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| Comintern's Third Period | |
|---|---|
| Name | Third Period (Comintern) |
| Other names | Third Period policy |
| Start | 1928 |
| End | 1935 |
| Organization | Communist International |
| Key figures | Grigory Zinoviev, Nikolai Bukharin, Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, Georgi Dimitrov, Rosa Luxemburg, Leon Trotsky |
| Regions | Soviet Union, Germany, United Kingdom, France, United States, Spain |
Comintern's Third Period The Third Period was a phase in the activity of the Communist International initiated in 1928 and extending into the mid-1930s, marked by a radical shift in strategy toward confrontational mobilization and rejection of alliances with non-communist forces. It reshaped directives for Communist Party of the Soviet Union policy, influenced national Communist Party of Germany tactics, and altered relations with Social Democratic Party of Germany, Labour Party (UK), and other organizations across Europe and the Americas.
The origins trace to the aftermath of the Russian Civil War and the consolidation of Joseph Stalin's position after the Power struggle (1924–1928), where debates between proponents like Nikolai Bukharin and opponents like Leon Trotsky culminated in a decisive turn in Soviet Union policy. The Communist International under leaders such as Grigory Zinoviev and later Georgi Dimitrov adjusted tactics in response to the global economic dislocations following the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the perceived crisis of capitalism outlined in texts by Vladimir Lenin and analyses influenced by Rosa Luxemburg. Strategic assessments referenced failures of united-front tactics during events like the German Revolution of 1918–1919 and the debates at the Sixth World Congress of the Communist International.
The doctrine rested on an interpretation of Marxism–Leninism emphasizing imminent revolutionary conditions and class antagonism, rejecting cooperation with Social Democratic Party of Germany and other socialist currents deemed "social-fascist." Key documents produced by the Communist International and speeches by figures such as Grigory Zinoviev and Joseph Stalin asserted that epochal capitalist decline required uncompromising struggle against reformist organizations and liberal institutions like the Weimar Republic and the British Empire. The theoretical posture drew on critiques in works associated with Leon Trotsky and rebuttals from Nikolai Bukharin, while referencing historical episodes including the Paris Commune and the October Revolution to justify aggressive tactics.
Implementation involved reorganization of Communist Party of Germany, French Communist Party, Communist Party USA, and other national sections under directives from the Executive Committee of the Communist International (ECCI). Cells and cadres received instructions emphasizing factory agitation, militant street tactics against groups like the Nazi Party and denunciation of Social Democratic Party of Germany leadership. The period saw purges of perceived moderates influenced by intra-party disputes paralleling cleansing in institutions such as the Red Army and the OGPU. Training came through institutions linked to the Comintern such as the International Lenin School, while coordination relied on channels tied to the Kremlin and diplomatic posts like the Soviet Embassy in Berlin.
National communist parties adopted confrontational postures that reshaped labor struggles in contexts like the General Strike of 1926 aftermath in the United Kingdom and industrial disputes in the United States influenced by the Great Depression. In Germany, antagonism toward the Social Democratic Party of Germany contributed to fragmentation during the rise of the Nazi Party, influencing street clashes involving the Rotfrontkämpferbund and the Sturmabteilung. In Spain, tensions intersected with republic politics and later civil conflict involving Spanish Civil War actors. The policy affected trade-union strategy within federations such as the American Federation of Labor and the Trades Union Congress, often producing splits with socialists and anarcho-syndicalists including affiliates of CNT.
Reactions ranged from fierce criticism by Social Democratic Party of Germany leaders and socialist intellectuals to strategic recalibration by conservatives and fascist movements such as the National Socialist German Workers' Party. Some centrists in parties like the French Section of the Workers' International issued rebukes, while others in the Labour Party (UK) and Communist Party USA engaged in tactical debates. Governments including the Weimar Republic and the French Third Republic monitored and sometimes repressed communist activity, and diplomats in capitals such as London and Washington, D.C. adjusted policy toward the Soviet Union accordingly. International leftist writers referencing the period included commentators affiliated with New Left precursors and critics like Hannah Arendt in later assessments.
The doctrine’s failures and the ascendance of fascist regimes prompted a reevaluation resulting in the Popular Front turn in the mid-1930s under leaders such as Georgi Dimitrov and policies debated at the Seventh World Congress of the Communist International. The Third Period left legacies in organizational memory within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, shaped careers of figures like André Marty and Maurice Thorez, and influenced postwar communist strategy during the Cold War in relations between parties in Eastern Europe and Western Europe. Its association with purges and sectarianism informed critical studies by historians of European fascism and scholars of labour movement dynamics.
Scholars debate continuity versus rupture between early Bolshevik practices and the Third Period, with interpretations ranging from structuralist analyses emphasizing the role of the Soviet state to agency-focused accounts centering on actors like Joseph Stalin and Georgi Dimitrov. Debates engage archives from the Comintern, memoirs by participants such as Ruth Fischer and André Breton, and studies by later historians including E.H. Carr and Sheila Fitzpatrick. Recent archival releases have fueled reassessments in works connecting the period to the Great Purge and to international responses to the Spanish Civil War, sustaining contested evaluations in comparative histories of twentieth century revolutionary movements.