The Communist Workers' International (german: Kommunistische Arbeiter-Internationale, KAI) or Fourth Communist International was a council communist international. It was founded around the ''Manifesto of the Fourth Communist International'', published by the

Communist Workers' Party of Germany The Communist Workers' Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Arbeiter-Partei Deutschlands; KAPD) was an anti-parliamentarian and left communist party that was active in Germany during the time of the Weimar Republic. It was founded in April ...

(KAPD) in 1921.

History

The organisation was founded in 1922, following a split in the KAPD, by members of the

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Do ...

Faction, including Herman Gorter and Karl Schröder, the

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

Faction holding that the formation of an international was premature. It was joined by the Communist Workers' Party of the Netherlands, Sylvia Pankhurst's Communist Workers' Party in Britain, the Left Communists in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

(who accordingly renamed themselves the Communist Workers' Party), the Communist Workers' Group in Russia and some left communists in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. The International was never able to organise joint activities and probably never reached 1,000 members. It was weakened by the divisions (and in some cases dissolution) of the parties that formed it, and the departure of the Russian Communist Workers' Group, who disagreed with its opposition to a united front with the Third International. The KAPD's Essen Tendency dissolved in 1927, and the leadership of the International was passed to the Netherlands, as the Dutch group was the only party still holding membership, the other constituents being isolated individuals. It still nominally existed at the start of the 1930s, but undertook no international activity, only publishing work in the name of the organisation, until it was formally dissolved in February 1933.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Richard Gombin, ''The Radical Tradition: Council Communism''Commentary on Herman Gorter's ''Open Letter to Comrade Lenin''
{{Political internationals 1922 establishments in Germany 1927 disestablishments in Germany 1933 disestablishments in the Netherlands Organizations established in 1921 Organizations disestablished in 1927 Organizations disestablished in 1933