La Troisième Internationale
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The French Communist Group was a small organization of
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
residents in Russia, founded in Moscow in October 1918.Wohl, Robert.
French Communism in the Making, 1914-1924
'. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1966. p. 143
One of the founders, Jacques Sadoul, had been a French infantry soldier in Russia during World War I but had joined the Red Army and became an organized communist. Prominent members of the French Communist Group included Jacques Sadoul, Pierre Pascal,
Suzanne Girault Suzanne Girault (28 July 1882 – 20 September 1973) was a Swiss-born French politician. From 1923 to 1925, with , she was one of the main leaders of the French Communist Party. She served in the French Senate from 1946 to 1958 as a member of ...
and Henri Guilbeaux. The group was affiliated to the Federation of Foreign Groups of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks). Although the organization was small, it was able to play an important role in educational work that enabled mutinies amongst French interventionist troops in Russia in 1919.Riddell, John. ''Founding the Communist International: Proceedings and Documents of the 1. Congress, March 1919''. New York: Anchor Foundation, 1987. p. 384 The French Communist Group published the weekly newspaper ''La Troisième Internationale'' between October 1918 and March 1919. The newspaper had as its stated goal to promote "the enlightenment of the workers of France, Belgium and Switzerland about the Russian Revolution; agitation among French soldiers at the front in Russia, the organization of French, Belgian and Swiss workers living in Russia." The group was represented by Jacques Sadoul at the founding congress of the Communist International in March 1919. Sadoul participated as a consultative delegate.DELEGATES TO THE FOUNDING CONGRESS OF THE COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL
/ref> The group was torn apart by internal differences and squabbles between Guilbeaux and Sadoul. Victor Serge, who used to assist the meetings of the group in 1920 and 1921, described it as a "little nest of vipers". One of the members of the group, the school teacher Jeanne Labourbe, was executed by French troops in
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in 1919. Labourbe would be iconized as a communist martyr.
Suzanne Girault Suzanne Girault (28 July 1882 – 20 September 1973) was a Swiss-born French politician. From 1923 to 1925, with , she was one of the main leaders of the French Communist Party. She served in the French Senate from 1946 to 1958 as a member of ...
, who would later become a leading figure in the French Communist Party, became the secretary of the French Communist Group in
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in 1919.Lazić, Branko M., and Milorad M. Drachkovitch.
Biographical Dictionary of the Comintern
'. Stanford, Calif: Hoover Institution Press, 1986. p. 141


References

{{reflist Communist Party of the Soviet Union