The Comintern (AQA A-Level History): Revision Notes
The Comintern
Establishment and purpose
The Bolshevik seizure of power in October 1917 transformed Russia into what its leaders hoped would be the launchpad for worldwide communist revolution. Following this, Russia became the natural base for establishing the Third Communist International (also known as the Comintern) – an international socialist organisation promoting Marxist ideology and spreading proletarian revolution from Russia outward to the rest of the world.
The Comintern represented the third attempt at creating an international socialist movement, following the collapse of earlier efforts to unite socialist and workers' movements across national boundaries.
The First International (International Workingmen's Association) had operated from 1864 to 1876. The Second International existed from 1889 until it collapsed in 1916. The Third Communist International, established in 1919, would last until 1943.
The First Comintern Congress, March 1919
Context and atmosphere
The inaugural Founding Congress of the Comintern convened in Moscow in March 1919. This timing is remarkable when we consider the Bolsheviks' desperate military situation: the regime was engaged in a life-or-death struggle against White Russian armies, national independence movements, and foreign intervention forces. The Red Army was fighting on multiple fronts, and Bolshevik control was far from secure.
The Paradox of Revolutionary Optimism
Despite fighting for survival on multiple fronts, there was tremendous optimism about the potential for revolution to spread from Russia to the wider world. The Bolshevik leadership believed they were witnessing the beginning of a global transformation that would sweep away capitalism across Europe and beyond.
Attendance and leadership
Not all invited delegates were willing or able to attend, but the Congress still drew more than 50 delegates from across Europe, as well as representatives from the United States, Australia and Japan. The chairman of the early Comintern Congresses was Grigorii Zinoviev, though the dominant influence behind the organization was always Lenin. Other prominent Bolshevik activists committed to world revolution included Trotsky and Karl Radek, who would later serve as Vice-Commissar for Foreign Affairs under Trotsky and become secretary to the Comintern.
Revolutionary expectations
Germany appeared especially ripe for revolution. The Spartacist uprising in Berlin (December 1918) had demonstrated that revolutionary sentiment existed within Germany, even though the revolt was brutally crushed by armed German militias in January 1919. The leaders of the Spartacists, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, were murdered. Despite this setback, hopes remained high that soviet-style republics could be established elsewhere in Europe. Indeed, such republics were briefly raised in Hungary and Bavaria during January 1919.
The Core Belief of the Bolshevik Leadership
Lenin, Trotsky, Karl Radek and other prominent Bolshevik activists were committed believers in the inevitability (and necessity) of Bolshevik Russia's survival depending on successful world revolution. They viewed the Russian Revolution not as an isolated event but as the first stage in a global process.
The Spartacist uprising
Historical Example: The Spartacist Uprising in Germany
Communist revolutionaries in Germany, calling themselves the 'Spartacus' movement (named after the leader of a slave rebellion against Ancient Rome), launched an uprising in Berlin in December 1918.
The Outcome:
- The revolt was brutally crushed by armed German militias in January 1919
- The leaders of the Spartacists, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, were murdered
- The defeat was devastating for German communism
Obstacles to Revolution in Western Europe
This failure demonstrated the formidable obstacles facing communist revolution in Western Europe, where armed opposition and lack of mass support could quickly suppress revolutionary attempts.
The Second Comintern Congress, July–August 1920
Context: the Russo-Polish War
The Second Comintern Congress took place in Petrograd during July to August 1920, coinciding with the height of the Russo-Polish War. This timing was not coincidental. The Red Army was still fighting, and the war against Poland became intertwined with hopes for spreading revolution westward. Poland stood between Soviet Russia and Germany, and many Bolsheviks hoped that a Red Army advance through Poland might trigger revolutionary uprisings across Western Europe.
Lenin's '21 Conditions' and organizational debates
The Congress was dominated by debates over Lenin's '21 Conditions', which defined the relationships between communist parties and 'bourgeois-democratic' socialist parties. These conditions were designed to establish strict criteria for membership in the Comintern and to ensure revolutionary discipline. Some European delegations broke away from the Comintern as a result of these demanding requirements, unwilling to submit to Lenin's centralized control.
Lenin's '21 Conditions' represented a turning point in the Comintern's development, establishing Moscow's firm control over member parties and eliminating those unwilling to accept Bolshevik authority.
The crushing blow of Polish victory
The Battle for Warsaw and Dashed Revolutionary Hopes
When the Congress convened, the Red Army was on the verge of capturing Warsaw. Many delegates believed victory in Poland would provide a springboard for communism to sweep across Western Europe.
The Outcome: The last-gasp Polish victory over Tukhachevsky's army delivered a nasty shock to the delegates in Petrograd. Hopes that military success in Poland would trigger a wave of revolution across Western Europe were dashed. The defeat demonstrated the resilience of nationalist sentiment and the capacity of non-communist forces to resist the Red Army's advance.
The Third Comintern Congress, summer 1921
Disillusionment and changed circumstances
By the time of the Third Comintern Congress in the summer of 1921, there was a dawning realization that world revolution was not as close as had been hoped. The context had changed dramatically from the heady optimism of March 1919. Communist regimes and uprisings had all been crushed across Europe. Moderate socialist parties who renounced revolution were becoming established in various countries.
The End of Revolutionary Optimism
The contrast between the First Congress (March 1919) – marked by tremendous optimism despite military crisis – and the Third Congress (summer 1921) – marked by disillusionment and realism – represents one of the most dramatic shifts in Bolshevik revolutionary expectations.
Germany's moderate path
Most disappointingly for the Bolsheviks, instead of communist revolution, Germany was ruled by the 'bourgeois-democratic' Weimar Republic. During the First World War, there had been a bitter split within German Socialism between left-wing extremists and moderate socialists within the SPD (Socialist Party of Germany). After Imperial Germany collapsed in 1918, the leader of the SPD, Friedrich Ebert, became head of government in the Weimar Republic. Ebert's willingness to compromise with middle-class ('bourgeois') liberals was regarded by the revolutionary Left as a betrayal of socialism.
The Split in German Socialism
The division between revolutionary communists and moderate democratic socialists in Germany would have lasting consequences throughout the Weimar period and beyond. This split reflected a broader pattern across Europe where working-class movements chose parliamentary democracy over revolutionary dictatorship.
Russian domination of the Comintern
Against all expectations, Bolshevik Russia found itself alone in a capitalist world. This isolation led to a situation where the Comintern became totally Russian-dominated. What had been conceived as an international movement increasingly reflected Soviet Russia's specific interests and strategic priorities.
Shifting priorities
There was now a changed outlook from many in the Bolshevik leadership, who were ready to play down international revolution in order to concentrate on pressing internal matters within Russia. The survival of the Bolshevik state, economic reconstruction, and dealing with domestic challenges took precedence over exporting revolution.
The Transformation of the Comintern
The Comintern remained an important symbol, and all Bolshevik leaders were at least outwardly committed to its aims. However, the revolutionary force behind the Comintern slackened considerably. What had been an instrument for promoting immediate world revolution gradually transformed into a tool of Soviet foreign policy and a symbol of Moscow's ideological leadership of the communist movement worldwide.
The Weimar Republic's consolidation
The establishment of the Weimar Republic represented a crushing defeat for revolutionary hopes in Germany. During the First World War, left-wing extremists had been outnumbered by moderate socialists within the SPD. When Imperial Germany collapsed in 1918, moderate socialism triumphed. Friedrich Ebert became head of government in the Weimar Republic. His willingness to compromise with middle-class liberals, rather than pursue revolutionary socialism, was viewed by the Bolsheviks as a fundamental betrayal. The consolidation of this moderate democratic republic in Germany – rather than a soviet-style dictatorship – demonstrated that Western European working classes were not inevitably moving toward Bolshevik-style revolution.
Key Points to Remember:
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The Comintern was founded in Moscow in March 1919 to promote international proletarian revolution, with Zinoviev as chairman but Lenin as the dominant force.
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The First Congress (1919) was marked by tremendous optimism about spreading revolution to Germany and beyond, despite the Bolsheviks fighting for survival in the Civil War.
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The Second Congress (July-August 1920) coincided with the Russo-Polish War; Polish victory over the Red Army shattered hopes that revolution would sweep westward through military success.
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By the Third Congress (summer 1921), revolutionary hopes had been dashed: communist uprisings had been crushed across Europe, and Germany had established the moderate 'bourgeois-democratic' Weimar Republic rather than a soviet regime.
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The Comintern became Russian-dominated and its revolutionary force slackened as Bolshevik leaders shifted focus to internal matters within Russia, though it remained an important symbol of Soviet commitment to international communism.