The Soviet world of American communism

417 Pages·1998·18.1 MB·English

by  Harvey Klehr, John Earl Haynes, K M Anderson, Rossiĭskiĭ t︠s︡entr khranenii︠a︡ i izuchenii︠a︡ dokumentov noveĭsheĭ istorii

ANNALS OF COMMUNISM
Each volume in the series Annals of Communism will publish selected and previ-
ously inaccessible documents from former Soviet state and party archives in the
framework of a narrative text that focuses on a particular topic in the history of
Soviet and international communism. Separate English and Russian editions will
be prepared. Russian and American scholars work together to prepare the docu-
ments for each volume. Documents are chosen not for their support of any single
interpretation but for their particular historical importance or their general value in
deepening understanding and facilitating discussion. The volumes are designed to
be useful to students, scholars, and interested general readers.
EXECUTIVE EDITOR, ANNALS OF COMMUNISM
Jonathan Brent, Yale University Press
AMERICAN EDITORIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Ivo Banac, Yale University Robert L. Jackson, Yale University
Jeffrey Burds, University of Rochester Czeslaw Milosz, University of California
William Chase, University of Pittsburgh at Berkeley
Victor Erlich, Yale University Norman Naimark, Stanford University
F. I. Firsov, formerly with the Russian General William Odom, Hudson Institute
Center for the Preservation and Study and Yale University
of Documents of Recent History Daniel Orlovsky, Southern Methodist
(RTsKhIDNI) University
Sheila Fitzpatrick, University of Chicago Mark Steinberg, University of Illinois
Gregory Freeze, Brandeis University at Urbana-Champaign
John L. Gaddis, Yale University Mark Von Hagen, Columbia University
J. Arch Getty, University of California Piotr Wandycz, Yale University
at Riverside
RUSSIAN EDITORIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
K. M. Anderson, Russian Center for the N. S. Lebedeva, Russian Academy
Preservation and Study of Documents of Sciences
of Recent History (RTsKhIDNI) S. V. Mironenko, State Archive of the
N. N. Bolkhovitinov, Russian Academy Russian Federation (GARF)
of Sciences 0. V. Naumov, Russian Center for the
A. 0. Chubarian, Russian Academy Preservation and Study of Documents
of Sciences of Recent History (RTsKhIDNI)
V. P. Danilov, Russian Academy E. 0. Pivovar, Moscow Humanities
of Sciences University
A. A. Fursenko, Russian Academy V. V. Shelokhayev, ROSSPEN
of Sciences Ye. A. Tyurina, Russian State Archive
V. P. Kozlov, Federal Archival Service of the Economy (RGAE)
(ROSARKHIV)
SERIES COORDINATOR, MOSCOW
N. P. Yakovlev
The Soviet World of
American
Communism
Harvey Klehr, John Earl Haynes,
and Kyrill M. Anderson
Yale University Press
New Haven and London
This volume has been prepared with the active support of the Russian
Center for the Preservation and Study of Documents of Recent History
(RTsKhIDNI) of the State Archival Service of Russia in the framework of
an agreement concluded between RTsKhIDNI and Yale University Press.
Copyright 0 1998 by Yale University.
All rights reserved.
Documents that are held by RTsKhIDNI are used by permission.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond
that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers
for the public press), without written permission from the publishers.
Designed by James J. Johnson and set in Sabon and Melior Roman types by The Composing Room
of Michigan, Inc.
Printed in the United States of America by Vail-Ballou Press, Binghamton, New York.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Klehr, Harvey.
The Soviet world of American communism 1 Harvey Klehr, John Earl
Haynes, and Kyrill M. Anderson.
p. cm. - (Annals of communism)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-300-071 50-7 (alk. paper)
I. Communist Party of the United States of America-History-
Sources. 2. Communism-United States-History-Sources.
3. Communist International-History-Sources. 4. Communism-
History-Sources. I. Haynes, John Earl. 11. Anderson, K. M.
(Kirill Mikhailovich) 111. Rossiiskii tsentr khraneniia i
izucheniia dokumentov noveishei istorii. IV. Title. V. Series.
JK2391.C5K563 1998
324.~73'75'09041-dci1 97-18123
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on
Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.
Publication of this volume was made possible in part by a generous gift to
Yale University Press from the Daniel and Joanna S. Rose Fund, Inc. We are
grateful for their vision and support.
Yale University Press gratefully acknowledges the financial support given for
this publication by the Foundation for Cultural Initiative (Moscow), the
Historical Research Foundation, the John M. Olin Foundation, the Lynde
and Harry Bradley Foundation, the Open Society Fund (New York), and the
Smith-Richardson Foundation.

Contents
List of Documents Reproduced in Facsimile xi
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
A Note on the Documents XXI
Glossary of Individuals and Organizations xxiii
Chronology of American Communism xxxiii
Introduction i
c H A P T E R o N E Orders from the Comintern
In the Beginning: The 19208, 15
The Consolidation of the American Communist Party, I 5
The Comintern Sets American Party Policy, 21
Comintern Intervention in American Party Meetings, 29
Communism in Its Heyday: The I ~ ~ O S3 I,
The 1936 Presidential Campaign, 31
The Comintern and the Leadership of the CPUSA, 40
The CPUSA in the Labor Movement, 48
The Nazi-Soviet Pact and Its Aftermath, 71
The Nazi-Soviet Pact, 71
The "Just War of Defense," 84
The Downfall of Earl Browder, 91
CHAPTER TWO MOSCOWGO~~ 107
Designated Funds, I 24
vii
.. .
VIII Contents
Bankrolling Depression-Era Activities, I 3 8
Fifty Years of Soviet Subsidies, 147
The Significance of the Moscow Gold, I 59
c HA P T E R T H R E E Communists Abroad
Comintern "Reps," I 65
The Plenipotentiaries, I 66
Other Functionaries, I 73
The CPUSA Challenges the Mandate of a
Comintern Representative, I 76
The CPUSA and International Comintern Operations, I 87
Americans Stationed in Moscow, 191
John Reed, Louis Fraina, and Nicholas Hourwich, 191
Responsibilities of the CPUSA Representative, 200
American Communists in the "Great Land of Socialism," 21 5
The Death of Lovett Fort-Whiteman, 218
Karelian Fever and the Purge of the North American Finns, 227
Thomas Sgovio: An American in the Great Terror, 244
American Emissaries during World War 11, 252
Morris Childs and the 1948 Presidential Election, 257
c H A P T E R F o u R Imported Hatred
Early Training in Ideological Conformity, 274
The Soviet Union and the Splintering of the American Left, 279
The Comintern Proclaims "Social Fascism" to Be the New Enemy, 279
The Madison Square Garden Riot, 282
The Moscow Trials and the Great Terror, 291
Earl Browder Declares War on Trotskyists, 292
The Trotsky-Zinoviev Trial of 1936, 297
The Lovestoneite Deviation, 306
Pressure for Even Greater Press Fervor, 309
Comintern Education in Ideological Sensitivity, 3 19
Tools of Discipline, 3 24
Expulsion, 3 25
Dealing with Deviationists: Scott Nearing and Edgar Snow, 334
Contents ix
c H APT E R F I v E Fellowcountrymen 347
Appendix American and Soviet Corninternists 357
Comintern Representatives Serving in the United States, 3 57
American Communist Party Representatives to the Communist
International Who Were Stationed in Moscow, 3 60
American Communists Serving in the Comintern in Minor Positions
or Sent on Comintern Missions to Other Countries, 361
Americans Holding Positions in the Communist International's
Highest Bodies, 363
"American" Signers of the "Call for the Formation
of the Communist International," 3 64
Selected Readings
Index