Political Internationals
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Concepts
Marxist philosophy Marxian economics Historical materialism Surplus value Mode of production Class struggle Classless society Proletarian internationalism Workers' self-management World revolution |
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Aspects
Communist state Communist party Communist revolution Communist symbolism Communism and religion History of communism |
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Variants
Marxism Leninism Marxism-Leninism Anti-revisionism: Stalinism - Maoism - Hoxhaism Trotskyism Luxemburgism Titoism Juche Castroism Guevarism Left communism Council communism Anarchist communism Religious communism Christian communism Eurocommunism World communism Stateless communism National communism Primitive communism Scientific communism List of communist parties |
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Internationals
Communist League First International Second International Third International Fourth International |
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Leading individuals Gracchus Babeuf Karl Marx Friedrich Engels Peter Kropotkin Rosa Luxemburg Karl Liebknecht Antonio Gramsci Vladimir Lenin Leon Trotsky Joseph Stalin Kim Il-Sung Mao Zedong Ho Chi Minh Palmiro Togliatti Josip Broz Tito Che Guevara |
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Related topics
Anti-capitalism Anti-communism Cold War Communitarianism Criticisms of communism Criticisms of communist party rule Dictatorship of the proletariat Left-wing politics New Class ยท New Left Socialism Socialist economics "Workers of the world, unite!" |
A political international is an organisation of political parties or activists with the aim of co-ordinating their activity for a common purpose. There had been a long tradition of socialists organising on an international basis, and Karl Marx had led the International Workingmen's Association, which later became known as the "first international".
After the International Workingmen's Association disbanded in 1876, several attempts were made to revive the organisation, culminating in the formation of the Socialist International (Second International) in 1889. This, in turn, was disbanded in 1916 following disagreements over World War I. Although the organisation reformed in 1923 as the Labour and Socialist International, supporters of the October Revolution and the Bolsheviks had already set up the Communist International (Comintern), which they regarded as the Third International. This was organised on a democratic centralist basis, with component parties required to fight for policies adopted by the body as a whole.
By declaring themselves the Fourth International, the "World Party of Socialist Revolution", the Trotskyists were publicly asserting their continuity with the Comintern, and with its predecessors. Their recognition of the importance of these earlier Internationals was coupled with a belief that they eventually degenerated. Although the Socialist International and Comintern were still in existence, the Trotskyists did not believe those organisations were capable of supporting revolutionary socialism and internationalism.
The foundation of the Fourth International was therefore spurred in part by a desire to form a stronger political current, rather than being seen as the communist opposition to the Comintern and the Soviet Union. Trotsky believed that its formation was all the more urgent for the role he saw it playing in the impending World War.
Read more about this topic: Fourth International
Famous quotes containing the word political:
“The State is the altar of political freedom and, like the religious altar, it is maintained for the purpose of human sacrifice.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)