The Sixth Congress of the Communist International was held in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

from July 17 to September 1, 1928. The Congress was attended by 515 delegates from 65 organizations (including 50 Communist Parties) from 57 countries. Adopting the theory of the "

Third Period The Third Period is an ideological concept adopted by the Communist International (Comintern) at its Sixth World Congress, held in Moscow in the summer of 1928. It set policy until reversed when the Nazis took over Germany in 1933. The Comint ...

", Congress proclaimed

social democracy Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

to be "

social fascism Social fascism (also socio-fascism) was a theory that was supported by the Communist International (Comintern) and affiliated communist parties in the early 1930s that held that social democracy was a variant of fascism because it stood in the way ...

General assessment of the political environment

The Congress noted the approach of a new ("third") period in the revolutionary development of the world after the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

- a period of a sharp exacerbation of all the contradictions of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

, characterized by an impending global economic crisis, an increase in

class struggle Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The forms ...

and a new upsurge of the

liberation movement A liberation movement is an organization or political movement leading a rebellion, or a non-violent social movement, against a colonial power or national government, often seeking independence based on a nationalist identity and an anti-imperial ...

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

and dependent countries. In this regard, the Congress approved the tactics outlined by the 9th plenum of the

ECCI The Executive Committee of the Communist International, commonly known by its acronym, ECCI (Russian acronym ИККИ), was the governing authority of the Comintern between the World Congresses of that body. The ECCI was established by the Foundin ...

(February 1928), expressed by the formula "class against class".

Social fascism thesis

The Congress developed the strategic directive adopted by the Fifth Congress (1924), according to which, in connection with the left turn of the masses in the capitalist countries, two equally hostile political forces confront the communists there: openly reactionary (

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

) and democratic reformist (

). In accordance with this, the possibility of an alliance of communists with the social democratic parties in joint political actions and in pre-election blocs was rejected. The danger of the activities of the leaders of the "left wing" of social democracy was especially emphasized. The thesis of "

" was generally supported by the congress, only a small part of the delegates opposed it, in particular, the Italian delegation headed by

Palmiro Togliatti Palmiro Michele Nicola Togliatti (; 26 March 1893 – 21 August 1964) was an Italian politician and leader of the Italian Communist Party from 1927 until his death. He was nicknamed ("The Best") by his supporters. In 1930 he became a citizen of ...

. Although the thesis was not included in the program of the Comintern adopted by the Congress, the provisions that social democracy often plays a fascist role in the most critical moments for capitalism, its ideology in many points being in contact with the fascist, were reflected in a number of documents of the congress.

Program and Charter

The Congress adopted the Program and Statutes of the Communist International, which stated that this organization was a "united world communist party." The main work on the draft of the new Program was carried out by

Nikolai Bukharin Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Буха́рин) ( – 15 March 1938) was a Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet politician, Marxist philosopher and economist and prolific author on revolutionary theory. ...

, on behalf of the

Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (, abbreviated: ), or Politburo ( rus, Политбюро, p=pəlʲɪtbʲʊˈro) was the highest policy-making authority within the Communist Party of the ...

. After discussing it in the Politburo and subsequent revision, the draft was submitted to the ECCI and published on May 25 for discussion. In the course of preparation

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

made a number of significant amendments to the text of the Program, making it more "leftist". The Program consolidated the rigid centralization of the leadership of the communist parties and the demand for "international communist discipline", which was to be expressed "in the unconditional implementation by all communists of the decisions of the governing bodies of the Communist International." The Congress' support for Stalin's line strengthened his line in the struggle against "right-wing" tendencies, in particular against Bukharin. According to the Charter, in each country there could be only one Communist Party, called a section of the Comintern. The charter presupposed the obligation of strict international party discipline and the urgent implementation of the resolutions of the Comintern. The sections had the right to appeal against the decisions of the ECCI at the World Congress, but until the congress canceled the decisions of the sections, they were not relieved of the obligation to fulfill them. It was decided to expand the Executive Committee of the Comintern so that it included representatives of all sections united in the Comintern as members or candidates. According to the Charter, the rights of the delegates of the ECCI in certain sections of the Comintern were expanded.

References

External links

VI Конгресс Коминтерна. Стенографический отчет. (М.-Л.: Госиздат, 1929)
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130224035212/http://publ.lib.ru/ARCHIVES/K/Kommunisticheskiy_Internacional/_Komintern.html#1061 , date=2013-02-24 1928 conferences 1928 in politics 1928 in the Soviet Union July 1928 events August 1928 events September 1928 events Comintern Marxism–Leninism