Comintern’s Anti-Colonial Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa (1920s–1930s)

Abstract

This article examines the evolution of the anti-colonial policy pursued by the Communist International (Comintern) in sub-Saharan Africa during the 1920s and 1930s. It explores the mechanisms through which the Comintern sought to integrate class-based politics with the imperatives of national and racial liberation. The research is grounded in a wide array of archival sources, including Comintern documents, reports of its representatives, correspondence, and resolutions. The study traces the formation and development of the organizational infrastructure for anti-colonial work in sub-Saharan Africa. Methodologically, the article relies on structural and content analysis of primary documentation, as well as comparative analysis of the Comintern’s political rhetoric and that of contemporary anti-colonial movements. The findings demonstrate that the incorporation of the so-called “Negro Question” onto the agenda of the Executive Committee of the Communist International (ECCI) in 1921 marked the beginning of institutionalization of African affairs: first, through the establishment of the Bureau of Colonial Countries, followed by specialized bodies for work among Africans and the African diaspora, and culminating by the late 1920s in the creation of the International Trade Union Committee of Negro Workers as a transnational channel for mobilization and communication. The article argues that the Comintern developed a distinctive set of organizational and media tools for anti-colonial activism in sub-Saharan Africa, proposing a model that linked class struggle with anti-racism and self-determination, thereby contributing to a significant cultural and political platform.