IN SEARCH OF REVOLUTION: INTERNATIONAL COMMUNIST PARTIES IN THE THIRD PERIOD; ED. BY MATTHEW WORLEY

The end of the Cold War and the opening of the Soviet, and especially the Communist International (Comintern), archives, have revolutionized the history and historiography of Communism and the Soviet Union and national communist parties. And nowhere has the upheaval been greater than in the history of the "Third Period". The Comintern officially announced in 1928 the "Third Period" in capitalist development and communist struggle. All national communist parties had to cease collaboration with social democrat and labor movements and adopt the policy of 'class against class' as dictated by Moscow. Most historians have seen this policy as a disaster leading to the demise of communism as an international force. However, this collection of contributions by an international team of scholars demonstrates not only that international communism survived, national parties flourished, fought fascism, and the Popular Front emerged as a major international force. ‘I believe we have a new phase – a phase in which the process of the stabilisation of capitalism brings forward its contradictions in ever sharper form. The relations between the classes are sharpening... capitalism is attacking. The working class is daily becoming more convinced of the necessity of active and determined struggle'. (Nikolai Bukharin) Between 1928 and 1935, the international communist movement prepared itself for imminent revolution. Against a background of Stalin's ultimate rise to power, the Soviet Union's first five-year plan, and the ‘great depression'augmented by the Wall Street crash, the Communist International ordained a ‘Third Period'of capitalist development since the Great War. In such circumstances, capitalism was deemed to be in its final death throes. Economic crisis was to facilitate the rise of fascism, broadly recognised to be the last desperate attempt of the ruling class to hold on to power, while the various Labour, Socialist and Nationalist parties across the world were dismissed as ‘social fascists'; abetters of the bourgeoisie who deceived the working class into believing social progress could be achieved peaceably under capitalism. Yet, despite the revolutionary aspirations of the various national communist parties, the Third Period would become renown for the victory of Nazism and the crushing of the powerful German labour movement. Rather than instigate successful revolution, the victory of Stalin prompted an internal communist civil war, with the various national communist parties seeking to purge themselves of those regarded as insufficiently committed to the Soviet leadership or the ‘new line'of the International.'In Search of Revolution'considers the experience of sixteen communist parties during this time, outlining the multiple contexts in which party members planned for revolution against the simultaneous desire for a centrally organised, disciplined and international movement. In so doing, previously held assumptions about the history of communism are challenged and qualified, as the complexities of each communist party's history are set against the overriding demands of Moscow. Though the search for revolution was unsuccessful, the Communist International's Third Period would help define a critical moment of the twentieth century. The end of the Cold War and the opening of the Soviet, and especially the Comintern, archives, have revolutionised the history and historiography of Communism and the Soviet Union and national communist parties. And nowhere has the upheaval been greater than in the history of the ‘Third Period'. The Communist International (Comintern) officially announced in 1928 the ‘Third Period'in capitalist development and communist struggle. All national communist parties had to cease collaboration with social democrat and Labour movements and adop tthe policy of ‘class against class'as dictated by Moscow. Most historians have seen this policy as a disaster leading to the demise of communism as an international force. However, this collection of contributions by an international team of scholars demonstrates not only that international communism survived, national parties flourished, fought fascism, and the Popular Front emerged as amajor international force. Courting Disaster? : The Communist International In The Third Period / Matthew Worley -- Storm Over Asia : Comintern Colonial Policy In The Third Period / John Callaghan -- Presenting A Crisis As An Opportunity : The Kpd And The Third Period, 1929-33 / Norman Laporte -- To The Left And Back Again : The Communist Party Of Great Britain In The Third Period / Matthew Worley -- The Italian Communist Party And The Third Period / Aldo Agosti -- French Communism, The Comintern And Class Against Class : Interpretations And Rationales / Stephen Hopkins -- Wreckage Or Recovery : A Tale Of Two Parties / Geoffrey Swain -- The Portuguese Communist Party, Its Ancillary Organizations, And The Communist International's Third Period / Carlos A. Cunha -- The Good Bolsheviks : The Spanish Communist Praty And The Third Period / Tim Rees -- A Final Stab At Insurrection : The American Communist Party, 1928-34 / James Ryan -- Red Or Yellow? : Canadian Communists And The Long Third Period, 1927-36 / John Manley -- The New Line In The Antipodes : Australian Communists And Class Against Class / Stuart Macintyre -- The Communist Party Of New Zealand And The Third Period, 1928-35 / Kerry Taylor -- The Chinese Communist Party During The Third Period, 1927-34 / Patricia Stranahan -- Blowing Up India : The Comintern And India, 1928-35 / John Callaghan -- The New Line In South Africa : Ideology And Perception In A Very Small Communist Party / Allison Drew -- Moscow In The Tropics : The Third Period, Brazilian Style / Marco Santana. Edited By Matthew Worley. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "The end of the Cold War and the opening of the Soviet, and especially Comintern, archives, have revolutionized the history and historiography of Communism and the Soviet Union and national communist parties. Nowhere has the upheaval been greater than in the history of the "Third Period". The Communist International (Comintern) officially announced in 1928 the "Third Period" in capitalist development and communist struggle. All national communist parties had to cease collaboration with social democrat and labour movements and adopt the policy of "class against class" as dictated by Moscow. Most historians have seen this policy as a disaster leading to the demise of communism as an international force. However, this collection of contributions by an international team of scholars demonstrates not only that international communism survived, national parties flourished, fought fascism, and the Popular Front emerged as a major international force."--Bloomsbury Publishing The Third Period formed a part of what the Communist International (Comintern) recognised as a 'series of historical phases of development' passed through by the international labour movement in the wake of the Great War (1914-18).