Communist International

The Communist International, or Comintern, was an organization founded in 1919 to coordinate communist parties and promote world revolution. It was dissolved in 1943.

Comintern Congress: A gathering of delegates from Communist International member parties that set policies and elected its executive leadership. Congress decisions established the organization’s strategic line and shaped its member parties.
Russian Revolution: The upheavals of 1917 that ended imperial rule in Russia and brought the Bolsheviks to power. The Bolsheviks’ victory gave the new International its organizing center and model.
German Revolution of 1918–1919: A revolution that ended the German Empire and established a republic amid worker and soldier uprisings. Its defeats and aftermath influenced the Comintern’s expectations for revolution beyond Russia.
Socialist International: An association of socialist and social-democratic parties founded in 1951. It represents a later, non-communist international party network rather than the Comintern’s revolutionary model.
Soviet foreign policy: The strategies and actions through which the Soviet state pursued its international interests. Debates about the Comintern often ask whether its policies served world revolution or Soviet diplomacy.
Executive Committee of the Communist International: The Communist International’s central governing body between congresses, based in Moscow. It directed the organization’s ongoing work and issued guidance to national parties.
Bolsheviks: A revolutionary faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party led by Vladimir Lenin. Bolshevik leaders founded the Comintern and shaped its early program.
Spanish Civil War: A war from 1936 to 1939 between Spain’s Republican government and a Nationalist military rebellion. The Comintern organized international communist involvement in support of the Republic.
Labour and Socialist International: An international association of socialist and labor parties active from 1923 to 1940. It competed with the Comintern as a center for socialist parties between the world wars.
Stalinism: The political system and ideology associated with Joseph Stalin’s rule in the Soviet Union. The Comintern’s later policies were shaped by Stalinist priorities and centralized control.

Linked from 48 pages