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| | Glossary of Organisations: Co |
 | | In 1919 the Communist International (Comintern) was founded, and as a precondition for membership all national sections of the Comintern (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Spain, etc.) had to change their name to "Communist," thus moving forward towards distinguishing themselves from the crumbling Social Democracy (and the Second International) of the past. |
 | | A great many Communists, however, saw these moves as compromises to capitalism, and believed from their experiences in the Civil War that the dictatorship of the proletariat meant the dictatorship of the Communist Party above all others, both in times of peace and in war. |
 | | The understanding was that since the communists support the working class as a whole, there is no need for "so-called" democracy, no need for freedom of speech or the press, because the Communist party knows all and does all that is good for the working class. |
| www.marxists.org /glossary/orgs/c/o.htm (3798 words) |
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