Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung
May 26, 1943
[Extracted from. a speech explaining the dissolution of the Communist International, delivered on 26 May 1943, to the cadres of Communist Party. 'Chieh-fang jih-pao', 28 May 1943.]
. . . Comrade Mao Tse-tung first pointed out that the dissolution of the Communist International was exactly as an American press agency had reported, 'a great event marking the dividing line between two epochs'...
Comrade Mao Tse-tung asked: 'Why should the Communist International be disbanded? Did it not devote all its efforts to the emancipation of the working class of the whole world and to the war against fascism?'
Comrade Mao Tse-tung said: 'It is true that the Communist International was created by Lenin himself. During its entire existence it has rendered the greatest services in helping each country to organize a truly revolutionary workers' party, and it has also contributed enormously to the great cause of organizing the anti-fascist war.' Comrade Mao Tse-tung pointed particularly to the great services of the Communist International in aiding the cause of the Chinese revolution...
Comrade Mao Tse-tung further pointed out: 'Revolutionary movements can be neither exported nor imported. Despite the fact that aid was accorded by the Communist International, the birth and development of the Chinese Communist Party resulted from the fact that China herself had a conscious working class. The Chinese working class created its own party - the Chinese Communist Party. The Chinese Communist Party, although it has a history of only twenty-two years, has already undertaken three great revolutionary movements' . . .
Since the Communist International has rendered such great services to China and to various other countries, why should it be necessary to proclaim its dissolution? To this question Comrade Mao Tse-tung replied: 'It is a principle of Marxism-Leninism that the forms of revolutionary organizations must be adapted to the necessities of the revolutionary struggle. If a form of organization is no longer adapted to the necessities of the struggle, then this form of organization must be abolished.' Comrade Mao Tse-tung pointed out that at present the form of revolutionary organization known as the Communist International is no longer adapted to the necessities of the struggle. To continue this organizational form would, on the contrary, hinder the development of the revolutionary struggle in each country. What is needed now is the strengthening of the national Communist Party [min-tsu kung-chan tang] of each country, and we no longer need this international leading centre. There are three main reasons for this. (1) The internal situation in each country and the relations between the different countries are more complicated than they have been in the past and are changing more rapidly. It is no longer possible for a unified international organization to adapt itself to these extremely complicated and rapidly changing circumstances. Correct leadership must grow out of a detailed analysis of these conditions, and this makes it even more necessary for the Communist Party of each country to undertake this itself. The Communist International, which is far removed from the concrete struggle in each country, was adapted to the relatively simple condition of the past, when changes took place rather slowly, but not it is no longer a suitable instrument. (2) .... The anti-fascist states are of all kinds: socialist, capitalist, colonial, semi-colonial. Among the fascist states and their vassals there are also great differences; in addition, there are also the neutral countries, which find themselves in varying circumstances. For some time it has been felt that a centralized organization of an international character was not very appropriate for organizing rapidly and efficiently the anti-fascists of all these states, and this has become particularly obvious recently. (3) The leading cadres of the Communist Parties of the various countries have already grown up and attained political maturity. Comrade Mao Tse-tung explained this point by using the example of the Chinese Communist Party. The Chinese Communist Party has been through three revolutionary movements. These revolutionary movements have been continuous and uninterrupted and extraordinarily complex, even more complex than the Russian Revolution. In the course of these revolutionary movements, the Chinese Communist Party has already acquired its own excellent cadres endowed with rich personal experience. Since the Seventh World Congress of' the Communist International in 1935 the Communist International has not intervened in the internal affairs of the Chinese Communist Party. And yet, the Chinese Communist Party has done its work very well, throughout the whole Anti-Japanese War of National Liberation…