1st Combat Engineer Battalion, History, Global War on Terror
The battalion has participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom from March 2003 until the present. The battalion headquarters and 3 engineer companies were deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 as part of the NATO counterinsurgency offensive in the Helmand Province, to Musa Qal’eh in 2010, and returned again, 2011 and 2013 .


1st Combat Engineer Battalion, Unit awards
A unit citation or commendation is an award bestowed upon an organization for the action cited. Members of the unit who participated in said actions are allowed to wear on their uniforms the awarded unit citation. 1st CEB has been presented with the following awards:


1st Combat Engineer Regiment (Australia)
The 1st Combat Engineer Regiment (1 CER) is a combat engineer regiment of the Australian Army. Based in the Northern Territory and attached to 1st Brigade, it is a Regular Army unit of the Royal Australian Engineers and is tasked with providing mobility and counter mobility support.


1st Combat Engineer Regiment (Australia), History
1 CER was raised on 1 March 1993, built around 1 Field Squadron RAE, itself raised from 1st Field Engineer Regiment (1FER) in July 1981 at Holsworthy Barracks, in Sydney. 1 Field Squadron, draws lineage from 1 Field Company that was raised as part of the First Australian Imperial Force during World War I.


1st Combat Engineer Regiment (Australia), History
The regiment moved from Sydney in late 1999 to Robertson Barracks, Darwin. 2 Troop, 1 Field Squadron was deployed to East Timor during this time as part of INTERFET. In April 2000, 1 Troop, 1 Field Squadron replaced 2 Troop and began its six-month deployment in support of 6 RAR. During this time the pro-Indonesian Militia re grouped, re-armed and returned to harass the peace keeping operations. 1 Troop conducted road repairs, water purification, and constructed strong points throughout the Australian AO. In October 2000, 1 Troop was relieved by 3 Troop, 9 Field Squadron.


1st Combat Engineer Regiment (Australia), History
In late 2002, 73 personnel were used to form a Battalion Engineer Group to attach to 5th/7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (5/7 RAR) for a deployment to East Timor as part of the United Nations Mission of Support to East Timor (UNMISET). Among the duties performed by the engineers, above aiding 5/7 RAR, included the provision of humanitarian aid, construction of infrastructure for the East Timorese law enforcement agencies, and provision of supplementary infantry patrols.


1st Combat Engineer Regiment (Australia), History
From April to August 2003, elements from 1 CER were deployed as part of Operation Relex II. The sappers alternated between land-based training and periods embarked on Royal Australian Navy vessels assigned to Relex, where they aided Navy personnel in boarding and searching Suspected Illegal Entry Vessels (SIEVs), boat handling, and other duties. During this deployment, personnel from 1 CER were involved in boarding and detaining SIEV 13, and the subsequent transfer of those aboard to the Christmas Island Immigration Detention Centre.


1st Combat Engineer Regiment (Australia), History
Also in 2003, 1 CER was granted approval to use the Sand Goanna (Varanus Panoptes) as a mascot.


1st Combat Engineer Regiment (Australia), History
From late 2006 to mid-2007, a third of 1 CER was deployed to Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan, as the 1st Reconstruction Task Force, the Australian contribution to a Dutch-led Provincial Reconstruction Team. During this deployment, the remainder of 1 CER carried out a heavy training schedule.


1st Combat Engineer Regiment (Australia), History
In late 2008, personnel from 1 Field Squadron and 23 Support Squadron were sent to Afghanistan on an eight-month deployment as part of the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force, during which Corporal Michael Anthony Cole was awarded the Order of Australia Medal. The rest of the regiment was involved in training and trials of the PackBot military robot (the Scout and Explorer variants) for Australian use.


1st Combat Engineer Regiment (Australia), History
In July 2009, 1 CER and 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment served as the opposing force during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2009.


1st Combat Engineer Regiment (Australia), History
In October 2009, the 1 Field Squadron Group provided Disaster Relief and Humanitarian Support in response to the magnitude 7.6 earthquake that struck off Western Sumatra on 30 September 2009.


1st Combat Engineer Regiment (Australia), Structure
The regiment's current consists of a headquarters element, two field squadrons, a support squadron and an operational support squadron:


1st Combat Evaluation Group
The 1st Combat Evaluation Group (initially "1CEG", later "1CEVG") was a Strategic Air Command (SAC) unit. It was formed on 1 August 1961 to merge the 3908th Strategic Standardization Group for SAC aircrew evaluation with the 1st Radar Bomb Scoring Group that had originated from the 263rd Army Air Force Base Unit which transferred from 15th AF to directly under Strategic Air Command c. 1946.


1st Combat Evaluation Group
The 1CEVG formed after SAC switched to low-level tactics to counter Soviet surface-to-air missiles ("Oil Burner" training routes in 1959) and SAC had "developed a Radar Bomb Scoring field kit for use in NIKE Systems" in early 1960 for scoring SAC training missions against US Hercules SAM sites. The 1CEVG headquarters included an Office of History and a "standardization and evaluation school" for command examiners.


1st Combat Evaluation Group, Standardization and evaluation
The 1CEVG deputy commander for standardization and evaluation was responsible for performance assessment of SAC tanker and bomber flight crews. 1CEVG also evaluated the RC-135 units at Eielson, Kadena, and Offutt, the flight crew standardization of the U-2, the DC-130 reconnaissance drone program, CH-3 helicopter drone recovery program, [and] the SR-71 program at Beale AFB.


1st Combat Evaluation Group, Standardization and evaluation
The Fairchild Trophy was Strategic Air Command's top Bombardment Award, for which the Group administered flight checks and evaluated standardization and training activities.


1st Combat Evaluation Group, Divisions
1CEVG included a Command Instrument Flight Division and an RBS Division with 3 squadrons.


1st Combat Evaluation Group, Radar Bomb Scoring Division
The Radar Bomb Scoring Division controlled the group's Radar Bomb Scoring units. As with the preceding 1st Radar Bomb Scoring Group at Carswell AFB, the division had 3 Radar Bomb Scoring Squadrons (10th, 11th, 12th) with RBS detachments at fixed radar stations and at semi-mobile radar stations (Mobile Duty Locations (MDLs)). The MDLs were set up for SAC special missions, with their equipment, trailers, books, etc., stored at Barksdale AFB when not in use. Each squadron manned an RBS Express train, but the squadrons were inactivated in 1966 after Vietnam War deployments had begun. The three squadrons in 1959 had 29 AUTOTRACK sites. 1CEVG temporary duty personnel at Nike Defense Areas also scored mock SAC raids tracked by the Army.


1st Combat Evaluation Group, Radar Bomb Scoring Division
RBS trains were inactivated later in the war after the 1968-9 Project 693 discharging 1st term SAC airmen up to 11 months early. The division included a maintenance office. After the Vietnam War ended, the annual Combat Skyspot trophy was awarded for the outstanding RBS detachment (e.g., Louis Blotner Radar Bomb Scoring Site (Ashland Det 7) in 1985).


1st Combat Evaluation Group, Radar Bomb Scoring Division
The squadrons initially used Matador Automatic Radar Control (AN/MSQ-1) and AN/MSQ-2 automatic tracking radar/computer systems. The Reeves AN/MSQ-35 Bomb Scoring Central was developed for the division (mid-1963 testing was at the White Sands Missile Range.) During the Vietnam War, the Statesboro Bomb Scoring Site used a Soviet T2A for training crews to jam the signal. Three US bombing systems developed during the war (AN/MSQ-77, AN/TSQ-81, & AN/TSQ-96) were used post-war in the United States by the RBS Division, which replaced them with the c. 1980 solid-state US Dynamics AN/TPQ-43 Bomb Scoring Set (SEEK SCORE) developed from the AN/TPB-1C Course Directing Central.


1st Combat Evaluation Group, Radar Bomb Scoring Division
The Electronic Systems Division 806L "Range Threat" systems for electronic warfare simulation were developed for use by 1CEVG late in the Cold War. Such systems included the US Dynamics AN/MST-T1 Miniature-Multiple Threat Emitter Simulator (MUTES), for which the group evaluated the prototype in 1977 (operational in October 1978). Similarly, TLQ-11 jammer improvements were in 1978, and in 1979 1CEVG members completed a prototype study and testing of the new Threat Reaction Analysis Indicator System (TRAINS) for analyzing how aircrews and avionics reacted to ground-based threats.


1st Combat Evaluation Group, Radar Bomb Scoring Division
At the end of the Cold War, most RBS detachments were closed. The personnel and the assets of the RBS Division became the 1st Electronic Combat Range Group on 1 July 1989 when the 1CEVG was split, and other 1CEVG organizations transferred to SAC headquarters.


1st Combat Evaluation Group, Detachments 7 & 50
Detachment 7, 1 CEVG was a Matagorda Island Air Force Base radar site for the "Busy Skyspot" training program for automatic tracking radar crews to use the Reeves AN/MSQ-77 Bomb Directing Central before transferring to Vietnam War operating locations. A CONUS AN/MSQ-77 had initially been used at the mountainous Nellis Air Force Range before being moved to the Gulf Coast of the United States, then the detachment moved to Bergstrom Air Force Base and was redesignated Det 50 for long range tracking of bombers on 2 Matagorda Island Air Force Range routes (low- and high-level). On 29 February 1968, on the low-level Matagorda route a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress crashed into the Gulf of Mexico.


1st Combat Evaluation Group, Detachment 15
Detachment 15, 1CEVG at the Vietnam War's Tan Son Nhut Air Base served as an "administrative link between [the operating locations] and Headquarters 1st Combat Evaluation Group" after Reeves AN/MSQ-77 Bomb Directing Centrals were produced and deployed in 1965 for Combat Skyspot bomber operations by tactical fighter, B-52, and other units. On 5 June 1966 near Đông Hà Combat Base close to the DMZ, six 1CEVG technicians were killed while conducting a preliminary site location survey.


1st Combat Helicopter Regiment
The 1st Combat Helicopter Regiment (1er Régiment d'Hélicoptères de Combat) (1er RHC) is based at Quartier La Horie (Phalsbourg).


1st Combat Helicopter Regiment, History
The 1st Combat Helicopter Regiment was created on 1 August 1977, but traces its origins back to the 1950s. It carries the traditions of the 1st then the 21st Artillery Observation Groups which achieved particular fame during the First Indochina War, winning six citations. The 1st Aerial Artillery Observation Group was established on 20 November 1945, and became the 21st Aerial Artillery Observation Group on 1 October 1950. From 1945 to February 1946 it was stationed at Camp de Valdahon. It was dissolved on 31 December 1953.


1st Combat Helicopter Regiment, History
That heritage is recalled by the inscription "Indochina 1946–1954" carried on the standard which was solemnly presented to the regiment on 27 June 1980. Camp de la Horie at Phalsbourg where the regiment is stationed was built on the basis of the former Phalsbourg-Bourscheid Air Base, vacated in the 1960s by the United States Air Force. The base was constructed by French workers for the Americans in 1953. Cited in an army order, the régiment received the Croix de guerre des Théâtres d'opérations extérieures with palm on 11 July 1991. It has been awarded battle honours for Kuwait.


1st Combat Helicopter Regiment, History
In 1990 the 1st RHC took part in Opération Daguet (Operation Brocket) in Iraq. It has also seen service in Chad, in Djibouti, in Somalia, in the former Yugoslavia, in Kosovo, in Timor, in Ivory Coast and in Afghanistan.


1st Commando Brigade (Turkey)
The 1st Commando Brigade (Turkish: 1. Komando Tugayı) is a brigade of the Turkish Army, based in Kayseri.


1st Commando Brigade (Turkey), History
Founded as a paratrooper brigade, later it was restructured as a ground force. A battalion from the brigade was detached and expanded which became the 5th Hakkari Mountain and Commando Brigade. Although formally being a paratrooper brigade Parachuting and para-warfare training is still given in this brigade to every one of its troops, including the special forces Gendarmerie Special Operations Command team within its brigade.


1st Commando Brigade (Turkey), History
The Brigade was involved in the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, and fought beside airborne commandos (Bolu) and Naval Infantry Brigade (Izmir). It served as a fighting force against the Greek Junta and the Cyprus National Guard. In its efforts, the Turkish Army came out victorious in this war. The 1st Commando Brigade also acted as a peacekeeping force in the Bosnian War and the War in Afghanistan. It has engaged Kurdish separatists in platoon size forces alongside the Hakkari Mountain and Commando Brigade in operations within and across Turkey's borders into Iraq in the anti Insurgency campaign launched by the PKK from Iraq into Turkey.


1st Commando Brigade (Turkey), History
In its latest engagement, the 1st Commando Brigade along with other Brigades across Turkey deployed troops along the Syrian border. In which causing it to Part in the Syrian–Turkish border incidents during the Syrian Civil War.


1st Commando Brigade (Turkey), Training
Training is given to officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers. Military parachute training at all levels is provided to the military personnel of all rank in the Turkish Armed Forces only by this brigade. In addition, contract soldiers and conscripts receive basic military and commando basic training.


1st Commando Brigade (Turkey), Training
Training periods vary between 3 weeks for basic military training, 5 weeks for commando basic training and 3 to 9 weeks for military parachute training.


1st Commando Brigade (Turkey), Training, Structure
The composition and size of this brigade is different from other commando formation of the Turkish Army. There are:


1st Commando Brigade (Turkey), Losses
As of 10 June 2015, the 1st Commando Brigade has a total of 342 killed in action, of which 76 are in the Cyprus Peace Operation and 235 in the Homeland Security Operation.


1st Commando Brigade (Turkey), Gallery
Two Turkish commandos repel from an S-70 utility helicopter in support of ground combat operations during the culminating event of Exercise Erciyes


1st Commando Regiment (Australia)
The 1st Commando Regiment (1 Cdo Regt) is an Australian Army Reserve special forces unit part of Special Operations Command with an integrated structure of regular (full-time) soldiers and reserve (part-time) soldiers, which together with the full-time Australian Army 2nd Commando Regiment, provides the Commando capability to Special Operations Command. Raised in 1955 it is the oldest unit within Special Operations Command and in 2008 deployed to Afghanistan to become the first Australian Army Reserve force element on combat operations since World War II.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia)
The primary role of 1st Commando Regiment is to provide a scalable and deployable mission command headquarters to Special Operations Command (SOCOMD). In addition, the Regiment is manned, trained and equipped to provide commando force elements up to a company size, as well as providing high quality, competent individual commandos to round out, reinforce and rotate with other SOCOMD capabilities.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), Role
The regiment provides Special Operations Command (SOCOMD) with three key outputs: a scalable and deployable Command Control Communication and Intelligence (C3I) node, known as the Joint Special Operations Task Force – Light (JSOTF-L); Round-out, Reinforcement and Rotation (R3) for SOCOMD; and a contingency response, based upon the collective Commando and specialist capabilities organic to the 1st Commando Regiment (1 Cdo Regt).


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), Role
Over the past decade, combat operations and the evolution of the commando role has changed the character of the 1 Cdo Regt. Changes were introduced to reserve training following combat operations, to align training standards with the full-time 2nd Commando Regiment (2 Cdo Regt), and to provide a higher level of readiness for the regiment, however, this affected recruitment due to the long full-time commitment and is now optional.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Origins
Derived from the South African/Dutch word used by the Boers identifying their irregular sized raiding forces employed against the British during the South African Wars, the term "commando" was adopted by newly formed British raiding forces during World War II, and subsequently used by Australian special units raised to fight in the South-west Pacific and Indian Oceans. By the close of World War II, Australian special forces units included the Independent Companies (later Commando Squadrons), Z Special Unit under Special Operations Australia and M Special Unit under Allied Intelligence Bureau.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Origins
By the early 1950s, it was deemed necessary by the Army to maintain the techniques and skills that had been developed during the war. Consequently, on 16 September 1954, the Military Board issued the authority to raise two Citizen Military Force (CMF) commando companies: the 1 Commando Company in Sydney and the 2 Commando Company in Melbourne. Both would be commanded by regular army officers and regular army would form the training and administrative cadre. The companies were to be independent of each other and report to different commands.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Origins
The established strength for the companies was to be 265 all ranks, consisting of one major, five captains (three of them platoon commanders), six sergeants and 241 other ranks. This establishment was very similar to the Independent Companies of World War II, which had had an establishment of 17 officers and 256 other ranks.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Origins
1 Commando Company was raised in New South Wales on 24 February 1955; however, the officer commanding, Major William Harold (Mac) Grant decided that the official birthday would be their first parade on Friday 15 July 1955 at "Q" Block, Victoria Barracks. Major Grant was a World War II commando veteran having served in the 2/5 Independent Company and 2/12th Commando Squadron. 2 Commando Company was raised in Victoria on 24 February 1955 under the command of Major Peter Seddon and first paraded on 7 July 1955. Seddon was appointed for only 12 months with his successor to be Major Jack Anderson.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Origins
In October 1955, Grant and Anderson, along with two Warrant Officers Ernie Tarr and Ron Smith, travelled to the United Kingdom to train with the Royal Marine Commandos. Tarr and Smith undertook 12 months of training, including with the Special Boat Service, to become training instructors. Anderson was killed during the last week of the basic commando course and was replaced by Major John Hutcheson. Also in October 1955, two Royal Marine Commando sergeants Mac MacDermott and Len Holmes, both former Special Boat Service, travelled to Australia each appointed to a commando company. In May 1956, Grant and Hutcheson returned to Australia after six months of training having been awarded the green beret by 42 Commando.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Origins
Grant has stated that defence planning staff convinced the government to form the commando companies with the role "...of conducting clandestine operations similar to those mounted by special operations also those of the Independent Companies/Commando Squadrons. It was envisaged that by raising units capable of performing such a dual role, a pool of trained manpower would be available to be "farmed off" as necessary to a special operations unit while the remainder would be used in more conventional commando operations." The Australian Secret Intelligence Service had earlier been formed in 1952 within the Department of Defence whose role included ".. plan for and conduct special operations..".


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Origins
Commando courses included basic parachutist, diving, small scale raids, demolitions, climbing and roping and unarmed combat. 1 Commando Company held the first diving course in 1957 using a pure oxygen re-breather named the Clearance Divers Breathing Apparatus CDBA borrowed from the Navy Clearance Diving Branch based on training received from the Special Boat Service.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Origins
In 1957, as the unit already had the designation "1st" within its title, the Army thought it would be a convenient framework on which to re-form the Australian Imperial Force's 1st Battalion. So on 1 December 1957 the unit was re-designated the 1st Infantry Battalion (Commando), keeping this title until 22 August 1966 when the unit was renamed the 1st Battalion, The Royal New South Wales Regiment (Commando), City of Sydney's Own Regiment. Finally in May 1973 the unit name at last changed back to the former designation of the 1 Commando Company. In 1958, the 1st Commando Company provided the initial training for the recently formed 1st Special Air Service Company, the Royal Australian Regiment.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Origins
On the evening of 17 February 1960, 74 commandos from 2 Commando Company set off in kayaks, amphibious DUKW (ducks) and zodiacs on a training exercise from Point Lonsdale to Point Nepean in Victoria simulating a raid on the officer cadet school which involved them crossing the infamous Rip at the entrance to Port Phillip Bay. The weather changed without warning and the watercraft were swept out to sea through the Port Phillip Heads encountering massive seas that capsized most watercraft. Nearly all commandos were rescued except three who drowned. 2nd Commando Company developed a Mountain Leader's Course in ski patrolling, as well as rock, ice and snow climbing.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, 301st and 126th Signal Squadrons
The requirement for long-range communications can be traced back to WWII and units such as Coastwatchers, New Guinea Air Warning Wireless Company, the Independent Companies, and Z Special Unit. On 30 April 1958, a decision was made to raise No 1 Independent Signals Squadron to support clandestine operations and this led to the formation of 301st Signal Squadron (Home Defence) in 1960 at Lidcombe, New South Wales. This new squadron was to meet the requirement for 'special communications' and was charged with the responsibility of providing long-range communications for commando-type operations and was augmented with regular army members in 1963.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, 301st and 126th Signal Squadrons
In December 1964, 301st Signal Squadron was re-designated 126th Signal Squadron, later to 126th Signal Squadron (Special Forces) in January 1966 and subsequently relocated to Albert Park, Victoria and in 1972 to Simpson Barracks in Watsonia, Victoria. The squadron had recruited female signallers since 1964. In 1979 the right to wear the Green Beret (with RAsigs badge) was awarded to 126 Signal Squadron (Special Forces). This was the culmination of many submissions to the dress committees by various OC's. The high standard of professionalism displayed by both ARA and ARES at home and overseas contributed to this award. A Squadron parade was held on the School of Signals parade ground with the Berets being handed out by BRIG Jim Barry (later to be the Manager of the Australian Olympic Team).


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Malaya, Borneo and Vietnam
Prior to formation as a Regiment, the sub units deployed individuals and small teams to the Borneo Confrontation and the Vietnam War. During the Borneo confrontation, Sergeant Ted Blacker of 126th Signal Squadron (Special Forces) was awarded the British Empire Medal. From 1965 the Commando Companies contributed numerous instructors, including from their reserve part-time component, to the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV). Two lost their lives with the AATTV, with Warrant Officer Class II John Durrington being killed in action, and Warrant Officer Class II Ron Scott dying of wounds.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Malaya, Borneo and Vietnam
Whilst serving with the AATTV, Warrant Officer Class II Ray Simpson, formerly from both the Special Air Service Regiment and the 1st Commando Company, was awarded the Victoria Cross for an action in the Kontum Province on 6 May 1969. In the late 1960s, 2nd Commando Company relocated from Ripponlea to Fort Gellibrand at Williamstown. In 1978, 126th Signal Squadron (Special Forces) was provided with approval to wear the green beret and in 1981 the first female passed selection and was awarded a green beret.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Formation of Regimental Headquarters
All sub-units operated independently, training Army Reserve commandos and Special Forces signalers until 1981 when it was determined a regimental headquarters was required. This headquarters would coordinate the efforts of the previously independent units and provide the east coast command element for the newly established counter-terrorist capability within the Special Air Service Regiment. The headquarters was established on 1 February 1981 at Randwick Barracks in Randwick, New South Wales.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Formation of Regimental Headquarters
In 1991, a 1st Commando Company commando who had joined the UK Special Air Service was in the well-known Bravo Two Zero patrol in Iraq as part of Operation Desert Storm. In 1992, 126th Signal Squadron (Special Forces) qualified commandos were given approval to wear the commando badge.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Formation of Regimental Headquarters
Commencing in February 1997, 1 Cdo Regt provided the initial training for the re-role of the 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (4RAR) from an infantry battalion into commando 4RAR (Cdo) raising the Commando Training Wing (the predecessor to the Special Forces Training Centre) commanded by Major Hans Fleer. The 126th Signal Squadron (Special Forces) was incorporated into 4RAR(Cdo) and relocated to Holsworthy. In 1998, the Army dropped plans to raise a third reserve company in Queensland for the Regiment due to a lack of resources.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Formation of Regimental Headquarters
In April 1997, three female Army officers, completed the commando officer selection course. One Officer went on to complete other specialist courses, and another went on to become a Troop Commander at 126 Signal Squadron. Of the three, one was presented with the Green Beret.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Formation of Regimental Headquarters
In June 2002, 301st Signal Squadron was re-raised at Randwick Barracks to provide communications and information systems and electronic warfare to facilitate the command and control of special operations conducted by the Regiment. In 2006, 1st Commando Company relocated from Georges Heights in Mosman to HMAS Penguin in Balmoral.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Recent operations
In recent years, the Regiment has frequently deployed on operations, providing small detachments and individuals to peacekeeping missions in the region and deployed operationally in up to company sized combat elements to Afghanistan.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Recent operations
Deployments in the region, include Bougainville as unarmed monitors as part of Operation BEL ISI, Timor Leste (East Timor) as peacekeepers in 2001 as part of UNTAET providing a substantial reinforcement to 4RAR(Cdo) and Solomon Islands in 2003 as part of RAMSI providing peacekeeping teams to support operations.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Recent operations
In May 2006, SOCOMD deployed to Timor Leste as peacekeepers in Operation Astute with a Special Operations Task Group to conduct special recovery and evacuation operations. Post the extraction of the initial Task Group, the special operations component in Timor Leste was reduced – often commanded by a member of the 1 Cdo Regt and the force element supplemented by 1 Cdo Regt teams.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Recent operations
In March 2007, the Task Group was bolstered to form an Apprehension Task Force with the purpose of apprehending ex-Timorese Army Major and rebel leader, Alfredo Reinado, at the request of the President of Timor Leste. Reinado was eventually located in the village of Same. Following negotiations between the Timor Leste government and the rebels, the decision was made to detain Reinado by force. Reinado evaded capture but five of his men were killed in the battle. For the members of the 1 Cdo Regt who participated in this Special Operations Task Group mission the battle was the first combat seen by the unit (at greater than individual level).


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Recent operations
In 2008, the Regiment's operational commitment took a step further with the deployment of an entire Commando Company Group to the Special Operations Task Group (SOTG) in Afghanistan as part of Operation Slipper. This constituted the first deployment of an Army Reserve force element on combat operations since World War II and the Regiment continued to support this operational commitment with similar deployments the following year. The role of the commando company in Afghanistan was to conduct offensive operations deep within enemy safe havens to provide security to both coalition forces and the people of Afghanistan. This was achieved through intelligence-led direct action missions to disrupt and destroy enemy forces within known insurgent strong holds known as "kill or capture" missions.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Recent operations
The first deployment was composed of 1 Cdo Coy personnel supplemented by 2 Cdo Coy personnel. It was commanded by the Major OC 1 Cdo Coy and arrived in November 2008 for a four-month tour of duty until February 2009. On 27 November 2008, Lieutenant Michael Fussell, a specialist Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) from 4RAR Cdo serving in the Commando Company Group, was killed in action after he stood on an IED during a night infiltration onto a target.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Recent operations
Following Fussell's death several senior personnel asked to be relieved of their positions due to concerns over the Major and after an inquiry into the death, the Major was relieved of his command and returned to Australia. The inquiry raised issues into the Commando Company Group outside the scope of its terms that instigated the appointment of Vice Admiral (retired) Chris Ritchie to conduct a further inquiry that found that the Group had been inadequately trained and prepared for its deployment, and that concerns over the Major's leadership should have been acted on before the Group deployed.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Recent operations
On 4 January 2009, the Regiment suffered its first combat fatality when Private Gregory Sher (2 Cdo Coy) was killed by a rocket attack into a patrol base. On 12 February 2009, the Group conducted a night compound clearance in the Sorkh Morghab region with elements of the Afghan National Army and with Afghan interpreters. Corporal W saw, through a window, a male holding an AK-47 rifle pointed at a door that his team was preparing to use to enter the room to clear and fired at him through the window with his rifle.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Recent operations
The male returned fire and ignored calls made for him to come out. With fire continuing, and the team being unable to retreat, two grenades were thrown by Lance Corporal M to clear the room. The room was entered, whereupon soldiers found women and children present, with five fatalities (three children and two babies) having been inflicted, along with the male, Amrullah Khan, a farmer whose family claimed had no affiliation with the Taliban.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Recent operations
The Australian Director of Military Prosecutions, Brigadier Lyn McDade, decided to charge two members of the Regiment, Sergeant J, who gave the order to use grenades, and Lance Corporal M, who threw the grenades, with manslaughter as a result of an investigation into the engagement, coming to the view that they ought to have known, and during the attack then certainly have been aware that women and children were in the room. The charges against the two soldiers were dismissed pre-trial by the Judge Advocate in June 2011. Charges against Lieutenant Colonel M, who based in Kandahar ordered the clearance of the compound, were withdrawn in August 2011 for disobeying standard operating procedures to prevent innocent Afghan nationals in their homes being wrongfully targeted.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), History, Recent operations
The Regiment served in SOTG Rotations:- Eight, Nine, Eleven, Fourteen, Eighteen and Twenty. A Rotation ranged from about four to six, seven, and eight months. The Regiment was the sole SOCOMD combat unit in Rotation Eleven with no elements from the SASR or 2 Cdo Regt and were assigned Population Centric Operations.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), Customs and traditions
The Sherwood Green Commando beret is worn as the primary form of head dress, formally recognising Commando qualification. The Army sought permission from the Royal Marines to wear the green beret which was provided on 27 July 1955 by the Commandant Royal Marines. The first green beret awarded in Australia was presented to Captain George Cardy of 1st Commando Company on 14 July 1956.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), Customs and traditions
The Director of Infantry advised that the Infantry Corps badge should not be worn and that the commandos should have their own badge. A regimental badge was created featuring a silver World War II-era fighting knife surmounted by a gold boomerang engraved with the regimental motto "Strike Swiftly". The motto was conceived by Major Mac Grant, the first commander of 1st Commando Company, from reading the book "Swiftly They Struck" and agreed to by Major Peter Seddon, his opposite number in the 2nd Commando Company.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), Customs and traditions
The badge was a combination of two proposals from a competition, one from Melbourne and one from Sydney, conceived by Grant with agreement from Seddon. Members wear a Garter Blue lanyard on the left shoulder of dress uniforms in common with the other combat units of SOCOMD. In 1992, distinctive black and green commando parachute wings were adopted and are now worn by all parachute qualified commandos.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), Customs and traditions
While there is no direct lineage to the 1st Battalion, AIF, other than in the 1st Commando Company's renaming to the 1st Battalion (Commando), the regiment retains the colours of the battalion's World War I colour patch – black over green – which are highlighted on the current 1 Cdo Regt flag.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), Organisation
The Regiment consists of a headquarters, two commando companies and a signals squadron with a strength about 450. It is organised as follows:


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), Organisation
Each commando company has six platoons, including a headquarters platoon, three commando platoons, a reconnaissance platoon and a training platoon together with a signals troop and integral combat service support. Combat elements of the Regiment typically operate in platoon to company sized force elements. These will be force tailored by requirement and may not fit any doctrinal size or command and control. The signal squadron has the largest full-time contingent in the Regiment.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), Organisation
Reserve support roles include clerical, logistics, transport, medical, intelligence, linguistics and information systems.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), Equipment
1 Cdo Regt is equipped with a range of weapon systems that allows it to tailor requirements based on mission needs. These include the M4A1 5.56mm carbine and Heckler & Koch USP 9mm pistol as primary weapons. Specialist weapons include the Heckler & Koch HK417 7.62mm rifle, Heckler & Koch MP5SD silenced submachine gun, Accuracy International SR98 7.62mm sniper rifle and Barrett M82 12.7mm anti-materiel rifle. Support weapons include the Para Minimi 5.56mm light machine gun, Maximi 7.62mm machine gun, MAG 58 7.62mm medium machine gun, M2HB QCB 12.7mm heavy machine gun, M3 Carl Gustav anti-tank rifle, Mk 19 automatic grenade launcher, Javelin anti-tank weapon and mortars.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), Equipment
The primary commando watercraft is the Zodiac F470 inflatable boat with the specialist folding kayaks available. Vehicles used include the Land Rover Surveillance Reconnaissance Vehicle 4x4 and Polaris 4x4 and 6x6 all-terrain vehicles. Various static line and free-fall parachutes are available including the T10/T11/MC1/MC5.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), Recruitment
1 Cdo Regt is the only reserve SOCOMD combat unit providing Army Reserve soldiers based in Eastern states of Australia with the opportunity to serve in a Commando unit. Additionally, the Regiment provides discharging full-time 2 Cdo Regt and SASR soldiers the opportunity to continue to serve in SOCOMD in a reserve capacity on their return to civilian life.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), Recruitment
The Regiment's full-time component traditionally consisted mainly of West Australian based SASR soldiers who transferred to the regiment for promotion opportunities and who would later return to their unit or soldiers who transferred to relocate to New South Walesor Victoria. After the raising of 2 Cdo Regt, the full-time component today consists of former 2 Cdo Regt and SASR soldiers.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), Recruitment
Changes introduced to reserve training after combat operations in Afghanistan, required candidates to complete the 332-day continuous full-time Commando Initial Employment Training course the same as their full-time 2 Cdo Regt counterparts. However, this provided reserve candidates with the opportunity to consider full-time Australian Army service in the 2 Cdo Regt with many candidates destined for the Regiment instead choosing full-time service. Also, the long full-time commitment discouraged reservists from considering joining the Regiment.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), Recruitment
In 2015, the Regiment begun its biggest reserve recruitment drive in over 10 years. A training regime similar to prior to Afghanistan operations, was introduced with candidates after completing the selection course posted to the Regiment and given a three-year term to complete training.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), Recruitment
The Regiment is also re-raising training platoons in each of the commando companies to host Army Reserve aspirants training for selection who will parade under their current corps and trade to complete the Special Forces Reserve Training Program over 12 months (based on the 12-week full-time Accelerated Infantry Training Course). The Program also includes the 17-week Commando Physical Training Package.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), Recruitment
In addition, in 2016 direct civilian recruiting is to recommence with prospective commandos undergoing Reserve Recruit Training Course at Kapooka and Infantry Initial Employment Training at Singleton before parading at the Regiment as a qualified Infantry rifleman in the training platoon the same as serving reservists.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), Selection and training
Prior to selection, 1 Cdo Regt reserve candidates have over 12 months to complete the Special Forces Reserve Training Program, based on the 2 Cdo Regt Special Forces Direct Recruitment 13-week Special Forces Accelerated Infantry Training Program, including the Commando Fitness Training Package. The first stage of selection is to successfully pass the one-day Special Forces Entry Test at the Special Forces Training Centre. The second stage of selection is successfully completing the full-time Commando Selection Course conducted over two weeks. In contrast, 2 Cdo Regt candidates are required to complete the Commando Selection and Training Course over a six-week period.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), Selection and training
Commando Initial Employment training (also called the "reinforcement cycle") commences after successful completion of the Commando Selection Course with candidates having three years to successfully complete the course. This cycle consists of numerous courses including: the Special Forces Weapons Course, Advanced Close Quarter Battle Course, Commando Team Tactics Course, Commando Urban Operations Course, Close Quarter Fighting Course, Commando Demolitions and Breaching Course, Special Forces Basic Parachute Course (including water insertion training), Commando Amphibious Operators Course, Special Forces Military Roping Course, and Combat First Aid or Special Forces Signal Course. Candidates have the option of completing the reinforcement cycle over 11 months full-time training with their 2 Cdo Regt counterparts.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), Selection and training
After the successful completion of Commando Initial Employment Training, the Green beret is awarded and reservists will report to the regiment on a frequent basis to maintain their skills. As a qualified Commando there are specialist courses available to complete, including but not limited to: advanced driving, mortars, cold weather / mountaineering, language training and free fall parachuting.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), Selection and training
In 2013, a four-hour documentary Commando, focusing mainly on the 2 Cdo Regt, was produced detailing the Commando selection and reinforcement training processes.


1st Commando Regiment (Australia), Selection and training
New signallers to 301st Signal Squadron have to complete the Special Forces Signaller Course (SFSC).


1st Commonwealth Division
The 1st Commonwealth Division was the name given, after July 1951, to Commonwealth land forces in the Korean War. The division was a multinational unit that was part of British Commonwealth Forces Korea, and whilst British, Canadian Army and Australian infantry units formed the bulk of the division, New Zealand artillery and an Indian medical unit were also a part of the division. As with the US "KATUSA" programme, numerous South Korean troops were seconded to the Commonwealth division to make up numbers under a programme known as "KATCOM".


1st Commonwealth Division, History
The unit was preceded by the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade, which was the initial parent formation of Commonwealth army units in Korea, and which arrived in Korea in August 1950. Its two British Infantry battalions were joined by the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR) in September, and by the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI), in February 1951. The brigade was subsequently re-constituted as 28th Commonwealth Brigade in April 1951. In November 1950 the brigade was joined by 29th Independent Infantry Brigade, and in May 1951 by 25th Canadian Infantry Brigade. In July 1951 these units were combined to form 1st Commonwealth Division. The Division was made up of 58% British forces, 22% Canadian forces, 14% Australian forces, 5% New Zealander forces, and 1% Indian forces.


1st Commonwealth Division, History
The 1st Commonwealth Division was part of the US I Corps, which also included the US 1st Cavalry Division, the US 3rd and 25th Infantry Divisions, and the ROK 1st Division. The division occupied the strategically important sector of front on the Jamestown Line, stretching from the Kimpo peninsula on the Yellow Sea coast to a point east of Kumhwa about 6.3 miles (10.1 km), and just 30 miles (48 km) from the South Korean capital, Seoul.


1st Commonwealth Division, History
It was deactivated in 1954 as part of the demobilisation of forces in Korea in the aftermath of the war, being reduced to a Commonwealth Brigade Group, and from May 1956 until its final withdrawal in August 1957 to a Commonwealth Contingent of battalion strength.


1st Company Massachusetts Sharpshooters
The 1st Company Massachusetts Sharpshooters was a sharpshooter unit in the Union Army during the American Civil War.


1st Company Massachusetts Sharpshooters, Service
The 1st Company Massachusetts Sharpshooters was organized in Lynn, Massachusetts and mustered in for three years service on September 2, 1861. The company was originally recruited for Colonel Hiram Berdan's sharpshooter regiments. When the men were informed that they would lose their enlistment bounty, they declined to join Berdan's regiments and instead remained independent. Most of the recruits tended to be skilled workmen who were competitive shooters tending to be older than the average Union soldier, and these men also tended to be of the larger physical size. They were armed with heavy, custom target rifles and Sharps rifles during their service.


1st Company Massachusetts Sharpshooters, Service
The company was attached to 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, II Corps, Army of the Potomac, but nominally operated with the 15th Massachusetts Infantry to July 1864, and with the 19th Massachusetts Infantry to September 1864.


1st Company Massachusetts Sharpshooters, Service
The 1st Company Massachusetts Sharpshooters mustered out September 6, 1864.


1st Company Massachusetts Sharpshooters, Service, Detailed service, 1863
Arrived morning 2 July, positioned at rock wall on the north end of Cemetery Ridge, several squads were detached and sent to different parts of the line. Cleared out Confederate snipers occupying Bliss farm. In late afternoon, when II Corps retook Bliss farm, a squad went with them to snipe from the farm. No losses 2 July. On 3 July, unit dueled with Confederate snipers in buildings in Gettysburg facing Cemetery Hill and Ridge. During Pickett's Charge, unit concentrated targeting on officers. Suffered four dead, three wounded.


1st Company Massachusetts Sharpshooters, Service, Casualties
The company lost a total of 39 men during service; 3 officers and 21 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 15 enlisted men due to disease.


1st Company Massachusetts Sharpshooters, Armament
Throughout their service, the company was armed with custom, muzzle-loading target rifles equipped with telescopic sights running the length of the barrel. The larger than average physical size of the unit members proved an asset in carrying these weapons. These target rifles were a mix of heavy bench rifles and lighter out of hand rifles. Hawkins and Morgan James were among the manufacturers of these rifles.


1st Company Massachusetts Sharpshooters, Armament
Starting at Antietam, they also carried Sharps rifles in the field firing over the iron sights. The Sharps Rifle was produced by the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company in Hartford, Connecticut. The Sharps made a superior sniper weapon of greater accuracy than the more commonly issued muzzle-loading rifled muskets. This was due mainly to the higher rate of fire of the breech loading mechanism and superior quality of manufacture, as well as the ease of which it could be reloaded from a kneeling or prone position.


1st Composite Mounted Brigade
The 1st Composite Mounted Brigade was a formation of the British Army in World War I. It was formed by the 2nd Mounted Division during the Gallipoli Campaign on 4 September 1915 by absorbing the 1st South Midland, 1st South Midland and 5th Mounted Brigades. The brigade was dissolved on return to Egypt in December 1915.


1st Composite Mounted Brigade, Formation
Due to losses during the Battle of Scimitar Hill and wastage during August 1915, the 2nd Mounted Division had to be reorganised. On 4 September 1915, the 1st Composite Mounted Brigade was formed from 1st (1st South Midland), 2nd (2nd South Midland) and 5th (Yeomanry) Mounted Brigades. Each dismounted brigade formed a battalion sized unit:


1st Composite Mounted Brigade, Formation
The brigade was commanded by Br-Gen E.A.Wiggin, former commander of the 1st South Midlands Mounted Brigade. The 2nd Composite Mounted Brigade was formed at the same time with the 3rd and 4th Regiments.


1st Composite Mounted Brigade, Dissolved
The brigade left Suvla on 31 October 1915 for Mudros. It left Mudros on 27 November, arrived Alexandria on 1 December and went to Mena Camp, Cairo. Each regiment had left a squadron headquarters and two troops (about 100 officers and men) in Egypt to look after the horses. The 1st South Midland, 2nd South Midland and Yeomanry Mounted Brigades were reformed on 1 December and the 1st Composite Mounted Brigade passed out of existence.


1st Confederate States Congress
The 1st Confederate States Congress, consisting of the Confederate States Senate and the Confederate States House of Representatives, met from February 18, 1862, to February 17, 1864, during the first two years of Jefferson Davis's presidency, at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, Virginia.


1st Confederate States Congress, Sessions
Held February 18, 1862, through February 17, 1864, at the Virginia State Capital in Richmond, Virginia


1st Confederate States Congress, Members, Senate
Confederate States senators were elected by the state legislatures, or appointed by state governors to fill casual vacancies until the legislature elected a new senator. It was intended that one-third of the Senate would begin new six-year terms with each Congress after the first.


1st Confederate States Congress, Members, Senate
Preceding the names in the list below are Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their terms. In this Congress, all senators were newly elected. Senators of Class 1 served a two-year term, expiring at the end of this Congress, requiring a new election for the 1864–1870 term. Class 2 senators served what was intended to be a four-year term, due to end on the expiry of the next Congress in 1866. Class 3 senators were meant to serve a six-year term, due to expire at the end of the Third Confederate Congress in 1868. As the Confederate Congress lasted less than four full years, the distinction between classes 2 and 3 was ultimately academic.


1st Confederate States Congress, Members, Senate
The members of the classes were selected by the drawing of lots, which was done during the meeting of the Senate on February 21, 1862.


1st Confederate States Congress, Members, House of Representatives
The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.


1st Confederate States Congress, House committees
Quartermaster's and Commissary Departments and Military Transportation (Sessions 2 - 4)


1st Confederate States Congress, House committees
Rules and Officers of the House (Sessions 1 - 3)


1st Conference of the Communist Parties of Latin America
The First Conference of the Communist Parties of Latin America was in Buenos Aires, Argentina, June 1–12, 1929. Thirty-eight delegates, representing Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Cuba, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela, took part in the meeting. The only established communist party in the region that did not participate was the Communist Party of Chile, which at time suffered a period of harsh repression under the government of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo.


1st Conference of the Communist Parties of Latin America
The conference agreed on an analysis of the Latin American political development, considering that the revolution in Latin America ought to be anti-imperialist, agrarian, and democratic. The conference also committed itself to an accord of solidarity with the Soviet Union.


1st Conference of the Communist Parties of Latin America
Ronaldo Munck, Ricardo Falcón, and Bernardo Galitelli wrote that the conference "set the 'Third Period' course for Latin American communism as a whole."


1st Conference of the Communist Parties of Latin America, References, Bibliography
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1st Congress of the Comintern
The 1st Congress of the Comintern was an international gathering of communist, revolutionary socialist, and syndicalist delegates held in Moscow which established the Communist International (Comintern). The gathering, held from March 2 to 6, 1919, was attended by 51 representatives of more than two dozen countries from around Europe, North America, and Asia.


1st Congress of the Comintern, Convention call
Late in December 1918, the leadership of the Russian Communist Party decided that the time was ripe for the convocation of a new international association of radical political parties to supplant the discredited Second International. On December 24 a radio broadcast was made from Moscow calling upon the "communists of all countries" to "rally around the revolutionary Third International."


1st Congress of the Comintern, Convention call
Lenin sought to invite only those organizations which stood for a break with the more conservative elements in their group and who stood for immediate socialist revolution and the establishment of a dictatorship of the proletariat and a Soviet-style form of government. Lenin hoped for a gathering to be held beginning February 1, 1919, either openly in Berlin or, if necessary, secretly in the Netherlands. Owing to political difficulties between Soviet Russia and the rather conservative social democratic government of Germany and the eruption of civil war there, Berlin was quickly rejected as inhospitable for a foundation congress.


1st Congress of the Comintern, Convention call
On January 21, 1919, a meeting of about a dozen communists living in Moscow determined to hold a formal gathering in that city, to begin February 15 – little more than 3 weeks hence. The formal convention call was composed by People's Commissar of War Leon Trotsky and listed invited political organizations by name.


1st Congress of the Comintern, Convention call
Invited organizations from the English-speaking world included "the left forces in the British Socialist Party (in particular, representatives of the Maclean current)" (a reference to John Maclean), the British Socialist Labour Party, the Industrial Workers of the World in Britain, the Industrial Workers group in Britain, "revolutionary forces in the shop stewards' movement in Britain, "revolutionary forces in Irish workers organizations," and the Industrial Workers of the World in Australia.


1st Congress of the Comintern, Convention call
In addition to these, from the United States were invited the American Socialist Labor Party, "left forces of the American Socialist Party (especially the current represented by the Socialist Propaganda League)," the Industrial Workers of the World in America, and the SLP-affiliated Workers International Industrial Union.


1st Congress of the Comintern, Convention call
Owing to communications difficulties ensuing from the Allied blockade, few organizations outside of Soviet Russia heard of the convention call in sufficient time to send delegates. About two dozen special messengers were said to have been sent out with the news, but only three or four managed to reach their destinations in time with the news. The call was published in the press, however, in Soviet Russia on January 24, 1919, and in Austria and Hungary by the end of the month.


1st Congress of the Comintern, Convention call
Transport difficulties forced a further postponement of the gathering, with the start date moved back two weeks to March 2, 1919. Despite this additional delay only two parties managed to credential delegates and to successfully get them to Moscow on time for the opening of the meeting. Two prospective delegates – Fritz Platten of Switzerland and Karl Steinhardt of Austria – were arrested and briefly jailed in transit.


1st Congress of the Comintern, Convention call
As a result, the vast majority of those who sat as delegates to this founding congress of the Communist International had no formal status with the parties which they claimed to represent and the delegates initially decided that the session would be a preparatory conference rather than a formal foundation convention. This initial decision was later overturned by the assembled delegates and the Third, Communist International was declared established.


1st Congress of the Comintern, Delegate composition
Over the six days of the congress a total of 51 delegates were registered, representing 35 organizations in 22 countries. All political tendencies in the Zimmerwald Left movement were represented at the gathering with the exception of the left wing of the International Union of Socialist Youth. Most of these delegates had already been residing in Soviet Russia, however, with only 9 of those attending the founding congress managing to break through the allied blockade of the country from abroad.


1st Congress of the Comintern, Delegate composition
With regard to the English-speaking world, no representative of the various parties and tendencies of Great Britain which were invited were in attendance at the founding congress. The only British representative present was Joseph Fineberg, a member of the British Socialist Party who had come to Soviet Russia on his own in 1918. Fineberg received only non-voting credentials as a representative of British Communists living in Russia.


1st Congress of the Comintern, Delegate composition
From the United States there was only Boris Reinstein, a Buffalo, New York member of the Socialist Labor Party of America (SLP) who had been previously sent to Europe as the party's representative to an altogether different international conclave. Although Reinstein was granted status as a voting delegate at the congress, at no time did the SLP authorize him to act as its representative at the congress and his independent action was subsequently repudiated by the organization. Dutch engineer S.J. Rutgers, at that time a resident of the United States, sat as a non-voting delegate of the Socialist Propaganda League of America as well as holding similar status on behalf of the Dutch Social Democratic Group.


1st Congress of the Comintern, Delegate composition
There were no delegates in attendance in either a voting or consultative status from the English-speaking countries of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or South Africa.


1st Congress of the Comintern, Delegate composition
The nationalities outside of Europe were surprisingly well represented at the founding congress, including a group of five voting delegates from the "United Group of the Eastern Peoples of Russia," a voting delegate from Armenia, as well as non-voting delegates from Turkey, Turkestan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Persia, China, and Korea. In all these 13 delegates represented fully one-quarter of the 52 voting and non-voting delegates to the gathering.


1st Congress of the Comintern, Delegate composition
The largest and most influential delegation, not surprisingly, was that of Soviet Russia. In addition to the five delegates assigned as representatives of the various "Eastern peoples" of the former Russian empire, six regular and two consultative delegates were in attendance, including such key figures of the Russian Communist Party as Lenin, Trotsky, Grigori Zinoviev, Nikolai Bukharin, Georgii Chicherin, V.V. Vorovsky, and Valerian Osinsky. Although the name of Soviet People's Commissar of Nationalities Joseph Stalin also appeared on the delegate list, there is no indication that he actually participated in the congress.


1st Congress of the Comintern, Delegate composition
The delegates were, in general, younger than had been typical at previous international socialist gatherings. Of the 43 delegates for whom an age is known, 5 were in their 20s and 24 were in their 30s, with only the American Boris Reinstein over the age of 50.


1st Congress of the Comintern, Congress location
The Founding Convention was held at the Kremlin in Moscow in a small hall in the Courts of Justice. The long, narrow hall was barely large enough for 100 people, with the delegates seated upon flimsy chairs at small tables spaced throughout the room.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines
The First Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines (Filipino: Unang Kongreso ng Komenwelt ng Pilipinas), also known as the Postwar Congress, and the Liberation Congress, refers to the meeting of the bicameral legislature composed of the Senate and House of Representatives, from 1945 to 1946. The meeting only convened after the reestablishment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines in 1945 when President Sergio Osmeña called it to hold five special sessions. Osmeña had replaced Manuel L. Quezon as president after the former died in exile in the United States in 1944.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Significance
Not much has been written about the First Commonwealth Congress, despite its historical and political significance. This owes mainly to the briefness of its existence (i.e., less than a year). However, the First Commonwealth Congress was significant in at least three key respects:


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Significance
First, it brought an end the president's exercise of legislative powers under the wartime emergency act passed by the defunct National Assembly in 1941. The opening of Congress in 1945 allowed democratically elected representatives to pass legislation, especially to deal with the Philippines' postwar problems. It also provided an institutional check against executive power, including the presidential power to appoint top officials of the (postwar) government and appropriate funds for its operations.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Significance
Second, the First Commonwealth Congress gave birth to the two-party system in the Philippines, as the pro-Osmeña and pro-Roxas blocs or factions there eventually became the Nacionalista and Liberal Parties that alternated in power from 1945 until martial law was imposed in 1972. This Congress thus served as a well spring of political leaders under a two-party system of the soon-to-be independent Republic of the Philippines.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Significance
Three Philippine presidents, Manuel Roxas, Elpidio Quirino and Carlos P. Garcia were members of this Congress, as were postwar political party leaders like Senate President Eulogio Rodriguez, Speaker Eugenio Pérez, Senator Jose E. Romero and Senator Melecio Arranz. The patron-client orientation of the two-party system evolved in part from the resource constraints faced by members of the Congress right after the war.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Significance
Third, it was this Congress laid down much of the groundwork for the country's postwar reconstruction and rehabilitation, including its participation in the postwar global economic order dominated by the United States.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Background
Through the most part of the term of the Second National Assembly (1938–1941), the First Congress' immediate predecessor, international conflicts that led to World War II began to take shape. As early as 1940, the National Assembly already declared a state of national emergency to address the escalating emergency conditions of the times. It gave Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon extensive emergency powers to meet the worsening conditions. All preparations culminated when Japan attacked the Philippines a few hours after bombing Pearl Harbor on December 8, 1941.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Background
The National Assembly lost no time in enacting substantive legislations, diverting all remaining funds for national defense purposes, and declaring a state of total emergency. It furthered the broad emergency powers already granted to the President, such as the transfer of the seat of government and the extension of the effectivity of lapsing laws.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Background
In its last act as a legislative body, the National Assembly certified the results of the November 1941 elections where Quezon and Osmeña were re-elected as president and vice president, respectively, along with the legislators who were to compose the First Commonwealth Congress. The Congress replaced the unicameral National Assembly as the legislative branch of government. It was due to meet for the first time in January 1942 had the war not intervene.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Background
Due to the transfer of the Philippine Government to Washington, D.C. in 1942, and the three-year occupation (1942–1945) of the Philippines by Japanese forces, the First Congress could not be convened. In its place, the Japanese formed a puppet National Assembly that passed laws dictated by the Japanese Imperial Government in Tokyo.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Background
The Japanese-sponsored Philippine Republic, under José P. Laurel as president, ended in late February 1945 when the Philippines was liberated by the returning American forces in the Pacific.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Reestablishment of Commonwealth Government
Upon the reestablishment of the Philippine Commonwealth in Manila in 1945, General Douglas MacArthur exerted political pressure on President Sergio Osmeña to convene Congress in formal session. Osmeña was reluctant to do so not only because of the huge expense associated with the functioning of Congress, but more so because he feared that its two houses would be controlled by legislators who had collaborated with the Japanese when the Philippine Government was in exile in Washington, D.C.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Reestablishment of Commonwealth Government
On May 24, 1945, Osmeña offered Roxas the position of Resident Commissioner to the U.S. Roxas by then was known to be actively seeking the right opportunity to launch his presidential ambition with the backing of General Douglas MacArthur, Quezon's former military adviser and considered as the "Liberator of the Philippines." Two days later, Roxas declined Osmeña's offer and instead asked his supporters to announce his candidacy for president at a time when there was no designated date to hold a national election. The First Commonwealth Congress thus provided the vehicle for Roxas' primacy in Philippine postwar politics and government. It also paved the way for the permanent division of the old Nacionalista Party into two warring factions. Its so-called Liberal Wing or faction (later Liberal Party) nominated Roxas for the presidency in 1946.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, The First Commonwealth Congress Convened
In late May 1945, President Osmeña was persuaded to call the First Commonwealth Congress to special session in order to tackle the most pressing issues of postwar rehabilitation and regain constitutional normalcy. Regular sessions could not be held by then, as the Constitution provided that these should take place for 100 days beginning on the fourth Monday of January of each year.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, The First Commonwealth Congress Convened
With the old Legislative Building in ruins, the First Commonwealth Congress met in a former Japanese schoolhouse located at 949 Lepanto Street, Manila, two blocks from the headquarters of Gota de Leche. Most senators and congressmen could not hold office there due to limited space and facilities, which were allotted to the officers of the two chambers and the congressional staff. The Senate and the House of Representatives shared the same session hall (the school's former auditorium), with the Senate meeting in the morning and the House using the hall in the evening. The Senate eventually took temporary quarters in the badly damaged Manila City Hall in 1947. The House remained at Lepanto Street until it moved, with the Senate, to the newly rebuilt Congress building in 1950.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, The First Commonwealth Congress Convened
At the first special session of Congress on June 9, 1945, Senators Manuel Roxas and Elpidio Quirino were elected as Senate President and Senate President Pro-Tempore, respectively. The House of Representatives elected for its Speaker Iloilo Rep. Jose C. Zulueta and for Speaker Pro-Tempore, Pangasinan Rep. Prospero Sanidad. Only 16 out of 24 senators and 75 of 98 congressmen, who were elected in 1941, attended the five special sessions called by the President. In the Senate alone, Senator Daniel Maramba had died of natural causes immediately before the outbreak of World War II.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, The First Commonwealth Congress Convened
Senator Jose Ozamiz was executed by the Japanese. Senators Antonio de las Alas, Vicente Madrigal, Quintin Paredes, Claro M. Recto, Proceso E. Sebastian, Emiliano T. Tirona and José Yulo were arrested by the US Army's Counter-Intelligence Corps (CIC) because they had worked in various capacities under the Japanese-sponsored Philippine Government. Alas, Madrigal, Paredes, Recto, Sebastian, Tirona and Yulo had been part of Laurel's Cabinet. The Senate held a lottery to determine who among its members would serve up to April 1946 and November 1947, since senators serve staggered terms under the Constitution.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, The First Commonwealth Congress Convened
The First Commonwealth Congress initially convened with 14 senators and 66 congressmen. Two more senators reported and nine congressmen joined their colleagues in later sessions. Among the members of the First Commonwealth Congress was Representative Elisa Ochoa from Agusan, the first woman ever elected to the Philippine national legislature.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, The First Commonwealth Congress Convened
The two chambers of Congress assembled in joint session in the afternoon of June 9, 1945, to hear President Osmeña deliver his state of the nation address. Osmeña expectedly dealt with several proposed legislation to rebuild the financial infrastructure of the Philippines and restore government institutions. He also tried to address issues concerning the terms of office of officials elected in 1941 just before the Japanese invasion.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, The First Commonwealth Congress Convened
Because of the severe damage caused to property by the war, the legislators who were hurriedly called to Manila in June 1945, including Roxas and Quirino, had no appropriate attire for the congressional sessions other than their army khaki uniforms. President Osmeña ordered two pairs of sharkskin suits to be purchased by the government (from the Manlapat tailoring shop across the temporary Congress building) for each of the legislators around the time of the opening of Congress.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, The First Commonwealth Congress Convened
A few foreign dignitaries also addressed the joint session in the next six months. This included U.S. High Commissioner Paul V. McNutt  and General MacArthur who received a commendation from the Congress and a second resolution making him an honorary citizen of the Philippines. In his memorable address before its joint session on July 9, 1945, MacArthur said:


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, The First Commonwealth Congress Convened
"Since the beginning of the time men have crusaded for freedom and for equality. It was this passion for liberty which inspired the architects of my own government to proclaim so immutably and so beautifully that 'all men are created equal' and 'that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.' On such rights rest our basic concept of human freedom, in defense of which we have fought and still continue to fight on the battlefields of the world. These rights are the very antithesis to the totalitarian doctrine which seeks to regiment the people and control the human will as the price for presumed efficiency in government."


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Accomplishments and Controversies
The First Commonwealth Congress passed a total of 55 laws in five special sessions: Commonwealth Act Nos. 672 to 727.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Accomplishments and Controversies
Heeding Osmeña's urgent call during the opening session of Congress, the first legislative measure it enacted was Commonwealth Act No. 672 which restored the Philippine National Bank and organized its financial capital. The viability of the Philippine National Bank was critical to the resuscitation of the Philippine Commonwealth after the war.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Accomplishments and Controversies
One major financial legislation passed by Congress stirred controversy in the U.S. and was eventually vetoed by President Harry Truman despite its approval by President Osmeña. Commonwealth House Bill No. 647 (Senate Bill No. 51), titled "An Act Governing the Payment of Monetary Obligations Incurred or Contracted Prior to and During the Japanese Invasion of the Philippines and for Other Purposes", was passed by both houses of Congress on the last day of its last session, December 20, 1945. It was signed into law by President Osmeña on January 18, 1946. The law provided for the validation of payments made in Japanese "mickey mouse" money during the period of enemy occupation. However, U.S. High Commissioner McNutt objected to it and asked Truman to exercise his final veto on this currency measure. President Truman's accompanying veto letter explained his disapproval, to wit:


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Accomplishments and Controversies
"The Commonwealth Act which I am now disapproving would give legal approval to transactions and payments made under the brutal Japanese regime, without regard for the actual value of the Japanese-backed currency in which such payments were made. It would give official sanction to acts by Japanese officials in forcing the liquidation of businesses and accounts of loyal Filipinos, Americans, and allies who were imprisoned by the Japanese. It would have a most harmful effect on the Philippine financial structure which it is our hope and desire to see strengthened in preparation for independence. It would work to the benefit of persons who did business with and under the Japanese to the prejudice of those who were loyal both to the Philippine Commonwealth and to the United States Government."


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Accomplishments and Controversies
The First Commonwealth Congress also tackled the most contentious and divisive issue of Filipino collaboration with the Japanese. Osmeña had proposed a bill to set up a special court for this purpose. Roxas initially objected to it, fearing the loss of critical support from his political allies who were accused of, or imprisoned for, collaboration. After extensive congressional debates, Commonwealth Act No. 682 was passed in August 1945 creating the People's Court and the Office of Special Prosecutors to investigate and decide on collaboration charges on an individual basis.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Accomplishments and Controversies
In September 1945, the CIC presented the Filipinos who were accused of having collaborated with, or given aid to, the Japanese so that they may be tried before the People's Court. Included were prominent senators and congressmen who had been active in the puppet government under Laurel. These legislators were unable to attend the five special sessions of the First Commonwealth Congress.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Accomplishments and Controversies
The collaboration issue continued to haunt Congress. Another currency-related legislation passed by the First Commonwealth Congress was held up for a few weeks at the White House before President Truman signed it into law in November 1945.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Accomplishments and Controversies
As Truman noted in his letter to President Osmeña, his approval of the original House Bill No. 176, which provides for a reduction of the required gold coverage of Philippine currency, has been delayed "due to the fact that there have been persistent charges that a sizable fraction of the Members of the Philippine Congress had been guilty of collaboration with the enemy, and I have not wanted my approval of the act to be distorted into approval of collaboration."


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Accomplishments and Controversies
The so-called Backpay Law of 1945 turned out to be the most controversial measure passed by the postwar Congress. Joint Resolution No. 5 authorized the Philippine Treasury, which was already financially crippled, to pay back salaries and wages to members of Congress and their staff to cover the three years of Japanese occupation. In effect, the Backpay Law compensated the legislators for service that they never rendered during the war years. The passage of this measure was met with public indignation. It led to a political backlash and many members of Congress lost their seats during the national elections held in April 1946.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Accomplishments and Controversies
Several key measures were passed concerning postwar relations between the Philippines and the United States and the Philippine government's participation in the postwar global politico-economic system led by the United States. Joint Resolution No. 4, signed into law by President Osmeña on July 28, 1945, authorized the President of the Philippines to negotiate with the President of the United States the establishment in the Philippines of military bases "to insure the territorial integrity of the Philippines, the mutual protection of the Philippines and the United States, and the maintenance of peace in the Pacific." Another joint resolution was passed by Congress for the establishment of free trade between the United States following the recommendations of the Bell Trade Mission, which President Osmeña himself supported and endorsed. This became the foundation of the controversial Bell Trade Act of 1946.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Accomplishments and Controversies
In October 1945, President Osmeña also signed House Bill No. 608. This legislation authorized the participation of the Philippine Commonwealth Government in the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank system following the Bretton-Woods Conference in July 1944.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Accomplishments and Controversies
Finally, it was during this historic Congress that the Philippine Senate first exercised its constitutional authority to ratify treaties and other international agreements with its unanimous ratification on August 30, 1945, of the Charter of the newly formed United Nations. President Osmeña appeared before the Senate three days earlier to deliver the Charter and ask for its ratification.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Postwar Factionalism in Congress
The political rivalry between Osmeña and Roxas, and their respective supporters, began in late May 1945 or even before the Congress opened its first session. After Congress convened, it became apparent that the Roxas bloc (later known as the Liberal Wing of the Nacionalista Party) would in due time separate from the ruling Nacionalista Party led by Osmeña. Hence, Osmeña's allies, particularly in the House of Representatives and the Cabinet, exerted every effort to prevent Roxas from using the Congress as his base of political support during the Liberation period.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Postwar Factionalism in Congress
For example, the Congressional Record of June 11–13, 1945 reports the deliberations in the House of Representatives over Osmeña's Interior Secretary, Tomas Confesor, assertion in the local press that Congress was illegally convened for many reasons, including the expired term of one-third of the senators elected in 1941.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Postwar Factionalism in Congress
Later, Cebu congressman Pedro Lopez and Senator Carlos P. Garcia took to the floor of their respective chambers to denounce the so-called wartime collaborators in Congress led by Roxas, leading to fiery debates over the collaboration issue and the legality of having sitting members of Congress who were accused of collaboration or under investigation therefor. Subsequently, congressmen like Nueva Vizcaya's Leon Cabarroguis sought to petition the United States to immediately disband Congress and call for elections or to convert Congress into an advisory panel to the President (Osmeña) to bypass these legal challenges to its existence and operation after the war.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Postwar Factionalism in Congress
The Osmeña-Roxas rivalry  intensified in the Commission on Appointments — a congressional body consisting of 12 senators and 12 congressmen — which was responsible for confirming presidential nominations. The Commission was chaired by Roxas himself as senate president. In that powerful position, Roxas managed to sit on (bypass) the nominations of some of Osmeña's most important political advisers and supporters. The Commission also confirmed Osmeña's nominations for chief justice and associate justices of the Supreme Court, except for one, Justice Jose A. Espiritu, whose credentials were questioned before the Commission. Espiritu became the shortest-serving member of the Supreme Court. He returned as dean of the U.P. College of Law in September 1945, after serving in an  ad interim capacity as associate justice for only two months.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Postwar Factionalism in Congress
The heat of presidential politics further divided loyalties in the postwar Congress, as its members failed to decide on the date of elections for president, vice-president, 16 senators and 98 congressmen as well as certain electoral provisions  (e.g., whether to allow soldiers to vote). President Osmeña thus requested the U.S. Congress to intervene and set the date of the first post-war elections. The U.S. Congress, in a joint resolution issued in November 1945, called for national elections to take place no later than April 30, 1946, and for the Second Congress to convene not later than May 28, 1946. On December 20, 1945, the First Commonwealth Congress met for the last time to discuss the April 1946 presidential elections—the first since 1941.


1st Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Postwar Factionalism in Congress
The 1946 elections catapulted the newly formed Liberal Party to power for the first time. Senate President Roxas and Senate President Pro Tempore Quirino, of the Liberal Party, were respectively elected as first President and Vice-President of the Republic of the Philippines, which gained independence from the U.S. on July 4, 1946. Erstwhile Senate Floor Leader Melecio Arranz became President Pro Tempore of the Senate, while House of Representatives Majority Leader Eugenio Pérez became its Speaker when the new Congress convened in May 1946. Speaker Zulueta, on the other hand, joined the Roxas Cabinet as Secretary of the Interior and later ran and won as senator. Many other members of the First Commonwealth Congress held top positions in the newborn republic.


1st Congress of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine
The 1st Congress of the CP(b)U (Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union)) was held in Moscow in July 5–12, 1918. It was a constituent congress which led to creation of the political party by way of uniting existing Russian Bolsheviks in Ukraine and left faction of the Ukrainian Social-Democrats. The congress took place at address ulica Rozhdestvenka, 11 (later ulica Zhdanova). Today in the building is located MArchI (Moscow Architectural Institute).


1st Congress of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine
The 65 plenipotentiary and 147 consultative delegates represented 45 Party organizations that were accounted for over 4,000 Party members. The congress also attended about 60 guests.


1st Congress of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine
On 6 July 1918 delegates of the Congress with arms in hands participated in liquidation of the Left SR uprising in Moscow.


1st Congress of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine, Preceding events and preparation
An instruction on creation of a single Bolshevik organization in Ukraine the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party (b) has adopted in December of 1917. It was realized at a regional congress of the RSDRP (b) in Kyiv on 16–18 December 1917 when the Ukrainian organization was named as the RSDRP (b) – Social-Democracy of Ukraine.


1st Congress of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine, Preceding events and preparation
Couple of weeks after signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, on 19 March 1918 in Yekaterinoslav (Dnipro) had convened the Second All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets where the congress discussed and approved the treaty and also announced that Ukraine only formally loosing its federative ties with the Soviet Russia and workers of Ukraine will carry on a fight against the restored bourgeoisie regime. Recognition of Ukrainian independence was forced onto the Soviet Russia by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. A cordial greeting about the declaration of independence of the "Ukrainian Federative Soviet Republic" was published in the Russian newspaper Pravda on 22 March 1918. Upon conclusion of the congress many members of the congress emigrated to Taganrog where at that time dominated Ukrainian population.


1st Congress of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine, Central Committee
The Contress elected the following members to the Central Committee on 12 July 1918:


1st Congress of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine, Central Committee
The same day on 12 July 1918 took place a plenum (plenary session) of the Central Committee that elected Yuriy Pyatakov as the Secretary of the Central Committee (see First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine).


1st Congress of the Indonesian Democratic Party
The First Congress of the Indonesian Democratic Party (Indonesian: Kongres I Partai Demokrasi Indonesia (PDI)) was held between 12 – 13 April 1976. The congress was the first meeting of any political party after the 1971 general elections, which is the first election after the New Order. Therefore, the congress was also deemed important by the elements inside the party to The congress ratified the Charter of Struggle, official program of the party, and the statutes and bylaws of the party. The congress also enacted decisions in relation with elections and other political matters.


1st Congress of the Indonesian Democratic Party
The congress was opened by the speech of President Suharto on 12 March 1976, at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno. The congress was attended by around 1500 members, representing 260 branches and 26 provinces, the Central Executive Council, and the Central Advisory Council.


1st Congress of the Indonesian Democratic Party, Background
The need to hold the congress was mandated through the article 28 of the temporary party's constitution, that stated that "In the shortest possible time ... the PDI must hold the first congress to confirm: the Charter of Struggle, the party's constitution, the Party Struggle Program, and ratify and perfect the PDI apparatus". The congress was a respond to the de jure fusion of the political party after the declaration, a problem that continually haunts the party. The fused political party in PDI runs the party on the basis of factionism, and thus such mechanism slowly asided the original mechanism of the party.


1st Congress of the Indonesian Democratic Party, Background
The formation of party's branches is also a major problem. Even though PDI is able to create a provincial branch all over Indonesia in six months since its formation, the party struggled to create a district branch. The opposition given by the local birocracy elites in several regency made further efforts futile. To cope this problem, PDI used the help of Ministry of Internal Affairs. The ministry would order the governor and regents to help the formation of district branches of PDI.


1st Congress of the Indonesian Democratic Party, Background
The help by the ministry proved useful, and prior to the first congress, a total of 257 district branches of the party had been built all over Indonesia. Even though the branch formation was delayed in South and West Sumatra due to the ban of government employees participating in political parties, the overall help went smoothly.


1st Congress of the Indonesian Democratic Party, Congress
Prior to the congress in Monday, each provincial and district branch sent their own group, consisting of five delegates. The delegations self-funded their trip from their region, while the accommodation and the meal was covered by the congress committee.


1st Congress of the National Christian Party
The First Congress of the National Christian Party (Indonesian: Kongres I Partai Kristen Nasional) was held between 6–8 December 1945. The congress was the first congress of the party, held in one month after the formation on November 10, 1945. The congress was only attended by the party delegates from Java.


1st Congress of the National Christian Party
The congress decided to change the name of the party from National Christian Party to Indonesian Christian Party. A permanent central executive committee of the party was formed.


1st Congress of the National Christian Party, Background
Prior to the congress, the National Christian Party was established in a meeting of Christian figures on 10 November 1945. The party was intended to accommodate the political views of both Catholics and Protestants in Indonesia, but the Catholic delegation seceded from the party, and formed the Catholic Party on 12 December 1945. The meeting also choose the temporary executive committee of the party, with Wilhelmus Zakaria Johannes as the chairman and Maryoto as the secretary.


1st Congress of the National Christian Party, Congress
The congress was opened on 5.00 with a praying ceremony at the Margoyudan Church, led by Ds. Reksohatmodjo. After the opening ceremony, party delegates from different regions of Java begin to attended the congress until 12.00. The delegates were lodged at the Indonesian Christian Party Hall in Kartisono Street.


1st Congress of the Otan
The 1st Congress of the Otan party in Kazakhstan was held on 1 March 1999. President Nursultan Nazarbayev was unanimously chosen to be the chairman by the 385 delegates.


1st Congress of the Otan, Background
On 21 October 1998, a public association in supporting Nursultan Nazarbayev's reelection campaign in the 1999 presidential election was created. On 19 January 1999, a meeting of the public association was held, at which it was decided to transform the organization into the Otan party. On 1 March 1999, the 1st Congress was held, which was attended by 385 delegates and 117 invited guests in Almaty. The delegates of the Congress chose Nazarbayev to be the chairman and adopted the composition of the audit commission and the party Charter.


1st Congress of the Otan, Aftermath
Nursultan Nazarbayev refused to accept the post as chairman due to constitutional limits on president's affiliation with political parties. He suggested that former Prime Minister Sergey Tereshchenko take over the role to which he remained until 2002. Nazarbayev nevertheless remained as a de facto Chairman and the party went on to participate in the 1999 legislative election.


1st Congress of the Philippines
The First Congress of the Philippines (Filipino: Unang Kongreso ng Pilipinas) was the meeting of the legislature of the Republic of the Philippines, composed of the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives from May 25, 1946, until December 13, 1949. The body was originally convened as the Second Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. On August 5, 1946,  was approved, renaming the body as the First Congress of the Philippines.


1st Congress of the Philippines, Members, Senate
Sixteen senators were elected on April 23, 1946. Eight senators were to serve until December 30, 1949, while the other eight were to serve until December 30, 1951.


1st Congress of the Republic of Texas
The First Congress of the Republic of Texas, consisting of the Senate of the Republic of Texas and House of Representatives of the Republic of Texas, met in Columbia at two separate buildings (one for each chamber) and then in Houston from October 3, 1836, to June 13, 1837, during the first year of Sam Houston's presidency.


1st Congress of the Republic of Texas
All members of Congress were officially non-partisan. According to the Constitution of the Republic of Texas of 1836, each member of the House of Representatives was elected for a term of one year. Each county was guaranteed at least one representative.


1st Congress of the Republic of Texas
Each Senator was elected for a three-year term to represent a district that each had a nearly equal portion of the nation's population. Each district could have no more than one Senator.


1st Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
The 1st Congress of the RSDLP  (Russian: Российская социал-демократическая рабочая партия, РСДРП) was held between 13 March – 15 March (1 March–3 March O.S.) 1898 in Minsk, Russian Empire (now Belarus) in secrecy. The venue was a house belonging to Rumyantsev, a railway worker on the outskirts of Minsk (now in the town centre). The cover story was that they were celebrating the nameday of Rumyantsev's wife. A stove was kept burning in the next room in case secret papers had to be burnt. Lenin smuggled a draft program for the party written in milk between the lines of a book.


1st Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
The Congress was convened by three major social democratic groups from different areas of the Russian Empire.


1st Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
There were 9 delegates to the Congress representing these three groups as well as social democrats from Moscow and Yekaterinoslav. The Kharkov socialists refused to come thinking the move premature.


1st Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
There were 6 sessions, with no minutes taken because of the need for secrecy; only resolutions were recorded. The major issues discussed by the delegates were merging all social democratic groups into one party and selecting the party's name. The Congress also elected a Central Committee of three: Stepan Radchenko, one of the oldest Russian social democrats and a leader of the Saint Petersburg League, Boris Eidelman of Rabochaya Gazeta and Arkadi Kremer, a Jewish Bund leader. The Manifesto  of the new party was written by Peter Struve at Radchenko's request.


1st Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
The Central Committee elected by Congress printed the Manifesto and the resolutions of the Congress, but five of the nine delegates were arrested by the Okhrana within a month.


1st Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
The first Congress failed to unite the Russian Social Democracy, neither through the proposed Statutes nor the Programme. A wave of police repression followed, which prevented the party from functioning as a cohesive body for several years and ushered in a period of internal schisms and dissension. Three of the delegates weren't arrested, but only because Zubatov thought they would lead him to other members. It was not until 1903 that the 2nd Congress of the RSDLP was held abroad and adopted the party's Charter and Programme.


1st Congress of the Workers' Party of North Korea
The 1st Congress of the Workers' Party of North Korea (WPNK) was held in Pyongyang, North Korea, from 28 to 30 August 1946, and established the WPNK (the forerunner to the Workers' Party of Korea). The congress is the highest organ of the party, and is stipulated to be held every four years. A total of 801 delegates represented the party's 336,399 members. The 1st Central Committee, elected by the congress, elected Kim Tu-bong as WPNK Chairman, Kim Il-sung and Chu Yong-ha as deputy chairmen.


1st Congress of the Workers' Party of North Korea, Delegates
Elected by the party's provincial apparatus, 801 delegates represented 336,399 party members at the congress. Of the delegates, 229 were in their twenties, 417 in their thirties, 129 delegates in their forties, and 26 delegates in their fifties or above. By occupation, 183 of the delegates were classified by the central party apparatus as workers, 157 as peasants, 385 as office workers, and 76 were left unclassified. The majority (359) of the delegates had only high school education, while 228 had only primary education and 214 had college education or above. During Japanese rule, 291 delegates (36 percent) had been imprisoned, while 427 delegates (53 percent) had stayed abroad during Japanese rule.


1st Congress of the Workers' Party of North Korea, Congress, 1st session (28 August)
The 1st session was presided over by Kim Il-sung (the former chairman of the Communist Party of North Korea), and lasted for three hours. The first order of business was to elect the officers of the congress; a thirty-one member executive committee, a five-member credentials committee, a four-member secretariat, a five-member editorial committee, a five-member platform committee and a five-member by-laws committee. In tandem, the delegates voted on a six-point agenda for the congress.