First Congress of the Communist International
| 1st Congress of the Comintern | |
|---|---|
| Host country | RSFSR |
| Date | 2 March 1919- 6 March 1919 |
| Venue(s) | Kremlin |
| Cities | Moscow |
| Participants | Delegates |
The 1st Congress of the Comintern was an international gathering of communist, revolutionary socialist, and syndicalist delegates held in Moscow which established the Communist International (Comintern). The gathering, held from March 2 to 6, 1919, was attended by 51 representatives of more than two dozen countries from around Europe, North America, and Asia.
Late in December 1918, the leadership of the Russian Communist Party decided that the time was ripe for the convocation of a new international association of radical political parties to supplant the discredited Second International. On December 24 a radio broadcast was made from Moscow calling upon the "communists of all countries" to "rally around the revolutionary Third International."
Lenin sought to invite only those organizations which stood for a break with the more conservative elements in their group and who stood for immediate socialist revolution and the establishment of a dictatorship of the proletariat and a Soviet-style form of government. Lenin hoped for a gathering to be held beginning February 1, 1919, either openly in Berlin or, if necessary, secretly in the Netherlands. Owing to political difficulties between Soviet Russia and the rather conservative social democratic government of Germany and the eruption of civil war there, Berlin was quickly rejected as inhospitable for a foundation congress.
On January 21, 1919, a meeting of about a dozen communists living in Moscow determined to hold a formal gathering in that city, to begin February 15 — little more than 3 weeks hence. The formal convention call was composed by People's Commissar of War Leon Trotsky and listed invited political organizations by name.
Invited organizations from the English-speaking world included "the left forces in the British Socialist Party (in particular, representatives of the Maclean current)" (a reference to John Maclean), the British Socialist Labour Party, the Industrial Workers of the World in Britain, the Industrial Workers group in Britain, "revolutionary forces in the shop stewards' movement in Britain, "revolutionary forces in Irish workers organizations," and the Industrial Workers of the World in Australia.
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