VII. Bound for Moscow #1

Comintern. It was short for the Communist International—Kommunistische Internationale. As I had explained several times before, the left carried an inherently internationalist character because it stressed the liberation of every worker in the world, without discrimination. In the Great War that erupted in 1914, the anti-war, revolutionary, and radical factions that split from the Second International formed the Comintern—the Third International—which now stood at the very forefront of the international revolutionary left. If today’s Second International, or Labour and Socialist International, felt like a Western-style debating society, the Comintern operated as a vast international apparatus through which communists received funding and mutual support in the cause of working-class emancipation. That was why, after the Bolshevik government took power in Russia in November 1917 and authority shifted from the state to the soviets, the conference held in January 1919 led to the Comintern’s founding in March. Ever since, it had done more than any other body to sustain international communist forces.

Naturally it maintained the deepest ties with our German Communist Party, and it was only because of the Comintern that someone like me—a worker who had begun with nothing—had received an education and become a politician. That was precisely why my voice, and Germany’s voice within the Comintern, mattered so much.

“They’re inviting the KPD, the Communist Workers’ Party that cooperates with the communists, and our own APD,” Thälmann said, reading the notice sent by the Comintern.

The first two parties had existed since the earliest days of German democratization and had worked with the Comintern for years. Both were successors to the Spartacus League that had launched the January 1919 uprising, though the Communist Workers’ Party had been founded by those who rejected the early KPD’s policies. When the Communists first adopted a soviet-style revolutionary theory modeled on Russia’s success, those who wished to carry forward Luxemburg’s vision had broken away to create it. These days the two parties cooperated without friction, and now my own Labour Party, established only last June, would join them.

“We were originally supposed to convene every four years as decided in 1924, but this session has been moved forward a year because of extraordinary circumstances—and we are the direct cause. Therefore we must state our position with absolute clarity.”

Thälmann kept reading from the Comintern circular.

“To put it more directly, Heinz, this is a situation you yourself summoned.”

“…It sounds rather like you’re blaming me.”

“Originally the Comintern defined the present era as the ‘Third Period.’ In the history of world socialism, the First Period after the Great War saw workers’ revolutions erupt everywhere—some victorious, some crushed. The Second Period was when capitalism consolidated its international position and enjoyed its golden age. The Third Period began in 1928, when capitalism’s failure started radicalizing the working class. At the 1928 World Congress the Comintern held that ‘to overcome the economic crisis, reformists must be rejected; only a vanguard party using purely revolutionary means can lead the workers.’”

“I know. That’s where the theory of social fascism came ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from.”

When I first entered parliament, the dominant line in the KPD had been that social democrats—the reformists—were not seeking workers’ liberation but were blinding them with welfare and social safety nets, thereby acting as the moderate wing of fascism and helping preserve capitalism.

“The Social Democratic Party has now chosen revolutionary methods alongside us, so the theory of social fascism has been discarded, Heinz.”

“Really? I hadn’t heard.”

“Between the constitutional complaint, the no-confidence motion, the workers’ factories, and everything else, I simply forgot to mention it. But the Comintern has officially signaled that it is considering the formal abandonment of the social-fascism line.”

“That’s excellent news!”

If the Comintern endorsed cooperation with the Social Democrats, the path would become far smoother.

“Which is why this Comintern World Congress is so crucial. Germany has shown the way; now we must demonstrate that the entire world can follow. Not merely a defensive coalition against conservatism and fascism, but the expansion of workers’ democracy across the globe so that every leftist current can embrace the value of revolution.”

“It would be wonderful if everyone came under the banner of revolution,” Wilhelm Pieck added in his warm, measured tone, “yet there are even more pressing tasks ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠before us. The National Socialists will employ every device to degrade our values and plant fear in the people so they crave security above all else. Left-wing unity exists to combat both fascism and imperialism. The two are distinct yet feed each other. So long as fascism is not defeated, the increasingly aggressive imperialism of Japan and Italy will not be restrained, and the peoples of Africa and Asia—who have endured centuries of oppression—will remain unfree.”

“So we should emphasize solidarity more than revolution itself, Comrade Pieck.”

“Precisely. We need the momentum to draw even those who reject revolution into the left’s united front. For that, the Comintern—the central organ of the world communist movement—must adopt a conciliatory attitude.”

The opinion coalesced into a single point: the left must unite from now on. In Germany the shift had been easier because the Social Democrats had moved toward the revolutionary camp, but that was only possible because self-described “centrists” practiced authoritarian rule while reactionaries and National Socialists threatened both the left and the workers. In Britain and France, where that degree of instability had largely vanished, the same convergence might prove impossible. Therefore, even at the cost of diluting the revolutionary cause, the left had to stand together.

About two weeks before our departure for Moscow, we began the serious work of drafting and refining the positions we would present. There was an enormous amount to do before we left. First we had to inform the Social Democrats.

“We’ll travel to Moscow on the twenty-fourth. Not the whole group—only about a dozen selected delegates.”

“Both the KPD and the APD?”

“Yes. We will urge the necessity of an international left-wing alliance and lay the groundwork for Comintern-affiliated parties to form coalitions with social-democratic parties in each country.”

“Didn’t you say last time that you would raise the matter at the Second International? I assumed the Third International side was already settled.”

“That was true for Germany, but the center of world communism is Moscow, not Frankfurt. We also want to ensure that communist parties everywhere begin cooperating with social democrats, and to signal to the Second International and the independent socialist camp that the Comintern is making these efforts.”

I laid everything out to Wels without reservation.

“At the Second International World Congress in Vienna this July we will focus on the necessity of world revolution and non-interference in revolutionary processes, so we will not repeat the same points.”

The reason ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for linking up with the Socialist International was to minimize any pretext for Western intervention in the German revolution. Britain and France already lived in dread that any upheaval in Germany would ignite another war.

“Has our Labour Party’s admission to the Socialist International been completed?”

“Not yet, but I sent a direct appeal urging acceptance. They can ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hardly refuse.”

True to his word, a letter soon arrived from London.

“Everything is proceeding smoothly.”

“I look forward to good results, Chairman Heinz.”

After all, the largest party inside the Second International—the German Social Democrats—was now speaking the language of revolution alongside us; it would have been awkward for them to shut us out. That was fortunate in its own right, yet there remained a great deal of other work.

“It’s been so long!”

I visited the very first Worker’s Factory we had established in Koblenz. The old ironworks on the Rhine, far from the city center, had grown beyond recognition in just three months, almost forming its own small industrial district.

“Representative Heinz! It really has been a long time!”

“I’ve been running around to other places and only managed a few visits here in February. Is everyone well?”

“Of course! As more people joined us we purchased several additional plants. We now operate as a fully self-sufficient industrial community.”

The workers proudly guided me through the complex.

“Just as you requested, we incorporated steel production on-site to solve our materials problem… Raw materials are supplied by the unions at the mines and smelters in Cologne and Essen. We’ve also greatly enlarged the buildings so we can handle both light and heavy industry…”

Of course this particular factory was one of the most successful among the dozens now scattered across Germany, yet even allowing for that, the growth was astonishing.

“Wages have risen too! Until February the daily rate was twenty marks; now on good days we can earn forty. Comrades at other factories complain that they work twelve hours and still don’t clear ten marks.”

“You haven’t changed the distribution method? You used to divide everything equally.”

“We tried various ideas—distribution by hours worked, by measured intensity of labor—but everyone agreed that equal shares worked best. So we’ve kept it simple.”

“And the management structure I suggested?”

“That seems to be functioning well. Each worker takes a turn overseeing the entire complex for one day. Within each section we also rotate supervisory responsibility every half-day so no one is stuck doing only the hardest tasks.”

“You’re all doing splendidly!”

The factory that had begun with two hundred people had expanded again and again and now approached three thousand employees. Seeing that it still operated democratically, staying close to the framework I had first laid out, filled me with quiet satisfaction. The Social Democrats would look after things even in my absence, and I would only be gone a month. There was no great cause for worry.

More than a month had now passed since the March Bloody Events had forced the People’s Front’s mass actions into a lull. Preparing for the Comintern World Congress therefore felt like an entirely new chapter. It was oddly refreshing to watch Thälmann—who had once roared for bloody revolution—sitting calmly in the party office with the others, carefully drafting the speech he would deliver in Moscow.

While the three parties of the People’s Front worked in their respective spheres, an incident erupted somewhere far removed from our concerns.

An event had broken out in a place that, for the moment, had little to do with us.