The Comintern’s united front aimed to win a working-class majority

Evidence

The response of the Comintern to what were, at that time, seen as temporary ebbings of the revolutionary tide was, fundamentally, the united front policy. This characterised Comintern strategy, despite fluctuations in interpretation, at least until 1925-6. Its basic idea was that the communists, now that they had expelled, or split from, the reformists, should seek to engage the latter in forms of common action; only thus could they win a majority in the working class - which has a fundamental interest in unity, whether in defensive or in offensive action. As Lenin put it: “The purpose and sense of the tactics of the united front consist in drawing more and more masses of the workers into the struggle against capital, even if it means making repeated offers to the leaders of the II and II1/2 Internationals to wage this struggle together. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 115

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The united front tactic sought working-class majority through engaging reformists; The Comintern’s united front policy sought working-class majority through common action with reformists — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 115; The united front tactic presumed gaining majority working-class support precedes revolution — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 116 (+5 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: The united front tactic sought working-class majority through engaging reformists; The Comintern’s united front policy sought working-class majority through common action with reformists — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 115; The united front tactic presumed gaining majority working-class support precedes revolution — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 116 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• The Comintern’s united front policy sought working-class majority through common action with reformists #corroborates (0.97) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 115
• The united front tactic sought working-class majority through engaging reformists #expands (0.92)
• The united front from below contradicted the tactic’s premise of winning the working-class majority #complicates (0.85) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 117
• The Comintern’s united-front mandate forced the party into contradictory reform and revolution aims #complicates (0.80) — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 1368
• Comintern left factions resisted united-front strategies toward socialists. #complicates (0.78) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 164