I. The Root of the Problem

1. The revolutionary movement at the close of the imperialist war, and during the succeeding period, has been marked by unprecedented intensity. The month of March 1917 witnessed the overthrow of Tzarism. In May 1917 a vehement strike movement broke out in England. In November 1917 the Russian proletariat seized the power of Government. The month of November 1918 marked the downfall of the German and Austro-Hungarian monarchies. In the course of the succeeding year, a number of European countries were being swept by a powerful strike movement constantly gaining in scope and intensity. In March 1919 a Soviet Republic was inaugurated in Hungary. At the close of that year the United States were convulsed by turbulent strikes involving the metal-workers, miners and railwaymen. Following the January and March battles of 1919, the revolutionary movement in Germany reached its culminating point shortly after the Kapp uprising in March 1920. The internal situation in France became most tense in the month of May 1920. In Italy we witnessed the constant growth of unrest among the industrial and agrarian proletariat leading in September 1920 to the seizure of the factories, mills and estates by the workers. In December 1920 the Czech proletariat resorted to the weapon of the proletarian mass strike. March 1921 marked the uprising of workers in Central Germany and the coal miners’ strike in England.

Having reached its highest point in those countries which had been involved in the war, particularly in the defeated countries, the revolutionary movement spread to the neutral countries as well. In Asia and in Africa, the movement aroused and intensified the revolutionary spirit of the great masses of the colonial countries But this powerful revolutionary wave did not succeed in sweeping away international capitalism; nor even the capitalist order of Europe itself.

2. A number of uprisings and revolutionary battles have taken place during the year that elapsed between the Second and Third Congress of the Communist International, which resulted in sectional defeats. (The Red Army offensive near Warsaw in August 1920, the movement of the Italian proletariat in September 1920, and the uprising of the German workers in March 1921).

Following the close of the war which has been characterised by the elemental nature of the revolutionary onslaught, by the considerable formlessness of its methods and aims, and the extreme panic of the ruling classes, the first period of the revolutionary movement may now be regarded as having reached its termination. The self-confidence of the bourgeoisie as a class, and the apparent stability of its governmental apparatus, has undoubtedly become strengthened. The fear of Communism haunting the bourgeoisie, without having disappeared, has nevertheless somewhat relaxed. The leading spirits of the bourgeoisie are now even boasting of the might of their governmental apparatus, and have assumed the offensive against the labouring masses everywhere, on both the economic and political fields.

3. This situation presents the following questions to the Communist International and to the entire working class:

To what extent does this transformation in the relations between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat correspond to the actual balance of the contending forces? Is it true that the bourgeoisie is about to restore the social balance which had been upset by the war? Is there any ground to suppose that the period of political upheaval and of class war is going to be superseded by a new epoch of restoration and Capitalist development? Does not this necessitate a revision of the programme and tactics of the Communist International?