Comintern Worksheets
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Summary
- Background of the Comintern
- Comintern after Lenin
- Comintern under Stalin
- Structure, Members, and Legacy
Key Facts And Information
Let’s find out more about the Comintern!
Comintern, also known as the Communist International, was a Marxist political organisation which advocated world communism. It existed from 1919 to 1943 and was founded at a congress in Moscow, Soviet Russia, during the leadership of Vladimir Lenin. Under the Bolsheviks, the Comintern aimed to create an international body promoting revolutionary socialism, mainly to replace capitalism. The Comintern was dissolved on 15 May 1943, when Russian leader Joseph Stalin joined the Allies during World War II.
Logo of the Comintern World Congress
Background of the Comintern
- Also referred to as Third International, the Comintern was based from the First International, which existed from 1864 to 1876, and the Second International, which lasted from 1889 to 1914. Both were inspired by the German political theorists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
- From the extreme influence of Marxism, particularly the social and economic struggle of the proletariat, the revolutionary zeal was gradually abandoned by the late 19th century. As the Western labour movement gained momentum, many were swayed by the power of trade unions, socialists, and industrial unionists, while embracing the idea of constitutional reforms.
- In 1889, when the Second International was created, it reflected a more loose federation, focusing on socialist parties with differing views on bourgeois democracy, general strikes, and war. Following the outbreak of the First World War, the Second International was abandoned, and Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik Party, called for a Third International.
- On 2 March 1919, the First Congress of the Communist International convened in the Kremlin. With 51 delegates in attendance, the majority voted for the establishment of the Third International. Leon Trotsky’s “Manifesto to the Proletariat of the Entire World” was used as the principal document of the congress.
- Despite the congress’ improvised nature, they were able to elect the Executive Committee with Grigory Zinoviev as its first president.
- The congress was dominated by two international labour movements, the revolutionary communists and the reformist social democrats.
- Between 19 July and 7 August 1920, the Second World Congress was held in Petrograd and Moscow. Many considered this congress to be the true founding body of the Comintern. Despite facing criticisms of War Communism, the Bolsheviks succeeded in fostering revolutionary ideas among the delegates and the Russian population.
- Drafted by Zinoviev and Lenin’s guidance, the “Twenty-one Conditions” was adopted, which basically stipulated the unconditional support for every Soviet republic and changing of party names to “Communist Party”. It also established the annual world congress as the supreme body of the congress.
- By 1921, the slogan “To the masses!” was adopted by the Third Congress. The Comintern employed a United Front policy, which was reflected in Lenin’s New Economic Policy (NEP). As Lenin navigated trade relations with capitalist nations with the NEP, tension grew between the Comintern’s revolutionary goals and the Soviet state’s trade interests.
Lenin during the Third World Congress, 1921
- Between 1924 and 1928, the organisation went into “Bolshevisation”, which entailed Russian dominance, including the Russification of ideologies and the strong influence of Leninism. By the time of Lenin’s death in 1924, the inner Communist Party struggled for power, and so did the Comintern.
After Lenin
- The power struggle resulted in the removal of Zinoviev as Comintern president in 1926, and replacement of “collective leadership” under Nikolai Bukharin. Trotsky, Lenin’s long-time confidant, was expelled from the ECCI and later on, the Soviet Union.
- Introduced by Bukharin, the Third Period of the Comintern began in 1928 and ended in 1933. This period saw a new revolutionary upsurge.
- By 1928, the political landscape within the Comintern and, generally, the Soviet Union began to shift. Stalin opposed his former allies, Bukharin and the Right Opposition. In July 1929, Bukharin was removed, while Stalin gained the support of Comintern officials, such as Dmitri Manuilsky, Osip Piatnitsky, Otto Kuusinen, and Klement Gottwald.
Under Stalin
- Under Stalin, the organisation adopted an ultra-left approach to defeat capitalism. By the 1930s, Stalin’s purges targeted activists in and out of the Comintern and the Soviet Union. Through the Soviet secret police and informers, many were executed during the Great Purges, including foreign communists and anti fascists residing in the Soviet Union. Others were deported, including German communists.
- Among the victims were former high-level officials of the Comintern, including Zinoviev and Bukharin.
- With the signing of the Nazi-Soviet Pact in August 1939, the Comintern policy saw a dramatic change. Ideally, the Comintern was expected to denounce the war and imperialism, but they had to drop their anti-fascist ideology following Adolf Hitler’s invasion of Europe.
- The war and the Soviet Union’s stance confused many communist parties. For instance, the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), which initially supported the war against Nazi Germany, had to reverse their position. Another blow which shook communist parties was the invasion of France in 1940.
- When Hitler betrayed Stalin in 1941 through Operation Barbarossa, the Comintern and its members were instructed to support the Allied cause by establishing national fronts and resistance movements.
- On 15 May 1943, the ECCI Presidium recommended the dissolution of the Comintern. Many viewed that the dissolution was Stalin’s way to appease the Western Allies, particularly Britain and the United States.
- Despite the dissolution, an organisational framework continued to exist in Moscow, which later on re-emerged in 1917 as the Cominform or the Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers’ Party.
Structure, Members, and Legacy
- Ideally, the design of the Comintern was to be a centralised “world party”, between congresses that were supposed to convene annually. The Comintern was directed by the ECCI, which in turn elected a Presidium to oversee the organisation’s day-to-day affairs.
- Other significant bodies were the Organisational Bureau (Orgburo) and the International Control Commission (ICC), both responsible for its members’ discipline and ideological purity.
- The Communist Party of the host country (Soviet Union) held 5 seats on the ECCI, while other parties held one.
- By the 1930s, the social composition of the parties within the organisation shifted significantly as a result of the Great Depression. In Germany, the percentage of factory workers in the KPD declined from 62% in 1928 to about 20% in 1931.
- Aside from the main headquarters in Moscow, the Comintern had several regional bureaus. Among the most important were the bases in Berlin, Kiev, Vienna, the Balkans, Amsterdam, Tashkent, and Shanghai.
- During the first congress, voting delegates was composed of groups coming from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czechoslovakia, German Austria, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Korea, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Balkan, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United States, United Kingdom, Volga region, and Yugoslavia.
- Critics of the Comintern believed that the organisation was used to impose Soviet foreign policy, such as expulsion, demotion, and purging, rather than its goal of becoming an instrument for world revolution. Historian George Douglas Howard Cole argued that it proliferated social fascism, which served as the foundation of fascism in Italy and Germany.
- Others blamed either Lenin or Stalin for the Comintern’s failure. Generally, the Comintern was a significant historical experiment and attempt in creating a transnational network promoting emancipatory movements, particularly a voice to the working class and the peoples of the colonies.
Frequently Asked Questions About The Comintern
- What was the Comintern?The Comintern, or Communist International, was an organisation founded in 1919 to promote worldwide communist revolution.
- What was the main goal of the Comintern?Its goal was to spread communism globally and support revolutionary movements in different countries.
- What was the relationship between the Comintern and the Soviet Union?The Comintern was closely controlled by the Soviet government, especially under Lenin and later Stalin.