Factional Struggles in the Communist Party of Yugoslavia During the Great Purge (1936–1940)
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Learning Leninism: Factional Struggles in the Communist Party of Yugoslavia during the Great Purge (1936–1940) By Stefan Gužvica Submitted to Central European University Department of History In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Comparative History Supervisor: Professor Alfred J. Rieber CEU eTD Collection Second Reader: Professor Ondřej Vojtěchovský Budapest, Hungary 2018 Copyright Notice Copyright in the text of this thesis rests with the Author. Copies by any process, either in full or part, may be made only in accordance with the instructions given by the Author and lodged in the Central European Library. Details may be obtained from the librarian. This page must form a part of any such copies made. Further copies made in accordance with such instructions may not be made without the written permission of the Author. CEU eTD Collection i Abstract This thesis is an examination of factional struggles in the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ) during the Great Purge, from 1936 until 1940. An understanding of this conflict is crucial for completing the picture of the evolution of the KPJ in the interwar period, and its relationship to the Communist International, as well as for reevaluating the roots of the Tito-Stalin Split. The research sheds new light on the process of appointing a general secretary in the midst of the Great Purge, whilst also offering an alternative understanding of the relations between the Comintern and its constituent parties. In spite of the frequently repeated assumption that the KPJ was an insignificant satellite of the Comintern, completely subjected to the decisions of its Executive Committee, the argument of this work is that the Yugoslav communists still enjoyed a large degree of autonomy. Their Moscow superiors were far from detached, but they encouraged and expected independent actions. Tito was the candidate who understood this expectation the best, which gave him a crucial advantage in the factional struggle. Moreover, the struggle involved communists from many other communist parties, showing how political networks of the Comintern often transcended national ties, and reminding us that the history of national sections of the Third International can never be observed in a vacuum. The research begins by tracing the rise and fall of Milan Gorkić, the de facto leader of the KPJ from 1932 until 1937. The clash between him and his opponents, who accused him of “rightist deviation” at the April Plenum in 1936, drew the attention of the Comintern, which saw the conflict as a revival of factionalism. The following year saw the purging of the former CEU eTD Collection oppositionists within the KPJ, mostly Trotskyists. Gorkić soon became a victim of the Great Purge as well, sparking an all-out struggle for leadership over the party. The main contenders for the vacant position of the general secretary were Josip Broz Tito, whose group was dubbed the Temporary Leadership; Ivo Marić and Labud Kusovac, who led the so-called ii Parallel Center; Petko Miletić, the leader of an ultra-left group called the Wahhabis; and Kamilo Horvatin, the KPJ representative to the Comintern. After over two and a half years of conflict, Tito emerged as the new general secretary. The KPJ was, by and large, a party on the left of the international communist movement. All of the main leadership candidates were leftists, which was not ideal in the period of the popular front, when the Communist International required moderation and cooperation. Tito prevailed over other candidates primarily because of a proper understanding of Leninism as defined by the Comintern at the time, and the practical achievements in reviving the party organization in the country. As a consequence of the purge, the factional struggle, and the practical political experiences of the newly-formed leadership, the period between 1936 and 1940 became the key formative period, playing a crucial role in the making of the KPJ as we know it from the 1940s on. Thus, the story of the KPJ leadership struggle in the late 1930s is, in a lot of ways, a prehistory of 1948. CEU eTD Collection iii Acknowledgments I would like to thank my professors and colleagues at the Central European University, in particular Vladimir Petrović and Balázs Trencsényi, whose guidance eventually led me to this topic; István Rév, Alex Voronovich, and Lovro Kralj, who greatly helped me by pointing me to useful literature in the early stages of my work; and finally, my friends and colleagues, Renny Hahamovitch, Cody Inglis, Steve Westlake, Štěpán Denk, Mike Morris, and Yana Kitaeva, who greatly impacted my research through their constructive comments and criticisms. Many other friends and colleagues outside of CEU helped guide my research through conversations and source recommendations, including Bogdan Živković, Bartul Čović, Professor Ljubodrag Dimić, Milan Radanović, Vladan Vukliš, Professor Vladimir Unkovski- Korica, Professor Tonći Šitin, and Vladimir Marković. I would like to thank them, as they played a crucial role in making this thesis complete. I would also like to thank Goran Despotović, Domagoj Mihaljević, Jure Ramšak, and Maja Žilić for helping me access rare published primary and secondary sources on the topic. Additionally, I am extremely grateful to the very kind and helpful people at the Archive of Yugoslavia and the University Library Svetozar Marković in Belgrade, and the Open Society Archive in Budapest, in particular Jelena Kovačević, Slaven Čolović, and Robert Parnica. Friedrich Asschenfeldt and Arina Zaytseva helped me translate crucial German-language sources, and some of my most significant insights would not have been possible without them. Finally, I would like to thank my supervisor, Alfred J. Rieber, and my second reader, CEU eTD Collection Ondřej Vojtěchovský, who provided me with guidance throughout the making of this thesis. Most of all, I am grateful to my parents, without whose love and support this work would not have been possible. iv Abbreviations and Glossary AVNOJ – Antifascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia, the umbrella organization of Yugoslav antifascist groups during the Second World War CC – Central Committee Cominform – The Communist Information Bureau, a group of leading European communist parties formed in 1947 as a quasi-successor to the Communist International ECCI – Executive Committee of the Communist International, the governing body of the Comintern Gorkićevci – Supporters of Milan Gorkić, the purged general secretary of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia GPU – State Political Directorate, the formal name of the Soviet secret police, 1922-1923 GUGB - Main Directorate of State Security, the formal name of the Soviet secret police, 1934-1941 HSS – Croatian Peasant Party KIM – Young Communist International KPH – Communist Party of Croatia, founded in 1937 as a subsection of the KPJ KPJ – Communist Party of Yugoslavia KPS – Communist Party of Slovenia, founded in 1937 as a subsection of the KPJ KUNMZ – Communist University of the National Minorities of the West NRPJ – Independent Workers’ Party of Yugoslavia PCE – Communist Party of Spain CEU eTD Collection PCF – French Communist Party Profintern – The Red International of Labor Unions, a communist trade union organization created to unite the communist trade unions and coordinate communist activity among the reformist ones v SIM – Servicio de Información Militar (Military Information Service), the intelligence department of the International Brigades SRN – The Party of the Working People, a legal and broad left-wing party led by communists in Yugoslavia from 1938 to 1940 SRPJ(k) – Socialist Workers’ Party of Yugoslavia (communists), renamed to Communist Party of Yugoslavia in 1920 SKJ – League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the name of the KPJ from 1952 SKOJ – League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia Ultra-left – An individual communist attitude or a communist party line characterized by perceived adventurism and sectarianism, such as individual acts of terror or refusal to engage in any cooperation with the non-communist left VKP(b) – All-Union Communist Party (Bolshevik) Yezhovshchina – The colloquial name for the Great Purge in the Soviet Union CEU eTD Collection vi Table of Contents Copyright Notice ....................................................................................................................... i Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................... iv Abbreviations and Glossary .................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ................................................................................................................... vii Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 Historiography ........................................................................................................................ 4 Sources ................................................................................................................................... 7 Theory and Methodology ....................................................................................................... 8 Outline .................................................................................................................................