ABSTRACT
The defeats of 1919 in Germany and Hungary, and the subsequent decline of revolutionary ardour throughout Europe, caused the Bolsheviks to show greater interest in Asia. Attempts to develop communism in Turkey were however completely unsuccessful. In September 1920 the Bolsheviks organised in Baku a Congress of the Peoples of the East. The self-constituted 'delegates' allegedly included persons of thirty-seven nationalities. As the most industrialised country in Asia, Japan might have been expected to offer the best prospects of communist action. The obvious immediate cause of the failure of Japanese communism is the ruthless efficiency of the police. The social structure of India was even less suitable for communist activity than that of Japan, but the much greater freedom of speech and organisation permitted by British 'imperialist exploiters' was a more favourable factor. The events in China were a subject of fierce controversy between Stalin and Trotski.
