CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2018
| Author | Guzvica, Stefan |
|---|---|
| Title | Learning Leninism: Factional Struggles in the Communist Party of Yugoslavia during the Great Purge (1936-1940) |
| Summary | This thesis is an examination of factional struggles in the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ) during the Great Purge, from 1936 until 1940. An understanding of this conflict is crucial for completing the picture of the evolution of the KPJ in the interwar period, and its relationship to the Communist International, as well as for reevaluating the roots of the Tito-Stalin Split. The research sheds new light on the process of appointing a general secretary in the midst of the Great Purge, whilst also offering an alternative understanding of the relations between the Comintern and its constituent parties. In spite of the frequently repeated assumption that the KPJ was an insignificant satellite of the Comintern, completely subjected to the decisions of its Executive Committee, the argument of this work is that the Yugoslav communists still enjoyed a large degree of autonomy. Their Moscow superiors were far from detached, but they encouraged and expected independent actions. Tito was the candidate who understood this expectation the best, which gave him a crucial advantage in the factional struggle. Moreover, the struggle involved communists from many other communist parties, showing how political networks of the Comintern often transcended national ties, and reminding us that the history of national sections of the Third International can never be observed in a vacuum. The research begins by tracing the rise and fall of Milan Gorkić, the de facto leader of the KPJ from 1932 until 1937. The clash between him and his opponents, who accused him of “rightist deviation” at the April Plenum in 1936, drew the attention of the Comintern, which saw the conflict as a revival of factionalism. The following year saw the purging of the former oppositionists within the KPJ, mostly Trotskyists. Gorkić soon became a victim of the Great Purge as well, sparking an all-out struggle for leadership over the party. The main contenders for the vacant position of the general secretary were Josip Broz Tito, whose group was dubbed the Temporary Leadership; Ivo Marić and Labud Kusovac, who led the so-called Parallel Center; Petko Miletić, the leader of an ultra-left group called the Wahhabis; and Kamilo Horvatin, the KPJ representative to the Comintern. After over two and a half years of conflict, Tito emerged as the new general secretary. The KPJ was, by and large, a party on the left of the international communist movement. All of the main leadership candidates were leftists, which was not ideal in the period of the popular front, when the Communist International required moderation and cooperation. Tito prevailed over other candidates primarily because of a proper understanding of Leninism as defined by the Comintern at the time, and the practical achievements in reviving the party organization in the country. As a consequence of the purge, the factional struggle, and the practical political experiences of the newly-formed leadership, the period between 1936 and 1940 became the key formative period, playing a crucial role in the making of the KPJ as we know it from the 1940s on. Thus, the story of the KPJ leadership struggle in the late 1930s is, in a lot of ways, a prehistory of 1948. |
| Supervisor | Rieber, Alfred Joseph |
| Department | History MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2018/guzvica_stefan.pdf |
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