Comintern

Comintern

What:

Third Communist International

Where:

Founded in Moscow, Russia

When:

Began in 1919 and lasted into the 1930s

Why:

The International intended to fight "by all available means, including armed force, for the overthrow of the international bourgeoisie and for the creation of an international Soviet republic as a transition stage to the complete abolition of the State."

Significance:

The Comintern was meant to assist in world revolution. It was a tool of Soviet policy. It paid attention to the emerging anti-colonial and anti-imperialist movements in China, British India, French Indochina, and the Dutch East Indies. It could advocate the unprecedented program of preferential treatment for non-Russian minorities, what one historian called, “an affirmative action plan.”