 In 1867 Russia, Spain and Portugal joined the "Europäische Gradmessung" (European Arc Measurement which would become the International Association of Geodesy).This same year at the second general conference of the European Arc Measurement held in Berlin, the question of an international standard unit of length was discussed in order to combine the measurements made in different countries to determine the size and shape of the Earth.The conference recommended the adoption of the metre and the creation of an international metre commission, according to the proposal of Johann Jacob Baeyer, Adolphe Hirsch and Carlos Ibáñez e Ibáñez de Ibero.