Belgium 1868

Synopsis

The confrontation in Charleroi, Belgium, is commonly called la grève [strike] de l'Épine. Starting in 1867, severe wage cuts resulted in numerous strikes in the coal fields of Charleroi and the Borinage. On 26 March 1868 a coalition of some 3,000 miners assembled and occupied L'Épine, the mine located in Montigny-sur-Sambre. Acting on orders, soldiers charged the crowd, which caused at least 10 casualties and heavily injured some strikers. A widely publicized trial and the intense propaganda of the Brussels section of the First International following the events ensured that, according to Marx, "after the affair of Charleroi, the success of the International in Belgium was assured." For the first time the idea of working-class strength through organization was spread on a large scale in Belgium, which was to host one of the strongest socialist labor...