The first international conference of brewery workers' trade unions was held in London in 1896, and it agreed to set up an office and co-ordinate some activities. However, several of the unions struggled to contribute to this effort, and no lasting international organisation was formed. The next conference of brewery workers' trade unions was in 1908, and this did form a lasting secretariat, which from 1910 was located in Berlin, led by general secretary Martin Etzel. Its affiliates had a total of 130,000 members by 1912, and by the outbreak of
World War I, the federation had affiliates in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. The
International Union of United Brewery Workmen of America was by far the largest affiliate, contributing around half the total membership. ==General Secretaries==