Bolshevization was the process starting in the mid-1920s by which the pluralistic

Communist International The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by ...

(Comintern) and its constituent

communist parties A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the Socioeconomics, socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Communist Manifesto, The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' ( ...

were increasingly subject to pressure by the

Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (Ru ...

in Moscow to follow

Marxism–Leninism Marxism–Leninism is a List of communist ideologies, communist ideology which was the main communist movement throughout the 20th century. Developed by the Bolsheviks, it was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, its Soviet satellite state ...

. The Comintern became a tool of Soviet foreign policy. That policy downplayed autonomy in favor of support for the Soviet Union and its foreign policy. During the Fifth Congress of the Comintern in 1924, Bolshevization became the general principle. The Sixth Congress in 1928 took a radical turn as the Comintern decided that

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

was reaching its final stages. There was less support for

wars of national liberation Wars of national liberation or national liberation revolutions are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) to establish separa ...

in colonial regions, especially after the collapse of the Comintern in China. In the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). ...

Antonio Gramsci Antonio Francesco Gramsci ( , , ; 22 January 1891 – 27 April 1937) was an Italian Marxist philosopher, journalist, linguist, writer, and politician. He wrote on philosophy, political theory, sociology, history, and linguistics. He was a ...

took the lead in promoting Bolshevization. In Prague, it was Klement Gottwald who came to power in the

Communist Party of Czechoslovakia The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (Czech language, Czech and Slovak language, Slovak: ''Komunistická strana Československa'', KSČ) was a communist and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed be ...

by taking charge of Bolshevization.

Notes

External links

*
Comintern History Archive
at

Marxists Internet Archive Marxists Internet Archive (also known as MIA or Marxists.org) is a non-profit online encyclopedia that hosts a multilingual library (created in 1990) of the works of communist, anarchist, and socialist writers, such as Karl Marx, Friedrich En ...

. {{Communism-stub Comintern Far-left politics Foreign relations of the Soviet Union Stalinism

See also

Notes

Further reading

External links