Mid-week history lesson.

The foreign policy of the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1933 is commonly described by historians of the era as “third period communism”.*

The thinking of the boys** at the Comintern was that western society since the revolutions of 1917 had moved in three distinct phases; the “first period” of the initial revolutionary challenge, the “second period” of seeming capitalist revival characterised by the boom of the 1920s and the final “third period” characterised by the Great Depression and the rise of fascism.

The thinking was that fascism was the “final stage” of capitalism and that as the mask began to slip, more people would embrace the revolutionary policies of local communist parties. To that end, local communists were instructed to bring down democratic governments, even if it meant collaborating with local fascists.

The comrades did as instructed and, to take the example of Berlin, worked happily enough with the Nazis to bring down the local Social Democratic state government.

Gee – didn’t that work out well?

These cunts have form when it comes to backing the wrong horse.

* And unofficially described to me by an historian at a party as “a fucking disaster for all concerned”.

** You note I don’t say “the boyars at the Comintern”. Marvel at my restraint.