Twenty-one Conditions

What it is

The Twenty-one Conditions, officially the Conditions of Admission to the Communist International, were adopted at the Second Congress of the Comintern in 1920. Most of the conditions were suggested by Vladimir Lenin.

Why it matters

These conditions demanded that socialist parties around the world submit to strict Bolshevik-style discipline, including control of the press by the party leadership, in order to join the Comintern. The conditions caused major splits in socialist movements across Europe: in France they split the SFIO, creating a new French communist section, while in Spain the PSOE ultimately rejected the conditions after a direct meeting between Spanish socialist Fernando de los Ríos and Lenin himself. This document shows how Lenin tried to export the organisational model of Bolshevism internationally.

Look closer

• Why might requiring strict party discipline and press control cause disagreement among socialists who had different traditions of debate and dissent?
• What does the splitting of parties across several countries over this one document suggest about its importance?
• What does Lenin's reported answer 'Freedom, what for?' suggest about his view of personal liberty under the dictatorship of the proletariat?