Zhou Enlai, USSR and Comintern (1920-1940’s)

Zhou Enlai’s personality is well known to the Soviet/Russian scholars, but most of the works cover Zhou Enlai’s activities on the Soviet direction as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Premier of the State Council after the formation of the People’s Republic of China. This article analyzes the content and meaning of less known pages of his biography in the Comintern during his stays in Moscow in 1928, 1930 and 1939-1940s. As a senior CCP member, candidate and later as a member of the Executive Committee of the Comintern he saw his task in clarifying and harmonizing the Comintern’s position on the CCP, the Chinese Revolution, and the anti-Japanese War. On the other hand, at the crucial historical moments he conveyed to the Comintern the latest and most reliable information about China: the state of the CCP, party and military construction; during the anti-Japanese war — it was the situation on the fronts, the position of the Kuomintang government, relations between CCP and Kuomintang, a situation on the united front.

The study shows that Zhou Enlai’s highly professional and businesslike approach played an important role in coordinating actions and political line between the CCP and the Comintern.

The article is written on the basis of Russian archival materials, some of which were introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, and with the involvement of Chinese researches which had not been known to Russian scholars before.

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8. Wu Yuenong (吴跃农). Zhou Enlai and the "Sixth National Congress" of the Chinese Communist Party held in Moscow (周恩来与在莫斯科召开的中共“六大). Dang shiwenyuan. 2007(13):42-45. (In Chin.).

9. Zhou Bingde. My Uncle Zhou Enlai. Beijing: Waiwen chubanshe. 2008. 366 с. (In Russ.)

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21. Hu Wei (胡伟). Conquering the Enemy Together: Zhou Enlai's Discussion on the War of Resistance against Japan (联合制敌: 周恩来关于抗日战争的论述). Huaiyin shifan daxue xuebao. 2022(5):446-450. (In Chin.).

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24. Whole Story of Zhou Enlai's Medical Treatment in the Soviet Union in 1939 (1939年周恩来苏联治病始末). URL: https://news.sina.cn/sa/2004-03-10/detail-ikkntiak9677372.d.html (access: 11 January, 2023). (In Chin.)

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