The first glimmer of hope came with the
London International Exhibition of 1862, which brought together by
chance groups of workingmen from various countries. The visit to London
enabled them to observe the British trade unions, and they left deeply
impressed by their strength. Furthermore, the Exhibition brought the
English workers and those of other nationalities into touch with each
other. How much this meant was shown in 1863. When the Polish uprising
was being suppressed, the English workers sent to their French comrades
a protest, in answer to which the Paris workmen sent a delegation to
London. This gathering in sympathy with Poland laid the foundations for
the International. Nearly every important revolutionary sect in Europe
was represented: the German communists, the French Blanquists and
Proudhonians, and the Italian Mazzinians; but the only delegates who
represented powerful working-class organizations were the English trade
unionists. The other organizations, even as late as this, were still
little more than coteries, of hero-worshiping tendencies, fast
developing into sectarian organizations that seemed destined to divide
hopelessly and forever the labor movement.

It was perhaps inevitable that the more closely the sects were brought
together, the more clearly they should perceive their differences,
although Marx had exercised every care to draft a policy that would
allay strife. Mazzini and his followers could not long endure the
policies of the International, and they soon withdrew. The Proudhonians
never at any time sympathized with the program and methods adopted by
the International. The German organizations were not able to affiliate,
by reason of the political conditions in that country, although numerous
individuals attended the congresses. Nearly all the Germans were
supporters of the policies of Marx, while most of the leading trade
unionists of England completely understood and sympathized with Marx's
aim of uniting the various working-class organizations of Europe into an
international association. They all felt that s