Political party. Known in Russian as the Kommunisticheskaia partiia Rossiskoi federatsii, the KPRF is the political successor to the banned Communist Party of the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Party. Out of the ashes of the banned Communist Party of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Gennady Zyuganov established the party in 1993, with the help of Sovietera politicians Yegor Ligachev and Anatoly Lukyanov. Under the influence of Zyuganov, the party married Marxism-Leninism with nationalism, sometimes called popular patriotism. Anti-Semitism, neo-Slavophilism, and Stalin worship are also evident in the party platform, which shares certain attributes with other “great power” (Derzhava) political parties. The ideologue Aleksandr Dugin exercised influence over the party during its early days, thus injecting a strain of neo-Eurasianism into the KPRF’s approach to domestic politics and foreign relations. The Communist Party, like other ultranationalist parties, pays lip service to the restoration of Russia’s historical boundaries, including reincorporation of the near abroad and abrogation of the Belavezha Accords. The KPRF is stridently antiNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and is particularly suspicious of British and American foreign policy; anti-globalization is also part of the party platform. On the domestic front, the party supports free education and health care, an end to labor “parasitism,” collective rights and security, and the ultimate realization of Communism as the future of mankind.
In order to obtain these goals, the KPRF advocates ending the mafia’s alleged control over the state and economy, terminating Russia’s forced capitalization, and introducing state regulation of all major economic sectors. While the newly formed KPRF fared rather poorly against Russia’s other political parties, particularly the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), in the 1993 State Duma elections, Zyuganov turned the Communists into the country’s most popular party by 1995 when the KPRF outpaced its nearest rival by more than two-to-one, taking 157 of the Duma’s 450 seats. The Communists were especially popular in the so-called Red Belt, a band of regions in southern European Russia that favored continued subsidies of health care, support for local industry, and restrictions on foreign trade and investment. In the 1996 presidential election, Zyuganov emerged as the early front-runner as Boris Yeltsin scrambled to regain his earlier popularity. The KPRF established the Russian All-People’s Union as a leftist umbrella organization in order to increase Zyuganov’s influence at the national level. Only after a hard-fought campaign, in which forces allied with the Kremlin–including the oligarchs and regional governors–branded the Communists as warmongers and chekists (secret police), and a second round of elections did Yeltsin emerge victorious over Zyuganov. The KPRF continued its electoral success in the 1999 Duma poll, winning more than 24 percent of the vote, though the party obtained fewer seats than in 1995. With the ascent of Vladimir Putin, the Communists’ popularity suffered, particularly in the 2003 parliamentary elections. Putin’s use of Potemkin parties, a pliant media, and the terrorist threat allowed him to effectively sideline the KPRF. Recognizing the futility of running against the popular president, Zyuganov sat out the 2004 elections, throwing the KPRF’s support behind the Agrarian Party’s Nikolay Kharitonov. The party also suffered from several high-profile defections and attempts to split its constituency, though the KPRF has remained the largest opposition party in the country through the first decade of the new millennium. Zyuganov returned to presidential politics in 2008, running against Dmitry Medvyedev; he claimed a respectable 17.8 percent of the vote. Since the 20082009 global financial crisis, Zyuganov’s popularity and influence are on the rise, and Prime Minister Putin has taken an increasingly conciliatory position toward the KPRF. Party membership exceeds 500,000, with nearly 20,000 new members joining annually. However, unlike the LDPR, the Communists tend to be older on average. The party has a well-developed media arm, including newspapers and radio.
Gennady Zyuganov (b. 1944) is a Russian politician, head of KPRF. Photo taken at TASS press center, Moscow. Image credit A.Savin
📚 Historical Dictionary of the Russian federation Robert A. Saunders and Vlad Strukov
History books remember her as a golden-haired girl from an exotic land who became queen consort and, later, regent of France. Anna was born to Yaroslav the Wise – grand duke of Kiev and the initiator of the “golden age” of Rus – and his wife Ingegerd. Her parents insisted on giving her a good education and, by the age of 18, under the supervision of her mother, she had mastered Latin, Ancient Greek and the basics of medicine.
In 1048, the French embassage, led by the Bishop of the city of Meaux Gautier and minister of the French Court Goscelin de Chalignac, arrived in Kiev with a mission to arrange a marriage between the king of France, Henry I, and Anna. Rumors of Anna’s exquisite beauty, literacy and wisdom reached many corners of Europe.
Historians still debate the reasoning behind Henry’s choice of a second wife: France did not have any diplomatic or trade links with Rus at the time. However, the general consensus is that Henry couldn’t find a suitable princess-bride in Europe – all the eligible young women were related to him within illegal degrees of kinship.
Apart from the king’s best regards, the entourage brought exquisite swords, broadcloths and silver dishes to demonstrate their serious yet friendly intentions to woo. Being a prolific father as well as a wise ruler, Yaroslav sought to consolidate his leadership of Kiev and to give a comfortable future to his children. Profitable marriages would kill two birds with one stone. And Anna’s marriage to Henry I was the most successful one of them all.
Ivan Bilibin’s artwork of Yaroslav I.
The king was more than 40 at the time of the couple’s first meeting; he suffered from obesity and became spiteful, even with his concubines. However when he saw Anna, he softened and even smiled, leaning in to kiss her. After this passionate introduction, Anna is quoted to have pulled back, blushed and said: “I suppose it is you who is king…”
Queen of France
Their wedding – as well as Anna’s coronation as Queen of France – took place in May 1049, Holy Trinity Day, in the Cathedral of the city of Reims, long-established as the site of the coronation of French kings. On the marriage contract, Anna gracefully signed her name and patronymic whilst the king of France simply put down a cross.
At her coronation, the newly-wed queen broke with tradition: instead of conforming to tradition and taking her royal vows with her hand placed on a Latin Bible, she used a Slavic Gospel, which she brought from Kiev with her.
Her letters of the period show that she wasn’t fond of her new homeland, thinking it was too provincial in comparison to Kiev. In 1050 she writes to her:
father: “What a barbarous country you sent me to – the dwellings are somber, the churches horrendous and the morals – terrible”.
There is little information regarding how Anna was received at the French court. She was, however, quick to learn the French language and keenly participated in government affairs, despite having a merely decorative post. Her name can be found on official documents, next to the king’s ever-present X. The signatures read “by the approval of my spouse Anna” or “in the presence of Queen Anna”.
However, the young queen couldn’t produce an heir for a long time, which probably created tension and sparked unwanted rumors. She is said to have spent long hours in prayer, pledging to found a monastery if she would successfully give birth to a prince. Finally, either thanks to her active spirituality, or more likely to the untiring efforts of her 45-year-old husband in 1053, she gave birth to her first-born son, christened Philip. Henry and Anna had two more children: Robert who died in adolescence as a highwayman, and Hugh (Hugues), who joined the first Crusades.
In 1060 Henry died, leaving the French throne to Philip, who was only seven years old at the time. Anna became the regent ruling the country in the name of her son. True to her word, she founded a monastery dedicated to St Vincent in Senlis, not far from Paris. Only a chapel has survived. A monument to Anne of Rus still stands next to the chapel. Like his father before him, Philip took Anna’s advice seriously, and her signature can be found on official documents next to his.
Born in the early 1920’s, when the bourgeoisie in a number of countries began to resort to fascism to preserve their domination, which was threatened by the revolutionary upsurge that began after World War I and the Great October Socialist Revolution.
The leading force in the antifascist movement, which embraced broad masses of toilers, was the working class, which took an active part in the antifascist struggle in a number of countries from the first appearance of fascism in the political arena. The working class of the Soviet Union, which was the only section of the international proletariat in power until the end of World War II, constantly gave active assistance to the antifascists of capitalist countries. Analysis of the class roots of fascism and of the trends and methods in its activities was important for the antifascist movement, and this analysis was reflected in summary reports of the Central Committee and resolutions of the congresses of the CPSU. The successes of the Soviet socialist state in economic and cultural construction and the world historical victories of the USSR in the struggle against fascism on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, 1941–45, inspired participants in the antifascist movement throughout the world. From the moment of inception of the international antifascist movement, the Soviet Union was its recognized stronghold.
An Italian partisan in Florence, 14 August 1944. Senor Prigile, an Italian partisan in Florence. British troops were ordered to avoid fighting the Germans in the precincts of the city of Florence. Italian Partisans, occupying the Fortress Di Basso exchanged fire with the German snipers that remained after the German forces evacuated Florence. 18th Anti Aircraft Artillery Batery, that took part in Slovak National Uprising in autumn 1944
In response to the fascist offensive, the antifascist movement unfolded in Italy in 1921. Beginning with antifascist strikes and demonstrations, the Italian workers later moved to armed resistance against the Blackshirts. The high point of the antifascist movement in Italy in this period was the bloody battles that accompanied the general national strike declared in August 1922. The movement did not cease with the establishment of the Fascist regime in Italy (October 1922); it became ever more active in time. As early as 1924 the Italian Communist Party, which stood in the forefront of the antifascist movement, called for the unification of all enemies of fascism.
The antifascist movement also developed in a number of other countries where terrorist dictatorial regimes were established (Hungary and Bulgaria). The September Antifascist Uprising of 1923 in Bulgaria enriched the experience of the antifascist movement in other countries. The antifascist movement arose in Germany in 1920. It was directed against the National Socialist Party and other extreme right-wing terrorist groups. Somewhat later (from 1926) a movement unfolded in Poland against Pilsudski’s “cleaning” regime.
The onslaught of fascism in a number of countries confronted democratic forces with the task of developing more effective forms and methods in the antifascist movement. The tactic of a united labor front, first worked out by the Third Comintern Congress (1921) under the guidance of V. I. Lenin, played an important role in the expansion of the antifascist movement. The Fourth Comintern Congress (1922) recognized the organization of resistance to world fascism as one of the most important tasks of communist parties; it pointed to the tactic of a united labor front as the main means of struggle against fascism. A conference of revolutionary workers was held in Frankfurt-am-Main in March 1923. It elected the International Committee for Action Against the Military Threat and Fascism, headed by K. Zetkin, F. Heck-ert, and H. Barbusse. The Third Enlarged Plenum of the Executive Committee of the Communist International (IKKI) in June 1923 devoted much attention to the antifascist movement; K. Zetkin delivered a report on the “Fight Against Fascism.” The threat posed by fascism and the means to struggle against it were discussed at the fifth (1924) and sixth (1928) congresses of the Comintern and at the plenums of IKKI.
В. И. Ленин выступает на III конгрессе Коммунистического интернационала
Viewing the struggle against fascism as the concern of the entire proletariat, the Comintern called upon the communist parties to conduct a policy that would permit the isolation of fascism and the consolidation of the broadest strata of the population against it. However, the activities of a number of communist parties strongly demonstrated a sectarianism that hindered this consolidation and a lack of precision in evaluating the essence of fascism; a denial of the serious distinction between fascism and bourgeois-democratic regimes also took place. In the late 1920’s the term “social fascism” came into currency in some documents of the Comintern and the communist parties; it was accepted as a designation for social democracy, a fact that contradicted the definition of fascism as the weapon of the most reactionary forces of the bourgeoisie and which made it more difficult to unite all the democratic forces of the antifascist movement. This mistaken term became widespread during the period of the world economic crisis of 1929–33, at which time the revolutionary movement, entering a new upsurge, again shook the foundations of bourgeois rule in a number of countries, including Germany. In Germany the interests of big capital in establishing a dictatorial regime reinforced the striving toward the preparation of a revanchist war; meanwhile, the fascists’ opportunity to gain mass influence was particularly favorable, thanks to the extensive use of nationalistic dem-agoguery.
The antifascist movement in Germany was a bright page in the history of the German workers’ movement. At the forefront of the movement was the Communist Party of Germany, which made enormous efforts to create a united labor front. The antifascist movement attained maximum scope during those years with the start of a campaign of “Antifascist Action” (1932), during which workers of differing political convictions began to create committees of the united front and self-defense groups in local areas. By the end of 1932 the fascist movement in Germany had fallen into decline under the blows of the working class and all antifascist forces. However, the split in the working class—primarily the result of the reluctance of the leadership of social democracy to cooperate with the communists—impeded the creation of a broad, firm united labor and popular front. The German monopolists exploited this situation to deliver power to Hitler in January 1933.
In its appeal to the workers of all countries on Mar. 5, 1933, IKKI proposed a concrete program for antifascist struggle on the basis of cooperation between the two Internationals, the communist and the socialist. However, the latter, while agreeing in words to negotiations, sabotaged common action. Nonetheless, the communists continued to seek paths toward the creation of a united antifascist front. To this end, the European Antifascist Workers’ Congress was convened in Paris in 1933. The congress, which was held in Pleyel Hall, initiated the Pleyel movement, which played a definite role in the development of the antifascist movement. The speeches of G. M. Dimitrov at the Leipzig Trial of 1933 and the international campaign in his defense were important for the mobilization of laboring people in the struggle against fascism.
The antifascist movement included the best representatives of the intelligentsia. The antifascist activities of Soviet cultural figures, in particular M. Gorky, played a large role in the development of the movement. The writers H. Barbusse, R. Rolland, T. Mann, H. Mann, M. Andersen-Nexö, and H. Wells, the artist P. Picasso, and others demonstrated their opposition to fascism. In 1935 the International Congress of Writers in Defense of Culture was held in Paris.
The fascists encountered organized, effective resistance in a number of countries. The fascist putsch attempted in France in February 1934 failed because of the decisive actions of the antifascists. In the course of the struggle, antifascist unity was forged among the French working class and subsequently among other strata of the population whose interests did not lie in the establishment of a fascist regime. In 1935 the Popular Front was created in France. It included both communist and socialist parties, as well as leftist bourgeois political organizations. February 1934 was marked by a violent upsurge of the antifascist movement in Austria, where a particular form of clerical fascism was gaining strength. The armed struggle of Austrian workers against the fascists, even though it ended in defeat, was inscribed for all times in the chronicle of the antifascist movement.
The working people of the Soviet Union ardently came to the defense of the victims of fascism and the heroes of the antifascist movement (meetings of solidarity with the antifascists of Austria and Spain were held everywhere in 1934). They collected money to aid the victims of fascism—in 1934, for example, about 1 million shillings was given to the fund to aid Austrian workers. The USSR offered asylum to antifascists: Soviet citizenship was granted to G. M. Dimitrov, who was imprisoned in fascist jails after the Leipzig trial; about 600 Austrian Schutzbundists who had participated in the February battles against the fascists in 1934 emigrated to the Soviet Union. In 1932 about 10 million people belonged to the Soviet section of the International Organization for Aid to the Fighters of the Revolution; one of its most important tasks was to provide aid to victims of fascism.
SOURCES Kommunisticheskii Internatsional v dokumentakh 1919–1932. Moscow, 1933. Rezoliutsii VII Vsemirnogo kongressa Kommunisticheskogo Inter-natsionala. Moscow, 1935. VII Congress der Kommunistischen Internationale. Moscow, 1935. VII Congress of the Communist International: Abridged Stenographic Report of Proceedings. Moscow, 1939. Mezhdunarodnaia proletarskaia solidarnost’ v bor’be s nastu-pleniem fashizma (1928–1932). Moscow, 1960. Mezhdunarodnaia solidarnost’ trudiashchikhsia v bor’be s fashi-zmom, protiv razviazyvaniia vtoroi mirovoi voiny (1933–1937). Moscow, 1961. Mezhdunarodnaia solidarnost’ trudiashchikhsia v bor’be za mir i natsional’noe osvobozhdenie protiv fashistskoi agressii, za pol-noe unichtozhenie fashizma v Evrope i Azii(1938–1945). Moscow, 1962.
Mother Rus 
