Against Fascism and War

by Georgi Dimitrov

Report to the 7th Congress of the Communist International, 1935. Includes a 1936 speech on the People's front and a short speech to Young Communist International. Foreword by James West, then a U.S. youth delegate to the 7th Congress. Index.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History

125 pages, Paperback

First published August 2, 1935

About the author

Georgi Dimitrov Mikhaylov (Bulgarian: Георги Димитров Михайлов), also known as Georgi Mikhaylovich Dimitrov (Russian: Георгий Михайлович Димитров) and Georgi Dimitroff, was a Bulgarian communist politician. He was the first communist leader of Bulgaria, from 1946 to 1949. Dimitrov led the Communist International from 1934 to 1943.

Reviews

[Brian Bean · Rating 2 out of 5]

It boggles my mind that anyone would see this work as helpful in any way at building a fight against fascism. The general practice of building a united front (with social democrats) is not necessarily novel although needed to correct the previous “third period” that claimed “After Hitler, our turn” that ruled out unity under the assumption that the Nazi’s would quickly crumble and the communists would be ascendant. But Dimitrov and Stalin’s new shift exemplified in this book calls for the left to “support” capitalist governments who pursue the “maintenance of peace.” The very construction he presents of a “democratic bourgeois” dangerously underestimates the undemocratic nature of the capitalist state and the authoritarian tendencies that “normal” capitalist states carry out. The politics in this book explain why the Communist Party-USA, the support of Roosevelt did things like attack urban uprising in Detroit in the inter-war period and grotesquely defended the internment of the Japanese. And of course less than a year after the publication of this book despite the exhortations throughout the book to oppose fascism by any means, and that triumphant calls in the correctness and necessity of the Peoples Front, Stalin abandoned it to sign a pact with Hitler. Whoops! Also throughout the book Dimitrov keeps mentioning the importance to stand united and oppose fascist Italy’s attack on Ethiopia and happens to leave out that Stalin’s government had a political and economic pact with Mussolini. So much for that unbending commitment to antifacism. This whole work rather is a long justification of foreign policy decisions already made by Stalin utilized to justify the world communist movement coming in line.

[fransdemaegd De Maegd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Het woord fascisme wordt na de overwinning van uiterst recht en fascisten te pas en te onpas gebruikt. Ik stel voor vast te houden aan de definitie van de Derde Internationale. fascisme is "de openlijke terroristische dictatuur van de meest reactionaire, meest chauvinistische, meest imperialistische elementen van het financierkapitaal". Vergeten we ook niet dat het communisme het imperialisme in het Westen niet bedreigd.

[Mahender Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a collection of essays , speeches and letters of Bulgarian communist leader and Secretary of the Second International, Georgi Dimitrov.
The reader learns a lot of practical lessons in fight against Fascism which have become more relevant today in wake of universal onslaught of Fascism.
The only flip side of the book is a lot of repetition.

[Voyager · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of speeches and articles by the Hero of Leipzig himself on the United Front and the fight against fascism and war.

Unlike the three-volume selected works of Dimitrov released by Sofia Press (the state publishing agency of the People's Republic of Bulgaria) in the 1970s, this edition, being first published by International Publishers in 1938, is completely uncensored. Whereas the later Bulgarian editors were compelled to remove any mention of Stalin or Stalinism in order to portray Dimitrov as a "good man free from Stalinist hero-worship" in true Khrushchevite fashion, in this edition the heartfelt admiration of Dimitrov for the great continuer of the work of Lenin is on full display.

Without doubt this selection of Dimitrov's speeches and articles is essential to anyone endeavoring to understand the Comintern's united front policy and the true character of fascism. Furthermore, this book has only been made more relevant with the growth in many countries of the militant forces of fascism and fascist rhetoric. A must read for all those truly interested in the final defeat of fascism.

[Toon Melis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explains really well the different strategies for a united fron against Facism. It really answers a lot of questions I had about united fronts.
-How to deal with social democratis
-How to organise in the front
-What the prerequisits for a front should be
-How to make sure that your cadres grow in the front
-What the conditions should be for participating in a front government

But most of all it says that it is important for us to explain that it is important do analyse all the different circumstances in your country and take action based on the materialistic analyse.

[Afroditi]

Ήταν διαφορετικό από αυτό που περίμενα να διαβάσω. Ανέμενα μια ανάλυση του φασιστικού φαινομένου από πολιτική και ιστορική σκοπιά. Δεν κράτησε το ενδιαφέρον μου, είναι περισσότερο ένα κείμενο που απευθύνεται σε πλατιές μάζες με στόχο την κινητοποίηση εν όψει του Β' Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου. Το μόνο που βρήκα ενδιαφέρον, ήταν οι ιστορικές αναφορές, αφορμή για περισσότερη μελέτη.

[Judas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book and very relevant to today's political climate despite being over 50 years old. Highly recommended. The only downside being repetition that stretches the length of this text 50 pages longer than necessary.

[Billie Fremont · Rating 3 out of 5]

Right about a lot of things but didn't have a crystal ball to see how wrong a "good idea" can go when humans get involved. The merits of this book are found in the fact that many current events and political attitudes are nothing new.

[Mohamed El sayed · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب آخر عن القوة والأمل والحلم الشيوعي المجهض، بغض النظر عن ميولك اليسارية أو عدمها، فلا يمكنك إلا إحترام رجل مخلص لقضيته مثل ديمتروف، وبشكل شخصي أعجبتني مرونته في التعامل مع الماركسية، وده شيء طبيعي ومفروض ومتوقع من أي ماركسي حقيقي، ولكن للأسف المفروض ده مش دايمًا بيحصل وأغلب الماركسيين مازالوا حتى الآن أهو في ٢٠٢١ متمسكين بنصوص حرفية مر عليها مائة سنة، وبيعتبروا أي محاولة للتعامل مع الواقع والجدل معاه تعتبر إنحراف وتحريفية وكأن الماركسية لاتتبع المادية الجدلية !