Bolshevising Irish communism: the Communist International and the formation of the Revolutionary Workers’ Groups, 1927–31

2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (132) ◽  
pp. 452-469
Author(s):  
Emmet O’Connor
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Executive Committee ◽  
National Level ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Democratic Centralism ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Anglophone World ◽  
At Home

During the 1920s the Communist International, or Comintern, attached exceptional importance to Ireland for the potential of its anti-imperialist forces to foment revolution at home, enlist the Irish diaspora, and encourage unrest in Britain and the Empire. In this way the Comintern might strengthen its relatively feeble bridgehead in the anglophone world and embarrass Britain, the keystone of Russia’s enemies. However, the Comintern encountered repeated frustration in attempting to direct its Irish sections until 1929 when it approved an initiative to create a Bolshevised party. At national level, Bolshevisation meant the application of the Leninist principles of unity, discipline and democratic centralism. Crucially, Bolsheviks understood their national sections to belong to a world party directed by the Executive Committee of the Communist International (E.C.C.I.) in Moscow. In the global context, it also meant the subordination of the Comintern to the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) (V.K.P./b.), as the Soviet party was called, and the interests of the Soviet Union. Both levels of Bolshevisation went hand in hand in Ireland, where a new party was built from scratch between 1929 and 1933.

Gorbachev, ideology, and the fate of Soviet communism

2000 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 457-474
Author(s):  
R. Judson Mitchell ◽  
Randall S. Arrington
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Party Leader ◽  
Mikhail Gorbachev ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
Democratic Centralism ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Party Elites ◽  
Basic Source ◽  
The Russian Federation

The collapse of the Soviet Union has spurred much scholarly debate about the reasons for the rapid disintegration of this apparently entrenched system. In this article, it is argued that the basic source of ultimate weakness was the obverse of the system’s strengths, especially its form of organization and its relation to Marxist–Leninist ideology. Democratic centralism provided cohesion for the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) but also gave inordinate control over ideology to the party leader. Mikhail Gorbachev carried out an ideological revision that undercut the legitimacy of party elites and his restructuring of the system left the party with no clear functional role in the society. The successor party, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), has made a surprising comeback for communism, utilizing the Leninist model of party organization, which has proved to be highly effective in the Russian political culture. Furthermore, the CPRF, under party leaders like Gennadi Zyuganov, has avoided Gorbachev’s ideological deviations while attempting to broaden the party’s base through the cultivation of Russian nationalism.

Deng Xiaoping: The Statesman

1993 ◽  
Vol 135 ◽  
pp. 551-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Yahuda
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Deng Xiaoping ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Moral Dimensions ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
At Home

Alone of the world's Communist leaders, Deng Xiaoping has charted a course that has combined for his country rapid economic development, successful economic reform and openness to the capitalistic international economy with continued dictatorship by the Communist Party. Under his leadership Communist rule in China has survived the demise of Communism in Eastern Europe and the disintegration of the Soviet Union-the motherland of Communism. In the process the regime has weathered the ending of the Cold War and has become more engaged with the Asia-Pacific region. But Deng's reputation at home and abroad has been badly tarnished by his ruthlessness in masterminding the Tiananmen massacre of 4 June 1989. But that ruthlessness is absolutely central to Deng's political philosophy and strategy. For him it is the basis of order at home which alone ensures that the economic policies of reform and openness can be carried out without undermining Communist Party rule through the spread of liberal influences. In so far as statesmanship requires moral dimensions it will be necessary in assessing the quality of Deng's statesmanship to consider the meaning of statesmanship itself.

scholarly journals Nesutarimai ir kovos dėl lyderystės tarp Lietuvos komunistų 1935–1937 m.

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019/1 ◽  
pp. 101-125
Author(s):  
Marius Ėmužis
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Executive Committee ◽  
Opposite Effect ◽  
Central Committee ◽  
Moral Authority ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Everyday

This article analyses the internal fight between the leadership of the Communist Party of Lithuania (LCP) in the 1930s. In the 1920s and early 1930s the LCP had two strong leaders: Zigmas Angarietis and Vincas Kapsukas who disagreed on some revolutionary tactics related issues. Z. Angarietis, being the leader of the Lithuanian section in the Comintern, was in control of many of the everyday affairs of the Communist underground movement in Lithuania and the Soviet Union. Being able to send young revolutionaries to Communist schools and courses in Moscow, he attracted some ollowers. V. Kapsukas, however, being an old revolutionary Bolshevik and one of the ideologues of Lithuanian Communism, was a moral authority, who also attracted followers. Following the death of V. Kapsukas in 1935, Z. Angarietis wished to advance with the new Comintern tactics of popular fronts and thus wanted to consolidate his power in Lithuania, though some of the former V. Kapsukas’ followers, mainly Aizikas Lifšicas and Karolis Grosmanas, disagreed with Z. Angarietis and the new tactics. Z. Angarietis managed to replace them but they started objecting their ousting by sending letters to other LCP Central Committee members and the Comintern Executive Committee. This had the opposite effect as Z. Angarietis and his followers started to suspect both A. Lifšicas and K. Grosmanas of treason and of being Trotskyists. Finally, A. Lifšicas was expelled from the party and K. Grosmanas, acknowledging his guilt, was spared. Z. Angarietis and his followers, advancing the new Comintern tactics (adopted at the seventh congress) managed to expand the circle of Communist sympathizers which proved very useful in the new administration after the occupation of 1940.

Communism

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Archie Brown
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
State Ownership ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Communist Society ◽  
Democratic Centralism ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Ideology ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Means Of Production

The chapter traces pre-Marxist ideas of a communist society before outlining the main elements of the Communist doctrine of Marx, Engels, and Lenin. Particular attention is paid to the theory and practice of Communist parties in power. The Soviet Union, China, and Yugoslavia developed models which varied both over time and from each other. Nevertheless, six defining characteristics of Communist ideology are identified and elaborated—the monopoly of power of the ruling Communist party; democratic centralism; state ownership of the means of production; centrally planned rather than market economy; membership of an international Communist movement; and the aspiration, in principle, to move eventually to a stateless, classless communist society. During the Soviet perestroika all six of these features were discarded. In contemporary China only the first two of the six remain. Communism no longer exists as a serious ideological and political force.

Legislative Authority in the Soviet Political System

Slavic Review ◽  
1971 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Richard Little
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Constitutional Law ◽  
Political System ◽  
National Level ◽  
Communist Society ◽  
Legislative Authority ◽  
Legislative Body ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Right

It is a settled principle of Soviet constitutional law that the USSR Supreme Soviet is the supreme representative organ, the supreme legislative body, and the supreme executor of the people's sovereignty. The 1936 Constitution subordinates all other organs of government to the Supreme Soviet, and it alone, on the national level, has the right to form governments, pass laws, and amend the Constitution. The Constitution also stipulates, however, that the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is “the vanguard of the workers in their struggle for the construction of a communist society and constitutes the guiding core of all workers’ organizations, public as well as governmental.”

Vanguard of the Revolution

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. James McAdams
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
North Korea ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
Modern World ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Revolution

This book is a sweeping history of one of the most significant political institutions of the modern world. The communist party was a revolutionary idea long before its supporters came to power. The book argues that the rise and fall of communism can be understood only by taking into account the origins and evolution of this compelling idea. It shows how the leaders of parties in countries as diverse as the Soviet Union, China, Germany, Yugoslavia, Cuba, and North Korea adapted the original ideas of revolutionaries like Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin to profoundly different social and cultural settings. The book is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand world communism and the captivating idea that gave it life.

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