"The Third International was for all practical purposes created in 1918, when the long struggle against opportunism and social chauvinism, particularly during the war years, had led to the creation of Communist parties in a number of countries."2
T HE Third, the Communist International, or Comintern, was founded at the First World Congress, which opened in Moscow on 2 March 1919. The final constitution was promulgated at the 2nd World Congress in July and August of 1920.3
The length of the war and the deprivations and sacrifices it had brought about in every country had given rise to a change of heart, not only among the proletariat of Europe, but also among the bourgeoisie. Nationalistic feelings, so inflamed in 1914, had cooled down considerably. In Germany there had been mass strikes even in 1916 (for example, after the sentencing of Karl Liebknecht). In Berlin alone food shortages in April 1917 caused over 200,000 workers to go on strike.4 The proletariat of Europe greeted the Russian revolution with
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