Lessons for today from Pierre Frank's Histoire de l'Internationale Communiste

These extensive volumes, still unavailable in English, provide more than history

Pierre Frank's Histoire de l'Internationale Communiste offers invaluable insights and lessons for later revolutionary organisations, particularly those operating on a far smaller scale than the mass parties the early Communist International (Comintern or IC) sought to build. Frank's detailed account of the Comintern's formation, its strategic debates, and its eventual degeneration under Stalinism provides both a rich history of revolutionary strategy in action and a critical analysis of the pitfalls that can lead to its undoing. For contemporary groups, often reduced to "small propaganda groups or parties able to engage in limited actions," Frank's work highlights enduring principles while also serving as a cautionary tale about the challenges of maintaining revolutionary integrity in adverse conditions.

A central conclusion drawn from Frank's history is the absolute necessity of an international organisation for the working class, regardless of the immediate scale of its national components. Frank underscores that the Comintern was founded on the principle of serving as the "centre de gravité" (centre of gravity) for the proletariat's class organisation, embodying the revolutionary Marxist outlook. He traces this idea back to Marx himself, who viewed the First International as the "first attempt to provide [the international action of the working classes] with a central organ" [Frank Vol 2, p. 892]. Even after its demise, Marx never abandoned this objective [Frank Vol 1, p. 6]. Similarly, Lenin, particularly from 1914 onwards, consistently stressed the need for a new, Third International, long before it became a widespread reality [Frank Vol 1, p. 11, 12, 65]. Frank argues that while individuals can maintain internationalist convictions, a militant cannot struggle effectively without being integrated into an organisation, even if it is "réduite en nombre" (reduced in number) [Frank Vol 2, p. 897, 65]. The increasingly international nature of contemporary problems means they "can only be resolved through an international exchange of experiences, lessons, theoretical studies and through a coordination and unification of struggles" [Frank Vol 2, p. 897]. Only an international organisation, linked to mass struggles globally via its national sections and independent of any state, can perform the task of analysing the world situation and defining a revolutionary world policy [Frank Vol 2, p. 897, 64].

Frank's history also provides crucial lessons in developing and applying revolutionary strategy and tactics, particularly concerning the United Front [Frank Vol 1, p. 35, 81]. The early Comintern, especially at its 3rd and 4th Congresses, devoted significant effort to elaborating tactical principles for revolutionary intervention, born out of the concrete experiences and debates of the period [Frank Vol 1, p. 32, 35, 87]. The tactic of the United Front was developed precisely as a means for the still-growing but often minority Communist parties to engage with the broader working class and its existing mass organisations, particularly the Social Democratic parties and reformist trade unions [Frank Vol 1, p. 32, 35, 79]. The aim was to propose common action with these organisations on immediate demands, using this joint struggle as a way to connect with the masses, demonstrate the Communists' commitment to their aspirations, and ultimately expose the limitations or betrayals of the reformist leaderships [Frank Vol 1, p. 32, 36, 79, 80, 81]. This tactic was seen as essential for overcoming the isolation faced by the revolutionary vanguard and preventing sectarian errors [Frank Vol 1, p. 36, 79, 80]. Frank details the intense debates surrounding the application of this tactic, notably in Germany after the "action de mars" [Frank Vol 1, p. 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31] and in the discussions with the Italian and French delegations who sometimes adopted more dogmatic or "ultra-left" positions against working with reformist organisations or on partial demands [Frank Vol 1, p. 37, 39, 46]. The Comintern leadership, particularly Lenin and Trotsky, insisted on the necessity of tactical flexibility and the importance of fighting for the majority of the working class through concrete struggles on everyday issues, rather than remaining isolated with formally correct but abstract slogans [Frank Vol 1, p. 29, 30, 17, 32, 36, 34]. For contemporary small groups, these historical experiences highlight that engaging with existing movements and organisations, even those with reformist leaderships, through concrete demands and common action is a necessary means to build influence and avoid the trap of sectarian irrelevance. Frank's analysis of the Comintern's tactical debates serves as a guide on how to do this effectively, distinguishing between tactical alliances for common action and strategic fusion with reformism. The concept of a "workers' government" was also discussed within this framework, representing a potential outcome or slogan arising from United Front dynamics [Frank Vol 1, p. 35, 39, 85, 87].

Frank also chronicles the Comintern's efforts to build mass Communist parties [Frank Vol 1, p. 29]. While the historical context of a post-war revolutionary wave and the prestige of the Russian Revolution provided opportunities for rapid growth in the early years [Frank Vol 1, p. 16], Frank shows that even then, building these parties was a complex process involving intense organisational work and theoretical education [Frank Vol 1, p. 40, 41, 52]. For later groups, operating in a period where "the mass revolutionary working-class movement that found expression in the Comintern is absent almost everywhere", Frank's history implicitly teaches that the fundamental goal of building a revolutionary party remains, but the path may be longer and require different immediate tasks than those undertaken by the early Comintern. The emphasis on linking theory to practice, developing cadres, and rooting the party in the working class remains relevant, but the concrete conditions dictate the specific methods employed [Frank Vol 1, p. 40, 41, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74].

Perhaps the most significant, and negative, lesson from Frank's work is the detailed account of the Comintern's bureaucratic degeneration and its subordination to the interests of the Soviet state [Frank Vol 2, p. 60]. Frank demonstrates how the internal power struggles in the Russian party, leading to Stalin's dominance, became "déterminantes pour l'IC" (determinant for the IC) [Frank Vol 1, p. 52]. The policy of "bolchévisation," initially aimed at strengthening parties, devolved into a means of imposing rigid conformity and stifling internal debate, prohibiting tendencies and factions contrary to the early Comintern's practice of "centralisme démocratique" (democratic centralism) [Frank Vol 1, p. 47]. Crucially, Frank shows how the IC's strategy became "subordonnée alors aux besoins de la diplomatie du Kremlin" (subordinate to the needs of the Kremlin's diplomacy) [Frank Vol 1, p. 52]. Examples such as the IC's shifting line on the war following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact [Frank Vol 2, p. 57, 58, 59] or its silence on significant class struggles in the 1930s when they contradicted Soviet foreign policy objectives [Frank Vol 2, p. 57, 58] illustrate the disastrous consequences of this subordination. The arbitrary dissolution of the Polish Communist Party based on fabricated charges is cited as a tragic example of the bureaucracy's destructive power [Frank Vol 1, p. 56]. This history serves as a powerful warning against the dangers of bureaucratic centralism, the suppression of internal discussion, and the abandonment of independent revolutionary strategy in favour of the interests of a state or external power [Frank Vol 2, p. 52]. For smaller, later groups striving to maintain revolutionary principles, this underscores the vital importance of nurturing internal democracy, critical analysis, and political independence from external pressures.

In summary, Pierre Frank's history of the Comintern, from its revolutionary origins to its Stalinist degeneration, offers critical lessons for Trotskyist groups today. It reaffirms the objective necessity of an international organisation and a clear revolutionary strategy, provides a historical foundation for essential tactics like the United Front to engage with the masses and avoid sectarianism, addresses the enduring challenge of building a revolutionary party adapted to contemporary conditions, and delivers a stern warning against the pitfalls of bureaucratic centralism and political subordination that proved fatal to the IC itself. Frank's work is presented as a contribution to drawing lessons from this complex history for the future of the world socialist revolution [Frank Vol 2, p. 60], guiding those who continue the struggle for socialism.