The intent of the London meeting would be to explore founding an International organization dedicated to anti-authoritarian and decentralist socialism.
The congress had 45 delegates,[1] including anarchist luminaries Peter Kropotkin, Errico Malatesta, and Louise Michel.
[2] John Most, who contributed to the impetus for the meeting, ultimately did not attend from jail, having written in celebration of the assassination of Alexander II of Russia some weeks before the congress.
[1] The congress was ultimately unproductive, marred by bombastic speech and obsessive sensationalism related to Alexander II's assassination.
While governments would blame assassinations and terrorism on the Black International, the group truthfully held little organized power.