In May 1947 Joseph Stalin decided to dissolve the Comintern, also called the Third International. It was an organisation uniting the communist parties all around the world. Thanks to its functioning the Soviets, who pulled the organisation’s strings, were able to control communist activities in different parts of the globe. The parties who formed the Cominterm were considered to be Moscow spies and not without reason. However, the course of World War II and the disposition for closer cooperation between the West and the Soviet Union forced Stalin to bring about its dissolution. This was his way of showing “good will” to the Americans and British, pointing out that the world communist revolution was no longer in his sphere of interests. But the war finally came to an end, and along with it, Stalin’s “good will”…
Strengthening the friendship
In the new, post-war reality the world was divided into two main blocks – the eastern one, under the leadership of the Soviet Union and western one, with the United States at its helm. To display the advantage of being in any one of them, both external and internal consistency of a given camp was a necessity. All members had to pull together in the same direction. This effect is not an one easy to achieve, although it is not impossible. The critical factor is discipline and control , which the Soviets understood very well. It comes as no surprise that they were keen on the idea of the “resurrection” of the Comintern, but in a different form. Interestingly, it was an idea that did not originate from them…
From Yugoslavia to Szklarska Poręba
One of Stalins’s closest friends was the leader of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz-Tito. He was the one who proposed the creation of a new organisation, which would unite communistic parties from around the globe. Leaders of those parties from The USSR, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, France and Italy met in Szklarska Poręba on the 22nd of September 1947. The meeting was led by Stalin’s close aide Andrei Zhdanov (this closeness can be underlined by the fact that two years later Stalin’s daughter was married to Zhdanov’s son). Neither Stalin nor Tito were present at this meeting. The issue of the creation of an Information Office to coordinate the actions of the communists was presented by Władysław Gomułka. He was not a die-hard supporter of this idea himself, being afraid that this may cause too far-reaching restrictions on the independence of individual parties. Gomułka was not alone in his fears. Many other participants of the conference, except for the representatives of The USSR and Yugoslavia, were unconvinced of the validity of creating a new formation. Zhdanov then consulted with Stalin, who agreed that limitations should be placed on the powers of this new unit. And that is how Cominform – the Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers’ Parties – came into existence.
Belgrade, Bucharest and nothing
Belgrade, capital city of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was chosen as the headquarters of Cominform. It did not last long however. In 1948 a huge conflict erupted between Stalin and Tito. As its result, Yugoslavia was dismissed from Cominform and isolated from the circle of those countries of the eastern bloc. As a result of these events the headquarters of the Information Office obviously had to be changed. This doubtfully proud role was taken on by Bucharest, and as in Belgrade, it was a short-lived one. After Stalin’s death and the rise of the Warsaw Pact, Cominform was dissolved in 1956.