ABSTRACT
The revolution seemed to be in retreat in Russia, and in Europe the remnant of the revolutionary fervour of 1919 soon fizzled out. A brief summary of the dreary story is necessary for an understanding of the evolution of world communism. The growth of radical trends within the British labour movement in the early 1920's, itself a result of the depressed condition of several major British industries and especially of coal-mining, had raised hopes in Moscow of a revolutionary movement in Britain. The Socialists therefore supported Pilsudski, whom their leaders had never completely ceased to regard as one of themselves. The most important development in Europe that affected the struggle between Stalin and the Opposition, took place in Britain. In 1932, when the reactionary Chancellor von Papen arbitrarily dissolved the Prussian government, and the socialists tamely submitted, the Communists made the empty gesture of proposing a general strike.
