Date: Wed, 26 Jun 96 12:19:19 GMT
From: Adam Rose <adam-AT-pmel.com>
Subject: 3rd International - the Commintern in 1923 ( 3 of 4 )




In Duncan  Hallas' book, "The Commintern" , there is a chapter called :
"1923 : The Crucial Year". The chapter has this name because of the events
in Germany.

Hallas writes :

"Lenin was no longer "the man at the wheel". His health had given way 
in December 1921 and recovery was never more than partial. In May 1922 he
suffered a paralysing stroke that temporarilly deprived him of speech. Two 
further strokes followed in December that year. A fourth, in March 1923,
ended his political life, though he did not die physically until January
1924. Consequently he was entirely without influence on the direction of
the Commintern in 1923, a fact of considerable importance, since no one else
had his combination of immense authority and profound grasp of the dynamics
of revolution."

" . . . [Russia] depended therefore on the maturity and political ability
of the European Communist parties, especially of the KPD, and on the
ability of the Commintern centre to guide them.

"At the fourth [Commintern] Congress the machinery of the centre was 
considerably elaborated . . . None of this improved the POLITICAL
effectiveness of the Commintern executive."

"The decisive role continued to be played by three Russian party members :
Zinoviev, Bukharin, and Radek . . . Zinoviev and Bukharin had had countenanced
the lunacy of the March Action in Germany, while Zinoviev had also opposed
the October insurrection. Radek was clever but, as Lenin said "boneless"."

"True, this combination had been in office in the Commintern since 1919 - 
but with a difference." Basically, Lenin + Trotsky set the strategy while
these three carried it out. "Now Lenin was incapacitated and Trotsky unable
to exert the same influence that he had previously" with Lenin's backing.

"Nevertheless, the outcome of the events of 1923 cannot simply be attributed
to the actions of the Commintern centre. This was far from all powerful.
The political weaknesses of the Bulgarian and German communist parties 
were STILL MORE IMPORTANT [ my emphasis - ADR]. It was the combination of 
weaknesses in the field and at HQ which proved fatal."

Adam.



Adam Rose
SWP
Manchester
UK



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