4th World Congress of the Communist International

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4th World Congress of the Communist International
BeginsNovember 5, 1922 (1922-11-05)
EndsDecember 5, 1922 (1922-12-05)
Location(s) Moscow
CountryFlag RSFSR 1918.svg  Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Previous event 3rd Congress
Next event 5th Congress
Poster dedicated to the 5th anniversary of the Russian Revolution and the 4th congress of the Comintern Da zdravstvuet piataia godovshchina velikoi proletarskoi revoliutsii (plakat).jpg
Poster dedicated to the 5th anniversary of the Russian Revolution and the 4th congress of the Comintern

The 4th World Congress of the Communist International was an assembly of delegates to the Communist International held in Petrograd and Moscow, Soviet Russia, between November 5 and December 5, 1922. A total of 343 voting delegates from 58 countries were in attendance. The 4th World Congress is best remembered for having amplified the tactic of the United Front into a fundamental part of international Communist policy. The gathering also elected a new set of leaders to the Comintern's governing body, the Executive Committee of the Communist International (ECCI).

Contents

History

Historical background

The 4th World Congress of the Comintern was convened on November 5, 1922 — just days after Benito Mussolini's March on Rome that effectively seized power for his National Fascist Party. [1] The revolutionary upsurge which had swept Europe during the years immediately following the termination of World War I was clearly in full retreat and the international Communist movement saw itself in need for accommodation to this changed political environment.

With the prospects for immediate revolution in the industrialized countries of Western Europe fading, the defense of the regime in Soviet Russia had rapidly come to be seen as the chief priority of the Communist movement. [2] Owing to the failure of revolution in Finland, Germany, Hungary, and elsewhere, the stature of the Communist Party of Russia was enhanced relative to other Communist Parties of the world, and tendencies towards centralization and Russian dominance were thereby accelerated. [2]

Convocation

The 4th World Congress was attended by 343 voting delegates from 58 different countries. [3] An additional 65 delegates were present with the right to speak but not to vote, and another 6 were admitted as guests. [4] The gathering was the last congress of the Comintern attended by Soviet leader V.I. Lenin, who was too ill to attend any regular sessions and only appeared to deliver a single speech. [5]

The Congress opened at 9 pm in the People's House in Petrograd, called to order by Clara Zetkin of Germany, who noted the fifth anniversary of the October Revolution of 1917. [6] An honorary 13 member Presidium of the Congress — chosen in advance by ECCI in consultation with important national parties — was unanimously elected as the first order of business. [7]

Factional turmoil

The World Congress, as the highest decision-making authority of the Communist International, was marked by the bitter factional battles of various member parties, with each group seeking final decision in favor of its policies and positions. Chief among these was the battle among the delegates of the Communist Party of America, split into two hostile factional groups. [8] The battle spilled into the nominations for the American seat on the governing Executive Committee of the Communist International, with American Otto Huiswoud protesting the nomination of C.E. Ruthenberg for this position, arguing that he had himself been selected for the spot by the American delegation. [8] Huiswoud's protest was to no avail as the new Executive was proposed as a single slate of pre-determined names, all amendments were rejected, and the list of candidates was approved en bloc. [8]

Policy of the United Front

Paying considerable attention to the growth of the fascist danger (in connection with the establishment of the fascist dictatorship in Italy), the Congress emphasized that the main means of combating fascism was the tactics of the united workers' front. 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” was put forward (later the slogan of a workers' and peasants' government). While the tactic of the United Front was first adopted by ECCI in December 1921, [9] the 4th World Congress is remembered to history for having extended and further institutionalized the tactic. [10]

Presidium of the 4th World Congress

Members of the presidium were: [7]

Speakers at the 4th World Congress

Group picture of Eastern communists during the 4th Congress. Tan Malaka can be seen on the upper third left. Tan-malaka-and-bolsheviks.jpg
Group picture of Eastern communists during the 4th Congress. Tan Malaka can be seen on the upper third left.
Speakers at the 4th World Congress [11]
NameCountrySessionsNotes
Isidoro Acevedo Spain6
Sadrettin Celal Antel Turkey17, 20Used pseudonym "Orhan." Trade Unions; Eastern Question.
Izidoro Azzario Italy1
Karl Becker Germany4
Max Bedacht USA7
Émile Béron France1, 18, 19, 26
Amadeo Bordiga Italy3, 4, 12, 18, 27, 30, 32Report of ECCI; Italy.
Tahar Boudengha Tunisia 19Eastern Question.
Nikolai Bukharin Soviet Russia5, 6, 14, 18, 31Program; Norway.
Sidney Bunting South Africa20Eastern Question.
Marcel Cachin France17, 25, 29Trade Unions; France.
Antonio Canellas Brazil29France.
John S. Clarke Great Britain16Trade Unions.
Roderic Connolly Ireland26, 32
Henryk Domski Poland6, 7
Pierre Dormoy France7
Jean Duret France4, 7
William Earsman Australia20Eastern Question.
Hugo Eberlein Germany13, 26, 29
Alfred S. Edwards USA7Used the pseudonym "Sullivan."
Ferdinand Faure France5
Franciszek Fiedler Poland26Used pseudonym "Keller."
Ruth Fischer Germany3
Paul Friedländer Austria7, 26
Jock Garden Australia17Trade Unions.
Egidio Gennari Italy25
Antonio Graziadei Italy4, 7, 30Italy.
Anna Grün Austria27, 32
Otto Huiswoud USA22, 32Used the pseudonym "Billings." Negro Question.
Fritz Heckert Germany17Trade Unions.
Arthur Henriet France23Cooperative Movement.
Edwin Hoernle Germany13, 25, 32Education.
Jules Humbert-Droz Switzerland2, 5, 13, 29Report of ECCI; France.
Mahmud Husni el-Arabi Egypt20Eastern Question.
Renaud Jean France29France.
Jack JohnstoneUSA12Used the pseudonym "Pullman."
William Joss Great Britain21Agrarian Question.
Khristo Kabakchiev Bulgaria15Program.
Varsenika Kasparova Soviet Russia24Women's Movement
Sen Katayama Japan1, 6, 19, 22, 27Eastern Question; Agrarian Question.
Ludwig Katterfeld USA5Used pseudonym "Carr."
L.M. Khinchuk Soviet Russia23Cooperative Movement.
Vasil Kolarov Bulgaria1, 6, 19, 27, 32Eastern Question.
Feliks Kon Poland1, 27, 31
Wera Kostrzeva Poland22Agrarian Question.
Nadezhda Krupskaya Soviet Russia25Education.
Joseph E. Kucher USA17Trade Unions.
Béla Kun Hungary9Five Years of the Russian Revolution commemoration.
Otto Kuusinen Finland29France.
Jenö Landler Hungary6
Henri Lauridan France17, 23Trade Unions; Cooperative Movement.
V.I. Lenin Soviet Russia8Five Years of the Russian Revolution commemoration.
Liu Renjing China20Eastern Question.
A. Lozovsky Soviet Russia16, 18Trade Unions.
Julian Marchlewski Poland27
Claude McKay USA22Negro Question.
V.N. Meshcheriakov Soviet Russia23Cooperative Movement.
Ernst Meyer Germany3, 7
Haakon Meyer Norway5, 32
J.T. Murphy Great Britain5, 24, 26Women's Movement; Versailles Treaty.
Willi Münzenberg Germany18, 31International Workers' Aid.
Alois Neurath Czechoslovakia3
Karim Nikbin Iran20Eastern Question.
Kosta Novakovic Yugoslavia31Used the pseudonym "Stanic." Yugoslavia.
Ana Pauker Romania21Eastern Question.
Jan Pavlik Czechoslovakia17Trade Unions.
Gabriel Péri France7
Karl Radek Soviet Russia3, 4, 6, 11, 13, 18, 20, 30
Ljubomir Radovanovic Yugoslavia13, 25, 31Used the pseudonym "Radic." Versailles Treaty; Yugoslavia.
Mátyás Rákosi Hungary6
Daniel Renoult France29France
Roger Rieu France21Agrarian Question.
Alfred Rosmer France6, 13, 17Trade Unions.
M.N. Roy India19Eastern Question.
G.I. Safarov Soviet Russia20Eastern Question.
Richard Schüller Austria22, 29Youth; France.
Mauro Scoccimarro Italy7
Armin Seiden Czechoslovakia6
Giacinto Serrati Italy30Italy.
Bohumír Šmeral Czechoslovakia12, 25, 30Czechoslovakia.
Sofia Smidovich Soviet Russia24Women's Movement.
Boris Souvarine France7, 29France; Czechoslovakia.
Rose Pastor Stokes USA27Used the pseudonym "Sasha."
Ciril Štukelj Slovenia31Used the pseudonym "Marynko."
Václav Šturc Czechoslovakia30Czechoslovakia.
Hertha Sturm Germany17, 34Trade Unions; Women's Movement.
Arne Swabeck USA17Trade Unions.
Ibrahim Datoek Tan Malaka Dutch East Indies 7Anticolonial Collaboration of Communism and Pan-Islamism
Angelo Tasca Italy17Trade Unions.
Ivan Teodorovich Soviet Russia21Agrarian Question.
August Thalheimer Germany14Program.
Oscar Torp Norway32
Leon Trotsky Soviet Russia10, 28, 29Five Years of the Russian Revolution commemoration; France.
Hugo Urbahns Germany12
Emanuel Vajtauer Czechoslovakia3
Eugen Varga Hungary3, 21, 22, 27Agrarian Question.
Eduard van Overstraeten Belgium19Eastern Question.
Willem van Ravesteyn Netherlands6, 13, 19Eastern Question.
Julius Vercik Czechoslovakia17Trade Unions.
Voja Vujovic France7
Adolf Warszawski Poland5Used the pseudonym "Michalkowski."
Harry Webb Great Britain13, 20Eastern Question.
Franz Welti Switzerland13
Clara Zetkin Germany1, 8, 9, 13, 24, 32Keynote opening speech; 5 years of the Russian Revolution; Women's Movement
Grigory Zinoviev Soviet Russia1, 2, 3, 7, 13, 18, 30, 32President of the Comintern.

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References

  1. Bertil Hessel, "Introduction" to Theses, Resolutions, and Manifestos of the First Four Congresses of the Third International. London: Ink Links, 1980, pp. xxxi-xxxii.
  2. 1 2 Hessel, "Introduction," pg. xxxii.
  3. Duncan Hallas, The Comintern: A History of the Third International (1985). Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2008; pg. 71.
  4. Jane Degras (ed.), The Communist International, 1919-1943: Documents: Volume 1, 1919-1922. London: Oxford University Press, 1956; pg. 374.
  5. Hallas, The Cominern, pg. 70.
  6. John Riddell (ed.), Toward the United Front: Proceedings of the Fourth Congress of the Communist International, 1922. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2012; pg. 63.
  7. 1 2 Riddell (ed.), Toward the United Front, pg. 64.
  8. 1 2 3 Degras, The Communist International, 1919-1943, vol. 1, pg. 375.
  9. John Riddell, "Editorial Introduction," to John Riddell (ed.), Toward the United Front: Proceedings of the Fourth Congress of the Communist International, 1922. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2012; pg. 12.
  10. Hallas, The Comintern, pg. 73.
  11. Riddell (ed.), Toward the United Front, pp. vii-ix

Further reading