Cominform
코민포름
The international coordination body linking nine European communist and workers' parties under Soviet leadership from 1947 to 1956. Not a successor to the Comintern (dissolved 1943), the Cominform was created to block the Marshall Plan and enforce a common line across the Soviet bloc at the onset of the Cold War. It was launched alongside Zhdanov's 'Two Camps' doctrine, and the 1948 expulsion of Yugoslavia in the Tito–Stalin split triggered purges across Eastern Europe. Dissolved in 1956 during Khrushchev's de-Stalinization and rapprochement with Yugoslavia, its functions were effectively taken over by Comecon and the Warsaw Pact.
In depth
The Cominform (Communist Information Bureau, officially the Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers' Parties) was launched in September 1947 at Szklarska Poręba, Poland, by nine parties: those of the USSR, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia, France, and Italy. Its nominal purpose was 'the exchange of experience and, where necessary, coordination of activity on the basis of mutual agreement,' but in practice it served as an instrument of Soviet foreign policy to block the Marshall Plan and enforce ideological uniformity on Eastern European communist parties. Andrei Zhdanov's report at the founding conference became the origin of the 'Two Camps' doctrine, dividing the world into an imperialist camp and an anti-imperialist democratic camp.
After Yugoslavia was expelled in June 1948 for refusing to accept limits on its independence, the headquarters moved from Belgrade to Bucharest. The expulsion triggered a wave of purges of alleged 'Titoists' throughout Eastern Europe, leading to the execution of figures such as László Rajk in Hungary, Traicho Kostov in Bulgaria, and Koçi Xoxe in Albania. The Cominform published the newspaper For a Lasting Peace, for a People's Democracy! in multiple languages. In 1950 Stalin attempted to expand the Cominform's functions to near-Comintern scale, but the effort was abandoned. After Stalin's death in 1953 the organization declined rapidly and was officially dissolved on 17 April 1956.
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Sources
- Wikipedia (EN) founding, membership, Zhdanov's role, expulsion of Yugoslavia, dissolution date and context
- Wikipedia (RU) Russian official name, alternative names (Коминформбюро, Информбюро), 1950 Stalin expansion attempt, archival location (RGASPI), dissolution rationale
- soviethistory.msu.edu Lewis Siegelbaum essay: revival of institutional links post-Comintern, purpose of common strategy under Soviet leadership, post-expulsion purges and show trials