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 (KAPD) in 1921.
Communist Workers' International Kommunistische Arbeiter-Internationale | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | KAI |
| Founder | Communist Workers' Party of Germany |
| Founded | April 1922 |
| Dissolved | De facto: February 1927 De jure: February 1933 |
| Split from | Communist International |
| Headquarters | Essen (1922-1927) Amsterdam (1927-1933) |
| Ideology | Council communism |
| Political position | Far-left |
History
editThe organisation was founded in 1922, following a split in the KAPD, by members of the Essen Faction, including Herman Gorter and Karl Schröder,[1] the Berlin Faction holding that the formation of an international was premature.[2] It was joined by the Communist Workers' Party of the Netherlands, Sylvia Pankhurst's Communist Workers' Party in Britain, the Left Communists in Russia (who accordingly renamed themselves the Communist Workers' Party), the Communist Workers' Group in Russia and some left communists in Belgium and Bulgaria.[3]
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,[4] and the departure of the Russian Communist Workers' Group, who disagreed with its opposition to a united front with the Third International.[5]
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.[6] 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.[4]
References
edit- ^ Bourrinet 2016, p. 168.
- ^ Bourrinet 2016, pp. 163–164.
- ^ Bourrinet 2016, pp. 170–171.
- ^ a b Dauvé & Authier 1976.
- ^ Hebbes 2005.
- ^ Bourrinet 2016, p. 185.
Bibliography
edit- Bourrinet, Philippe (2016). The Dutch and German Communist Left (1900–68) (PDF). Brill. ISBN 9789004325937. OCLC 7347928396.
- Dauvé, Gilles; Authier, Denis (1976). "Appendix I. The Groupuscular Phase". The Communist Left in Germany (1918-1921). Retrieved 7 February 2018 – via Marxists Internet Archive.
- Hebbes, Ian (2005). "The Communist Left in Russia after 1920". The Russian Communist Left (1918-30). London: International Communist Current. ISBN 1897980108. OCLC 843024052. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
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