International Lenin School

The International Lenin School (ILS) was an official training school operated in Moscow by the Communist International from May 1926 to 1938. The ILS taught both academic courses and practical underground political techniques with a view to developing a core disciplined and reliable communist political cadres for assignment in Communist Parties around the world.

The International Lenin School (ILS) was founded in 1926 as an instrument for the "Bolshevisation" of the Communist International (Comintern) and its national sections, following the resolutions of the 5th World Congress of the Comintern. The school was established, in the formal language of the Comintern:

"To assist the Comintern sections in raising the qualifications of leading Party workers whose revolutionary experience must be strengthened by general theoretical Marxist-Leninist preparation on the one hand; and, on the other, by direct and active study of the organisational and political experiences of the Russian Communist Party and of the experiences and current work of the Communist Parties in the capitalist and colonial countries."

This goal was to be achieved through an intensive one-year course of study including economics and history, Marxist theory, and the strategy and tactics employed by the world communist movement. Students for the International Lenin School were hand-picked by the various Communist Parties.

The first class of students, which began instruction in May 1926, consisted of 70 individuals from around the world. A matter of major difficulty was the variety of languages spoken by participants, a situation which necessitated the extensive use of translators. Four languages were used by participants — Russian, German, English, and French.

Academic courses taught at the ILS during its first year of existence included Political Economy, the History of the Russian Communist Party, the History of the World Labor Movement, "Party Construction," and Russian language. Instruction was largely based upon intensive directed reading, followed by individualized discussion with lecturers. In addition, with a view to making contact with the Soviet working class, the inaugural class of ILS students were divided into groups of between 3 and 5 and were sent out to perform manual labor in the Orecho-Zuovo Textile Mill and the Colmna Locomotive and Car Works as part of their educational experience. About 8 hours per week were spent at such factory labor.

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