Vol. XIII (2007), no 20 - The International Newsletter of Communist ...

The International Newletter of Communist Studies Online XIII (2007), no 20 106
ideological and organisational influence the communists once had over the LAI suddenly
disappeared, transforming the LAI into an overt Socialist organization.
This project focuses primarily on the colonial and anti-imperialist front organization LAI, its
base and network in Berlin in conjunction with Comintern headquarters in Moscow during the
Inter-war era, a project that shall lead to the presentation of a dissertation on the subject. 163
The LAI is an organization which has been mentioned in previous research, but its function
and role as a front organization during the Inter-war has never been fairly investigated. The
purpose of this synopsis is not to go into far-reaching detail on the life and decline of the LAI,
instead of this, some methodological perspectives in how to approach an organization as the
LAI shall be introduced and discussed. The question, whether or not the LAI was perceived in
Moscow at Comintern headquarters as a specific important tool, apart from other Comintern
front and relief organizations which could be utilized for similar purposes, shall be discussed
further on, relying on empirical material and a specific case-study.
The main purpose of the LAI was to act as a connective force. Relying on the principle to
engage individuals and organizations (European working class organizations, radical and
pacifist intellectuals active either as artists or scientists, and representatives from the
colonial world) it was concerned with the social and political development in the colonial and
semi-colonial part of the world, and it sought to create a common platform for these
elements to join together. By preparing an international congress for 1927, LAI Secretary and
Hungarian Comintern functionary Louis Gibarti claimed in 1926 that a colonial “pilgrimage”
would indeed “mirror the general mood” and serve as an impressive demonstration. 164
Münzenberg argued in 1928 at the Sixth Comintern Congress in Moscow that the aim of the
LAI’s work was to “awaken the apathetic, to build bridges to non-party people, to provide
organizations for sympathizers with the USSR … to find recruits for communism”. 165 Some
research questions consequently are linked to this: why a league against imperialism and
what function and degree of importance did it have for the Comintern? In the long run, which
function did a non-party organizations as the LAI tend to assume for the Comintern, and to
what extent did Comintern headquarters in Moscow try to control the organisational
structures and main ideas developed in Berlin?
LAI was not the first front organization to focus on the colonies. Prototypes such as the
Hands Off China Campaign (1925), the Committee against the Cruelties in Syria (1925), and
the League against Colonial Oppression (LACO, 1926) had been founded, mostly active in
Germany. At the Brussels Congress in February 1927, these three constellations merged with
the LAI. 166 The following campaigns, committees and organizations came into existence on
163
The dissertation project is also a part of the research project run by Professor Holger Weiss and PhD
Risto Marjomaa, Comintern and African Nationalism, 1921-1935, Åbo University/Academy, Finland. For
specific information see: http://www.abo.fi/fak/hf/hist/forsk_komintern.htm. Professor Weiss acts as
supervisor of the dissertation.
164
BArch R 3003/ORA/1218 Sammlung 6 – Rote Hilfe, pp. 29-30, “Der koloniale Freiheitskampf –
Mitteilungsblatt der Liga gegen Unterdrückung“, Nr. 3, Berlin, 5/7-1926. Louis Gibarti (real name: Laszlo
Dobos, alias used: Otto), was one of Münzenberg’s closest collaborators in the League.
165
Jane Degras, The Communist International 1919-1943 Documents – Volume II 1923-1928, Oxford
University Press, 1960, p.465
166
Der Brüsseler Kongress. Gegen Imperialismus und für nationale Unabhängigkeit. Vom 10. bis 15.
Februar 1927 im Palais Egmont – Brüssel. Auszug aus den Reden die wichtigsten Beschlüsse und