What is the Comintern definition in history briefly. Communist Internationals

31.10.201927.05.2017

COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL (Comintern, International 3rd), an international organization that united the communist parties of various countries in 1919-1943. He declared himself the historical successor of the 1st International and heir to the best traditions of the 2nd International. For the first time, the idea of creating the 3rd International was expressed by V. I. Lenin in November 1914 in the manifesto of the Central Committee of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) “War and Russian Social Democracy”. The Communist International was founded at the 1st (Constituent) Congress, held 2-6.3.1919 in Moscow. The congress was attended by 52 delegates from 35 parties and groups from 21 countries. In November 1919, a youth organization of the Communist International, the Communist International of Youth, was created. Since its inception, the Communist International has positioned itself as a counterbalance to the international organizations founded after the 1st World War by right-wing and centrist social democratic parties that were previously represented in the 2nd International (Bern International, International 2 1/2, Socialist workers international). The leading role in the Communist International was played by the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) [RKP(b); since 1925 the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), VKP(b)]. In 1919-26, the Communist International was headed by G. E. Zinoviev, in 1926-29 - by N. I. Bukharin, from 1935 - by G. Dimitrov. In the political platform of the Communist International adopted by the 1st Congress, it was noted that its task was to rally all the revolutionary forces and ensure the international solidarity of the working people in the conditions that began as a result of the victory October revolution 1917 in Russia, the era of the collapse of capitalism and the communist revolution of the proletariat.

At the 2nd Congress of the Communist International (July 19-August 7, 1920, Petrograd, Moscow), 21 conditions for admission to the Communist International were developed and approved (these included a complete break with the reformists and centrists, the recognition of democratic centralism as the main organizational principle of the party, etc. ). The Congress adopted the Charter of the Communist International, based on the principle of democratic centralism, and also formed the governing body - the Executive Committee (ECCI).

In the context of a revolutionary downturn, the 3rd Congress of the Communist International (July 22-12, 1921, Moscow) outlined a program for the restructuring of the communist movement and set the task of creating a united front of the working class, including by reaching a compromise with other political currents and organizations. Delegates from Germany, Austria, Italy and Czechoslovakia tried to oppose this line, formulated by V. I. Lenin, with the “offensive theory” (refusal of political compromises), but it was rejected. The issues of creating a united front of the working class were discussed at the conference of three Internationals (3rd, 2 1/2 and Berne) convened in Berlin on April 2-5, 1922 at the initiative of the Communist International, but the agreements reached on the unity of action were not fulfilled.

At the 4th Congress of the Communist International (5.11 - 5.12.1922, Petrograd, Moscow), discussions continued on the tactics of the international communist movement, overcoming the split in the trade union movement, the slogan of the struggle for the creation of a "workers' government" was put forward, and in relation to the conditions of colonial and dependent countries - the formation of a single anti-imperialist front, uniting national patriotic forces. Considerable attention at the congress was devoted to the struggle against the threat of fascism.

How the Congress of Struggle for the Bolshevization of the Communist Parties entered the history of the 5th Congress of the Communist International (17.6-8.7.1924, Moscow). The parties - members of the Communist International were given the task, based on the experience of the Russian Bolsheviks, to achieve mass character, organizational cohesion, firm adherence to the principles of revolutionary Marxism, rejection of dogmatism and sectarianism, the transformation of each party into a national political force capable of acting independently in specific conditions in its own countries. At the same time, the congress tried to formulate common methods for all parties to apply the tactics of the united front (subsequently, by the Communist International itself, this decision was qualified as excessive stereotyped, fettering the initiative of the communist parties). The theses of the 5th Congress of the Communist International also contained a provision on the absence of an essential difference between social democracy and fascism, adherence to which subsequently caused significant harm to the practice of unity of action.

After the death of V. I. Lenin, L. D. Trotsky and his supporters openly opposed Lenin’s theory about the possibility of building socialism in a single country, tried to impose on the Communist International a line of artificially “pushing” the world revolution. At the 7th expanded plenum of the ECCI in December 1926, in a resolution adopted on the report of JV Stalin, Trotskyism was condemned as a petty-bourgeois Social Democratic deviation in the international working-class movement.

At the 6th Congress of the Communist International (July 17-1 September 1928, Moscow), the Program of the Communist International was adopted, which noted the approach of a new period of sharp aggravation of the contradictions of capitalism and the rise of the revolutionary movement. The congress directed the communist parties to prepare for a possible acute socio-political crisis in the capitalist countries, but proceeded only from the prospects of the proletarian revolution as the immediate task of the day and underestimated the threat of fascism. On the eve of the expected revolutionary upheavals, the Comintern called for intensifying the struggle against the reformism of social democracy, against the threat of a new world war, and for the defense of the USSR from the "international bourgeoisie". The congress characterized Trotskyism as a counter-revolutionary trend, at the same time also condemning the right-wing deviation in the international communist movement, whose representatives overestimated the degree of stabilization of capitalism, tried to prove the possibility of an “organized” stage of its development.

The world economic crisis of 1929-33 and the establishment of the Nazi dictatorship in Germany confronted the communist parties with problems that had not been foreseen in the previous decisions of the Communist International, revealed the unsuitability of a number of previously developed tactical guidelines and recommendations. At the 13th Plenum of the ECCI (November-December 1933), the slogan of uniting all democratic forces, broad sections of the people, and above all achieving the unity of the working class as the main means of struggle, was put forward.

The strategy and tactics of the international communist movement under the new conditions were developed at the 7th Congress of the Communist International (July 25-August 20, 1935, Moscow). The Congress defined the class essence of fascism in power as "an open terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary, most chauvinistic and most imperialist elements of finance capital", and also stated that the political crisis of the early 1930s created a new alternative - fascism or bourgeois democracy. In this regard, the question was raised about changing the attitude towards social democracy (taking into account also the change in the attitude of the social democratic parties towards cooperation with the communists) while maintaining the ultimate goal of the communist movement - the struggle for the dictatorship of the proletariat and socialism. As a top priority, the 7th Congress of the Communist International determined the creation of a united popular front - a broad class coalition against fascism and war, and the basis for the formation of a democratic government. The Congress noted that in its development this power, under favorable conditions, could develop into a democratic dictatorship of the proletariat and peasantry, which in turn paved the way for the dictatorship of the proletariat. One of the central questions of the 7th Congress was the question of the struggle against the outbreak of a new world war. The Congress characterized German Nazism, Italian fascism, and Japanese militarism as the main warmongers, criticized Western democratic governments' policy of appeasing aggressors, and categorically rejected claims that the Communists wanted war in the hope that it would bring revolution.

After the 7th Congress of the Communist International, the Communist Parties of a number of countries waged a struggle to expand their influence among broad sections of the population. In France, the Popular Front (established in 1935) won the parliamentary elections in 1936; in Spain it became one of the main active forces in the Spanish Revolution of 1931-39. In order to restore the unity of the trade union movement, the Red Trade Unions led by the Communists, which were part of the Red International of Trade Unions (Profintern), began to join the general trade union associations of their countries, and in 1937 the Profintern was dissolved. In 1935-39, the ECCI repeatedly proposed to the leadership of the Socialist Workers' International to unite efforts in the fight against fascism and war, but a common platform was never worked out. In the second half of the 1930s, many senior officials of the apparatus of the Communist International in the USSR were repressed, and the Communist Party of Poland was dissolved by the decision of the Communist International.

Under the conditions of World War II, the difference in situations in different countries and regions of the world made it inexpedient and in many ways impossible to lead the world communist movement from a single center. In order to ensure the closest interaction of all national and international forces ready to fight against fascism, to intensify cooperation within the framework of the anti-Hitler coalition, it was necessary to eliminate the reason for accusing the USSR of interfering in the internal affairs of other countries through the communist parties led by it. For these reasons, the Presidium of the ECCI in May 1943 decided to dissolve the Communist International, which was approved by all its sections.

Source: Comintern and World War II. M., 1994-1998. Ch. 1-2; VKP(b), the Comintern and the National Revolutionary Movement in China. Documentation. M., 1994-2007. T. 1-5; The Comintern and Latin America. M., 1998; The Comintern and the Idea of the World Revolution. Documentation. M., 1998; The Comintern and the Spanish Civil War. M., 2001; VKP(b), Comintern and Japan. 1917-1941. M., 2001; Comintern and Africa. Documentation. M., 2003; Comintern and Finland. 1919-1943. M., 2003; VKP(b), Comintern and Korea. 1918-1941. M., 2007.

Lit.: Communist International. Brief historical outline. M., 1969; Vatlin A. Yu. Comintern: the first ten years. Historical essays. M., 1993; James C.L.R. World revolution 1917-1936: the rise and fall of the Communist International. 3rd ed. Atlantic Highlands, 1993; International communism and the Communist International 1919-1943 / Ed. T. Rees, A. Thorpe. Manchester, 1999; History of the Communist International. 1919-1943. Documentary essays / Edited by A. O. Chubaryan. M., 2002.

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The Communist International (Comintern, 3rd International) is an international organization that united the communist parties of various countries in 1919-1943.

It was founded on March 4, 1919 at the initiative of the RCP(b) and its leader V. I. Lenin to develop and spread the ideas of revolutionary international socialism, as opposed to the reformist socialism of the Second International, the final break with which was caused by the difference in positions regarding the First World War and the October Revolution in Russia.

Congresses of the Comintern

The first (constituent) congress of the Communist International was held in Moscow in March 1919. 52 delegates from 35 parties and groups from 21 countries.

Preconditions for

During 1918, a number of parties and groups arose in a number of countries in Europe and the world, supporting the concept of the Bolsheviks to one degree or another. In this regard, there was a need for the organizational design of a new international movement.

In January 1919, in Moscow, at the initiative of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), a meeting of representatives of the communist parties of Russia, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Finland, the Balkan Revolutionary Social Democratic Federation was held, at which an appeal was adopted to 39 parties and groups in Europe, Asia and America with a proposal to take part in the work of the Constituent Congress of the new International.

Holding the I Congress

On March 2, the First Congress of Communist and "Left" Social Democratic Parties and Groups was opened in Moscow.

On March 4, the congress decided to establish the Communist International. The point of view that the creation of such an association was premature because of the weakness of the communist movement did not find support among the congress participants.

The theses were adopted on the platform of the Comintern (based on the reports of G. Eberlein and N. Bukharin), the theses on bourgeois democracy and the dictatorship of the proletariat (on the basis of the report of V. Lenin). These fundamental documents determined the goal of the new organization to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat in the form of the power of the Soviets of Working People's Deputies. The main method of achieving this task was called the class struggle, including through an armed uprising.

At the core organizational structure The Comintern established the principle of democratic centralism. Each of the parties represented in the International had the right to full representation.

The decisions clearly indicated the need to fight the Second International as an organization of revisionists, as well as the need to break away from it by revolutionary elements.

The Executive Committee of the Communist International (ECCI) was formed. At the first congress, its composition was constantly changing. The Executive Committee of the Comintern was located on the Arbat at Denezhny Lane, 5. To manage the work of the ECCI, the Bureau of the ECCI was formed (before the Second Congress of the Comintern it performed the function of the ECCI) and the Secretariat of the ECCI.

Effects

The creation of the Comintern further aggravated the internal struggle in the Social Democratic parties of Europe and America, which caused a number of splits in them. Some of the breakaway groups joined the local communist parties, while others joined the Comintern as independent sections.

The Second Congress of the Communist International was held July 19 - August 7, 1920 in Petrograd.

Holding

All delegates to the Second Congress of the Comintern received a copy of Lenin's new book, The Infantile Disease of "Leftism" in Communism, which was published by the ECCI.

The decision to convene the Second Congress of the Comintern was taken at a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) on July 1, 1920.

The Presidium of the Congress included 5 people: G. Zinoviev, V. Lenin, P. Levy, A. Rosmer, J. Serrati.

The Congress adopted the Charter of the Comintern, which confirmed the goals and objectives of the world communist movement adopted at the First Congress: the overthrow of capitalism, the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the creation of a world Soviet republic. It viewed the Comintern as a single international party with iron discipline. Lenin's "Twenty-One Conditions" were adopted as conditions for joining the Comintern.

In order for the party to be recognized by the Comintern as truly communist, it was required from it:

Communist propaganda and agitation within the framework of the Third International (including the dictatorship of the proletariat), the need to subordinate party publications to the Central Committee of the party;

Systematic removal from all posts of reformists and "centrists" and their replacement by communists;

Creation of a parallel illegal apparatus of the party, a combination of legal and illegal methods of work;

Systematic propaganda among the troops (including illegally);

Planned agitation in the countryside through communists who have connections there;

Exposure of social patriotism and social pacifism;

A complete break in the shortest possible time with reformism and the politics of the "center" and propaganda of this in their ranks;

Exposure of "their" imperialists in the colonies, support for national liberation movements, agitation against national oppression;

Conducting work in trade unions, cooperatives and other mass organizations, creating communist cells in them, winning over these organizations to one's side;

Leading the struggle against the international organizations of the right wing of the trade union movement, support the international association of red trade unions;

Subordination of parliamentary factions to the Central Committee of the party, subordination of all activities of a communist parliamentarian to the interests of revolutionary propaganda and agitation;

Building the party on the basis of the principle of democratic centralism;

The parties conducting legal work must carry out periodic purges of petty-bourgeois elements from their ranks;

Rendering support to each Soviet republic in the struggle against counter-revolution;

Rejection of the social-democratic program of the party in favor of a program in the spirit of the resolutions of the Comintern, the program of a party entering the Comintern is approved by the Congress of the Comintern or the ECCI;

The resolutions of the Congresses of the Comintern and the ECCI are obligatory for the execution of the parties included in it;

The party should change its name and be called "communist";

The leading printed organs of the parties must print all important documents of the ECCI;

All parties belonging to the Comintern or joining it must, as soon as possible, convene an emergency party congress to discuss this circumstance;

In the Central Committee of the parties entering the Comintern, which have not changed their previous tactics, there must be at least 2/3 of the members who, even before the Second Congress of the Comintern, were in favor of such an entry;

Party members who reject the commitments and theses of the Comintern must be expelled.

On the basis of Lenin's report "On the situation in the world and the tasks of the Comintern", the immediate tasks of the Comintern were to create in each country a single national communist party that would combine legal and illegal methods of struggle.

The Third Congress of the Communist International was held in Moscow on June 22 - July 12, 1921. 605 delegates from 103 parties and organizations participated.

communist international party congress

Issues discussed

The revolutionary uprisings of the European proletariat in Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia and other regions confirmed the expectations of the Congress participants for an early European revolution. At the same time, the defeat of the speeches led to a turning point in the revolutionary movement in Europe and the stabilization of the capitalist system in most European countries.

In the international position of our republic, one has to politically reckon with the fact that a certain balance of forces has now indisputably set in, which waged an open struggle with each other, arms in hand, for the domination of one or another leading class, a balance between bourgeois society, the international bourgeoisie as a whole. , on the one hand, and Soviet Russia, on the other ... (V. I. Lenin)

Under these conditions, V. I. Lenin, in a number of speeches at the congress, criticized both "centrist" and "left" mistakes in the world communist movement.

During the congress, disagreements emerged in the RCP(b) over party tactics. In the debate on the corresponding report of Lenin, A. M. Kollontai spoke from the position of the "workers' opposition." She believed that it was necessary to strengthen the power of the Soviets, first of all, by revealing the not yet fully exhausted possibilities of the working class, and not through an alliance of the working class with the peasantry, but also through freedom of trade and the revival of capitalist elements, as Lenin suggested. In addition, the "workers' opposition" demanded greater democratization of internal party life and the system of state administration. L. D. Trotsky and N. I. Bukharin criticized the position of A. M. Kollontai at the Third Congress of the Comintern. K. Radek and G. Roland-Golst, and this position was supported by the majority of the congress participants.

During the discussion of the theses written by Trotsky on tactics, a new slogan "To the masses" was formulated, understood as "the conquest of the broad masses of the proletariat for the ideas of communism." The slogan implied the need for the European Communist Parties to put forward transitional demands and move to the tactics of a "united workers' front." The prerequisites for this were, on the one hand, the general leftward movement of the European working class, and, on the other hand, increased pressure from bourgeois reaction.

The III Congress decided to create the International Association of Red (Revolutionary) Trade Unions, which should have become an alternative to the "yellow" social democratic trade unions. The founding congress of the Profintern was held in July 1921 in Moscow.

The Fourth Congress of the Communist International was held in November-December 1922 in Petrograd-Moscow. The congress was attended by 408 delegates from 66 parties and organizations from 58 countries.

Historical situation

In the revolutionary upsurge in the Western European countries, which began at the end of the First World War, there were tendencies to decline. Expectations of a speedy transition of these countries to socialism were not justified, in connection with which the main priority for the communist movement of the world became the protection Soviet Russia from the capitalist countries. The labor movement in a number of countries faced opposition from fascist organizations (for example, a week before the Congress in Italy, supporters of the National Fascist Party led by B. Mussolini held a March on Rome).

The congress opened on November 5, 1922 in Petrograd, November 9 - December 5 continued and completed its work in Moscow.

"The main task," V. I. Lenin wrote in his greetings to the congress, "as before, is to win over the majority of the workers. And we will fulfill this task, no matter what."

The congress was attended by 408 delegates from 66 organizations from 58 countries of the world (343 of them had the right to vote, and 65 delegates had the right to speak only), as well as 6 guests of the congress.

The congress was the last one in which V.I. Lenin: in connection with the progressing illness, in addition to the welcoming speech, he made only one short speech and could not participate in most of the meetings. In a report devoted to the fifth anniversary of the October Revolution and the prospects for the world revolution, Lenin substantiated the thesis that it is necessary for the Communist Parties not only to be able to advance during a period of upsurge, but to learn how to retreat in the conditions of an ebb of a revolutionary wave. Using the example of NEP in Russia, he showed how a temporary retreat should be used to prepare a new offensive against capitalism. According to him, even the first results of the NEP were favorable - it ensured the restoration of the country's economy, and the strengthening of Soviet Russia meant strengthening the base of the world revolution. Lenin called on all communist parties to study and learn to master the organization, construction, method and content of revolutionary work: foreign communist parties "...should accept part of the Russian experience" (V.I. Lenin. Poln. sobr. sobr., vol. 33, p. 394).

Paying considerable attention to the growth of the fascist danger (in connection with the establishment of the fascist dictatorship in Hungary and Italy), the Congress emphasized that the tactics of the united workers' front were the main means of combating fascism. To rally the broad masses of working people, who were not yet ready to fight for the dictatorship of the proletariat, but were already capable of fighting for economic and political rights against the bourgeoisie, the slogan of a “workers' government” (later the slogan of a workers' and peasants' government) was put forward. The congress drew attention to the need to fight for the unity of the trade union movement, which found itself in a state of deep split (in 1919, the Amsterdam International of Trade Unions took shape, and in 1921, the Profintern). A concrete application of the united front tactic in colonial and dependent countries is the united anti-imperialist front, which unites the country's national-patriotic forces capable of fighting against colonialism.

The congress was attended by 504 delegates from 46 communist and workers' parties and 14 workers' organizations from 49 countries. For the first time, the congress was held without the participation of V. I. Lenin.

The main task of the congress was to analyze the most important historical events that have passed since the Fourth Congress: the defeat of revolutionary uprisings in Germany and Bulgaria, repressions against the communists in Italy and Poland, the Labor government of MacDonald in Great Britain, the departure of many national communist parties underground and the reduction in their numbers. In this regard, it became necessary to revise the strategy and tactics of the Comintern.

Main questions

The main issues discussed at the Fifth Congress were: 1) Lenin and the Comintern, 2) a report on the activities and tactics of the Executive Committee of the Comintern, 3) world economic situation 4) the question of the program, 5) the tactics of the trade unions, 6) the national question, 7) organizational questions, 8) fascism.

Considerable attention was paid to the need for the Bolshevization of the national communist parties, the struggle against opportunist elements and the strengthening of discipline in the ranks of the Comintern. By a resolution of the Congress, the ECCI was entrusted with control functions over the activities of the Communist Parties with the right to correct and even cancel the decisions of their governing bodies, their program documents. The practice was introduced of sending instructors from the organizational department of the ECCI to party congresses to convey the directives of the ECCI. Communist parties must become mass, establish contact with the workers, change their tactics flexibly in accordance with changes in the political situation and taking into account national peculiarities. All parties included in the Comintern had to restructure their structure on the basis of production cells (in many of them the social democratic territorial principle of organization still prevailed).

As part of the discussion of the tactics of the United Front, the congress emphasized that he looked at this tactic as a way of fighting for the dictatorship of the proletariat, "a method of agitation and revolutionary mobilization of the masses for a whole period"; the creation of any coalitions with the bourgeois-democratic parties is impossible. Social Democracy was considered the left flank of the bourgeoisie, and the congress resolution noted: "All bourgeois parties, and especially Social Democracy, take on a more or less fascist character, resorting to fascist methods of fighting the proletariat." The main reason for such assessments was the assessment of the counter-revolutionary activities of the Social Democracy in Germany and Bulgaria during the revolutionary uprisings of 1923.

The Congress decided on the need for the communists to carry out revolutionary work in the reformist trade union organizations, resolutely fighting against the "ultra-left" deviations on this issue, since the latter threatened to turn the communist parties into insignificant groups without influence among the working masses.

Assessing the state of the world economy, the congress noted that the period of the industrial and agrarian crisis continues, new aggravation of social contradictions and new battles between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat are inevitable, while the petty bourgeoisie is turning towards the proletariat.

During the work of the congress, the "Polish Commission" considered the situation in the leadership of the Communist Workers' Party of Poland (KPPP). As a result, the Polish delegation re-elected the Bureau of the Central Committee of the KRPP, and A. Warsky and E. Pruchniak were removed from the leadership.

The Sixth Congress of the Communist International was held in Moscow from July 17 to September 1, 1928. The Congress was attended by 515 delegates from 65 organizations (including 50 communist parties) from 57 countries.

General assessment of the political situation

The Congress noted the approach of a new ("third") period in the revolutionary development of the world after the October Revolution - a period of sharp aggravation of all the contradictions of capitalism, characterized by an impending world economic crisis, an intensification of the class struggle and a new upsurge in the liberation movement in the colonial and dependent countries. In this connection, the congress approved the tactics outlined by the ninth plenum of the ECCI (February 1928), expressed in the formula "class against class."

Thesis on social fascism

The Congress developed the strategic position adopted by the Fifth Congress (1924), according to which, in connection with the left turn of the masses that had arisen in the capitalist countries, the communists there are opposed by two equally hostile political forces: openly reactionary (fascism) and democratic-reformist (social democracy). In accordance with this, the possibility of an alliance of communists with social democratic parties in joint political actions and in pre-election blocs was rejected. The danger of the activities of the leaders of the "left wing" of the Social Democracy was especially emphasized.

The thesis about social fascism as a whole was supported by the congress, only a small part of the delegates opposed it, in particular, the Italian delegation headed by P. Togliatti.

Although the thesis was not included in the program of the Comintern adopted by the Congress, the provisions that social democracy often plays a fascist role at the most critical moments for capitalism, its ideology in many points is in contact with the fascist one, were reflected in a number of congress documents.

Program and Charter

The Congress adopted the Program and Charter of the Communist International, which stated that this organization is "a single world communist party."

Main project work new Program on behalf of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, N. Bukharin carried out. After its discussion in the Politburo and subsequent revision, the draft was submitted to the ECCI and published on May 25 for discussion. In the course of preparation, I. Stalin made a number of significant amendments to the text of the Program, making it more “leftist”. The Program consolidated the rigid centralization of the leadership of the communist parties and the demand for "international communist discipline", which should be expressed "in the unconditional implementation by all communists of the decisions of the leading bodies of the Communist International." Support by the Congress of Stalin's line strengthened his line in the struggle against "right" tendencies, in particular against Bukharin.

According to the Charter, in each country there could be only one Communist Party, called a section of the Comintern. The charter assumed the obligation of strict international party discipline and the immediate implementation of the decisions of the Comintern. The sections had the right to appeal against the decisions of the ECCI at the World Congress, however, until the decisions were canceled by the Congress, the sections were not released from the obligation to implement them. It was decided to expand the Executive Committee of the Comintern so that it would include as members or candidates representatives of all sections united in the Comintern. According to the Charter, the rights of authorized ECCIs in individual sections of the Comintern were expanded.

The Seventh Congress of the Communist International was held July 25-August 20, 1935 in Moscow.

Holding a congress

The central report was made by G. Dimitrov, a total of 76 delegates spoke. The main topic of the meetings was the issue of consolidating forces in the fight against the growing fascist threat.

The following decisions were made at the congress:

the allegations that the growth of fascist sentiments among the population accelerates the creation of a revolutionary situation are finally rejected;

confirmed the threat of a fascist dictatorship;

one of the reasons for the victory of fascism was declared the disunity of the working class, the social democrats were accused of splitting. Communist parties were blamed only for underestimating the power of fascist ideology. At the same time, the former assessment of social democracy as social fascism was recognized as erroneous, and emphasis was placed on the tactics of the United Front.

the task of an irreconcilable ideological struggle against fascism was set;

announced the creation of the United Labor Front as a body for coordinating the activities of workers of various political orientations.

Coordination was subject to the economic and political struggle against fascism, self-defense against fascist attacks, assistance to prisoners and their families, protection of the interests of young people and women. The Soviet leadership proposed new form associations at all levels from grassroots party organizations to internationals, the content of the association was to be a democratic struggle against fascism. The possibility of political unification was not ruled out, but it was allowed only on the basis of the principles of Marxism-Leninism. Anarchists, Catholics, socialists, non-party people could take part in the United Workers' Front.

The need to create a Popular Front was also announced, which would unite representatives of the petty bourgeoisie, artisans, employees, representatives of the labor intelligentsia, and even anti-fascist elements of the big bourgeoisie in the anti-fascist struggle.

The possibility of creating in one country or another the government of the Popular Front, which is not a form of dictatorship of the proletariat, was taken into account.

The need to fight for peace was proclaimed, the idea of war as inevitable was rejected. In this regard, it was worthwhile to intensify the activity of workers in pacifist organizations, but such forms of protest as the boycott of mobilization, sabotage at military factories, and refusal to appear for military service should have been avoided.

The need to develop the initiative of local communist organizations.

The supporters of left communism recognized the first two congresses, the Trotskyists the first four.

As a result of the events of 1937-1938. many sections of the Comintern were actually liquidated, and the Polish section of the Comintern was officially dissolved.

Dissolution of the Comintern

The Comintern was dissolved during World War II on May 15, 1943. The successor to the organization was Cominform, or Cominformburo (1947-1956).

In September 1947, after the Marshall Aid Conference in Paris in June 1947, Stalin brought together the socialist parties and created the Cominform, the Communist Information Bureau, as a replacement for the Comintern. It was a network created by the communist parties of Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia (it was excluded in 1948 due to disagreements between Stalin and Tito).

Cominform ceased to exist in 1956 shortly after the 20th Congress of the CPSU. The Cominform had no formal legal successor. At present, the traditional international communist movement is grouped around the Greek Communist Party.

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First Congress of the Comintern

The first congress of the Communist International took place in March 1919. In fact, this is the time of the creation of the Comintern. The activities of the first congress decided several important points:

A "rule" was established for the work of this body to work with workers from different countries, calling them to fight against capital. Remember the famous slogan "Proletarians of all countries unite!"? This is exactly where it came from.
The leadership of the Comintern was to be carried out by a special body - the Executive Committee of the Communist International (ECCI).
Zinoviev became the head of the ECCI.

Thus, the main task of creating the Communist International was clearly outlined - the creation of conditions, including financial ones, for the implementation of the world socialist revolution.

Second Congress of the Comintern

The second congress began at the end of 1919 in Petrograd and continued in 1920 in Moscow. By its beginning, the Red Army (Red Army) was conducting successful battles and the leaders of the Bolsheviks were confident not only in their own victory in Russia, but also that there were only a few breakthroughs left to "ignite the center of the world revolution." It was at the second congress of the Comintern that it was clearly formulated that the Red Army was the basis for creating a revolution throughout the world.

The idea of uniting the efforts of Soviet Russia and Soviet Germany for the revolutionary movement was also voiced here.

It must be clearly understood that the main task of creating the Communist International lies precisely in the armed struggle against capital throughout the world. In some textbooks one has to read that the Bolsheviks wanted to carry the revolution to other peoples with money and persuasion. But this was not so, and this was well understood in the leadership of the RCP (b). Here, for example, is what Bukharin, one of the ideological inspirers of both the Revolution and the Comintern, said:

To build communism, the proletariat must become the master of the world, conquer it. But one should not think that this can be achieved with a single movement of the finger. To achieve our task, bayonets and rifles are needed. The Red Army carries the essence of socialism and workers' power for a common revolution. This is our privilege. This is the right of the Red Army to intervene.
Bukharin, 1922

But the activity of the Comintern did not give any practical results:

In 1923, the revolutionary situation in Germany escalated. All attempts by the Comintern to put pressure on the Ruhr area, Saxony and Hamburg were unsuccessful. Although the funds for this were spent colossal.
In September 1923, an uprising began in Bulgaria, but they were very quickly stopped by the authorities, and the Communist International did not have time to provide the necessary assistance.

Change of course of the Comintern

The change in the course of the Comintern is connected with the Soviet government's rejection of the world revolution. This was connected purely with internal political affairs, and with Stalin's victory over Trotsky. Let me remind you that it was Stalin who acted as an active opponent of the world revolution, saying that the victory of socialism in one country, especially in such a large one as Russia, is a unique phenomenon. Therefore, it is necessary not to look for a crane in the sky, but to build socialism here and now. Moreover, even an active supporter of the idea of a world revolution, it became clear that this idea was utopian, and it was impossible to realize it. Therefore, at the end of 1926, the Comintern ceased active work.

In the same year, 1926, Zinoviev replaced Bukharin at the head of the ECCI. And along with the change of leader, the course also changed. If earlier the Comintern wanted to kindle a revolution, now all its efforts were directed towards creating a positive image of the USSR and socialism as a whole.

Therefore, we can say that the main task of creating the Communist International is to kindle the world revolution. After 1926, this task changed - the creation of a positive image of the Soviet state.

Big soviet encyclopedia: Communist International, Comintern, 3rd International (1919-43), an international organization created in accordance with the needs and tasks of the revolutionary labor movement in the first stage of the general crisis of capitalism; historical successor to the 1st International (see International 1st) and heir to the best traditions of the 2nd International (see International 2nd), which collapsed after the outbreak of World War I as a result of an opportunistic degeneration and betrayal of proletarian internationalism by the overwhelming majority of the Social Democratic parties that were its members.
The collapse of the 2nd International prompted the Bolsheviks, led by V.I. Lenin to raise the question of creating a Third International cleansed of opportunism. This was already mentioned in the manifesto of the Central Committee of the RSDLP "War and Russian Social Democracy" published on November 1, 1914. Being the decisive authoritative force in the international labor movement, which remained true to proletarian internationalism, the Bolsheviks, under the leadership of V.I. Lenin launched a struggle to rally the left groups in the social democratic parties. One of the most important prerequisites for the creation of a new International was the development of V.I. Lenin of ideological and political principles and theoretical foundations of the communist movement (revealing the imperialist nature of World War I and substantiating the need to turn it into a civil war against the bourgeoisie of one’s own country; the doctrine of the revolutionary situation; the conclusion about the possibility and inevitability of the victory of the socialist revolution initially in a few or even in one, taken separately, capitalist country , formulated for the first time in 1915, etc.).
An important contribution to the rallying of the left Social Democrats was the active participation of Lenin and his associates in the work of the Zimmerwald Conference and the Kienthal Conference, the creation of the Zimmerwald Left as part of the Zimmerwald Association, and the propaganda of Bolshevik views on questions of war, peace and revolution at the international women's and youth conferences held in 1915 and the conference of socialists of the Entente countries. The activities of the Bolsheviks in preparation for the creation of the 3rd International brought more and more tangible results as the working class became more active and the workers and the broad masses of workers, who were convinced from their own experience of the fatality of social chauvinism, were gradually liberated from the nationalist frenzy. However, to establish K.I. succeeded only after the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917, which had an enormous revolutionary impact on the whole world and created fundamentally new conditions for the struggle of the working class as a result of the emergence of the world's first socialist state. Lenin's Bolshevik Party stood at the head of this state. In the context of a powerful upsurge in the workers' and national liberation movements, the formation of communist parties began in a number of countries. In 1918 communist parties arose in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland, the Netherlands, and Finland. Revolutionary internationalist positions at that time were occupied by the Bulgarian Workers' Social Democratic Party (Close Socialists), the International Socialist Party of Argentina, the Left Social Democratic Party of Sweden, the Socialist Workers' Party of Greece, and others. Communist groups and circles formed in 1918-19 in Czechoslovakia , Romania, Italy, France, UK, Denmark, Switzerland, USA, Canada, Brazil, China, Korea, Australia, South African Union and other countries.
In January 1919 in Moscow, on the initiative and under the leadership of V.I. Lenin held a meeting of representatives of the communist parties of Soviet Russia, Hungary, Poland, Austria, Latvia, Finland, as well as the Balkan Revolutionary Social Democratic Federation (Bulgarian Tesnyaks and Romanian leftists) and the US Socialist Labor Party. The conference discussed the issue of convening an international congress of representatives of revolutionary proletarian parties, appealed to 39 revolutionary parties, groups and trends in the countries of Europe, Asia, America, Australia to take part in the work of the founding congress of the new International and developed a draft of its platform.
On March 2-6, 1919, the 1st (Constituent) Congress of the CI was held in Moscow, which was attended by 52 delegates from 35 parties and groups from 21 countries of the world. The congress was attended by representatives of the communist parties of Soviet Russia, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Finland and other countries, as well as a number of communist groups (Czech, Bulgarian, Yugoslav, British, French, Swiss, etc.). The social-democratic parties of Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, the USA, the Balkan Revolutionary Social-Democratic Federation were represented at the congress. The Congress discussed and adopted the platform of K.I., developed on the basis of instructions from V.I. Lenin. The new epoch, which began with the victory of the October Revolution, was characterized in the platform as the epoch of the disintegration of capitalism, its internal disintegration, the epoch of the communist revolution of the proletariat. The task of winning and establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat has become on the order of the day, the path to which lies through the rallying of all revolutionary forces, a break with opportunism of all stripes, through the international solidarity of the working people. In view of this, Congress recognized the need for the urgent establishment of K.I.
One of the most important policy documents of K.I. - abstracts and report of V.I. Lenin on bourgeois democracy and the dictatorship of the proletariat. In his report, V.I. Lenin showed that bourgeois democracy, defended under the guise of "democracy in general" by the parties of the 2nd International, is always essentially the class dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, the dictatorship of the minority, while the dictatorship of the proletariat, which suppresses the resistance of the overthrown classes in the name of the interests of the majority, means democracy. for workers.
1st Congress of K.I. called on the workers of all countries to unite on the principles of proletarian internationalism in the revolutionary struggle to overthrow the bourgeoisie and establish the dictatorship of the proletariat, and to resolutely oppose the Second International, formally restored in February 1919 in Bern by its right-wing opportunist leaders (see Berne International). The Congress adopted the Manifesto to the Proletarians of the Whole World, which stated that the communists who had gathered in Moscow, representatives of the revolutionary proletariat of Europe, America and Asia, felt and recognized themselves as the successors and executors of the cause, the program of which was proclaimed by the founders of scientific communism K. Marx and F. Engels in the Communist Manifesto.
Assessing the role that the new International was to play, Lenin wrote in April 1919 that K.I. “... accepted the fruits of the work of the Second International, cut off its opportunist, social-chauvinist, bourgeois and petty-bourgeois filth and began to exercise the dictatorship of the proletariat” (Poln. sobr. soch., 5th edition, vol. 38, p. 303). At the 1st Congress of K.I., according to Lenin, “... the banner of communism was only hoisted, around which the forces of the revolutionary proletariat were to gather” (ibid., vol. 41, p. 274). The Second Congress was to carry out the complete formalization of an international proletarian organization of a new type.
Between the 1st and 2nd Congresses, the revolutionary upsurge continued to grow. In 1919, Soviet republics arose in Hungary (March 21), Bavaria (April 13), and Slovakia (June 16). In Great Britain, France, the USA, Italy and other countries, a movement developed in defense of Soviet Russia from the intervention of the imperialist powers. The mass national liberation movement expanded in the colonies and semi-colonies (Korea, China, India, Turkey, Afghanistan, and others). The formation of communist parties continued. In May 1919, the Bulgarian Workers' Social-Democratic Party (Narrow Socialists) was renamed the Communist Party and joined the K.I. From March 1919 to November 1920 communist parties were formed in Yugoslavia, the USA, Mexico, Denmark, Spain, Indonesia, Iran, Great Britain, Turkey, Uruguay, and Australia. On joining K.I. declared the International Socialist Party of Argentina, the Socialist Workers' Party of Greece, the Left Social Democratic Party of Sweden, the Norwegian Labor Party, the Italian Socialist Party, the British Socialist Party, the Scottish faction of the English Independent Labor Party, the Socialist Party of Luxembourg, as well as revolutionary groups and trade unions in several countries . Under pressure from the revolutionary workers, the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD), the French Socialist Party, the Socialist Party of America, the English Independent Labor Party, the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland, and some others announced a break with the 2nd International. The USPD and the French Socialist Party began negotiations to join the C.I.
Taking into its ranks the Social Democratic masses going to the left, K.I. could not allow persons who had not broken with the ideology and practice of reformism to penetrate into their organizations. One of the main tasks in the formation of new communist parties was a break with right-wing opportunism. At the same time, a threat from the “left” appeared in many communist parties, born of the youth and inexperience of the communist parties, often inclined to solve the fundamental issues of the revolutionary struggle too hastily, as well as the penetration of anarcho-syndicalist elements into the world communist movement. In the struggle against the "leftist danger", as well as in the formation and activity of the communist parties in general, Lenin's book "Children's disease, leftism" in communism played an exceptional role. This book, summarizing the experience of the strategy and tactics of the revolutionary struggle of the Bolshevik Party, showing it to the world- historical meaning helped the fraternal parties to master this experience. Using the examples of the German, English, Italian and Dutch workers' movement, Lenin showed the typical features of "left communism": sectarianism; denial of party membership and party discipline; denial of the need to work in mass organizations(trade unions, cooperatives), in parliaments, municipalities, etc. Lenin also revealed the roots of "left" and right opportunism, showing the need for a constant struggle against them.
Speaking against the sectarian narrow-mindedness of the "Left Communists", Lenin called on the Communist Parties "... to learn as quickly as possible to supplement or replace, if necessary, one form of struggle with another, to adapt their tactics to any such change caused not by our class or not by our efforts" ( ibid., p. 89). Lenin's book largely determined the content and direction of the work of the 2nd congress of K.I. (opened July 19, 1920 in Petrograd, July 23 - August 17 continued and completed work in Moscow), the 2nd Congress of K.I. was more representative than the 1st: 217 delegates from 67 organizations (including 27 communist parties) from 37 countries participated in its work. The French Socialist Party and the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany were represented at the congress with the right of an advisory vote. The Congress listened to Lenin's report on the international situation and the main tasks of K.I. After analyzing the situation in the world that had developed by that time, Lenin warned the communist parties against underestimating the depth of the crisis of the capitalist system, on the one hand, and against illusions about the possibility of an automatic collapse of capitalism as a result of the crisis, on the other. “We must now,” Lenin said, “prove” by the practice of the revolutionary parties that they have enough consciousness, organization, connection with the exploited masses, determination, and skill to use this crisis for a successful, victorious revolution.
In order to prepare this, evidence, "we gathered mainly for a real congress of the Communist International" (ibid., p. 228).
One of the central tasks facing the young communist parties, still immature in ideological, political and organizational terms, was to transform them into parties of a new type bound by close ties with the working class. Its fulfillment was served by Twenty-one conditions for admission to the CI, approved by the 2nd Congress. These conditions (they included: recognition by the parties entering the Comintern of the dictatorship of the proletariat as the main principle of the revolutionary struggle and the theory of Marxism; a complete break with the reformists and centrists and their expulsion from the ranks of the party; a combination of legal and illegal methods of struggle; recognition of democratic centralism as the main organizational principles of the party, selfless loyalty to the principles of proletarian internationalism, etc.) were called upon to protect the communist parties from the penetration not only of open opportunists, but also of those elements whose inconsistency and inclination to compromise with traitors to the proletarian cause ruled out the possibility of unity with them. Those centrist parties that could not free themselves from the ideology of social democracy and did not agree with the conditions for admission to the K.I. created in February 1921 at a conference in Vienna the so-called International Workers' Association of Socialist Parties, which went down in history under the name "International 21 / 2". The latter in 1923 merged with the 2nd International (Bern) into the Socialist Workers' International (Socintern).
Of great fundamental importance were adopted by the 2nd Congress K.I. decisions on national and colonial issues. Proceeding from the fact that in the new historical era the national liberation movement becomes integral part world revolutionary process, the congress set the task of merging the revolutionary struggle of the proletariat developed countries with the national liberation struggle of the oppressed peoples into a single anti-imperialist stream. The emergence of the socialist state and its leading role in the global revolutionary movement opened up new opportunities for the peoples fighting for national independence, and above all, the prospect of a transition to socialism, bypassing the stage of capitalist development. Pointing to this perspective, the congress reflected in its resolution the Leninist idea of a close alliance of all national and colonial liberation movements with Soviet Russia. At the same time, the congress pointed out the need to combat petty-bourgeois-nationalist prejudices.
In determining the positions of the Communist Parties on the agrarian question, the congress proceeded from the Leninist principles of the alliance between the proletariat and the peasantry and the inevitability after the victory of the socialist revolution of the replacement of individual peasant farming by collective farming, stressing, however, that in solving this problem it is necessary to act "...with tremendous caution and gradualness.. .” (see Communist International in documents, M., 1933, p. 135). The Congress adopted the Charter of the CI, based on the principle of democratic centralism, and also formed the governing body of the Comintern - the Executive Committee (ECCI). Describing the historical significance of the 2nd Congress, Lenin said: “First, the Communists had to proclaim their principles to the whole world. This was done at the 1st congress. This is the first step. The second step was the organizational formation of the Communist International and the development of conditions for admission to it, conditions for separating in practice from the centrists, from the direct and indirect agents of the bourgeoisie within the labor movement. This was done at the II Congress” (Poln. sobr. soch., 5th edition, v.44, p.96).
At the end of 1920 and the beginning of 1921, the first post-war economic crisis began in many countries, taking advantage of which the bourgeoisie launched an offensive against the working class. The class battles of the proletariat began to turn into defensive ones. Now it has become obvious that it was not possible to break world capitalism by direct assault. A more thorough and planned preparation for the revolution was required, and this posed the problem of drawing the broad masses of the working people into the revolutionary struggle. In the Soviet Republic, the Bolshevik Party passed to the New Economic Policy, which was the first link in the implementation of Lenin's brilliant plan for building socialism in one country in conditions of capitalist encirclement. The Bolsheviks once again showed an example of the ability to determine the political line, taking into account the changing objective situation.
Under the new conditions, the central place in the struggle between the two social forces on the world stage - capitalism and the Soviet state - was occupied by the economy. “Now our main influence on the international revolution,” Lenin noted, “we exert with our economic policy ... We will solve this problem - and then we will win on an international scale for sure and finally” (ibid., vol. 43, p. 341) .
3rd Congress of K.I. (Moscow, June 22 - July 12, 1921; 605 delegates from 103 parties and organizations participated, including 48 communist parties from 52 countries) outlined a program for the restructuring of the communist movement in accordance with the requirements of a new stage in world development. The Congress was presented with a draft theses on tactics, prepared under the leadership of Lenin, which substantiated the need for the Communist Parties to win the majority of the working class. The delegates of the Communist Parties of Germany, Austria, Italy and some of the delegates of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia subjected the theses to criticism "from the left" and reproached Lenin for being "on the right wing of the Congress." The "Leftists" countered Lenin's line of struggle for the masses with the so-called "offensive theory."
On July 1, 1921, Lenin delivered his famous speech at the congress in defense of the tactics of the Comintern, in which he showed how communist revolutionaries should act when faced with a change in the real situation: not to stick to the old slogans that were correct in the past, but removed from the agenda by life itself, not be limited general provisions Marxism, specifically analyze the new situation and change accordingly political course, tactics. Lenin pointed out that anyone who, in the situation that had developed by the middle of 1921, demanded at all costs, immediately, immediately "attack" the bourgeoisie, he was pushing the working class into an adventure and could ruin the Communist Party. If it follows such a call, it will inevitably turn out to be a vanguard without a mass, a headquarters without an army. Lenin showed the complete theoretical groundlessness and political harm of the demand of the "lefts" that the main blow and the main forces of the communists in the workers' movement should, as before, be directed against the centrists. Lenin noted that under the new conditions, the young communist parties, having accumulated experience in the fight against centrism and right-wing opportunism, must develop the ability to fight "leftism" and sectarianism. They must prove in practice that they are the vanguard of the working-class movement, they know how to unite with the masses, to rally them around a correct line, to create a united front of the working class, making compromises with other political trends and organizations where necessary. The most important task of the Communist Parties under the new conditions was, as Lenin pointed out, to win over the majority of the working class. The congress emphasized the importance of the struggle of the communist parties for the immediate demands of the working class and other sections of the working people.
The 3rd Congress of the Comintern unanimously approved the developed under the leadership of V.I. Lenin's theses on tactics. “More thorough, more solid preparation for new, more and more decisive battles, both defensive and offensive, is the main and main thing in the decisions of the Third Congress,” Lenin pointed out (ibid., vol. 44, p. 98) . Based on the decisions of the congress, a united front tactic was developed. In December 1921, the Presidium of the ECCI adopted detailed theses on a united workers' front.
The first experience of applying the new tactics in the international working-class movement was the Conference of the Three Internationals of 1922 (3rd, 21/2 and 2nd) held in Berlin. However, Lenin believed that the agreements on joint speeches concluded at this conference were reached at too high a price, since the delegation of the Comintern (Klara Zetkin, N.I. Bukharin, K. Radek and others) made excessive and irrelevant to the essence of the issue of unity of action, political concessions to the representatives of the 2nd and 21st/2nd Internationals. The leadership of the 2nd and 21/2nd Internationals frustrated the implementation of the decisions taken at the conference.
4th Congress of K.I. (opened November 5, 1922 in Petrograd, November 9-December 5, continued and completed work in Moscow; 408 delegates from 66 parties and organizations from 58 countries of the world participated) continued the discussion of a number of issues considered at the 3rd Congress. In a report devoted to the fifth anniversary of the October Revolution and the prospects for the world revolution, Lenin substantiated the proposition that it is necessary for the Communist Parties not only to be able to advance during the period of upsurge, but also to learn to retreat in the conditions of the ebb of the revolutionary wave. Using the example of NEP in Soviet Russia, he showed how a temporary retreat should be used to prepare a new offensive against capitalism. The prospects for the world revolution will be even better, V.I. Lenin, if all communist parties learn to master the organization, structure, method and content of revolutionary work. Foreign communist parties "... must accept part of the Russian experience" (ibid., vol. 45, p. 293). Lenin especially emphasized the need for creative assimilation of the experience of Bolshevism. Having paid great attention to the fascist danger (in connection with the establishment of a fascist dictatorship in Hungary and Italy), the 4th Congress of K.I. stressed that the main means of struggle against fascism is the tactics of the united workers' front. In order to rally in a united front the broad masses of working people, not yet ready to fight for the dictatorship of the proletariat, but already capable of participating in the economic and political struggle against the bourgeoisie, the slogan "workers' government" was put forward (later expanded to the slogan "workers' and peasants' government"). The congress pointed to the need to fight for the unity of the trade union movement, which found itself in a state of deep split. The Congress clarified that a specific application of the united front tactic in the conditions of colonial and dependent countries is the united anti-imperialist front, which unites national patriotic forces capable of fighting against colonialism.
1923 was the year of major revolutionary uprisings that completed the post-war revolutionary upsurge. The protests of the proletariat that ended in defeat in Germany, Bulgaria and Poland revealed the weakness of the communist parties. The task of strengthening them on the basis of mastering Leninism, assimilating the international, generally significant in Bolshevism, arose to its full potential. This task, which was called the Bolshevization of the Communist Parties, had to be solved in a difficult situation. The beginning of the partial stabilization of capitalism was accompanied by the activation of the right-wing leaders of social democracy and reformist trade unions, who intensively planted in the labor movement the ideas of class cooperation (the theory of "political and economic democracy", allegedly developing under capitalism, "organized capitalism", etc.). Both right-wing and leftist-sectarian, Trotskyist elements raised their heads in the communist parties.
In January 1924 V.I. died. Lenin. It was a huge loss for the world communist movement. After Lenin's death, Trotsky and his followers openly opposed Lenin's theory of the possibility of building socialism in one country, imposing the RCP(b) and the entire K.I. the disastrous line of artificially "pushing" the world revolution without taking into account the balance of class forces and the level of political consciousness of the masses in various countries. A decisive struggle was launched against Trotskyism. The fact that the Bolshevik Party defended the Leninist course of building socialism in the USSR, defended Leninism against Trotskyism, was a major victory for the entire international communist movement.
5th Congress of K.I. (Moscow, June 17 - July 8, 1924; 504 delegates participated, representing 49 communist parties, one people's revolutionary party, and 10 international organizations) went down in history as a congress of the struggle for the Bolshevization of the communist parties. In the main document of the congress - the theses, it was emphasized that the forging of genuine Leninist parties is the central task of all the activities of K.I. The congress pointed out that the features of a truly Bolshevik party are: mass character (the slogan "To the masses!" put forward by the 3rd congress remained in force); maneuverability, excluding any dogmatism and sectarianism in the methods and means of struggle; fidelity to the principles of revolutionary Marxism; democratic centralism and solidity of the party, which should be "... poured from one piece" (see Communist International in documents, M., 1933, p. 411). “Bolshevization,” it was said somewhat later in the decisions of the 5th expanded plenum of the ECCI (April 1925), “is the ability to apply general principles Leninism to a given concrete situation in one country or another” (ibid., p. 478). Course K.I. made it possible for each communist party, using its own experience of practical struggle, to become a national political force capable of acting independently in the specific conditions of its country, to become the real vanguard of the labor movement there. But in the implementation of this course, distortions were allowed. Congress, for example, attempted to formulate methods common to all parties for the application of united front tactics. Unity of action was envisaged only from below, negotiations at the top between parties and organizations were allowed only if initially unity was achieved at the bottom. Such stereotyped tactics, as the Comintern itself later noted in its documents, limited the initiative of the Communist Parties and prevented them from adapting their actions to the specific situation. This was a manifestation of a simplified approach to the tactics of a united workers' front - only as a method of agitation, and not a method of practical implementation of unity of action in the labor movement.
The theses of the Fifth Congress contained an incorrect proposition that there was no difference in essence between Social Democracy and Fascism, which subsequently brought significant harm to the practice of unity of action. One of the factors that gave rise to such manifestations of sectarianism was the fierce struggle that the leaders of the Social Democratic parties and the Socialist International waged against the country of the Soviets and the Communist Parties, and the brutal persecution of the Communists by the Social Democratic governments.
In connection with the formation of the Trotskyist-Zinoviev opposition bloc in the CPSU (b) and the activation of Trotskyists in other communist parties, K.I. fully supported the position of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, describing Trotskyism as “... a variety of Menshevism”, combining “...“ European opportunism ”with a left-wing radical phrase that often covers up political passivity” (V expanded plenum of the ECCI, March April 1925, see ibid., p. 481). An especially important role in the ideological defeat of Trotskyism was played by the 7th expanded plenum of the ECCI (December 1926); in the report of I.V. Stalin at this plenum, and then in the resolution of the plenum, the nature of Trotskyism was revealed as a petty-bourgeois Social-Democratic deviation in the international working-class movement. In its further struggle against Leninism, against the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Trotskyism more and more revealed its counter-revolutionary essence, the 6th Congress of K.I. (1928) characterized the political content of the Trotskyist platform as counter-revolutionary.
A decisive ideological and political struggle against Trotskyism in the ranks of K.I., in which representatives of the CPSU (b) - I.V. Stalin, D.Z. Manuilsky, V.G. Knorin, I.A. Pyatnitsky. EAT. Yaroslavsky and others, representatives of friendly communist parties - G. Dimitrov, P. Tolyatti (Erkoli), M. Thorez, P. Semar, B. Shmeral, O. Kuusinen, Y. Sirola, E. Telman, V. Kolarov, p. Katayama and others, contributed to the strengthening of the communist parties on the positions of Leninism.
From July 17 to September 1, 1928, the 6th CI Congress was held in Moscow, in which 515 delegates from 65 organizations (including 50 communist parties) from 57 countries participated. The Congress noted the approach of a new, "third" period in the revolutionary development of the world after October 1917 - a period of sharp aggravation of all the contradictions of capitalism, as evidenced by the signs of an impending world economic crisis, the intensification of class battles and a new upsurge in the liberation movement in the colonial and dependent countries. In this connection, the congress approved the tactics outlined by the ninth plenum of the ECCI (February 1928), which was then expressed in the formula "class against class." This tactic provided for the intensification of the struggle against the reformism of the Social Democracy and oriented the Communist Parties to prepare for the possible emergence of an acute socio-political crisis in the capitalist countries. However, it proceeded only from the perspective of the proletarian revolution as the immediate task of the day and underestimated the dangers of fascism, which could take advantage of the crisis for reactionary purposes. In addition, this tactic was applied in many cases in a sectarian manner. The Congress called on the Communists and the working class to intensify their struggle against the threat of a new world war. The congress unanimously stressed the need for all communist parties to defend the Soviet Union - the first and only country of socialism at that time. "Protection of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from the international bourgeoisie, - it was said in the theses of the congress on the fight against the military danger, - meets the class interests and is the duty of honor of the international proletariat ”(ibid., p. 810). Declaring the unconditional and active support of K.I. and all the communist parties of the national liberation struggle of the peoples of the colonial and dependent countries, the congress called for the defense of the Chinese revolution from imperialist interventionists. At the same time, under the impression of the betrayal of the Kuomintang to the cause of the Chinese revolution (1927), the congress gave an erroneous assessment of the national bourgeoisie as a force no longer capable of participating in the struggle against imperialism.
The 6th Congress adopted the Program of K.I., which gave a scientific description of capitalism, especially the period of its general crisis, outlined the periodization of the revolutionary movement in the 10 years that had passed since the October Revolution, and highlighted the goals of the world communist movement. The Program emphasized the enormous importance of the first socialist state in history for the revolutionary struggle throughout the capitalist world and formulated the mutual international duties of the Soviet Union and the international proletariat. However, on certain questions of tactics, the Program also reflected the incorrect assessments noted above. Developing the problems of strategy and tactics of the international communist movement, K.I. with the active participation of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, he helped the communist parties overcome the mistakes associated with the activation of representatives of the right deviation in a number of communist parties [N.I. Bukharin and others in the CPSU(b), D. Loveston in the US Communist Party, G. Brandler in the German Communist Party, etc.], who overestimated the degree of stabilization of capitalism, tried to prove the possibility of "organized capitalism" and made other opportunistic mistakes.
New tasks confronted the communist movement in connection with the consequences of the world economic crisis of 1929-33, unprecedented in its destructive force, the intensification of the aggressiveness of imperialism and the offensive against democracy, up to the turn towards fascism. During this period, the communist parties of a number of countries acted as an influential force; a stable Marxist-Leninist core was forged in them, which rallied in France around M. Thorez and M. Cachin, in Italy - A. Gramsci and P. Togliatti (Ercoli), in Germany - E. Thalmann, V. Pick, V. Ulbricht, in Bulgaria - G. Dimitrov and V. Kolarov, in Finland - O. Kuusinen, in the USA - W. Foster, in Poland - Y. Lensky, in Spain - H. Diaz and D. Ibarruri, in the UK - W. Gallagher and G. Podlita. The changed conditions put the communist parties in front of problems that were not foreseen in the previous decisions of K.I.; moreover, some of the previously adopted tactical guidelines and recommendations of K.I. turned out to be unsuitable. The tragic experience of Germany, where fascism seized power in 1933, was a hard lesson for the entire international workers' and communist movement. The experience of the anti-fascist struggle has shown that for its success it is necessary to unite all democratic forces, the broadest sections of the people, and, above all, the unity of the working class.
The 13th Plenum of the ECCI (November-December 1933), noting the growing fascist threat in the capitalist countries, placed particular emphasis on the creation of a united workers' front as the main means of combating this threat. However, a new tactical line, corresponding to the new conditions of the revolutionary struggle, still had to be worked out. It was developed taking into account the experience of the armed battles of the Austrian and Spanish proletariat in 1934, the struggle of the French Communist Party for a united workers' and people's front in their own country, and the anti-fascist struggle of the communist parties of other countries. This line was finally determined by the 7th KI Congress, preparations for which took place in the conditions of the broadest collective discussion of urgent problems.
By the time of the convening of the 7th Congress, K.I. (Moscow, July 25 - August 20, 1935) in K.I. included 76 communist parties and organizations, 19 of them as sympathizers. There were 3,141,000 communists in their ranks, including 785,500 in the capitalist countries. Only 26 organizations operated legally, the remaining 50 were driven underground and subjected to severe persecution. The congress was attended by 513 delegates representing 65 communist parties, as well as a number of international organizations - MOPR, KIM, Profintern, etc. E. Telman, who was in prison in Nazi Germany. The Congress discussed the following issues: 1. Report on the activities of the ECCI (speaker V. Pick); 2. Report on the work of the International Control Commission (speaker Z. Angaretis); 3. The offensive of fascism and the tasks of K.I. in the struggle for the unity of the working class against fascism (speaker G. Dimitrov); 4. Preparation of the imperialist war and tasks of K.I. (speaker P. Togliatti); 5. Results of the construction of socialism in the USSR (speaker DZ Manuilsky); 6. Election of the governing bodies of the Comintern. The work of the congress was held in an atmosphere of businesslike, comprehensive discussion and creative criticism and self-criticism.
The historical significance of the 7th Congress lies, first of all, in the fact that it outlined the clear strategic and tactical lines of the communist parties in the struggle against the onset of fascism and the unleashing of a new world war. The Congress defined the class essence of fascism in power as "an open terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary, most chauvinistic and most imperialist elements of finance capital..." (Resolutions of the VII World Congress of the Communist International, [M.], 1935, p.10-11). The Congress stated that the coming of fascism to power did not mean the usual replacement of one bourgeois government by another, but the replacement of one form of class rule of the bourgeoisie - parliamentary democracy - with its other form, an openly reactionary, terrorist dictatorship. In contrast to the post-October revolutionary upsurge, when the working class faced the question of a choice - a socialist revolution or bourgeois democracy (and support for the latter at that moment meant an actual transition to the side of the class enemy), the political crisis of the early 30s. put another alternative - fascism or bourgeois democracy.
In connection with this, the question of relations with the Social Democracy was also raised differently. The offensive of fascism led to serious changes in the social democratic movement itself. The line of an irreconcilable struggle not only with its right-wing, openly reactionary leaders, but also with the centrists, which was absolutely correct in its time, in the new conditions needed to be revised. Now it was necessary to unite all those who, for one reason or another, could oppose the fascist danger hanging over the peoples and the threat of a new world war. The tactics of the communist movement had to be brought into line with the new tasks. It was necessary to decisively end sectarianism, which remained one of the obstacles to the unity of action of the working class. The change by the 7th Congress of the previous line did not mean, of course, the rejection of the ultimate goals of the movement - the struggle for the dictatorship of the proletariat, for socialism. The struggle for democracy strengthened the position of the proletariat on the general democratic front, contributed to the creation and strengthening of the alliance of the working class, the peasantry and all the working masses, and, consequently, helped to form the political army of the socialist revolution. Having considered the problems posed to the communist movement in the new situation, the 7th Congress of K.I. determined the tactics of the united workers' and people's front, the foundations of which were formulated by Lenin at the 3rd Congress of the Comintern. The first task of the international workers' movement was to create a united workers' front. The Congress emphasized that it does not place unity of action "... no conditions, with the exception of one - elementary, acceptable to all workers ...: that the unity of action should be directed against fascism, against the offensive of capital, against the threat of war ..." ( Dimitrov G., The onset of fascism and the tasks of the Communist International..., see in Selected works, v.1, M., 1957, p.395). Of course, such a broad and flexible presentation of the question of a united workers' front did not signify reconciliation with the opportunism that was carried by the right-wing leaders of the Social Democracy. Closely connected with the problem of a united workers' front was the new formulation of the question of the unity of the trade union movement both on a national and international scale. The Congress came to the conclusion that it was necessary for the communist-led unions to either join the reformist unions or unite with them on a platform of struggle against fascism and the advance of capital. The congress raised the question of the prospects for the political unity of the working class more flexibly. Congress developed the principles of the Popular Front. It was about uniting on the basis of a united working front of broad sections of the peasantry, the petty urban bourgeoisie, the working intelligentsia, i.e. precisely those strata that fascism tried to drag along with it, intimidating it with the bogey of the red danger. The main means of creating a popular front, the congress noted, is the consistent struggle of the revolutionary proletariat in defense of the specific demands and interests of these strata. The congress developed the question of a popular front government, which was seen as the power of a broad class coalition directed against fascism and war. In its development, this power, given favorable conditions, could develop into a democratic dictatorship of the proletariat and peasantry, which in turn paved the way for the dictatorship of the proletariat. An enormous contribution to the development of the problems of the Popular Front was made by G. Dimitrov, representatives of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the French, Spanish and other Communist Parties.
The conclusions of the 7th Congress on the questions of the national liberation movement were of great importance. Rejecting the leftist attitudes, which were based on an underestimation of the national, anti-imperialist tasks of the revolutions in the colonial countries, the congress pointed out that for most colonies and semi-colonies a stage of national liberation struggle directed against the imperialist oppressors was inevitable. The main slogan put forward by the congress for the peoples of the oppressed and dependent countries is to strive for the creation of an anti-imperialist united front, uniting all the forces of national liberation. This slogan meant the consistent continuation and development of the policy of the Comintern on the national-colonial question, developed under the leadership of Lenin.
One of the central questions of the 7th Congress was the question of the struggle against the outbreak of a new world war. Noting that the redivision of the world had already begun, that the main warmongers were German and Italian fascism and Japanese imperialism, that the imperialists of the West were encouraging fascist aggression, the congress emphasized with all its might that in the event of an attack on the USSR, the communists would call on the working people "... by all means and at any cost to contribute to the victory of the Red Army over the armies of the imperialists ”(Resolutions of the VII World Congress of the Communist International, [M.], 1935, p. 44). On behalf of the Communists of all countries, the Congress declared that Soviet Union- it is a bulwark of the freedom of the peoples, that the victory of socialism in the USSR has had a revolutionary effect on the working masses of all countries, instills in them confidence in their own strength and conviction in the necessity and practical possibility of overthrowing capitalism and building socialism. In the event of fascist aggression, the congress stressed, the communists and the working class are obliged to "...stand...in the front ranks of the fighters for national independence and wage the liberation war to the end..." (ibid., p. 42). Having refuted the slanderous allegations that the communists want war in the expectation that it will bring revolution, G. Dimitrov put forward in his closing speech at the closing of the congress the position that “the working masses can interfere with the imperialist war by their military actions” (Dimitrov G.M. , In the struggle for a united front against fascism and war, M., 1939, p. 93). G. Dimitrov connected this possibility (which was completely absent in 1914) primarily with the fact of the existence of the Soviet Union and its peace policy.
The Congress elected the governing bodies of the Comintern - the Executive Committee, the International Control Commission, the Presidium and the Secretariat of the ECCI. G. Dimitrov, an outstanding revolutionary-internationalist, was elected General Secretary of the ECCI.
7th Congress of K.I. was an important milestone in the further development of the forms of unity of the international communist movement. Taking into account the growth of political maturity and the expansion of the geographical range of the activities of the Communists, the Congress considered it possible and necessary to make changes in the methods and forms of leadership of K.I. The Congress proposed to the ECCI "... to avoid, as a rule, direct interference in the internal organizational affairs of the communist parties" (Resolutions of the VII World Congress of the Communist International, [M.], 1935, p. 4). The ECCI was to concentrate on the development of basic political and tactical provisions of general international significance. Soon after the 7th Congress, on the initiative of representatives of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks in K.I. The Secretariat of the ECCI adopted a number of important resolutions in this direction.
Fulfilling the decisions of the congress, the most prominent figures of the communist parties actively worked in the leadership of K.I. in an atmosphere of mutual trust and comradely cooperation. The principle of collective leadership was put into practice. Questions of the work of this or that party were discussed with the active participation of its representatives. Sometimes these discussions were critical. The conclusions and recommendations made during the discussions were always the fruit of the collective decision of all participants.
During this period, some negative phenomena associated with Stalin's personality cult also took place in the communist movement.
After the 7th Congress K.I. the communist parties of France, Spain, China and other countries, acting in the spirit of his decisions, enriched the world communist movement with valuable experience in the struggle to expand ties with the masses, to create and strengthen the Popular Front. In France, the victory of the Popular Front (established in 1935) in the April-May 1936 parliamentary elections not only eliminated the danger of a fascist coup, but also made it possible to carry out a number of progressive reforms. In Spain, the enormous possibilities of the Popular Front, created in January 1936 as a force mobilizing the masses for the struggle against fascism, for the implementation of profound social transformations, were especially convincingly revealed during the National Revolutionary War of the Spanish people against the fascist rebels and the Italo-German interventionists (1936-39) . In China, the Communists directed their efforts towards creating a united anti-Japanese front of all the country's patriotic forces on the basis of cooperation between the Communist Party and the Kuomintang. In Brazil, in 1935, the National Liberation Alliance, which united the democratic forces, was created, which took over the leadership of the anti-fascist armed struggle that unfolded in the autumn of that year.
The Communists intensified their struggle to unite the working class and all democratic forces on an international scale. In order to restore the unity of the trade union movement, the Red Trade Unions led by the Communists, which were part of the Profintern (Red Trade Union International), began to join the general trade union associations of their countries, and in 1937 the Profintern ceased to exist. The Communists took an active part in the unfolding in the 30s. the anti-war movement of the democratic public (international workers' and peasants' congresses, international congresses of writers, journalists, cultural figures, sports, women's, youth, etc.), as well as in the movement of solidarity with the Spanish, Chinese and Ethiopian peoples who fought for their freedom and independence.
Executive Committee K.I. in 1935-39 he proposed ten times to the leadership of the Socialist Workers' International a specific platform for uniting the efforts of the communist and social democratic movements in the struggle against fascism and unleashing war. In 1935, twice - in Brussels and Paris - representatives of the ECCI Cachin and Thorez met with the leaders of the Socialist Workers' International. However, these efforts did not find the proper response from the right-wing leaders of the Social Democracy. The position of the Socialist Workers' International and the socialist parties led to the fact that the international working class remained split in the face of the onset of fascism and the growing danger of a new world war.
As a result of K.I. between the two world wars, the international working-class movement as a whole met the 2nd world war 1939-45 more prepared than the 1st. Despite the fact that the split of the working class and the policies of the Western powers prevented new war, the influence of the working class on the nature, course and results of World War II was wider and more significant than in 1914-18.
The great patriotic and international feat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the Soviet people in the war against fascism, the heroic anti-fascist struggle of the communists of Poland, Yugoslavia, France, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Mongolia, Albania, Greece, Romania, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands , Luxembourg, China, Korea, Vietnam, Spanish, German, Finnish and Japanese communists, the selfless activities of all the communist parties of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition were a significant contribution of the international communist movement in deciding the fate of post-war world. However, as the world communist movement grew (1917 - 400 thousand communists, 1939 - 4.3 million), the level of political maturity increased and the tasks of the communist parties became more complicated, K.I. the organizational form of their association, which met the needs of the initial period of the communist movement, no longer corresponded to the new stage of its development.
The variety of situations in different countries and regions of the world, created by the nature and characteristics of the 2nd World War, changed the position of K.I. as the unified center of the entire communist movement. Some communist parties were supposed to operate in the aggressor countries, others - in the countries - victims of aggression. Some remained legal in countries with imperialist governments that fought against the fascist powers, others were driven underground by governments that capitulated to the aggressor. Some were in colonies occupied or under threat of occupation by the states of the fascist bloc, others operated in colonies that were outside the direct sphere of war. Communist parties had to carefully consider the situation in their countries, the peculiarities of the domestic and foreign policy of this or that state. Due to all this, the leadership of the world communist movement from one center became practically not only impossible, but also inexpedient, because there would be a danger of schematizing tactics, imposing such decisions that did not correspond to the specific situation.
In addition, in order to ensure the greatest possible unity of action of all national and international forces ready to fight against fascism, it was necessary to eliminate everything that could interfere with this, in particular, it was necessary to completely bury the myth of "Moscow's interference" in the internal affairs of other countries, to deprive any grounds for slander that the communist parties are not independent and act "on orders from outside." For all these reasons, the Presidium of the ECCI in May 1943 decided to dissolve the CI, which was approved by all its sections.
The great historical merit of K.I. consisted, first of all, in the fact that he defended the teaching of Marxism-Leninism from its vulgarization and distortion by opportunists, both from the right and from the "left", united Marxism-Leninism with the labor movement on an international scale, developed the Marxist-Leninist theory, strategy and tactics in the conditions of the first stage of the general crisis of capitalism and the building of socialism in the USSR, contributed to the rallying of the vanguard of advanced workers in many countries and the truly proletarian party, helped them mobilize the masses of working people to defend their economic and political interests and struggle against fascism and imperialist wars, strengthened the internationalist unity of the working class, fought for the development and victory of the national liberation movement, and played an important role in preparing the historic revolutionary transformations carried out during and after the end of World War II. The communist parties that led the working class during the people's democratic socialist revolutions that unfolded in a number of countries went through the school of K.I. Great political experience, close ties with the first country of socialism - the Soviet Union allowed them to successfully carry out democratic and socialist transformations. All this led to the formation of a mighty world socialist system, which is exerting a decisive influence on the entire course of world history in the interests of peace and socialism.
The experience of K.I. teaches that the strength and effectiveness of the communist movement is determined by loyalty to proletarian internationalism. K.I. raised the banner of internationalism high and contributed to the spread of its ideas throughout the world. After the dissolution of K.I. the forms of international ties between the fraternal parties have changed. However, the need to protect, develop and strengthen the principles of proletarian internationalism in every possible way remains a paramount task. This is - a vital necessity for the communist movement: internationalism lies at the very foundation of its activity as a worldwide force that expresses the fundamental interests of the working class, of all working people. Internationalism opposes national strife and racial enmity, beneficial to the exploiting classes. The establishment and spread of internationalism is the most reliable guarantee against the fragmentation of the communist movement into separate detachments, against the danger of locking them into national or regional frameworks. At the present stage, as noted by the 1969 International Conference of Communist and Workers' Parties, the defense of real socialism is an integral part of proletarian internationalism. The correct internationalist policy of the communist parties is of fundamental importance for the fate of the entire working-class movement, for the fate of mankind. The traditions of K.I., the richest political experience he has accumulated, faithfully serve the communist parties in their struggle for peace, democracy, national independence and socialism, in their struggle for the unity of the international communist movement on the basis of Marxism-Leninism, proletarian internationalism, in the struggle against the right and "Left" opportunism.
Under the new conditions that took shape in the post-war period, Lenin's ideas and principles of the international communist movement were further developed in the documents of the international conferences of communist and workers' parties in 1957, 1960 and 1969, in the decisions of the congresses of the CPSU, in the Program of the CPSU, and in the Marxist-Leninist program documents of the fraternal parties.

, THE USSR

Story

The question of creating a Third International arose with the outbreak of the First World War in the context of the support of the leaders of the Second International by the governments of the warring countries. V. I. Lenin raised the question of creating a new International already in the manifesto of the Central Committee of the RSDLP “War and Russian Social Democracy” published on November 1, 1914. An important contribution to the rallying of the left-wing Social Democrats was the holding of the anti-war Zimmerwald Conference and the Kienthal Conference, the creation of the Zimmerwald Left as part of the Zimmerwald Association.

November - December 1922; 408 delegates from 66 parties and organizations from 58 countries participated. By decision of the congress, the International Organization for Assistance to the Fighters of the Revolution was established.

June - July 1924 Decided on the Bolshevization of the national communist parties and their tactics in the light of the defeat of the revolutionary uprisings in Europe.

July - September 1928

The congress assessed the world political situation as a transitional to a new stage, characterized by a world economic crisis and an increase in the class struggle, developed the thesis about social fascism and the impossibility of political cooperation between communists with both left and right social democrats, adopted the Program and Charter of the Communist International .

July 25 - August 20, 1935 The main topic of the meetings was the solution of the issue of consolidating forces in the fight against the growing fascist threat. The United Workers' Front was created as a body for coordinating the activities of workers of various political orientations.

Stalin's accusations against the leadership of the Communist Party of Poland - in Trotskyism, anti-Bolshevism, in anti-Soviet positions - already in 1933 led to the arrest of Jerzy Czeszejko-Sochacki and the reprisal of some other leaders of the Polish communists (E. Pruchniak, J. Pashin, Y. Lensky, M . Kossuthskaya and others). The rest were repressed in 1937. In 1938, the Presidium of the Executive Committee of the Comintern issued a resolution dissolving the Communist Party of Poland. The founders of the Hungarian Communist Party and the leaders of the Hungarian Soviet Republic - Bela Kun, F. Bayaki, D. Bokanyi, J. Kelen, I. Rabinovich, S. Sabados, L. Gavro, F. Karikas - fell under a wave of repression.

Many Bulgarian communists who moved to the USSR were repressed, including R. Avramov, H. Rakovsky, B. Stomonyakov. The repressions also affected the communists of Romania. The founders of the Communist Party of Finland G. Rovio and A. Shotman, the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of Finland K. Manner and many other Finnish internationalists were repressed. More than a hundred Italian communists living in the USSR in the 1930s were arrested and sent to camps. The leaders and activists of the communist parties of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Western Ukraine and Western Belarus (before their entry into the USSR) were subjected to mass repressions.

Dissolution of the Comintern

The Comintern was formally dissolved on May 15, 1943. The dissolution of the Comintern was in fact the demand of the Allies for the opening of a second front. The announcement was positively received in Western countries, especially in the United States, and led to the strengthening of relations between these countries and the Soviet Union. Defending the need for dissolution, Stalin said: “Experience has shown that under Marx, and under Lenin, and now it is impossible to lead the labor movement of all countries of the world from one international center. Especially now, in conditions of war, when the Communist Parties in Germany, Italy and other countries have the task of overthrowing their governments and carrying out defeatist tactics, while the Communist Parties of the USSR, Britain and America and others, on the contrary, have the task of supporting their governments in every possible way for the speedy defeat of the enemy. There is another motive for the dissolution of the CI, which is not mentioned in the resolution. This is that the communist parties that are members of the CI are falsely accused of being supposedly agents foreign country, and this interferes with their work among the grassroots. With the dissolution of CI, this trump card is knocked out of the hands of enemies. The step being taken will undoubtedly strengthen the Communist Parties as national workers' parties and at the same time strengthen the internationalism of the popular masses, the basis of which is the Soviet Union. By dissolving the Comintern, neither the Politburo nor the former leadership of the CI were going to give up control and leadership of the communist movement in the world. They only sought to avoid their advertising, which brings certain inconveniences and costs. Instead of the Comintern, a department was created in the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) international information headed by G. Dimitrov, and after the war the Cominform was formed. The work carried out by the Comintern until May 1943 acquired an even greater scope.

Cominform

Cominform ceased to exist in 1956 shortly after the 20th Congress of the CPSU. The Cominform did not have a formal successor, but the CMEA and the Department of Internal Affairs, as well as periodically held meetings of Soviet-friendly communist and workers' parties, actually became such.

Structure of the Comintern

The charter of the Comintern, adopted in August 1920, stated: In essence, the Communist International should really and in fact be a single world communist party, the separate sections of which are the parties active in each country..

Governing Bodies

The governing body of the Comintern was Executive Committee of the Communist International (ECCI). Until 1922, it was formed from representatives delegated by the communist parties. From 1922 he was elected by the Congress of the Comintern.

In July 1919 it was created Small Bureau of the ECCI. In September 1921 it was renamed Presidium of the ECCI.

In 1919 was created Secretariat of the ECCI, who dealt mainly with organizational and personnel issues. It existed until 1926.

In 1921 it was created Organizational Bureau (Orgburo) of the ECCI which lasted until 1926.

In 1921 was created International Control Commission, whose tasks included checking the work of the ECCI apparatus, auditing finances, as well as checking individual sections (parties).

From 1919 to 1926 Chairman of the ECCI was Grigory Zinoviev. In 1926, the post of Chairman of the ECCI was abolished. Instead, the Political Secretariat of the ECCI was created from nine people. In August 1929, from the Political Secretariat of the ECCI, to prepare questions for their consideration by the Political Secretariat and to resolve the most important operational political issues, Political Commission of the Political Secretariat of the ECCI, which included O. Kuusinen, D. Manuilsky, a representative of the Communist Party of Germany (in agreement with the Central Committee of the KKE) and one candidate - O. Pyatnitsky.

In 1935 the position was established General Secretary of the ECCI. They became G. Dimitrov. The Political Secretariat and its Political Commission were abolished. The ECCI Secretariat was re-established.

Collective member organizations of the Comintern and affiliated organizations

International Organization for the Relief of Revolutionaries (IOPR, "Red Aid")
International Women's Secretariat
International Association of Revolutionary Writers
International Association of Revolutionary Theaters
International Committee of Friends of the USSR
Freethinking Proletarian International
Tenant International

Educational institutions of the Comintern

... At that time there were four komvuz in Moscow. The first of these, the Lenin School, was intended for comrades who had already accumulated a great deal of practical experience, but who were deprived of the opportunity to really learn. Future leaders of communist parties passed through this university. At the time described, Tito studied there, in particular.
The second komvuz where I was sent to study was the Yu. Yu. Markhlevsky Communist University of National Minorities of the West, who was at one time its first rector. It was created specifically for the national minorities of the West, but in fact there were about two dozen sections - Polish, German, Hungarian, Bulgarian, etc. Each of them included a special group of communists - immigrants from one or another national minority of a given country. For example, the Yugoslav section included Serbian and Croatian groups. As for the Jewish section, it covered Jewish communists from all countries, and in addition, Soviet Jews - members of the party. During summer holidays some of them traveled to their native places, and through them we knew about everything that was happening in the Soviet Union.
The third university was called KUTV... Students from the countries of the Middle East studied there. Finally, the Sun Yat-sen University was created specifically for the Chinese.
In all four universities, there were between two and three thousand carefully selected people.

- L. Trepper Big game. New York: Liberty Publishing House, 1989. (Chapter 5. FINALLY IN MOSCOW!)

Institutions of the Comintern for the collection and analysis of information and policy making

Historical facts

Archive of the Comintern

Notes

Lenin, V.I.: [Speech recorded on a gramophone record] // Complete Works: in 55 volumes / V. I. Lenin; Institute of Marxism-Leninism under the Central Committee of the CPSU. - 5th ed. - M.: State. Publishing House Polit. lit., 1969. - T. 38: March - June 1919. - S. 230-231.
Why did Stalin dissolve the Comintern? | ANTI-SOVIET LEAGUE(neopr.) . maxpark.com Retrieved September 20, 2018.
Catalogs - NBUV National Library of Ukraine named after V.I. Vernadsky
Glezerov S. Permission to revolution: a conversation with Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of St. Petersburg State University L. Heifets and Doctor of Historical Sciences, prof. St. Petersburg State University V. Heifets // St. Petersburg Vedomosti. - 2019. - March 27
Usov V.N.
Created under the Krestintern in January 1925. Engaged in the study of agrarian and peasant issues in different countries, analysis of the agrarian policy of the communist parties
Created by a decree of the Executive Committee of the Comintern in September 1921 in Berlin. He was engaged in collecting and disseminating information about the labor movement in the capitalist countries.
Our slogan is the World Soviet Union!
Novosyolova E. Money for the cradle of the revolution // "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" - Federal issue. - 04/22/2014. - No. 6363 (91) .

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