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The First Five Years of the Communist International Vols. 1 & 2
Following the October Revolution of 1917, a revolutionary wave swept across Europe. In this period, Leon Trotsky, along with Lenin, was pivotal in setting up the Third (Communist) International, which represented a world party of the working class. The International could not be conjured out of thin air. Much like the Bolshevik Party, it had to be built through struggle against many different tendencies and ideas.
This book collects all of Trotsky’s writings and speeches related to the first five years of the Communist International. Highlighting the tasks he and Lenin faced in trying to educate the young communist parties of Germany, France and elsewhere, it deals with many problems that the working-class movement still comes up against today. This includes the question of the United Front, the national question, the consciousness of the working class and how it changes and much more.
This book collects all of Trotsky’s writings and speeches related to the first five years of the Communist International. Highlighting the tasks he and Lenin faced in trying to educate the young communist parties of Germany, France and elsewhere, it deals with many problems that the working-class movement still comes up against today. This includes the question of the United Front, the national question, the consciousness of the working class and how it changes and much more.
739 pages, Paperback
Published July 1, 2020
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Leon Trotsky
1,088 books796 followersSee also Лев Троцкий
Russian theoretician Leon Trotsky or Leon Trotski, originally Lev Davidovitch Bronstein, led the Bolshevik of 1917, wrote Literature and Revolution in 1924, opposed the authoritarianism of Joseph Stalin, and emphasized world; therefore later, the Communist party in 1927 expelled him and in 1929 banished him, but he included the autobiographical My Life in 1930, and the behest murdered him in exile in Mexico.
The exile of Leon Trotsky in 1929 marked rule of Joseph Stalin.
People better know this Marxist. In October 1917, he ranked second only to Vladimir Lenin. During the early days of the Soviet Union, he served first as commissar of people for foreign affairs and as the founder and commander of the Red Army and of war. He also ranked among the first members of the Politburo.
After a failed struggle of the left against the policies and rise in the 1920s, the increasing role of bureaucracy in the Soviet Union deported Trotsky. An early advocate of intervention of Army of Red against European fascism, Trotsky also agreed on peace with Adolf Hitler in the 1930s. As the head of the fourth International, Trotsky continued to the bureaucracy in the Soviet Union, and Ramón Mercader, a Soviet agent, eventually assassinated him. From Marxism, his separate ideas form the basis of Trotskyism, a term, coined as early as 1905. Ideas of Trotsky constitute a major school of Marxist. The Soviet administration never rehabilitated him and few other political figures.
Russian theoretician Leon Trotsky or Leon Trotski, originally Lev Davidovitch Bronstein, led the Bolshevik of 1917, wrote Literature and Revolution in 1924, opposed the authoritarianism of Joseph Stalin, and emphasized world; therefore later, the Communist party in 1927 expelled him and in 1929 banished him, but he included the autobiographical My Life in 1930, and the behest murdered him in exile in Mexico.
The exile of Leon Trotsky in 1929 marked rule of Joseph Stalin.
People better know this Marxist. In October 1917, he ranked second only to Vladimir Lenin. During the early days of the Soviet Union, he served first as commissar of people for foreign affairs and as the founder and commander of the Red Army and of war. He also ranked among the first members of the Politburo.
After a failed struggle of the left against the policies and rise in the 1920s, the increasing role of bureaucracy in the Soviet Union deported Trotsky. An early advocate of intervention of Army of Red against European fascism, Trotsky also agreed on peace with Adolf Hitler in the 1930s. As the head of the fourth International, Trotsky continued to the bureaucracy in the Soviet Union, and Ramón Mercader, a Soviet agent, eventually assassinated him. From Marxism, his separate ideas form the basis of Trotskyism, a term, coined as early as 1905. Ideas of Trotsky constitute a major school of Marxist. The Soviet administration never rehabilitated him and few other political figures.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 9, 2025
A daunting book to say "to read and re-read" about, but it's worth it, considering it's practically a guidebook demonstrating the method behind revolutionary organizing. It's a history documenting the formation of the comintern, and a compilation of the discussions, polemics, crises, and projects within the comintern during and surrounding its first four congresses following the 1917 October revolution. These 5 years of political activity were some of the most politically urgent years of human history.
This book allows us to see exactly how the communist revolutionaries thought about, responded to, and discussed such historic events as the Italian revolution and counter revolution, the German revolutions and the successes and failures of the German Communists in connection with it, the post WW1 international economic crisis and more.
There is a considerable amount pertaining to the development of the French communist party as it navigated various forms and factions of opportunism/anarcho-syndicalism resultant from its working class being repeatedly betrayed by the prominent French left wing organizations for decades.
The method, perspective, and attitude shown by these documents can suffice by comparison to indict the Stalinization of the comintern later on. By the time of Lenin's death in 1924, the process had already been under way, and the comintern came to resemble less and less a revolutionary weapon, and more an arm of bureacracy.
The book goes in depth into the tactic of the United Front, political perspectives, dialectical materialist economics, mechanical "marxism" vs actual Marxism, "leftism" vs Communism, and so, so much more. This really is an indispensable resource for all serious communists to take the time to study.
This book allows us to see exactly how the communist revolutionaries thought about, responded to, and discussed such historic events as the Italian revolution and counter revolution, the German revolutions and the successes and failures of the German Communists in connection with it, the post WW1 international economic crisis and more.
There is a considerable amount pertaining to the development of the French communist party as it navigated various forms and factions of opportunism/anarcho-syndicalism resultant from its working class being repeatedly betrayed by the prominent French left wing organizations for decades.
The method, perspective, and attitude shown by these documents can suffice by comparison to indict the Stalinization of the comintern later on. By the time of Lenin's death in 1924, the process had already been under way, and the comintern came to resemble less and less a revolutionary weapon, and more an arm of bureacracy.
The book goes in depth into the tactic of the United Front, political perspectives, dialectical materialist economics, mechanical "marxism" vs actual Marxism, "leftism" vs Communism, and so, so much more. This really is an indispensable resource for all serious communists to take the time to study.
December 11, 2021
Handily compiled into a single volume, this is not just a history of the early Comintern by Trotsky, but an encyclopaedia of genuine Communist policies and methods. In working to build a unified, disciplined and truly revolutionary international, the communist movement faced many controversies which were dealt with in turn by the leading lights of Marxism, not least of whom were Lenin and Trotsky.
Fierce polemics are always matched with comradely concern, as political explanation and unity is constantly sought to create the only firm foundation on which a genuinely revolutionary, truly proletarian Communist party can be built -- at the local, national or world scale.
These early years of the Communist movement could not be further from the degenerate apparatus the Comintern would be transformed into after the rise of Stalin. While many will be familiar with the negative lessons of the bureaucratised Comintern, the 'First Five Years' demonstrates the positive: how a revolutionary party and leadership is forged.
Fierce polemics are always matched with comradely concern, as political explanation and unity is constantly sought to create the only firm foundation on which a genuinely revolutionary, truly proletarian Communist party can be built -- at the local, national or world scale.
These early years of the Communist movement could not be further from the degenerate apparatus the Comintern would be transformed into after the rise of Stalin. While many will be familiar with the negative lessons of the bureaucratised Comintern, the 'First Five Years' demonstrates the positive: how a revolutionary party and leadership is forged.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews