The wide-ranging influence of the 1928 decree of the Communist International

Abstract

This article deals with the impact of a decree passed by the Communist International in Moscow in 1928. It shows how it influenced not only the most important communist party outside the Soviet Union at that time, namely the German Communist Party, but also the smallest, the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), both of which were hampered by the rigid doctrinaire beliefs forced upon them by Stalin via the Comintern. The paper argues that the CPSA would have been more successful if it had listened to the views of some black party members. This might have shortened its long period in the political wilderness.