ABSTRACT
Behind the Comintern's decision to intervene decisively in the affairs of South African Communists were a series of profound changes that followed the defeat of the attempted German revolution in 1923 and the Bolsheviks' recognition that Russia's revolution would very likely remain isolated. The Native Republic thesis proposed national self-determination through a struggle against British imperialism, but this was an imperialism defined not so much by its capitalist nature as by its colonial character, which included both foreign and racial domination. The most palpable and immediate impact of the adoption of the Native Republic thesis was that the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) began to give more attention to rural organizing. The most palpable and immediate impact of the adoption of the Native Republic thesis was that the CPSA began to give more attention to rural organizing.
