Communist International

Communist International Third International
Abbreviation	Comintern
Leader	Grigory Zinoviev (Chairman; 1919–1926) Nikolai Bukharin (de facto; 1926–1928) Dmitry Manuilsky (de facto; 1929–1934) Georgi Dimitrov (General Secretary; 1934–1943)[1]
Founded	4 March 1919; 106 years ago (1919-03-04)
Dissolved	15 May 1943; 82 years ago (1943-05-15)
Preceded by	Second International Zimmerwald Conference
Succeeded by	Cominform
Headquarters	Moscow, Soviet Union
Newspaper	Communist International
Youth wing	Young Communist International
Ideology	Communism Leninism (until 1924) Marxism–Leninism (from 1924) Stalinism (from 1924)
Political position	Far-left
Anthem	"Kominternlied"

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The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second International during World War I, the Comintern was founded in March 1919 at a congress in Moscow convened by Vladimir Lenin and the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) (RCP), which aimed to create a new international body committed to revolutionary socialism and the overthrow of capitalism worldwide.^[2]

Initially, the Comintern operated with the expectation of imminent proletarian revolutions in Europe, particularly Germany, which were seen as crucial for the survival and success of the Russian Revolution.^[3] Its early years were characterized by attempts to foment and coordinate revolutionary uprisings and the establishment of disciplined communist parties across the globe, often demanding strict adherence to the "Twenty-one Conditions" for admission.^[4] As these revolutionary hopes faded by the early 1920s, the Comintern's policies shifted, notably with the adoption of the "united workers' front" tactic, aiming to win over the working masses from reformist socialist parties.^[5] Throughout the 1920s, the Comintern underwent a process of "Bolshevisation", increasing the centralization of its structure and the dominance of the RCP within its ranks. This process intensified with the rise of Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union.^[6]

The "Third Period" (1928–1933) saw the Comintern adopt a staunch opposition against social democratic parties, accused of "social fascism", and advocating "class against class" tactics, which proved disastrous, particularly in the face of rising Nazism in Germany.^[7] From 1934, the Comintern shifted to the Popular Front policy, advocating broad alliances with socialist and even liberal parties against fascism. This was formally adopted at its Seventh World Congress in 1935.^[8] The Comintern played a significant role in organizing support for the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War, including the formation of the International Brigades.^[9] However, this period also coincided with the Great Purge in the Soviet Union, during which many Comintern officials and foreign communists residing in Moscow were arrested and executed.^[10]

With the signing of the Nazi–Soviet Pact in August 1939, the Comintern again changed its line, denouncing the war between Nazi Germany and the Western Allies as an "imperialist war" and abandoning its anti-fascist stance until the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941.^[11] As a gesture to its Western Allies in World War II, Stalin unilaterally dissolved the Comintern on 15 May 1943.^[12] While its formal structures were dismantled, mechanisms of Soviet control over the international communist movement persisted and were later partially revived through the Cominform (1947–1956).^[13]