Governing body:

background

The Second International, corroded from within by opportunism, openly betrayed proletarian internationalism as soon as the First World War. It broke up mainly into two warring factions, each of which went over to the side of its own bourgeoisie and actually abandoned the slogan "Proletarians of all countries, unite!". The most authoritative and cohesive force in the international working-class movement, which remained true to proletarian internationalism, was headed by. Having revealed the essence of the collapse of the 2nd International, Lenin showed the working class a way out of the situation created as a result of the betrayal of the opportunist. leaders: the labor movement needed a new, revolutionary International. “The Second International died defeated by opportunism. Down with opportunism and long live... the Third International!" - wrote Lenin already in 1914.

Theoretical prerequisites for the creation of the 3rd International

The Bolsheviks of Russia prepared the creation of the Communist International primarily by developing revolutionary theory. V. I. Lenin revealed the imperialist nature of the outbreak of the world war and substantiated the slogan of turning it into a civil war against the bourgeoisie of his own country as the main strategic slogan of the international working-class movement. Lenin's conclusion about the possibility and inevitability of the victory of the revolution initially in a few or even in one, separately taken, capitalist country, formulated by him for the first time in 1915, was the largest, fundamentally new contribution to Marxist theory. This conclusion, which gave the working class a revolutionary new era, was an important step in the development theoretical foundations new International.

Practical prerequisites for the creation of the 3rd International

The second direction in which the work of the Bolsheviks, headed by Lenin, in preparing a new International, was the rallying of the left groups of the Social Democratic parties, which remained loyal to the cause of the working class. The Bolsheviks used a number of international conferences held in 1915 (socialists of the Entente countries, women's, youth) to propagate their views on issues of war, peace and revolution. They took an active part in the Zimmerwald movement of socialist-internationalists, creating a left group in its ranks, which was the embryo of a new International. However, in 1917, when the revolutionary movement began to boom under influence in Russia, the Zimmerwald movement, which united mainly centrists, went not forward, but backward, the Bolsheviks broke with it, refusing to send their delegates to the Stockholm Conference in September 1917.

Creation of the Communist International

The world imperialist war has concentrated huge masses of people in the armies of the belligerent powers, bound them to a common fate in the face of death, and in the most ruthless way has brought these tens of millions, often very far from politics, into the monstrous consequences of the policy of imperialism. Deep spontaneous discontent grew on both sides of the fronts, people began to think about the reasons for the senseless mutual extermination, in which they were unwitting participants. Gradually, insight came. The working masses, especially those in the belligerent states, felt more and more acutely the need to restore the international unity of their ranks. Countless bloody losses, ruin and hard labor exploitation on the part of the bourgeoisie, who profited from the war, were a painful experience that convinced of the fatality of nationalism and chauvinism for the labor movement. It was the chauvinism that split the Second International that destroyed the international unity of the working class and thereby disarmed it in the face of imperialism ready for anything. Hatred was born among the masses towards those leaders of the Social Democracy who stubbornly held on to chauvinism. positions of cooperation with "their" bourgeoisie, with "their" governments.

... Already since 1915, - Lenin pointed out, - the process of splitting the old, decayed, socialist parties, the process of the departure of the masses of the proletariat from social-chauvinist leaders to the left, to revolutionary ideas and moods, to revolutionary leaders, was clearly revealed in all countries

Thus arose a mass movement for the international solidarity of the proletariat, for the re-establishment of the revolutionary center of the international working-class movement.

The emergence of the world's first socialist state after the victory created fundamentally new conditions for the struggle of the working class. The success of the victorious socialist revolution in Russia was due, first of all, to the fact that only in Russia did a party of a new type exist. In the context of a powerful upsurge of the working-class and national liberation movement, the process of formation of communist parties and in other countries. In 1918, communist parties arose in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Greece, the Netherlands, Finland, and Argentina.

Moscow meeting of 1919

In January 1919, in Moscow, under the leadership of Lenin, a meeting of representatives of the Communist Parties of Russia, Hungary, Poland, Austria, Latvia, Finland, as well as the Balkan Revolution was held. s.-d. federations (Bulgarian tesnyaki and Romanian leftists) and Socialist. US Labor Party. The meeting discussed the issue of convening an international Congress of Representatives of the Revolution. span. parties and developed a draft platform for the future International. The meeting pointed to the heterogeneity of the socialist. movement. The opportunist leaders of the Social Democracy, relying on a narrow stratum of the so-called. the labor aristocracy and the "labor bureaucracy", deceived the masses with promises to fight against capitalism without resorting to dictatorship, they stifled the revolutionary energy of the workers, diverting them with theories of "class peace" in the name of "national unity". The meeting demanded a ruthless struggle against open opportunism - social chauvinism and at the same time recommended the tactics of a bloc with left groups, the tactics of splitting off all revolutionary elements from the centrists, who were the actual accomplices of the renegades. The meeting appealed to 39 revolutionary parties, groups and trends in Europe, Asia, America and Australia to take part in the founding congress of the new International.

I (Constituent) Congress

At the beginning of March 1919, the Founding Congress of the Communist International was held in Moscow, which was attended by 52 delegates from 35 parties and groups from 30 countries of the world. The congress was attended by representatives of the communist parties of Russia, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Finland and other countries, as well as a number of communist groups (Czech, Bulgarian, Yugoslav, British, French, Swiss and others). The congress was represented by the social democratic parties of Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, the USA, the Balkan Revolutionary Social Democratic Federation, and the Zimmerwald left wing of France.

The Congress heard reports that showed that the revolutionary movement was growing everywhere, that the world was in a state of profound revolutionary crisis. The Congress discussed and adopted the platform of the Communist International, which was based on the document developed by the January meeting of 1919 in Moscow. The new era, which began with the victory of October, was characterized in the platform as “the era of the decay of capitalism, its internal disintegration, the era 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 a break with opportunism of all stripes, through the international solidarity of the working people on a new basis. In view of this, the congress recognized the need for the immediate founding of the Communist International.

The First Congress of the Communist International defined its attitude to the Berne Conference, held by the opportunist leaders in February 1919 and formally restored. The participants in this conference condemned the October Revolution in Russia and even considered the question of armed intervention against it. Therefore, the Congress of the Communist International called on the workers of all countries to start the most resolute struggle against the Yellow International and to warn the broad masses of the people against this "International of lies and deceit." The founding congress of the Communist International adopted a Manifesto to the proletarians of the whole world, which stated that the communists gathered in Moscow, representatives of the revolutionary proletariat of Europe, America and Asia, feel and recognize themselves as the successors and executors of the cause, the program of which was proclaimed by the founders of scientific communism, Marx and Engels in "Manifesto of the Communist Party".

“We call on the workers and women workers of all countries,” proclaimed the congress, “to unite under the communist banner, which is already the banner of the first great victories”

The creation of the Comintern was the answer of the revolutionary Marxists to the demand of a new era - the era of the general crisis of capitalism, the main features of which were more and more clearly identified in the revolutionary events of those days. The Communist International, according to Lenin, was to become an international organization designed to accelerate the creation revolutionary parties in other countries and thereby give the entire working-class movement the decisive weapon for the victory over capitalism. But at the First Congress of the Communist International, according to Lenin, "... the banner of communism was only hoisted, around which the forces of the revolutionary proletariat were to gather." The complete organizational formalization of the new type of international proletarian organization was to be carried out by the Second Congress.

II congress

The Second Congress of the Communist International was more representative than the first: 217 delegates from 67 organizations (including 27 Communist Parties) from 37 countries took part in its work. The socialist parties of Italy, France, the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany and other centrist organizations and parties were represented at the congress with the right of an advisory vote.

Between the 1st and 2nd Congresses, the revolutionary upsurge continued to grow. In 1919, in Hungary (March 21), Bavaria (April 13), Slovakia (June 16), Soviet republics arose. In England, France, the USA, Italy and other countries, a movement developed in defense of Soviet Russia from the intervention of the imperialist powers. A mass national liberation movement arose in the colonies and semi-colonies (Korea, China, India, Turkey, Afghanistan and others). The formation of communist parties continued: they arose in Denmark (November 1919), Mexico (1919), USA (September 1919), Yugoslavia (April 1919), Indonesia (May 1920), Great Britain (July 31 - 1 August 1920), Palestine (1919), Iran (June 1920) and Spain (April 1920).

At the same time, the socialist parties of France, Italy, the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany, the Workers' Party of Norway and others broke with the Berne International and declared their desire to join the Communist International. These were mainly centrist parties and there were elements in them that brought with them the right-wing danger to the ranks of the Communist International, threatened its ideological solidity, which was a necessary and indispensable condition for the fulfillment by the Communist International of its historical mission. 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.

It was precisely this that dictated the need for 21 conditions for admission to the Communist International, approved on August 6, 1920 by the Second Congress. The main among these conditions were: the recognition 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, systematic work in the countryside, in trade unions, in parliament, democratic centralism as the main organizational principle of the party, the obligation for the party of the resolutions of the congresses and plenums of the Communist International and its leading bodies. 21 conditions were necessary to ensure the organization political foundations the activities of both the Communist International itself and the communist parties that were part of it. The conditions proceeded from Lenin's doctrine of a new type of party and played an enormous role in the forging of Marxist-Leninist parties and their cadres, in the struggle against opportunism and in further development world communist movement.

The Congress adopted the Charter of the Communist International, based on the principle of democratic centralism, and also elected the governing body of the Communist International - and other bodies. Describing the historical significance of the Second Congress, Lenin said:

“First, the communists had to proclaim their principles to the whole world. This was done at the First Congress. This is the first step. The second step was the organizational formation of the Communist International and the elaboration of the conditions for admission to it, the conditions for separation 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.

Many people know that the Communist International is called the international organization that united the communist parties of different countries in 1919-1943. The same organization is called by some the Third International, or the Comintern.

This formation was founded in 1919, at the request of the RCP (b) and its leader V. I. Lenin, to spread and develop the ideas of international revolutionary socialism, which, in comparison with the reformist socialism of the Second International, was a completely opposite phenomenon. The gap between these two coalitions was due to differences in positions regarding the First World War and the October Revolution.

Congresses of the Comintern

Congresses of the Comintern were not held very often. Let's consider them in order:

• First (Constituent). Organized in 1919 (in March) in Moscow. It was attended by 52 delegates from 35 groups and parties from 21 countries.
• Second Congress. Held on July 19-August 7 in Petrograd. At this event, a number of decisions were made on the tactics and strategy of communist activities, such as models for participation in the national liberation movement of the communist parties, on the rules for the party to join the 3rd International, the Charter of the Comintern, and so on. At that moment, the Department was created international cooperation Comintern.
• Third congress. Held in Moscow in 1921, from June 22 to July 12. This event was attended by 605 delegates from 103 parties and structures.
• Fourth congress. The event ran from November to December 1922. It was attended by 408 delegates, who were sent by 66 parties and enterprises from 58 countries of the world. By the decision of the congress, the International Enterprise for Assistance to the Fighters of the Revolution was organized.
• The Fifth Meeting of the Communist International was held from June to July 1924. The participants decided to turn the national communist parties into Bolshevik ones: to change their tactics in the light of the defeat of revolutionary uprisings in Europe.
• The Sixth Congress was held from July to September 1928. At this meeting, the participants assessed the political world situation as a transition to the newest stage. It was characterized by an economic crisis that spread throughout the planet and an intensification of the class struggle. Members of the congress succeeded in developing the thesis about social fascism. They issued a statement that the political cooperation of the communists with both right and left social democrats was impossible. In addition, during this conference, the Charter and the Program of the Communist International were adopted.
• The seventh conference was held in 1935, from July 25 to August 20. The basic theme of the meeting was the idea of ​​consolidating forces and fighting the growing fascist threat. During this period, the Workers' United Front was created, which was a body for coordinating the activity of workers of various political interests.

Story

In general, communist internationals are very interesting to study. So, it is known that the Trotskyists approved the first four congresses, the supporters of left communism - only the first two. As a result of the campaigns of 1937-1938, most sections of the Comintern were liquidated. The Polish section of the Comintern was eventually officially dissolved.

Of course, the political parties of the 20th century underwent a lot of changes. Repressions against leaders of the communist international movement who found themselves in the USSR for one reason or another appeared even before Germany and the USSR signed a non-aggression pact in 1939.

Marxism-Leninism enjoyed great popularity among the people. And already at the beginning of 1937, members of the directorate of the German Communist Party G. Remmele, H. Eberlein, F. Schulte, G. Neumann, G. Kippenberger, the leaders of the Yugoslav Communist Party M. Fillipovich, M. Gorkich were arrested. V. Chopich commanded the fifteenth Lincoln International Brigade in Spain, but when he returned, he was also arrested.

As you can see, communist internationals were created a large number of of people. Also, a prominent figure in the communist international movement, the Hungarian Bela Kun, many leaders of the Polish Communist Party - J. Pashin, E. Prukhnyak, M. Koshutska, Yu. Lensky and many others were repressed. Former Greek Communist Party A. Kaitas was arrested and shot. One of the leaders of the Communist Party of Iran A. Sultan-Zade was awarded the same fate: he was a member of the Executive Committee of the Comintern, a delegate to the II, III, IV and VI Congresses.

It should be noted that the political parties of the 20th century were distinguished by a large number of intrigues. Stalin accused the leaders of the Communist Party of Poland of anti-Bolshevism, Trotskyism, and anti-Soviet positions. His performances were the cause of physical reprisals against Jerzy Czesheiko-Sochacki and other leaders of the Polish communists (1933). Some were repressed in 1937.

Marxism-Leninism, in fact, was a good doctrine. But in 1938, the Presidium of the Executive Committee of the Comintern decided to dissolve the Polish Communist Party. The founders of the Communist Party of Hungary and the leaders of the Hungarian Soviet Republic - F. Bayaki, D. Bokanyi, Bela Kun, I. Rabinovich, J. Kelen, L. Gavro, S. Sabados, F. Karikash - were under a wave of repression. Bulgarian communists who moved to the USSR were repressed: H. Rakovsky, R. Avramov, B. Stomonyakov.

Romanian communists also began to be destroyed. In Finland, the founders of the Communist Party G. Rovio and A. Shotman, General First Secretary K. Manner and many of their associates were repressed.

It is known that the communist internationals did not appear from scratch. For their sake, more than a hundred Italian communists who lived in the Soviet Union in the 1930s suffered. They were all arrested and sent to camps. Mass repressions did not pass by the leaders and activists of the communist parties of Lithuania, Latvia, Western Ukraine, Estonia and Western Belarus (before they joined the USSR).

Structure of the Comintern

So, we have examined the congresses of the Comintern, and now we will consider the structure of this organization. Its Charter was adopted in August 1920. It was written: "In fact, the International of Communists is obliged, in fact and really, to represent the world single communist party, separate branches of which operate in each state."

It is known that the leadership of the Comintern was carried out through the Executive Committee (ECCI). Until 1922 it consisted of representatives delegated by the communist parties. And since 1922 he was elected by the Congress of the Comintern. The Small Bureau of the ECCI appeared in July 1919. In September 1921, it was renamed the Presidium of the ECCI. The secretariat of the ECCI was established in 1919, it dealt with personnel and organizational matters. This organization existed until 1926. And the Organizational Bureau (Orgburo) of the ECCI was created in 1921 and existed until 1926.

Interestingly, from 1919 to 1926 Grigory Zinoviev was the Chairman of the ECCI. In 1926, the post of chairman of the ECCI was abolished. Instead, the Political Secretariat of the ECCI of nine people appeared. In August 1929, the Political Commission of the Political Secretariat of the ECCI was separated from this new formation. She was supposed to be involved in the preparation of various issues, which were later considered by the Political Secretariat. It included D. Manuilsky, O. Kuusinen, a representative of the Communist Party of Germany (agreed on by the Central Committee of the KKE) and O. Pyatnitsky (candidate).

In 1935, a new position appeared - the Secretary General of the ECCI. It was taken by G. Dimitrov. The Political Commission and the Political Secretariat were abolished. The Secretariat of the ECCI was organized again.

The International Control Commission was created in 1921. She checked the work of the apparatus of the ECCI, individual sections (parties) and audited finances.

What organizations did the Comintern consist of?

• Profintern.
• Mezhrabpom.
• Sportintern.
• Communist Youth International (KIM).
• Crossintern.
• Women's International Secretariat.
• Association of rebellious theaters (international).
• Association of Rebellious Writers (international).
• Freethinking Proletarian International.
• World Committee of Comrades of the USSR.
• Tenant International.
• The International Organization for Assistance to Revolutionaries was called MOPR or "Red Aid".
• Anti-Imperialist League.

Disbandment of the Comintern

When did the dissolution of the Communist International take place? The date of the official liquidation of this famous organization falls on May 15, 1943. Stalin announced the dissolution of the Comintern: he wanted to impress the Western allies by convincing them that plans to establish communist and pro-Soviet regimes on the lands of European states collapsed. It is known that the reputation of the 3rd International by the beginning of the 1940s was very bad. In addition, in continental Europe, almost all cells were suppressed and destroyed by the Nazis.

Since the mid-1920s, Stalin personally and the CPSU(b) sought to dominate the Third International. This nuance played a role in the events of that time. The liquidation of almost all branches of the Comintern (except for the Youth International and the Executive Committee) in the years (mid-1930s) also affected. However, the 3rd International was able to save the Executive Committee: it was only renamed the World Department of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.

In June 1947, the Paris Conference for Marshall's aid was held. And in September 1947, Stalin from the socialist parties created Cominform - the Communist Bureau of Information. It replaced the Comintern. In fact, it was a network formed from the communist parties of Bulgaria, Albania, Hungary, France, Italy, Poland, Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, Romania and Yugoslavia (due to disagreements between Tito and Stalin, it was deleted from the lists in 1948).

Cominform was liquidated in 1956, after the end of the 20th Congress of the CPSU. This organization did not have a formal legal successor, but such were the Department of Internal Affairs and the CMEA, as well as regular meetings of Soviet-friendly workers and communist parties.

Archive of the Third International

The archive of the Comintern is kept in State Archive political and social history in Moscow. Documents are available in 90 languages: the basic working language is German. More than 80 batches are available.

Educational establishments

The Third International owned:

1. The Communist Workers' University of China (KUTK) - until September 17, 1928, it was called the Sun Yat-sen Workers' University of China (UTK).
2. Communist University of the Workers of the East (KUTV).
3. Communist University of National Minorities of the West (KUNMZ).
4. International Lenin School (MLSH) (1925-1938).

Institutions

The Third International ordered:

1. Statistical and Information Institute of the ECCI (Bureau Varga) (1921-1928).
2. agricultural international institution (1925-1940).

Historical facts

The creation of the Communist International was accompanied by various interesting events. So, in 1928, Hans Eisler wrote a magnificent anthem for him in German. It was translated into Russian by I. L. Frenkel in 1929. In the refrain of the work, the words were repeatedly heard: “Our slogan is the World Soviet Union!»

In general, when the Communist International was created, we already know that it was a difficult time. It is known that the command of the Red Army, together with the propaganda and agitation bureau of the Third International, prepared and published the book "Armed Revolt". In 1928 this work was published in German, and in 1931 in French. The work was written in the form of an educational and reference manual on the theory of organizing armed uprisings.

The book was created under the pseudonym A. Neuberg, its real authors were popular figures of the revolutionary world movement.

Marxism-Leninism

What is Marxism-Leninism? This is a philosophical and socio-political doctrine of the laws of the struggle for the elimination of the capitalist order and the building of communism. It was developed by V. I. Lenin, who developed the teachings of Marx and put it into practice. The emergence of Marxism-Leninism confirmed the significance of Lenin's contribution to Marxism.

V. I. Lenin created such a magnificent doctrine that in the socialist countries it became the official "ideology of the working class." The ideology was not static, it changed, adjusted to the needs of the elite. By the way, it also included the teachings of regional communist leaders, which are important for the socialist powers led by them.

In the Soviet paradigm, the teachings of V. I. Lenin are the only true scientific system economic, philosophical and political-social views. Marxist-Leninist teaching is capable of integrating conceptual views in relation to the study and revolutionary change of the earth's space. It reveals the laws of the development of society, human thought and nature, explains the class struggle and the forms of transition to socialism (including the elimination of capitalism), tells about the creative activity of workers engaged in the construction of both communist and socialist society.

The Chinese Communist Party is the largest political party in the world. She follows in her endeavors the teachings of V. I. Lenin. Its charter contains the following words: “Marxism-Leninism has found the laws of the historical evolution of mankind. Its basic tenets are always true and have a powerful vitality."

First International

It is known that Communist Internationals played the most important role in the workers' struggle for better life. The International Working People's Association was officially named the First International. This is the first international formation of the working class, which was established on September 28, 1864 in London.

This organization was liquidated after the split that occurred in 1872.

2nd International

The 2nd International (Workers' or Socialist) was an international association of workers' socialist parties, founded in 1889. It inherited the traditions of its predecessor, but since 1893 there were no anarchists in its composition. For uninterrupted communication between party members, in 1900 the Socialist International Bureau was registered, located in Brussels. The International adopted decisions that were not binding on its constituent parties.

Fourth International

The Fourth International is called the international communist organization, an alternative to Stalinism. It is based on the theoretical property of Leon Trotsky. The tasks of this formation were the implementation of the world revolution, the victory of the working class and the creation of socialism.

This International was established in 1938 by Trotsky and his associates in France. These people believed that the Comintern was completely controlled by the Stalinists, that it was not in a position to lead the working class of the entire planet to complete conquest. political power. That is why, in contrast, they created their own "Fourth International", whose members at that time were persecuted by NKVD agents. In addition, they were accused by supporters of the USSR and late Maoism of illegitimacy, pressed by the bourgeoisie (France and the USA).

This organization first suffered a split in 1940 and a more powerful split in 1953. There was a partial reunification in 1963, but many groups claim to be the political successors to the Fourth International.

Fifth International

What is the "Fifth International"? This is the term used to describe left-wing radicals who want to create a new workers' international organization based on the ideology of Marxist-Leninist teachings and Trotskyism. Members of this grouping consider themselves as devotees of the First International, the Communist Third, the Trotskyist Fourth and Second.

Communism

And in conclusion, let's figure out what the Russian Communist Party is? It is based on communism. In Marxism, this is a hypothetical economic and social order, which is based on social equality, public property created from the means of production.

One of the most famous internationalist communist slogans is the saying: "Proletarians of all countries, unite!". Few people know who first said these famous words. But we will reveal a secret: for the first time this slogan was expressed by Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx in the Communist Manifesto.

After the 19th century, the term "communism" was often used to designate the socio-economic formation that Marxists predicted in their theoretical works. It was based on public property created with the means of production. In general, the classics of Marxism believe that the communist public implements the principle "To each according to his skills, to each according to his need!"

We hope that our readers will be able to understand the Communist Internationals with the help of this article.

75 years ago, the Communist International was officially dissolved. The activities of the "world communist party" had a significant impact on European and Russian history. During the formation of the young Soviet state, the Comintern, at the origins of which stood Karl Marx, was Moscow's most important ally on the world stage, and during the years of confrontation with Nazi Germany acted as the ideological inspirer of the resistance movement. How the Comintern became an instrument of the Soviet foreign policy and why they decided to dissolve the organization in the midst of the Great Patriotic War- in the material RT.

"Proletarians of all countries, unite!"

September 28, 1864 is considered by historians as the date of formation of the organized international movement of the working class. On this day in London, about 2 thousand workers from different European countries gathered for a rally in support of the Polish uprising against the Russian autocracy. During the action, its participants proposed the creation of an international working organization. Karl Marx, who was in exile and who was present at the rally, was elected to the general council of the new structure.

At the request of like-minded people, the German philosopher wrote the Constituent Manifesto and the Provisional Charter of an organization called the International Association of Workers (this was the official name of the First International). In the manifesto, Marx called on the proletarians of the whole world to conquer power by forming their own political force. He ended the document with the same slogan as the Communist Manifesto: "Proletarians of all countries, unite!".

In the years 1866-1869, the International Workingmen's Association held four congresses, during which a number of political and economic demands were formulated. In particular, representatives of the organization demanded the establishment of an eight-hour working day, the protection of women's labor and the prohibition of child labor, the introduction of free vocational education and the transfer of means of production to public ownership.

Gradually, however, a split appeared in the ranks of the International between Marxists and anarchists, who did not like the theory of "scientific communism" of Karl Marx. In 1872 the anarchists left the First International. The split buried the organization, which had already been shaken by the defeat of the Paris Commune. In 1876 it was dissolved.

In the 1880s, representatives of workers' organizations thought about recreating an international structure. At the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution, the Socialist Workers' Congress, held in Paris, created the Second International. Moreover, initially both Marxists and anarchists participated in it. The paths of the left movements finally diverged in 1896.

Until the First World War, representatives of the Second International opposed militarism, imperialism and colonialism, and also spoke about the inadmissibility of joining bourgeois governments. However, in 1914 the situation changed dramatically. Most of the members of the Second International were in favor of class peace and support for national authorities in the war. Some left-wing politicians even joined coalition governments in their home countries. In addition, many European Marxists were skeptical about the prospect of a revolution in Russia, considering it a "backward" country.

All this led to the fact that the leader of the Russian Bolsheviks, Vladimir Lenin, already in the autumn of 1914 thought about creating a new international working organization following the principles of internationalism.

"Socialism in one country"

In September 1915, the International Socialist Conference was held in Zimmerwald (Switzerland) with the participation of Russia, at which the core of the left-wing social democratic parties was formed, which formed the international socialist commission.

In March 1919, at the initiative of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) and personally Vladimir Lenin, representatives of foreign leftist social democratic movements gathered in Moscow for the Founding Congress of the Communist International. The goal of the new organization was to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat in the form of the power of the Soviets through class struggle, and an armed uprising was not ruled out. To organize the permanent work of the Comintern, the congress created the Executive Committee of the Communist International (ECCI).

The formation of the Comintern led to an intensification of the political split in the European social democratic movement. The Second International was criticized for collaborating with bourgeois parties, taking part in the imperialist war, and having a negative attitude towards the Russian revolutionary experience.

In total, seven congresses of the Comintern were held in 1919-1935. During this time, the ideological positions of the organization have changed a lot.

Initially, the Comintern openly called for world revolution. The text of the manifesto of the Second Congress, held in the summer of 1920 in Petrograd, read: Civil War put on the order of the day all over the world. Its banner is the Soviet power.

However, already at the Third Congress it was said that a balance had been established in relations between bourgeois society and Soviet Russia, the stabilization of the capitalist system in most of Europe was recognized as a fait accompli. And the path to the world revolution should not be as straightforward as previously thought.

However, according to the expert, after the failure of a number of uprisings supported by the organization, it switched to a more moderate political line.

In the mid-1920s, representatives of the Comintern sharply criticized the European social democratic movement, accusing its representatives of "moderate fascism." At the same time, Joseph Stalin began to promote the theory of "socialism in one country".

He called the world revolution a strategic period that could drag on for decades, and therefore he brought economic development and building up the political power of the Soviet Union to the agenda. This did not please Leon Trotsky and his supporters, who stood up for the "traditional" Marxist understanding of the world revolution. However, already in 1926, representatives of the Trotsky faction lost key positions in the executive authorities. And in 1929 Trotsky himself was expelled from the USSR.

“At the Sixth Congress of the Comintern, in 1928, they again tried to transfer the organization to active work. A strict formula “class against class” was introduced, the impossibility of cooperation with both the fascists and the social democrats was emphasized,” Kolpakidi said.

But in the early 1930s, the full-scale implementation of Stalin's formula of "socialism in one country" began.

Foreign policy instrument

According to military expert, editor-in-chief of the Kassad information and analytical center Boris Rozhin, in the 1930s the Comintern began to turn into a Soviet foreign policy instrument and means of combating fascism.

The Comintern launched active work in the colonies, fighting British imperialism, historians say. According to them, at that time, a significant number of those who, after the war, destroyed the world colonial system, were trained in the USSR.

“One gets the impression that Stalin, as a practical person at that time, was trying to intimidate potential aggressors who were ready to attack the USSR. Saboteurs were trained in the Union through the Comintern. Western counterintelligence knew about this, but had no idea of ​​the real scale. Therefore, the leaders of many Western countries had the feeling that if they did something against the Soviet Union, a real war would begin in their rear, ”Kolpakidi said in an interview with RT.

According to him, in the person of the Comintern, Stalin found a powerful ally of the USSR.

“It wasn't just the workers. These were well-known intellectuals, writers, journalists, scientists. Their role is difficult to overestimate. They actively lobbied Moscow's interests around the world. Without them, during the Second World War there would not have been such a large-scale resistance movement. In addition, the Soviet Union received priceless proprietary technologies through the Comintern. They were passed on by sympathetic researchers, engineers, workers. We were “given” drawings of entire factories. In every sense, the support of the Comintern was the most profitable investment in the history of the USSR,” Kolpakidi said.

The expert points out that tens of thousands of people through the Comintern went to fight as volunteers in Spain, calling it "an almost unprecedented event in world history."

However, since the mid-1930s, the confidence in individual leaders of the Comintern among the Moscow leadership has declined.

“In 1935, it seems, the year (Vizner) gave me an invitation card to the Congress of the Comintern held in Moscow. There was a very unusual situation for that time in the USSR. The delegates, not looking at the speakers, walked around the hall, talking to each other, laughing. And Stalin walked around the stage behind the presidium and nervously smoked his pipe. It was felt that he did not like all this freemen. Perhaps this attitude of Stalin towards the Comintern played a role in the fact that many of its leaders were arrested, ”wrote Soviet statesman Mikhail Smirtyukov, who was working at the Council of People’s Commissars at that time, in his memoirs.

“It was a world party, quite difficult to manage. In addition, during the war years, we began to cooperate with England and the United States, whose leadership was very nervous because of the activities of the Comintern, so they decided to formally dissolve it, creating new structures on its basis, ”the expert said.

On May 15, 1943, the Comintern officially ceased to exist. Instead, the International Department of the CPSU (b) was created.

“The Comintern played a very important role in history, but its transformation was necessary. The bodies created on its basis have preserved and developed all the Comintern's developments in a dynamically changing international environment,” Rozhin summed up.

The Comintern (III International) is an international organization that united the communist parties of different countries. The Communist International carried out its activities from 1919 to 1943. The founder and organizer of the Comintern was the RCP(b) party headed by V.I. Lenin.

The First International founded by Marx existed from 1864 to 1872. The defeat of the heroic Parisian workers, the famous Paris Commune, meant the end of this International. He laid the foundation for that building of the world socialist republic.

The Second International existed from 1889 to 1914, before the war. This time was the time of the most calm and peaceful development of capitalism, the time without great revolutions. The working-class movement has grown stronger and matured during this time in a number of countries. But the leaders of the workers in most parties, having become accustomed to peacetime, have lost the capacity for revolutionary struggle. When the war broke out in 1914, which drenched the earth in blood for four years, the war between the capitalists over the division of profits, over power over small and weak peoples, these socialists went over to the side of their governments. They betrayed the workers, they helped drag out the slaughter, they became enemies of socialism, they went over to the side of the capitalists.

The masses of workers turned away from these traitors to socialism. A turn to revolutionary struggle began throughout the world. The war showed that capitalism was dead. He is being replaced new order. The old word socialism has been disgraced by the traitors to socialism.

Now the workers who have remained loyal to the cause of overthrowing the yoke of capital call themselves communists. The alliance of communists is growing all over the world. Already won in a number of countries Soviet authority. It won't be long before we see the victory of communism all over the world, we will see the foundation of the World Federative Republic of Soviets.

The creation of the Comintern was preceded by a long struggle of the Bolshevik Party led by V. I. Lenin against the reformists and centrists in the 2nd International for the rallying of the left forces in the international labor movement. In 1914, the Bolsheviks announced a break with the 2nd International and began to gather forces to create the 3rd International.

The initiator of the organizational formation of the Comintern was the RCP (b). In January 1918, a meeting of representatives of leftist groups from a number of European and American countries was held in Petrograd. The meeting discussed the issue of convening international conference socialist parties to organize the 3rd International. A year later, in Moscow, under the leadership of V. I. Lenin, a second international conference was held, which appealed to left-wing socialist organizations with an appeal to take part in the international socialist congress. On March 2, 1919, the 1st (constituent) Congress of the Communist International began its work in Moscow.There were 52 delegates from 35 parties and groups from 21 countries. The First Congress 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 come out resolutely against the Second International, which was formally restored in February 1919 in Berne by its right-wing opportunist leaders.

In 1919-1920. The Comintern set itself the task of leading the world socialist revolution, designed to replace the world capitalist economy with the world system of communism through the violent overthrow of the bourgeoisie.

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 formation of communist parties continued. In May 1919 the Bulgarian Workers' Social Democratic Party was renamed the Communist Party and joined the Communist International. From March 1919 to November 1920, communist parties were formed in Yugoslavia, the USA, Mexico, Denmark, Spain, Indonesia, Iran, Great Britain. The party of Argentina, Greece,

The 2nd Congress of the Communist International (opened on July 19, 1920 in Petrograd, continued and completed its work in Moscow on July 23-August 17), the 2nd Congress of the Communist International was more representative than the 1st: 217 delegates from 67 organizations (including those from 27 communist parties) from 37 countries. The French Socialist Party and the Independent Socialist-Dem Party of Germany were represented at the congress with an advisory vote. A number of decisions were made at the Congress on the strategy and tactics of the communist movement, such as the forms of participation of the communist parties in the national liberation movement, on the conditions for admitting the party to the Comintern, (these included: recognition by the parties entering the Comintern of the dictatorship of the proletariat as the main principle of the revolutionary struggle and theory 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 principle of the party, selfless loyalty to the principles of proletarian internationalism, etc.) were called upon to protect the communist parties from the penetration of not only open opportunists, but also those elements whose inconsistency and inclination to compromise with traitors to the proletarian cause ruled out the possibility of unity with them).
3rd Moscow, June 22 - July 12, 1921; 605 delegates from 103 parties and organizations participated. e The main task of the Communist Parties was to strengthen the positions of the working class, consolidate and expand the real results of the struggle in defense of everyday interests, combined with the preparation of the working masses for the struggle for the socialist revolution. The solution of this problem required the consistent implementation of the Leninist slogan: to work wherever there is a mass - in trade unions, youth and other organizations.

The Communist International made decisions on the national and colonial questions. Proceeding from the fact that in the new historical era the national liberation movement becomes integral part world revolutionary process, 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 3rd Congress of the Comintern unanimously approved the theses on tactics developed under the leadership of V. I. Lenin. “A more thorough, more solid preparation for new, more and more decisive battles, both defensive and offensive - this is the main and main thing in the decisions of Congress "

4th 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. the main idea is the creation of a "united working front".

The 4th Congress of the Communist International 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. Both right-wing and leftist-sectarian, Trotskyist elements raised their heads in the communist parties.
5th June - July 1924 Decided on the Bolshevization of the national communist parties and their tactics in the light of the defeats of the revolutionary uprisings in Europe.

went down in history as a congress of the struggle for the Bolshevization of the Communist parties. The main document of the congress - theses emphasized that the forging of genuine Leninist parties is the central task of all activities. The Communist International 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; loyalty to the principles of revolutionary Marxism

The course of the Communist International 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 concrete conditions of its own country, to become the real vanguard of the working-class movement there. But in their implementation, the Congress tried to formulate common methods for all parties to apply the tactics of the united front. unity of action only from below, negotiations at the top between parties and organizations were allowed only if initially unity was achieved at the bottom. this limited the initiative of the communist parties and prevented them from adapting their actions to the specific situation.

July 6 - September 1928. The Congress assessed the global political situation as a transition to a new stage, characterized by a world economic crisis and an increase in the class struggle, developed the thesis of social fascism.

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 regard, Congress approved tactics, which were 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 directed 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. Congress called for the defense of the Chinese revolution against imperialist interventionists.

7th 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.

=) In the initial period of the activities of the Comintern and the organizations adjoining it, when making decisions, a preliminary analysis of the situation was carried out, a desire was manifested to find answers to common questions, taking into account national characteristics and traditions. Subsequently, the methods of work of the Comintern underwent serious changes: any dissent was regarded as aiding reaction and fascism. Dogmatism and sectarianism had a negative impact on the international communist and workers' movement.

In the 1st half of the 30s. there was a significant shift in the alignment of class forces on the world stage. It manifested itself in the onset of reaction, fascism, and the growth of the military threat. The task of creating an anti-fascist, all-democratic union, primarily of communists and social democrats, came to the fore.

, 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 global 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 - led already in 1933 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. Karikash - 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, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks created a department of 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 must 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 was singled out 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 the 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

see also

Notes

1. 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.
2. Why did Stalin dissolve the Comintern? | ANTI-SOVIET LEAGUE(neopr.) . maxpark.com Retrieved September 20, 2018.
3. Catalogs - NBUV National Library of Ukraine named after V.I. Vernadsky
4. 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
5. Usov V.N.
6. 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
7. 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.
8. Our slogan is the World Soviet Union!
9. Novosyolova E. Money for the cradle of the revolution // "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" - Federal issue. - 04/22/2014. - No. 6363 (91) .