leftist-oriented international labour organization founded in 1945 by the World Trade Union Congress. Its principal organizers were the British Trades Union Congress, the U.S. Congress of Industrial Organizations, and the All-Union Central Congress of Trade Unions. The organization was initially oriented toward the Soviet Union. Despite vigorous attempts to reconcile the differences between communist and noncommunist factions within the WFTU, the intensification of the Cold War finally led to a split. The noncommunist elements withdrew from the WFTU and in 1949 formed the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (q.v.). The largest WFTU affiliates are now in the developing nations of Asia, Latin America, and Africa, although France and Italy also have sizable affiliates. The WFTU maintains its headquarters in Prague, Czech Republic.