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Using Images and Non-Textual Materials in Presentations, Papers, Theses, and Dissertations

• Documenting and Citing Images
• Finding Images - Select Sources

Documenting and Citing Images/Photographs and Their Sources

Please note that this is advice on best practices and considerations in documenting and citing images and non-print materials. It does not represent legal advice on obtaining permissions.

Generally, images copied from other sources should not be used without permissions in publications or for commercial purposes. Many American academic institutions require graduate students to archive their finished and approved theses/dissertations in institutional electronic repositories and/or institutional libraries and repositories, and/or to post them on Proquest's theses database. Unpublished theses and dissertations are a form of scholarly dissemination. Someone else's images, like someone else's ideas, words or music, should be used with critical commentary, and need to be identified and cited. If a thesis/dissertation is revised for publication,  waivers or permissions from the copyright holder(s) of the images and non-textual materials must be obtained. Best practices also apply to materials found on the internet and on social media, and, properly speaking, require identification, citation, and clearance of permissions, as relevant.

Use the following elements when identifying and citing an image, depending on the information you have available . It is your responsibility to do due diligence and document as much as possible about the image you are using:

• Artist's/creator's name, if relevant;
• Title of the work/image, if known, or description;
• Ownership information (such as a person, estate, museum, library collection) and source of image;
• Material, if known, particularly for art works;
• Dimensions of the work, if known.

The Chicago Manual of Style online can be searched for norms on appropriate ways to caption illustrations, capitalize titles of visual works, or cite print materials that contain images.

Including images/photographs in a bibliography:

Best practice is to not include images within a bibliography of works cited. It is common, instead, to create a separate list of images (or figures) and their source, such as photographer (even if it's you) or collection. It may be useful to also include location, e.g., museum, geographic reference, address, etc.

Examples of Documenting Images

The image below is scanned from a published book. It can be used in a critical context within a presentation, classroom session, or  paper/thesis, as follows:

[ Figure 1. This photograph from 1990 shows the Monument against Fascism designed by Jochen Gerz and Esther Shalev-Gerz, Hamburg, 1986-1993. Image from James Young, ed.,  Art of Memory: Holocaust Memorials in History (New York: Prestel, 1994), 70]

If you need to use this image in a published work, you will have to seek permission. For example, the book from which this image was scanned should have a section on photo credits which would help you identify the person/archive holding this image.

The image below was found through Google Images and downloaded from the internet. It can be used in a critical context within a presentation,  classroom session, or paper/thesis, as follows:

[Figure 2. This image shows the interior of Bibliotheca Alexandrina designed by the Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta in 2001. Image downloaded from https://mgkhs.com/gallery/alexandria in March 2016.]

If you want to use this image in a published work, you will have to do your best to track down its source to request permission to use. The web site or social media site where you found the image may not be an appropriate source, since it is common for people to repost images without attribution. Just because "everyone does it" does not mean that you should be using such materials without attribution or documentation. In this specific example, you may need to write to the photographer or to the architecture firm. If you have done due diligence and were unable to find the source, or have not received a response, you may be able to use an image found on the internet with appropriate documentation in a publication.

The image below was downloaded from a digitized historic collection of photographs held by an institutional archive. It can be used in a critical context within a presentation,  classroom session, or paper/thesis, as follows:

[Figure 3. In the 1920s the urban landscape of Los Angeles started to change, as various developers began building multi-family apartment houses in sections previously zoned for single family dwellings. Seen in this photograph by Dick Whittington is the Warrington apartment building, which was completed in 1928, surrounded by older single family structures. Downloaded from the USC Digital Library in February 2016]

I f you plan to use this photograph in a publication, seek permission from the library/institution from whose digital archive you downloaded the image. Contact information is usually found in the record for the image.

The image below was taken by the author. It can be used in a critical context within a presentation, classroom session , paper/thesis, or a publication* as follows:

[Figure 4. Genex Tower, also known as West City Gate, is a residential tower located in New Belgrade. This example of late 20th century brutalist-style architecture was designed in 1977 by Mihajlo Mitrović. Photographed by the author in 2013.]

*Please note, if you re-photographed someone else's photograph or a work of art, or if you re-photographed a published image, you may not be able to publish your photograph without first seeking permission or credit for its content.  If you have done due diligence and were unable to find the source or have not received a response, you may be able to use your image with appropriate documentation.

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Photographs and Images: Using Images in Theses and Dissertations

• What is Fair Use?

Using Images in Theses and Dissertations

• How to Cite an Image
• Copyright and Publishing an Image in a Book, Journal, Video, etc.
• Images of Albuquerque

Historically, images were reproduced in dissertations and theses without obtaining permissions from the copyright holders. Because of the clearly academic, non-commercial nature of theses and dissertations, and because access to theses and dissertations was typically confined to an academic, library setting, there seemed to be little dispute that the incorporation of such images into these or dissertations was a fair use.

As theses and dissertations began to be posted to online repositories, the publishers of those repositories sometime required that graduate students posting theses to their repositories obtain copyright permissions for images. While UNM's Digital Respository   does not have an institutional policy on the use of images in theses and dissertations, the  UNM Office of Graduate Studies  stipulates that students should obtain copyright.

The Office of Graduate Studies at UNM offers the following guidelines:  

Registering Your Copyright

Registering your copyright in your thesis or dissertation is optional. Under current United States copyright Law, the moment you reduce a work to a tangible medium (i.e., write it on paper, save on hard drive or other storage device, take the photograph, record the music, etc.) your thesis or dissertation is copyrighted. This applies to unpublished manuscripts as well. There is no longer the need to register your work for copyright to attach. Furthermore, there is no longer the requirement of putting a copyright notice on a work for it to be copyrighted. You may register your copyright either by having ProQuest do so (see above) or on your own by submitting a registration form, which you can pick-up at Zimmerman Library Government Publications or download from US Copyright Office's web page, with a check for thirty five ($35) dollars, and two copies of your thesis or dissertation. Additional information can be obtained by calling 202-287-8700 or going to the web site of the  United States Copyright Office .

Including Copyrighted Material in Your Manuscript

You should remember that if you quote or otherwise reproduce in your thesis or dissertation material previously copyrighted by another author, beyond brief excerpts, you must obtain written permission from the copyright owner. Keep in mind that if a work was created in or after 1989, there is no requirement that it have a copyright notice to be copyrighted This includes foreign works and foreign works for which the copyright has been reinstated pursuant to international treaty.

Copyright law is extremely complex and it can be difficult to determine what action you need to take and where to begin looking for permissions. The Office of Graduate Studies  Publishing  web site contains a great deal of information and has been helpful to students. The Office of Graduate Studies does not provide copyright advisement.

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How to include pictures in a research paper

It is often said that a picture can speak more than a thousand words. In all kinds of research papers, pictures are essential in adding to the richness of the literature and analysis because of the valuable insight they can offer. For example, pictures of measured data from statistical applications are very important additions to the “Data presentation and analysis” chapter or section of any research paper.

This is because they help to complement verbal discussions or analysis by offering a visual presentation of the statistical technique used to measure the variables of interest. However, where the researcher is not the originator of such pictures, it is very important to cite the source of the picture according to the prescribed format. In the case of statistical applications mentioned above, for example, be sure to disclose which application generated the picture or printout as well as the version of such an application (e.g., SPSS version 27).   

What is a research paper?

A research paper is a form of academic writing which involves formally investigating a field of knowledge or topic of interest in order to add to the existing stock of knowledge in that field and/or solve a particular problem. Educational research is formal because it is not based on the subjective discretions of the researcher but on an accepted and objective standard such as the scientific method of inquiry. Research papers can be of different types. These include term papers, seminar presentations, undergraduate projects, post-graduate thesis or dissertations, conference/workshop papers, and journal entries, among others.

Though these highlighted papers and others can be structured in diverse ways, conducting research in this context basically requires that the researcher identifies a problem or area of interest; formulates research questions and/or hypothesis; reviews the existing literature in the field; collects, measures and analyzes relevant data; discusses the findings; makes conclusions and recommendations based on the findings and then suggests possible directions for future research.

Some things to consider before including pictures in a research paper

As noted above, pictures can complement words to make a research paper richer in terms of providing more insight. However, the researcher must ensure that such pictures are optimally included to generate the desired effects. To this end, some of the tips below can help.

Ensure the picture adds value to your research paper

Pictures may be a necessary aspect of some research papers but this does not imply that they should not be selected meticulously and meritoriously. The researcher must critically evaluate all pictures he or she intends to include in their paper and select only the most relevant, i.e., those that will help illuminate verbal discussions/analysis and consequently deepen the understanding of readers.   

Proper labeling and citation

Research papers are formal documents with rules on how each of them should be written, structured, or formatted. Therefore, ensure that your pictures are labeled according to the rules provided by whoever the paper is meant for (such as a university department or a print journal). The rules are usually determined by Style Guides like the Modern Language Association (MLA), the American Psychological Association, etc. Properly citing the sources of any picture you have borrowed is necessary to enable you avoid plagiarism.

Pictures should be suitably located

After toiling hard to gather the pictures needed for his or her research, the researcher should ensure that the selected pictures are appropriately inserted into the desired areas of the paper. In some social science projects and theses, for example, a tabular presentation of the data used for the research is located on the first page of the fourth chapter titled “Data presentation and analysis.”

Sometimes the researcher may have several pictures that cannot all be accommodated in the main body of a project or thesis/dissertation. In such instances, it will be appropriate to attach such pictures in the “Appendices” section at the end of the paper.

Carry the images along

The pictures do not serve as mere decorations but have been selected to help provide more insight and thus enrich the research paper. To this end, the researcher should ensure that the pictures are properly integrated into the verbal discussions or analysis in the paper.  For example, “Figure 1.0 is a graphical representation of all the differenced variables in the time series.” etc.

Citing pictures in a research paper

There are many kinds of pictures as well as picture sources and they can also be cited in a variety of ways. For simplicity, the examples in this article will focus entirely on how to cite digital (internet) pictures.

Format: Image Creator’s Last Name, First Name. “Image Title.”  Website Name , Day Month Year Published, URL.  

Example: Jones, Daniel. “The Hope Creek nuclear plant.” LearnersHub ,  9 November 2017, www.learnershub.net/2017/09/11/nuclear-technology-explained.html.

Chicago style

Format: Last Name, First Name. M [initials]. “Title.” Digital image. Website Title. Month Date, Year published. Accessed Month Date, Year. URL.

If the picture has no title, then a description can be used instead.

Date Accessed should only be included if the publication date is unavailable.

Example: Jones, Daniel R. “The Hope Creek nuclear plant.”Digital image. LearnersHub ,  Accessed 9 November 2017. www.learnershub.net.

Format: Author’s last name. First initial. (Publication or creation date). Title of image [Type of image]. Name of publisher. Museum or university. URL.

Example: Jones,  R. 2017.   The Hope Creek nuclear plant .[Photo]. National Science Museum. https//:www.nationalsciencemsuem.org/nuclearscience/2017/11/the-hope-creek-nuclear-plant.jpg.

Pictures of all kinds (including tables, charts, graphs, figures, photographs, etc) are useful components in a research paper. This is because of the insight they can bring by complementing verbal discussions and analysis. However, pictures should not be included in a research paper arbitrarily but follow some guidelines such as those presented above.

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• Library Catalogue

Formatting your thesis: Tables, figures, illustrations

On this page

Tables, figures, illustration requirements and tips, table specifications, figures and other image specifications, image resolution and formatting, using images and objects from other publications.

• Include captions/titles/headings for tables, figures, and other illustrations as paragraph text. This allows captions and headings to be populated into the Table of Contents (ToC) or the lists that appear after the ToC.
• The maximum width for objects on a portrait page is 6 inches (15.24 cm).
• Text wrapping should be set to “In Line with Text” (no wrapping).
• notes, if any
• Source notes or footnotes for tables/figures/illustrations are inserted manually. Insert the note in the paragraph directly below the table or figure.
• Font: Arial Narrow 11pt (default), Arial Narrow 10pt [minimum size].
• To change the font or line spacing for tables see the Thesis Template Instructions .
• Font: Text in image files should follow the overall Font Specifications and be large enough to be read when inserted into the document. The font in images should appear  to be the same size as the text in your thesis.
• For example, an image 6 inches wide should be 1800 pixels wide to produce an equivalent resolution of 300 ppi. 6 inches X 300ppi = 1800px.
• ​ For best results, insert images as flattened .tif, .png, or high quality .jpg files.
• ​ Crop as closely as possible around the image to remove blank space and maximize the size. This can be done in Word or in an image editor like Photoshop or Fireworks.
• Landscape images on a portrait page should be rotated with the top of the image to the left.

If your thesis incorporates images, photos, maps, diagrams, etc., not created by you, copyright permission must be obtained from the copyright holder of those works to use their content within your thesis.  A copy of each permission must be uploaded to the Thesis Registration System.

See  Copyright at SFU  for instructions on how to obtain copyright permissions.

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Guide to Using Science Images for Research Papers

One easy way to include science images in your manuscripts is to download and customize them for your figures..

When downloading images from the internet to use in your scientific papers and presentations, you need to be careful that they match the copyright, resolution, and sizing rules that allow them to be used in academic journals. This science image guide provides tips to help you choose the right kinds of files that you can use to create your own impressive designs.

Which image format is best for research papers?

There are two categories of images that can be used for scientific publications: editable and uneditable. Editable images that can be fully customized and scaled without losing resolution are called vector files. Uneditable images don't allow you to adjust the design or color and come in wide range of formats from low to high resolution. Both of these image types can be used in scientific papers as long as you follow the proper copyright and resolution rules. Learn more about these image types and the different uses below.

1. Editable Images

The best kind of science images are editable vector files that allow you to customize the designs to best match the main points of your research. These include image file types such as Scalable Vector Graphics (.svg), Adobe Illustrator (.ai), Affinity Designer (.afdesign), Encapsulated PostScript (.eps), and some files in PowerPoint (.pptx) if they were drawn using PowerPoint shape tools.

Editable Image Tips:

• Editable images are important because some scientific journals, such as Science, require that you provide them with figures that are formatted using editable vector files.
• Be cautious of using images and database tools that only offer limited design customization options such as BioRender. Partially editable images can be difficult to make an illustration that looks professional and seamless with your data and other designs.
• Vector images have customizable sizes, resolution and transparent backgrounds, so you can always scale the image and insert it into any background.
• Make sure you follow the copyright rules associated with your image download. Some vector image databases require attribution and others allow you to use them for any purpose.

How to Find Editable Images

The easiest ways to find editable images is to explore science image databases or use Google search. I recommend using the search terms "drawings", "vector art", or "vector images" paired with the image type keyword.

The example below shows the Google Image search results for "cancer cell drawings" with a variety of different options for downloading different types of science images. You will still need to make sure that the image is available as a vector file type to be fully editable (e.g. SVG, AI, or EPS file types). Most vector images will require some sort of payment or subscription to download the high resolution files and use without copyright issues.

1. Uneditable Images

The second best format is uneditable images. Common uneditable image types are PNG, TIFF, or JPEG formats and these can be incorporated into your scientific figures and presentations as long as they have high enough resolution and have copyright rules that allow you to use them in academic publications. 

Uneditable image tips:

• Check the resolution of downloaded images to make sure they are high enough to use in scientific publications without looking grainy or unclear (see the "How to check image resolution" instructions in the section below). 
• Try to find PNG images with transparent backgrounds to make it easier to incorporate into your scientific figures and posters.
• Be very careful in checking the source of uneditable images and follow all copyright rules associated with the image. Uneditable image are more likely to have copyright rules associated with them that do not allow their use in scientific journals.

How to Find High Resolution and Transparent Images

The easiest ways to find high resolution and transparent images is to explore science image databases or use Google search. I recommend using the search terms "transparent background" and using the Google "Tools" feature to limit the search for "Large" images. 

The examples below shows the Google Large Image search results for "plant cell diagram transparent background" that show a variety of different options for downloading high resolution and transparent science images.

What image sizes are best for scientific publication?

Size and resolution are important because images need to be high resolution enough to show sharp shapes and lines when it is used in a printed or digital figure. Below are tips on how to choose the right image sizes and resolutions.

Image Resolution

Resolution is the most important aspect of a downloaded image or scientific figure and affects the sharpness of the details. A low-resolution image will have around 72 PPI and high resolution images are at least 300 PPI.

• Most scientific journals require images and figures to be at least 300 PPI/DPI.
• The "PPI" stands for Pixels Per Inch and is used when referring to digital file resolution and "DPI" stands for Dots Per Inch and is used for printing resolution.

How to Check Image Resolution:

• Windows computer: Right-click on the file, select Properties, then Details, and you will see the DPI in the Image section, labeled Horizontal Resolution and Vertical Resolution. 
• Mac computer: Open the image in Preview and select Tools, then Adjust Size, and find the label Resolution.

The size requirements will depend on how you plan to use the image. Most scientific journals use a maximum figure width of 180mm, so if you only plan to use images in scientific publications, then you only need them large enough to look sharp within a 180 mm wide figure (~600 pixels wide).

If you plan to use the image in presentation or posters slides, you will need to have much larger images to not have resolution issues when shown on a big screen that is 1280 x 720 pixels or printed on a poster that is approximately 48 x 36 inches.

How Can I Find Copyright-Free Images?

Copyright laws ensure that an image is only used in a way that is approved by the image creator. The best way to ensure that you download images with copyright rules that allow you to use them for academic journal submissions is to read the fine print on the image source. The summary below describes how to find images that are allowed for use in scientific papers.

Copyright License Review

Anyone who creates their own original artwork has the right to be acknowledged as the creator of that image. They automatically own the copyright for the image, which means that legally, they have the right to decide where and how that image can be used. In order to be able to use images in scientific papers, you will need to know what kind of copyright license is being used, which you can usually find by looking for the original source of the image or by reading the fine print of the image database.

Types of copyright licenses for scientific use:

• Public Domain  - Images generally become public domain after 70 years after the creator's death. If the copyright is not renewed on the creator's behalf, the image can become part of the ‘public domain’, and the copyright no longer applies.
• Creative Commons 4  - You can adapt and share the image in anyway you like, but this license requires attribution, so you will need to include the original creator in the acknowledgements of the research paper, posters, and acknowledged on your presentation slides.
• Stock Images  - Image databases that allow you to license the designs. Make sure to read the fine print on how you are allowed to use the image (e.g. personal and commercial uses). 

How to Find Copyright-Free Images:

Look for image databases that have copyright licenses that allow you to use the images "For personal, academic, and commercial projects and to modify it" such as: 

• FreePik  
• Simplified Science
• Wikimedia Commons

NOTE: Some copyright-free image databases may still require that you attribute the illustration to the original author in your scientific publication. Read the fine print to make sure you are using the image correctly!

Here is an example of Simplified Science Usage Rules for comparison to other image databases.

How to Use Downloaded Images in Publications?

After downloading images, the next step is to format them into your scientific designs. Two of the most common software tools that scientists use for figure formatting are Adobe Illustrator and PowerPoint. Below is a link to free online courses that show you how to use the downloaded images in your scientific publications and graphical abstracts.

Create professional science figures with illustration services or use the online courses and templates to quickly learn how to make your own designs.

Interested in free design templates and training.

Explore scientific illustration templates and courses by creating a Simplified Science Publishing Log In. Whether you are new to data visualization design or have some experience, these resources will improve your ability to use both basic and advanced design tools.

Interested in reading more articles on scientific design? Learn more below:

Scientific Presentation Guide: How to Create an Engaging Research Talk

Data Storytelling Techniques: How to Tell a Great Data Story in 4 Steps

Best Science PowerPoint Templates and Slide Design Examples

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Master thesis, thesis presentation, thesis submission, writing thesis, thesis binding, student thesis, thesis binder, thesis defense, thesis icon, 3,934 thesis stock photos & high-res pictures, browse 3,934  authentic thesis  stock photos, high-res images, and pictures, or explore additional thesis paper  or  master thesis  stock images to find the right photo at the right size and resolution for your project..

• Why and what is UTUGradu?
• How does UTUGradu work?
• Before initiating UTUGradu process: Preliminary Examination of a Thesis and Moodle Assignments
• 1. Initiating the Examination and Publication Process (UTUGradu)
• 2. Turnitin Originality Check and Filling in the Examination Information on the Thesis Form
• Following the Process in the List View
• 1. Completing the Thesis
• 2. PDF/A Converting and Validation of the Thesis File
• 3. Turnitin Originality Check
• 4. Filling in the UTUGradu Thesis Form
• 5. Commenting on the Evaluation Statements
• Head of Department/Dean
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• Use of quotations in master's theses

Use of images in master's theses

• Further information
• Turnitin Originality Check
• Accessibility
• In Finnish This link opens in a new window

Copyrighted material may not be used in master's theses without permission. Such material are for example different kinds of pictures, drawings, maps and photographs ( Copyright Act, Section 1 )

However, works of art made public and permanently placed at a public place may be reproduced in pictorial form with a text in a critical or scientific presentation ( Section 25 ), when the picture has a material connection with the text and it is used to illustrate or clarify the text.

Acquiring permissions

Begin the acquisition of permissions in good time, preferably immediately when you find a picture that you want to use in your thesis. If you get no reply to your permission request or if the reply is negative, do not include the picture in your thesis.

Requesting permissions

You can usually begin requesting a permission by contacting the publisher.

Most publishers offer a service with which you can request a permission and it is granted immediately, for example RightsLink. If such a service is available, you are advised to use it. For online images with no copyright information available contact the webmaster in question.

Break the process down into manageable chunks.

• When you’re approaching a big project, it can seem overwhelming to look at the whole thing at once, so it’s essential to identify the smaller steps that will move you towards the completed project.
• Your adviser is best suited to help you break down the thesis process with field-specific advice.
• If you need to refine the breakdown further so it makes sense for you, schedule an appointment with an  Academic Coach . An academic coach can help you think through the steps in a way that works for you.

Schedule brief writing sessions at regular times.

• Pre-determine the time, place, and duration.
• Keep it short (15 to 60 minutes).
• Have a clear and reasonable goal for each writing session.
• Make it a regular event (every day, every other day, MWF).
• time is not wasted deciding to write if it’s already in your calendar;
• keeping sessions short reduces the competition from other tasks that are not getting done;
• having an achievable goal for each session provides a sense of accomplishment (a reward for your work);
• writing regularly can turn into a productive habit.

Create accountability structures.

• In addition to having a clear goal for each writing session, it's important to have clear goals for each week and to find someone to communicate these goals to, such as your adviser, a “thesis buddy,” your roommate, etc. Communicating your goals and progress to someone else creates a useful sense of accountability.
• If your adviser is not the person you are communicating your progress to on a weekly basis, then request to set up a structure with your adviser that requires you to check in at less frequent but regular intervals.
• Commit to attending Accountability Hours  at the ARC on the same day every week. Making that commitment will add both social support and structure to your week. Use the ARC Scheduler to register for Accountability Hours.
• Set up an accountability group in your department or with thesis writers from different departments.

Create feedback structures.

• It’s important to have a means for getting consistent feedback on your work and to get that feedback early. Work on large projects often lacks the feeling of completeness, so don’t wait for a whole section (and certainly not the whole thesis) to feel “done” before you get feedback on it!
• Your thesis adviser is typically the person best positioned to give you feedback on your research and writing, so communicate with your adviser about how and how often you would like to get feedback.
• If your adviser isn’t able to give you feedback with the frequency you’d like, then fill in the gaps by creating a thesis writing group or exploring if there is already a writing group in your department or lab.
• The Harvard College Writing Center is a great resource for thesis feedback. Writing Center Senior Thesis Tutors can provide feedback on the structure, argument, and clarity of your writing and help with mapping out your writing plan. Visit the Writing Center website to schedule an appointment with a thesis tutor .

Accept that there will be some anxious moments.

• To reduce this source of anxiety, try keeping a separate document where you jot down ideas on how your research questions or central argument might be clarifying or changing as you research and write. Doing this will enable you to stay focused on the section you are working on and to stop worrying about forgetting the new ideas that are emerging.
• You might feel anxious when you realize that you need to update your argument in response to the evidence you have gathered or the new thinking your writing has unleashed. Know that that is OK. Research and writing are iterative processes – new ideas and new ways of thinking are what makes progress possible.
• Breaking down big projects into manageable chunks and mapping out a schedule for working through each chunk is one way to reduce this source of anxiety. It’s reassuring to know you are working towards the end even if you cannot quite see how it will turn out.
• It may be that your thesis or dissertation never truly feels “done” to you, but that’s okay. Academic inquiry is an ongoing endeavor.

Focus on what works for you.

• Just because your roommate wrote 10 pages in a day doesn’t mean that’s the right pace or strategy for you.
• If you are having trouble figuring out what works for you, use the  ARC Scheduler  to make an appointment with an  Academic Coach , who can help you come up with daily, weekly, and semester-long plans.

Use your resources.

• There’s a lot of the thesis writing process that has to be done independently, but there are also a lot of free resources at Harvard to help you do the work.
• If you’re having trouble finding a source, email your question or set up a research consult via Ask a Librarian .
• If you’re looking for additional feedback or help with any aspect of writing, contact the Harvard College Writing Center . The Writing Center has Senior Thesis Tutors who will read drafts of your thesis (more typically, parts of your thesis) in advance and meet with you individually to talk about structure, argument, clear writing, and mapping out your writing plan.
• If you need help with breaking down your project or setting up a schedule for the week, the semester, or until the deadline, use the  ARC Scheduler  to make an appointment with an  Academic Coach .
• If you would like an accountability structure for social support and to keep yourself on track, come to Accountability Hours at the ARC.

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• How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

Published on January 11, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on August 15, 2023 by Eoghan Ryan.

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . It usually comes near the end of your introduction .

Your thesis will look a bit different depending on the type of essay you’re writing. But the thesis statement should always clearly state the main idea you want to get across. Everything else in your essay should relate back to this idea.

You can write your thesis statement by following four simple steps:

• Start with a question
• Write your initial answer
• Develop your answer
• Refine your thesis statement

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Table of contents

What is a thesis statement, placement of the thesis statement, step 1: start with a question, step 2: write your initial answer, step 3: develop your answer, step 4: refine your thesis statement, types of thesis statements, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about thesis statements.

A thesis statement summarizes the central points of your essay. It is a signpost telling the reader what the essay will argue and why.

The best thesis statements are:

• Concise: A good thesis statement is short and sweet—don’t use more words than necessary. State your point clearly and directly in one or two sentences.
• Contentious: Your thesis shouldn’t be a simple statement of fact that everyone already knows. A good thesis statement is a claim that requires further evidence or analysis to back it up.
• Coherent: Everything mentioned in your thesis statement must be supported and explained in the rest of your paper.

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The thesis statement generally appears at the end of your essay introduction or research paper introduction .

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts and among young people more generally is hotly debated. For many who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education: the internet facilitates easier access to information, exposure to different perspectives, and a flexible learning environment for both students and teachers.

You should come up with an initial thesis, sometimes called a working thesis , early in the writing process . As soon as you’ve decided on your essay topic , you need to work out what you want to say about it—a clear thesis will give your essay direction and structure.

You might already have a question in your assignment, but if not, try to come up with your own. What would you like to find out or decide about your topic?

For example, you might ask:

After some initial research, you can formulate a tentative answer to this question. At this stage it can be simple, and it should guide the research process and writing process .

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Now you need to consider why this is your answer and how you will convince your reader to agree with you. As you read more about your topic and begin writing, your answer should get more detailed.

In your essay about the internet and education, the thesis states your position and sketches out the key arguments you’ll use to support it.

The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education because it facilitates easier access to information.

In your essay about braille, the thesis statement summarizes the key historical development that you’ll explain.

The invention of braille in the 19th century transformed the lives of blind people, allowing them to participate more actively in public life.

A strong thesis statement should tell the reader:

• Why you hold this position
• What they’ll learn from your essay
• The key points of your argument or narrative

The final thesis statement doesn’t just state your position, but summarizes your overall argument or the entire topic you’re going to explain. To strengthen a weak thesis statement, it can help to consider the broader context of your topic.

These examples are more specific and show that you’ll explore your topic in depth.

Your thesis statement should match the goals of your essay, which vary depending on the type of essay you’re writing:

• In an argumentative essay , your thesis statement should take a strong position. Your aim in the essay is to convince your reader of this thesis based on evidence and logical reasoning.
• In an expository essay , you’ll aim to explain the facts of a topic or process. Your thesis statement doesn’t have to include a strong opinion in this case, but it should clearly state the central point you want to make, and mention the key elements you’ll explain.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

• It gives your writing direction and focus.
• It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

Follow these four steps to come up with a thesis statement :

• Ask a question about your topic .
• Write your initial answer.
• Develop your answer by including reasons.
• Refine your answer, adding more detail and nuance.

The thesis statement should be placed at the end of your essay introduction .

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Experts analyse possible scenarios for how Israeli airstrike on World Kitchen Central Gaza aid convoy played out

A lot of evidence still needs to be collected, but analysts are already starting to piece together possible scenarios for how the deadly Israeli air strike on a Gaza aid convoy played out.

Based on images of the aftermath and geolocations of the wreckages, they say the attack bears the hallmarks of a precision strike — and more than one.

Israel claims the strike that killed seven people working for disaster relief organisation World Central Kitchen (WCK) on Monday was "unintentional" and followed a "misidentification".

"This happens in war," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

But WCK founder  Jose Andres says the aid workers had been targeted "systematically, car by car".

The strike, which killed an  Australian,  a Palestinian, and citizens of the UK, Poland and a dual US-Canadian national, has triggered international condemnation. 

World leaders, including Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, are calling for accountability, saying there must be a "fast, immediate, clear and transparent" investigation. 

Israel says there will be an "independent" investigation into the incident, but it's unclear exactly how it will be conducted.

The ABC spoke to a group of international experts who analysed the images and offered their views on how it unfolded:

• Retired Lieutenant Charles Faint, chair for the Study of Special Operations at the The Modern War Institute at West Point. Dr Faint has 27 years' experience in the infantry and military Intelligence branches of the US Army, including time in special operations
• Nick Waters, an ex-British Army officer, and justice and accountability lead with the open-source intelligence group Bellingcat
• Raphael Cohen, director of strategy at US think tank Rand Corporation's Project Air Force

Signs of a precision strike

The WCK says when their seven members left the organisation's warehouse to deliver aid inside Gaza, they thought they would be travelling along a "deconflicted zone".

They had coordinated with the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) to ensure their convoy — two armoured cars emblazoned with the WCK logo and a third "soft skin" vehicle — wouldn't come under fire.

But not long into their journey, the cars were hit by an Israeli air strike. 

Nick Waters says hitting a moving target is quite difficult, so you need a precision munition that can manoeuvre in the air with real-time updates.

"If you have three vehicles, over a kind of three-kilometre stretch, these are being targeted with precision — this isn't just a mistake."

"This is a case where these vehicles have been tracked, targeted and then destroyed.

"And it appears that they've been hit very, very precisely — impacted directly into the body.

"Everything about this indicates that these vehicles were struck deliberately."

Charles Faint agrees the damage shows the strikes appear to be deliberate. 

"Those are precision munitions.

"It would be extremely unlikely that those were three separate accidents. So I think the vehicles were targeted."

Could there have been mistaken identity?

Raphael Cohen says although the images make it "fairly clear" it was a deliberate strike on each of the vehicles, it's not clear who the Israeli units intended to strike.  

The chief of staff of Israel's Defence Force, Herzi Halevi, released a recorded message saying an "initial" investigation found the strike "was not carried out with the intention of harming WCK aid workers", adding the IDF was "sorry for the unintentional harm". 

This "grave mistake", Mr Halevi said, followed a "misidentification — at night during a war in very complex conditions".

Mr Cohen says to analyse "what was known at the time" of the strike, we need to see images from the feed from the Israeli unit that carried out the bombing.

"That's the key imagery that you want to see.

"These photos (the ones currently available) look like they are taken maybe 20-feet (six metes) away, on the ground, in daylight.

"They look very different from what is seen 20,000 feet in the air, at night."

Mr Waters isn't as certain. 

"It's slightly possible that the logo or writing didn't show up. That's something I cannot completely dismiss without knowing precisely what optic was used.

"But the logo was certainly well presented. I think it's likely it was visible, so it was pretty clear what the vehicles were and what they were doing. 

"So there are really considerable questions overall — why the strike was authorised, why it took place and why the strike continued to occur?"

Bellingcat geolocated the positions of the wreckages approximately 12 kilometres away from the newly built pier that was set up by WCK specifically to deliver aid.

It located them on the outskirts of Dier al-Balah, where the WCK facilities are based.

"The convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route," the WCK said.

The convoy had been travelling on a route earmarked as an "accessible road for humanitarian aid" by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in late March.

Mr Waters says given the convoy was on that road, it's hard to consider it was an accident.

"It happened on a road that was highlighted as being used for aid deliveries in three large white vehicles, with logos on the roof, which had been deconflicted with the IDF.

"I very much struggle to understand how this could have been a mistake. But it depends on what they mean by a mistake.

"Do they mean mistake as in a unit went rogue and ignored their orders? Or do they mean a mistake is something else? The lack of specificity in the IDF statement itself leaves a lot of questions to be answered."

Mr Cohen argues there may have been a breakdown in communication between who was coordinating with the aid workers and feeding information to the Israeli units. 

"When humanitarian aid convoys are coordinated with any military there's usually a specific organisation that does that sort of deconfliction with the humanitarian organisations.

"So the question is, was that information passed on to the tactical units on the ground? Was this tragedy due to a breakdown in communication?

"Or did that tactical unit know that it was indeed an aid convoy, or did they think that aid convoy was something else? That's what we don't know."

Dr Faint says even though the cars were clearly marked, it doesn't mean they weren't perceived as "legitimate targets", but they could have "hit people that they did not intend to hit".

He added that there's no suspicion the aid workers were doing anything wrong. 

"They were just people that were trying to help people, and unfortunately in the fog of war they got killed."

What do we know about the weapons used?

Mr Waters says although you can't be certain without seeing fragments of the munition itself, the vehicles bear the hallmarks of a precision strike by low-yield missiles. 

"The actual impact in the vehicles appear to be from a relatively low-yield munition.

"Typically these aren't 500-pound bombs, they are smaller munitions. Because they're smaller, they need to be more precise.

"These are very precise munitions that impacted into the vehicles with an extremely high level of precision."

Dr Faint agrees the weapon was smaller and used to specifically target those vehicles and to avoid any surrounding collateral damage. 

"The cratering and the penetration on top of some of the vehicles looks like it looks like they were hit by a warhead that did not contain the typical high explosive that we would expect to see in a standard missile.

"It seems pretty obvious to me that they're trying to minimise civilian casualties and collateral damage.

"That's why you hit with one of those types of weapons instead of a more traditional hellfire."

US President Joe Biden said the Israeli investigation "must be swift".

"It must bring accountability, and its findings must be made public," he said, adding that not enough was being done to protect aid workers or civilians in Gaza.

At least 196 humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza since October, according to the United Nations.

Mr Cohen says these types of incidents are common in war, but there are specific questions that need to be answered.

"Unfortunately, there's a history of these type of mistakes happening.

"Now the question that I think this investigation needs to come to is, if there's something that the Israelis did that was unique or different or more aggressive, or that made this kind of incident more likely."

He added that it will take time for a methodical investigation.

"You need to see the strike footage, you need to find not just that World Central Kitchen coordinated with the Israelis, but who did they coordinate with to pass on that information? Did that information get all the way around?

"We need to find get to in order to assign culpability, but more importantly to in order to prevent this from ever happening again, which is obviously the goal."

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Russian Group Spread Disinformation About Princess of Wales, Experts Say

A Kremlin-linked group known for online campaigns to sow falsehoods and distrust among Russia’s foes helped fuel the frenzy of conspiracy theories about Catherine and her health.

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By Mark Landler and Adam Satariano

Reporting from London

The whirl of conspiracy theories that enveloped Catherine, Princess of Wales, before she disclosed her cancer diagnosis last week probably didn’t need help from a foreign state. But researchers in Britain said Wednesday that a notorious Russian disinformation operation helped stir the pot.

Martin Innes, an expert on digital disinformation at Cardiff University in Wales, said he and his colleagues tracked 45 social media accounts that posted a spurious claim about Catherine to a Kremlin-linked disinformation network, which has previously spread divisive stories about Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as about France’s support for Ukraine.

As in those cases, Professor Innes said, the influence campaign appeared calculated to inflame divisions, deepen a sense of chaos in society, and erode trust in institutions — in this case, the British royal family and the news media.

“It provokes an emotional reaction,” he said. “The story was already being framed in conspiracy terms, so you can appeal to those people. And people who support the royal family get angry.”

The motive, he said, was likely commercial as well as political. Social media traffic about Catherine skyrocketed over the last three months, as a dearth of information about her condition created a void that an online army filled with rumors and speculation. For the Russian network, amplifying those posts through their accounts would enable them to boost their own traffic statistics and follower counts.

It is not clear who might have hired the disinformation network to go after Catherine, but it has a track record of campaigns to undermine the countries and people at odds with the Kremlin. Britain’s robust support for Ukraine, and London’s longstanding antagonism with Moscow, would make it a tempting target for the Russians.

The Daily Telegraph, a London newspaper, reported on Sunday that British officials were worried that Russia, China and Iran were fueling disinformation about Catherine in an effort to destabilize the country.

Asked about these reports in Parliament on Monday, the deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, did not name the countries, but said it was “a reminder to us all that it is important for us to ensure that we deal with valid and trusted information, and are appropriately skeptical about many online sources.”

In 2020, a British parliamentary committee concluded that Russia had mounted a prolonged, sophisticated campaign to undermine Britain’s democracy — using tactics that ranged from disinformation and meddling in elections to funneling dirty money and employing members of the House of Lords. The Russian foreign ministry dismissed the conclusions as “Russophobia.”

Kensington Palace, where Catherine and her husband, Prince William, have their offices, declined to comment on Russia’s role in the recent rumormongering. The palace has appealed to the news media and the public to give Catherine privacy, after she announced she had cancer in a video last Friday.

Professor Innes, who leads a research program exploring the causes and consequences of digital disinformation, said his team noticed a mysterious spike in a certain type of social media post on March 19, a day after video surfaced of Catherine and William leaving a food shop near their home in Windsor.

One widely repeated post on X featured an image from the video, with Catherine’s face clearly altered. It asked, “Why do these big media channels want to make us believe these are Kate and William? But as we can see, they are not Kate or William. …”

Tracing the 45 accounts that recycled this post, Professor Innes said, the researchers found they all originated from a single master account, carrying the name Master Firs. It bore the characteristics of a Russian disinformation operation known in the industry as Doppelgänger , he said.

Since 2017, Doppelgänger has been linked to the creation of fake websites that impersonate actual news organizations in Europe and the United States. Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions against two Russians, and their companies, for involvement in cyberinfluence operations. They are believed to be part of the Doppelgänger network.

Catherine is not the only member of the royal family to have become the subject of an online feeding frenzy in Russia. On the same day as the multiple posts about the video, an erroneous report of the death of King Charles III began circulating on Telegram, a social media network popular in Russia.

Those reports were later picked up by Russian media outlets, forcing the British embassies in Moscow and Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, to deny them as “fake news.” Like Catherine, Charles, 75, is being treated for cancer, though he continues to greet visitors privately and plans to attend church services on Easter.

Beyond the Russian involvement, the rumors and gossip about Catherine’s health sprouted in many corners of the web, including on accounts sympathetic to William’s brother, Prince Harry, and his wife, Meghan. With such a widespread online frenzy, the impact of any state actor might be muted.

“It’s very hard to isolate only one piece,” said Alexandre Alaphilippe, executive director of the EU DisinfoLab, a research organization in Brussels that played a role in identifying the Russia-based disinformation group in 2022 and gave it the name Doppelgänger. “The question is what is being spun by the media, online influencers or inauthentic sources. Everything is interconnected.”

Such campaigns are also particularly hard to measure, he said, because social media companies like X and Meta have restricted access to data that would allow researchers, journalists and civil society groups to get a more granular look at the spread of material on their platforms.

Nor are some disinformation-for-hire outfits very discriminating about what material they spread online, Mr. Alaphilippe said. “You may see bots pushing a Russian narrative on Monday,” he said. “On Tuesday, they may do online gaming. On Wednesday, they can do crypto-scam campaigns.”

Even as awareness of Russian disinformation campaigns has grown since the American presidential election in 2016, the volume of internet trickery and lie spreading has not slowed.

Through bots, online trolls and disinformation peddlers, Russia-linked groups jump on news events to sow confusion and discord. Ukraine has been the major focus of their efforts for the past two years as President Vladimir V. Putin seeks to undermine the West’s resolve to continue supporting the war.

A French government minister recently blamed Russia for artificially amping up concerns about a bedbug scare last year in Paris . Another false claim that media monitoring groups said was amplified by Russia was that the European Union would allow powdered insects to be mixed into food.

The spreading of rumors about Catherine is a more traditional influence operation, but the Russians have been refining their tactics as governments and independent researchers grow more sophisticated at detecting their activities.

In the United States and Europe, fake news sites have popped up to push Russian propaganda and potentially influence elections in 2024. In YouTube and TikTok videos, people have posed as Ukrainian doctors and movie producers to tell fake tales favorable to Russia’s interests.

“Whether spreading it for profit or for political purposes, these types of actors tend to jump on anything engaging and controversial,” said Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University. “Not unlike some news media,” he added, though their motives might differ.

“When politically motivated,” Professor Nielsen said, “the point is rarely persuasion as much as attempts to undermine people’s confidence in the media environment.”

Mark Landler is the London bureau chief of The Times, covering the United Kingdom, as well as American foreign policy in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He has been a journalist for more than three decades. More about Mark Landler

Adam Satariano is a technology correspondent based in Europe, where his work focuses on digital policy and the intersection of technology and world affairs. More about Adam Satariano

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Middle East crisis — explained

The conflict between Israel and Palestinians — and other groups in the Middle East — goes back decades. These stories provide context for current developments and the history that led up to them.

Biden met with a small group of Muslims yesterday. This doctor walked out

Asma Khalid

A young boy looks out from a car as members of a Palestinian family leave Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip with personal belongings on March 31. Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

A young boy looks out from a car as members of a Palestinian family leave Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip with personal belongings on March 31.

President Biden met with a small group of Muslims at the White House on Tuesday — a conversation that became another sign of how contentious his relationship with Arab Americans and Muslims has become because of the war in Gaza.

Dr. Thaer Ahmad was one of the people at the meeting. But the emergency medicine physician walked out of the meeting before it was over. He told NPR he left out of respect for his fellow Palestinians and as a signal that he believes the White House needs to do more to end the war and to get humanitarian aid into the region.

Wisconsin's 'uninstructed' voters send Biden a strong message on the war in Gaza

Ahmad recently returned to the United States from Gaza, where he was treating patients in Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis before it became inoperable due to fighting.

He told NPR he wanted to share what he had witnessed first-hand with the president, and speak out against potential Israel military action in Rafah.

"We've been on the ground, we've seen just how overcrowded Rafah is — just how little aid is getting in — and that any sort of military activity there would be catastrophic," Ahmad said.

In Michigan, some Arab American leaders declined to meet Biden's campaign manager

He said he handed Biden a letter from an 8-year-old orphaned Palestinian girl who begged Biden to stop Israeli troops from entering the city.

"It was tough, you know — I wanted to communicate that message, but at the same time, I also wanted it to be clear that up until now — what the White House has done is not sufficient enough," Ahmad said.

The White House declined comment on the discussions during the private meeting. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden respects the right to peaceful protest. "We understand it's a very painful time," she told reporters.

Another doctor showed Biden photos of the suffering

Dr. Nahreen Ahmed also attended the meeting. The medical director of aid group MedGlobal, who has been to Gaza twice since the war started, said she felt Biden was "somewhat dismissive" during the meeting when she showed photos of the suffering that she had witnessed.

"Maybe he didn't mean it that way, but you're the president of the United States, you cannot sit there and be this dismissive of individual pictures of people suffering that are being put in front of you and then tell us all, 'Well, I've seen these before,'" she told NPR.

Protesters calling for a cease-fire in Gaza interrupted Biden's campaign speech

"Even if you have — that's not the right response to a community of people that are hurting from what's happening in Palestine and are trying to express to you their hurt and their pain and their frustration."

Ahmed said she felt the meeting was "a way to manage the community, to say that we are trying our best, that we hear you," and did not feel like the president was empathetic to their concerns.

The meeting was held ahead of a scaled-down iftar

The White House had planned to invite some Muslim leaders to an iftar to mark Ramadan, but scaled those plans back when some people said they did not feel comfortable with the plans.

"This is the holy month of Ramadan and these are the last 10 most holiest days of the month, and it would be inappropriate to be breaking fast at the White House — given our policies that are enabling a famine in Palestine," said Wa'el Alzayat, who runs Emgage USA, the largest get-out-the-vote organization in the country.

The White House plans a smaller Ramadan gathering as the war in Gaza continues

Alzayat and others pushed the White House for a meeting with Biden instead of a dinner, though Alzayat still declined the invitation altogether. The president did host a small group of Muslim officials who work in his administration for an iftar.

Biden last met with a group of Muslim leaders at the White House in October — a group that included Alzayat and Rami Nashashibi, a Palestinian American community organizer from Chicago.

Nashashibi said he feels the White House is not genuinely listening to Muslim and Palestinian perspectives.

"The reality is we have not seen, in the last five months, the president take any responsibility for the fact that perhaps his inability to reign in (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu much earlier has contributed to some of the catastrophic loss of life," Nashashibi said.

The White House says it is pushing back

Biden routinely encounters protesters upset with his support for Israel's war in Gaza — even during a star-studded fundraiser in New York City last month. Democratic voters in a string of states have organized protest votes during primary elections to register their disapproval.

The White House has urged Israel to do more to prevent civilian deaths in Gaza — and has said it opposes a major ground operation in Rafah.

"We have said there have been too many civilians killed. We have talked about the civilian infrastructure that's been destroyed. We have been very clear about our concerns and objections over some obstacles that have been put in the way of getting additional humanitarian assistance in," John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said on Wednesday.

V. I. Lenin

Theses on fundamental tasks of, the second congress of the communist international.

Written: 30 June, 1920 First Published: July of 1920 Source: Lenin’s Collected Works , 4th English Edition, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1965, Volume 31 , pages 184-201 Translated: Julius Katzer Transcription\HTML Markup: David Walters & R. Cymbala Copyleft: V. I. Lenin Internet Archive (www.marx.org) 2002. Permission is granted to copy and/or distribute this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

The Essence of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat and of Soviet Power

What Immediate and Universal Preparation for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat Should Consist of

Rectification of the Political Line—Partly Also the Composition—of Parties Affiliated or Desiring to Affiliate to the Communist International

1.The present stage in the development of the international communist movement is marked by the fact that the finest representatives of the revolutionary proletariat in all capitalist countries have fully grasped the fundamental principles of the Communist International, viz., dictatorship of the proletariat and Soviet power, and have ranged themselves with unbounded enthusiasm on the side of the Communist International. An even bigger and more important step forward is the definite sympathy with these fundamental principles that has everywhere taken shape among the broadest masses; not only of the urban proletariat, but of the advanced section of the rural workers as well.

On the other hand, two errors, or failings, are to be observed in the very rapidly growing international communist movement. One, which is very grave and constitutes an immense and immediate danger to the success of the cause of proletarian emancipation, is that a section of the old leaders and of the old parties of the Second International—some yielding half-unconsciously to the wishes and pressure of the masses, and some deliberately deceiving the masses in order to retain their function of agents and assistants of the bourgeoisie within the working-class movement—declare their qualified or even unqualified adherence to the Third International, while actually remaining in all their practical party and political work, on the level of the Second International. Such a state of affairs is absolutely intolerable, because it leads to downright corruption of the masses, detracts from the Third International’s prestige, and threatens a repetition of the same acts of treachery as were perpetrated by the Hungarian Social-Democrats, who so hastily assumed the title of Communists. The other error, which is far less significant and is more in the nature of growing pains of the movement, consists in a tendency towards “Leftism” which results in a wrong appraisal of the role and the tasks of the party with regard to the class and the masses, and a wrong attitude towards the revolutionary Communists’ obligation to work in bourgeois parliaments and reactionary trade unions.

Communists are in duty bound, not to gloss over shortcomings in their movement, but to criticise them openly so as to remedy them the more speedily and radically. For this purpose it is necessary: first, to define as concretely as possible, particularly on the basis of the practical experience already acquired, the content of the concepts “dictatorship of the proletariat” and “Soviet power”; second, to specify the precise content of the immediate and systematic preparatory work to be carried on in all countries so as to give effect to these slogans; and third, to specify the methods and means of rectifying the faults in our movement.

The Essence Of The Dictatorship Of The Proletariat and of Soviet Power

2.The victory of socialism (as the first stage of communism) over capitalism requires that the proletariat, as the only really revolutionary class, shall accomplish the following three tasks. First—overthrow the exploiters, and first and foremost the bourgeoisie, as their principal economic and political representative; utterly rout them; crush their resistance; absolutely preclude any attempt on their part to restore the yoke of capital and wage-slavery. Second—win over and bring under the leadership of the Communist Party, the revolutionary vanguard of the proletariat, not only the entire proletariat, or its vast majority, but all who labour and are exploited by capital; educate, organise, train and discipline them in the actual course of a supremely bold and ruthlessly firm struggle against the exploiters; wrest this vast majority of the pqpulation in all the capitalist countries from dependence on the bourgeoisie; imbue it, through its own practical experience, with confidence in the leading role of the proletariat and of its revolutionary vanguard. Third—neutralise, or render harmless, the inevitable vacillation between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, between bourgeois democracy and Soviet power, to be seen in the class of petty proprietors in agriculture, industry and commerce—a class which is still fairly numerous in nearly all advanced countries, although comprising only a minority of the population—as well as in the stratum of intellectuals, salary earners, etc., which corresponds to this class.

The first and second tasks are independent ones, each requiring its own special methods of action with regard to the exploiters and to the exploited respectively. The third task follows from the first two, and merely requires a skilful, timely and flexible combination of methods of the first and second type, depending on the specific circumstances in each separate instance of vacillation.

3.In the concrete situation created throughout the world, and above all in the most advanced, powerful, enlightened and free capitalist countries, by militarism, imperialism, the oppression of colonies and weak countries, the world wide imperialist butchery and the “Peace” of Versailles—in that situation the very idea of the capitalists peacefully submitting to the will of the majority of the exploited, the very idea of a peaceful, reformist transition to socialism, is not merely sheer philistine stupidity but also down right deception of the workers, embellishment of capitalist wage-slavery, and concealment of the truth. That truth consists in the bourgeoisie, even the most enlightened and democratic, no longer hesitating at any fraud or crime, even the massacre of millions of workers and peasants, so as to preserve private ownership of the means of production. Only the forcible overthrow of the bourgeoisie, the confiscation of its property, the destruction of the entire bourgeois state apparatus from top to bottom—parliamentary. judicial, military, bureaucratic, administrative, municipal, etc.—right down to the wholesale deportation or internment of the most dangerous and stubborn exploiters and the institution of strict surveillance over them so as to foil their inevitable attempts to resist and to restore capitalist slavery—only such measures can ensure real submission of the whole class of exploiters.

On the other hand, the idea, common among the old parties and the old leaders of the Second International, that the majority of the exploited toilers can achieve complete clarity of socialist consciousness and firm socialist convictions and character under capitalist slavery, under the yoke of the bourgeoisie (which assumes an inIinite variety of forms that become more subtle and at the same time more brutal and ruthless the higher the cultural level in a given capitalist country) is also idealisation of capitalism and of bourgeois democracy, as well as deception of the workers. In fact, it is only after the vanguard of the proletariat, supported by the whole or the majority of this, the only revolutionary class, overthrows the exploiters, suppresses them, emancipates the exploited from their state of slavery and-immediately improves their conditions of life at the expense of the expropriated capitalists—it is only after this, and only in the actual process of an acute class strugg]e, that the masses of the toilers and exploited can be educated, trained and organised around the proletariat under whose influence and guidance, they can get rid of the selfishness, disunity, vices and weaknesses engendered by private property; only then will they be converted into a free union of free workers.

4.Victory over capitalism calls for proper relations between the leading (Communist) party, the revolutionary class (the proletariat) and the masses, i.e., the entire body of the toilers and the exploited. Only the Communist Party, if it is really the vanguard of the revolutionary class, if it really comprises all the finest representatives of that class, if it consists of fully conscious and staunch Communists who have been educated and steeled by the experience of a persistent revolutionary struggle, and if it has succeeded in linking itself inseparably with the whole life of its class and, through it, with the whole mass of the exploited, and in completely winning the confidence of this class and this mass—only such a party is capable of leading the proletariat in a final, most ruthless and decisive struggle against all the forces of capitalism. On the other hand, it is only under the leadership of such a party that the proletariat is capable of displaying the full might of its revolutionary onslaught, and of overcoming the inevitable apathy and occasional resistance of that small minority, the labour aristocracy, who have been corrupted by capitalism, the old trade union and co-operative leaders, etc.—only then will it be capable of displaying its full might, which, because of the very economic structure of capitalist society, is infinitely greater than its proportion of the population. Finally, it is only after they have been really emancipated from the yoke of the bourgeoisie and of the bourgeois machinery of state, only after they have found an opportunity of organising in their Soviets in a really free way (free from the exploiters), that the masses, i.e., the toilers and exploited as a body, can display, for the first time in history, all the initiative and energy of tens of millions of people who have been crushed by capitalism. Only when the Soviets have become the sole state apparatus is it really possible to ensure the participation, in the work of administration, of the entire mass of the exploited, who, even under the most enlightened and freest bourgeois democracy, have always actually been excluded 99 per cent from participation in the work of administration. It is only in the Soviets that the exploited masses really begin to learn—not in books, but from their own practical experience—the work of socialist construction, of creating a new social discipline and a free union of free workers.

What Immediate And Universal Preparation for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat Should Consist of

5.The present stage in the development of the international communist movement is marked by the fact that in the vast majority of capitalist countries, the proletariat’s preparations to effect its dictatorship have not been completed, and, in many cases, have not even been systematically begun. From this it does not, however, follow that the proletarian revolution is impossible in the immediate future; it is perfectly possible, since the entire economic and political situation is most inflammable and abounds in causes of a sudden flare-up; the other condition for revolution, apart from the proletariat’s preparedness, viz., a general state of crisis in all the ruling and in all bourgeois parties, also exists. However, it does follow that the Communist Parties’ current task consists not in accelerating the revolution, but in intensifying the preparation of the proletariat. On the other hand, the facts cited above from the history of many socialist parties make it incumbent on us to see that “recognition” of the dictatorship of the proletariat shall not remain a more matter of words.

Hence, from the point of view of the international proletarian movement, it is the Communist parties ’ principal task at the present moment to unite the scattered Communist forces, to form a single Communist Party in every country (or to reinforce or renovate the already existing Party) in order to increase tenfold the work of preparing the proletariat for the conquest of political power—political power, moreover, in the form of the dictatorship of the proletariat. The ordinary socialist work conducted by groups and parties which recognise the dictatorship of the proletariat has by no means undergone that fundamental reorganisation, that fundamental renovation, which is essential before this work can be considered communist work and adequate to the tasks to be accomplished on the eve of proletarian dictatorship.

6.The proletariat’s conquest of political power does not put a stop to its class struggle against the bourgeoisie; on the contrary, it renders that struggle most widespread, intense and ruthless. Owing to the extreme intensification of the struggle all groups, parties and leaders in the working-class movement who have fully or partly adopted the stand of reformism, of the “Centre”, etc., inevitably side with the bourgeoisie or join the waverers, or else (what is the most dangerous of all) land in the ranks of the unreliable friends of the victorious proletariat. Hence, preparation for the dictatorship of the proletariat calls, not only for an intensification of the struggle against reformist and “Centrist” tendencies, but also for a change in the character of that struggle. The struggle cannot be restricted to explaining the erroneousness of these tendencies; it must unswervingly and ruthlessly expose any leader of the working-class movement who reveals such tendencies, for otherwise the proletariat cannot know who it will march with into the decisive struggle against the bourgeoisie. This struggle is such that at any moment it may—and actually does, as experience has shown—substitute criticism with weapons for the weapon of criticism. [6] Any inconsistency or weakness in exposing those who show themselves to be reformists or “Centrists” means directly increasing the danger of the power of the proletariat being overthrovn by the bourgeoisie, which tomorrow will utilise for the counter-revolution that which short-sighted people today see merely as “theoretical difference”.

7.In particular, we must not restrict ourselves to the usual repudiation, in principle, of all collaboration between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, of all “collaborationism”. Under the dictatorship of the proletariat, which will never be able, at one stroke, to abolish private property completely, mere defence of “liberty”’ and “equality”, while private ownership of the means of production is preserved, turns into “collaboration” with the bourgeoisie, and undermines the rule of the working class. The dictatorship of the proletariat means that the state uses its whole machinery of power to uphold and perpetuate “no-liberty” for the exploiters to continue their oppression and exploitation, “inequality” between the owner of property (i.e., one who has appropriated for himself certain means of production created by social labour) and the non-owner. That which, prior to the victory of the proletariat, seems merely a theoretical difference on the question of “democracy” inevitably becomes, on the day following victory, a question that is settled by force of arms. Consequently, even preliminary work in preparing the masses to effect the dictatorship of the proletariat is impossible without a radical change in the entire character of the struggle against the “Centrists” and the “champions of democracy “.

8.The dictatorship of the proletariat is the most determined and revolutionary form of the proletariat’s class struggle against the bourgeoisie. This struggle can be successful only when the most revolutionary vanguard of the proletariat has the backing of the overwhelming majority of the proletariat. Hence, preparation for the dictatorship of the proletariat entails not only explanation of the bourgeois character of all reformism, of all defence of democracy, while private ownership of the means of production is preserved; it entails, not only exposure of such trends, which are in fact a defence of the bourgeoisie within the labour movement; it also calls for old leaders being replaced by Communists in proletarian organisations of absolutely every type—not only political, but also trade union, co-operative, educational, etc. The more complete, lengthy and firmly established the rule of bourgeois democracy has been in a given country, the more the bourgeoisie will have succeeded in securing the appointment to such leading posts of people whose minds have been moulded by it and imbued with its views and prejudices, and who have very often been directly or indirectly bought by it. These representatives of the labour aristocracy, bourgeoisified workers, should be ousted from all their posts a hundred times more sweepingly than hitherto, and replaced by workers—even by wholly inexperienced men, provided they are connected with the exploited masses and enjoy their confidence in the struggle against the exploiters. The dictatorship of the proletariat will require the appointment of such inexperienced workers to the most responsible posts in the state; otherwise the workers’ government will be impotent and will not have the support of the masses.

9.The dictatorship of the proletariat means that all toiling and exploited people, who have been disunited, deceived, intimidated, oppressed, downtrodden and crushed by the capitalist class, come under the full leadership of the only class trained for that leadership by the whole history of capitalism. That is why the following is one of the methods whereby preparations for the dictatorship of the proletariat should be started everywhere and immediately:

In all organisations, unions and associations without exception, and first and foremost in proletarian organisations, but also in those of the non-proletarian toiling and exploited masses (political, trade union, military, co-operative, educational, sports, etc., etc.), groups or cells of Communists should be formed—preferably open groups, but underground groups as well, the latter being essential whenever there is reason to expect their suppression, or the arrest or banishment of their members on the part of the bourgeoisie; these cells, which are to be in close touch with one another and with the Party centre, should, by pooling their experience, carrying on work of agitation, propaganda and organisation, adapting themselves to absolutely every sphere of public life and to every variety and category of the toiling masses, systematically educate themselves, the Party, the class, and the masses by means of such diversified work.

In this connection, it is of the utmost importance that necessary distinctions between the methods of work should be evolved in practice: on the one hand, in relation to the “leaders”, or “responsible representatives”, who are very often hopelessly beset with petty-bourgeois and imperialist prejudices—such “leaders” must be ruthlessly exposed and expelled from the working-class movement—and, on the other hand, in relation to the masses, who, particularly after the imperialist holocaust, are for the most part inclined to listen to and accept the doctrine that the guidance from the proletariat is essential, as the only way of escape from capitalist slavery. We must learn to approach the masses with particular patience and caution so as to be able to understand the distinctive features in the mentality of each stratum, calling, etc., of these masses.

10.In particular, there is a group or cell of Communists that deserves exceptional attention and care from the Party, i.e., the parliamentary group of Party members, who are deputies to bourgeois representative institutions (primarily the national, but also local, municipal, etc., representative institutions). On the one hand, it is this tribune which is held in particular regard by large sections of the toiling masses, who are backward or imbued with petty-bourgeois prejudices; it is therefore imperative for Communists to utilise this tribune to conduct propaganda, agitation and organisational work and to explain to the masses why the dispersal of the bourgeois parliament by the national congress of Soviets was legitimate in Russia (and, at the proper time, will be legitimate in any country). On the other hand, the entire history of bourgeois democracy, particularly in the advanced countries, has converted the parliamentary rostrum into one of the principal, if not the principal, venues of unparalleled fraudulency, financial and political deception of the people, careerism, hypocrisy and oppression of the working people. The intense hatred of parliaments felt by the best representatives of the revolutionary proletariat is therefore quite justified. The Communist parties and all parties affiliated to the Third International—especially those which have not arisen by splitting away from the old parties and by waging a long and persistent struggle against them, but through the old parties accepting (often nominally) the new stand—should therefore adopt a most strict attitude towards their parliamentary groups; the latter must be brought under the full control and direction of the Central Committees of the Parties; they must consist, in the main, of revolutionary workers; speeches by members of parliament should be carefully analysed in the Party press and at Party meetings, from a strictly communist standpoint; deputies should be sent to carry on agitational work among the masses; those who manifest Second International leanings should be expelled from the parliamentary groups, etc.

11.One of the chief causes hampering the revolutionary working-class movement in the developed capitalist countries is the fact that because of their colonial possessions and the super-profits gained by finance capital, etc., the capitalists af these countries have been able to create a relatively larger and more stable labour aristocracy, a section which comprises a small minority of the working class. This minority enjoys better terms of employment and is most-imbued with a narrow-minded craft spirit and with petty-bourgeois and imperialist prejudices. It forms the real social pillar of the Second International, of the reformists and the “Centrists”; at present it might even be called the social mainstay of the bourgeoisie. No preparation of the proletariat for the overthrow of the bourgeoisie is possible, even in the preliminary sense, unless an immediate, systematic, extensive and open struggle is waged against this stratum, which, as experience has already fully shown, will no doubt provide the bourgeois White guards with many a recruit after the victory of the proletariat. All parties affiliated to the Third International must at all costs give effect to the slogans: “Deeper into the thick of the masses”, “Closer links with the masses”—meaning by the masses all those who toil and are exploited by capital, particularly those who are least organised and educated, who are most oppressed and least amenable to organisation.

The proletariat becomes revolutionary only insofar as it does not restrict itself to the narrow framework of craft interests, only when in all matters and spheres of public life, it acts as the leader of all the toiling and exploited masses; it cannot achieve its dictatorship unless it is prepared and able to make the greatest sacrifices for the sake of victory over the bourgeoisie. In this respect, the experience of Russia is significant both in principle and in practice. The proletariat could not have achieved its dictatorship there, or won the universally acknowledged respect and confidence of all the toiling masses, had it not made the most sacrifices, or starved more than any other section of those masses at the most crucial moments of the onslaught, war and blockade effected by the world bourgeoisie.

In particular, the Communist Party and all advanced proletarians must give all-round and unstinted support especially to the spontaneous and mass strike movement, which, under the yoke of capital, is alone capable of really rousing, educating and organising the masses, of imbuing them with complete confidence in the leadership of the revolutionary proletariat. Without such preparation, no dictatorship of the proletariat is possible; those who are capable of publicly opposing strikes, such as Kautsky in Germany and Turati in Italy, cannot possibly be tolerated in the ranks of parties affiliated to the Third International. This applies even more, of course, to those trade union and parliamentary leaders who so often betray the workers by using the experience of strikes to teach them reformism, and not revolution (for instance, in Britain and in France in recent years).

12.In all countries, even in those that are freest, most “legal”, and most “peaceful” in the sense that the class struggle is least acute there, it is now absolutely indispensable for every Communist Party to systematically combine legal and illegal work, legal and illegal organisations. Notwithstanding their false and hypocritical declarations, the governments of even the most enlightened and freest of countries, where the bourgeois-democratic system is most “stable”, are already systematically and secretly drawing up blacklists of Communists and constantly violating their own constitutions so as to give secret or semi-secret encouragement to the whiteguards and to the murder of Communists in all countries, making secret preparations for the arrest of Communists, planting agents provocateurs among the Communists, etc., etc. Only a most reactionary philistine, no matter what cloak of fine “democratic” and pacifist phrases he may don, will deny this fact or the conclusion that of necessity follows from it viz., that all legal Communist parties must immediately form illegal organisations for the systematic conduct of illegal work and for complete preparations for the moment the bourgeoisie resorts to persecution. Illegal work is most necessary in the army, the navy and the police because, since the imperialist holocaust, governments the world over have begun to stand in dread of people’s armies which are open to the workers and peasants, and are secretly resorting to all kinds of methods to set up military units specially recruited from the bourgeoisie and equipped with the most up-to-date weapons.

On the other hand, it is likewise necessary that, in all cases without exception, the parties should not restrict themselves to illegal work, but should conduct legal work as well, overcoming all obstacles, starting legal publications, and forming legal organisations under the most varied names, which should be frequently changed if necessary. This is being practised by the illegal Communist parties in Finland, Hungary, partly in Germany, Poland, Latvia, etc. It should be practised by the Industrial Workers of the World in the U.S.A. and by all Communist parties at present legal, should public prosecutors see fit to take proceedings against them on the grounds of resolutions adopted by Congresses of the Communist International, etc.

A combination of illegal and legal work is an absolute principle dictated, not only by all features of the present period, that of the eve of the proletarian dictatorship, but also by the necessity of proving to the bourgeoisie that there is not, nor can there be, any sphere of activity that cannot be won by the Communists; above all, it is dictated by the fact that broad strata of the proletariat and even broader strata of the non-proletarian toiling and exploited masses still exist everywhere, who continue to believe in bourgeois-democratic legality and whom we must undeceive without fail.

13.In particular, the conditions of the working-class press in most advanced capitalist countries strikingly reveal the utter fraudulency of liberty and equality under bourgeois democracy, as well as the necessity of systematically combining legal work with illegal work. Both in vanquished Germany and in victorious America, the entire power of the bourgeoisie’s machinery of state and all the machinations of the financial magnates are employed to deprive the workers of their press, these including legal proceedings, the arrest (or murder by hired assassins) of editors, denial of mailing privileges, the cutting off of paper supplies, and so on and so forth. Besides, the news services essential to daily newspapers are run by bourgeois telegraph agencies, while advertisements, without which a large newspaper cannot pay its way, depend on the “good will” of the capitalists. To sum up: through skulduggery and the pressure of capital and the bourgeois state, the bourgeoisie is depriving the revolutionary proletariat of its press.

To combat this, the Communist parties must create a new type of periodical press for mass distribution among the workers: first, legal publications, which, without calling themselves communist and without publicising their links with the Party, must learn to make use of any legal opportunity, however slight, just as the Bolsheviks did under the tsar, after 1905; secondly, illegal leaflets, even the briefest and published at irregular intervals, but reprinted at numerous printshops by workers (secretly, or, if the movement has become strong enough, by the revolutionary seizure of printshops), and providing the proletariat with outspoken revolutionary information and revolutionary slogans.

Preparations for the dictatorship of the proletariat is impossible without a revolutionary struggle, into which the masses are drawn, for the freedom of the communist press.

Rectification Of The Political Line— Partly Also Of The Composition— Of Parties Affiliated Or Desiring To Affiliate To The Communist International

14.The measure in which the proletariat in countries most important from the viewpoint of world economics and politics is prepared to establish its dictatorship can be seen with the greatest objectivity and precision in the fact that the most influential parties of the Second International, viz., the French Socialist Party, the Independent Social-Democratic Party of Germany, the Independent Labour Party of Great Britain and the Socialist Party of America, [7] have withdrawn from this yellow International, and have decided—the first three conditionally, the latter even unconditionally—to affiliate to the Third In ternational. This proves that not only the vanguard of the revolutionary proletariat but its majority too have begun to come over to our side, convinced by the entire course of events. The main thing now is the ability to consummate this process and to consolidate firmly in point of organisation what has been achieved, so as to advance all along the line, without the slightest wavering.

15.All the activities of the parties mentioned (to which should be added the Socialist Party of Switzerland, [8] if the telegraph reports of its decision to join the Third International are true) show—as any periodical of these parties will strikingly confirm—that they are not yet communist, and quite often run directly counter to the fundamental principles of the Third International, viz., the recognition of the dictatorship of the proletariat and Soviet government in place of bourgeois democracy.

Accordingly, the Second Congress of the Communist International must resolve that it cannot immediately accept the affiliation of these parties; that it endorses the reply given by the Executive Committee of the Third International to the German “Independents” [9] ; that it confirms its readiness to conduct negotiations with any party that withdraws from the Second International and desires to enter into closer relations with the Third International; that it will admit the delegates of such parties in a deliberative capacity to all its congresses and conferences; that it sets the following conditions for the complete adhesion of these (and similar), parties with the Communist International:

1)All decisions of all Congresses of the Communist International and of its Executive Committee to be published in all the periodicals of the parties concerned;

2)These decisions to be discussed at special meetings of all sections or local organisations of the parties;

3)After such discussion, special congresses of the parties to be convened to sum up the results, and for the purpose of—

4)Purging the parties of elements that continue to act in the spirit of the Second International;

5)All periodical publications of the parties to be placed under exclusively Communist editorship.

The Second Congress of the Third International should instruct its Executive Committee formally to accept these and similar parties into the Third International after ascertaining that all these conditions have actually been met and that the activities of the parties have assumed a communist character.

16.As to the question of the conduct of Communists now holding a minority of the responsible posts in these and similar parties, the Second Congress of the Communist International should resolve that, in view of the obvious growth of sincere sympathy for communism among working men belonging to these parties, it would be undesirable for Communists to resign from the latter, as long as they can carry on work within them for the recognition of the dictatorship of the proletariat and Soviet government, and as long as it is possible to criticise the opportunists and Centrists who still remain in these parties.

At the same time, the Second Congress of the Third International should declare in favour of Communist groups and organisations, or groups and organisations sympathising with communism, joining the Labour Party in Great Britain, despite its membership in the Second International. As long as this party ensures its affiliated organisations their present freedom of criticism and freedom to carry on work of propaganda, agitation and organisation in favour of the dictatorship of the proletariat and Soviet government, and as long as this party preserves the character of a federation of all trade union organisations of the working class, it is imperative for Communists to do everything and to make certain compromises in order to be able to exercise their influence on the broadest masses of the workers, to expose their opportunist leaders from a higher tribune, that is in fuller view of the masses, and to hasten the transfer of political power from the direct representatives of the bourgeoisie to the “labour lieutenants of the capitalist class”, so that the masses may be more quickly weaned away from their last illusions on this score.

17.Concerning the Socialist Party of Italy, the Second Congress of the Third International considers that the criticism of that party and the practical proposals submitted to the National Council of the Socialist Party of Italy in the name of the party’s Turin section, [10] as set forth in L’Ordine Nuovo of May 8, 1920, are in the main correct and are fully in keeping with the fundamental principles of the Third International.

Accordingly, the Second Congress of the Third International requests the Socialist Party of Italy to convene a special congress to discuss these proposals and also all the decisions of the two Congresses of the Communist International for the purpose of rectifying the party’s line and of purging it, particularly its parliamentary group, of non-Communist elements.

18.The Second Congress of the Third International considers erroneous the views on the Party’s relation to the class and to the masses, and the view that it is not obligatory for Communist parties to participate in bourgeois parliaments and in reactionary trade unions. These views have been refuted in detail in special decisions of the present Congress, and advocated most fully by the Communist Workers’ Party of Germany, and partly by the Communist Party of Switzerland [11] , by Kommunismus , organ of the East-European Secretariat of the Communist International in Vienna, by the now dissolved secretariat in Amsterdam, by several Dutch comrades, by several Communist organisations in Great Britain, as, for example, the Workers’ Socialist Federation, etc., and also by the Industrial Workers of the World in the U.S.A. and the Shop Stewards’ Committees in Great Britain, etc.

Nevertheless, the Second. Congress of the Third International considers it possible and desirable that those of the above-mentioned organisations which have not yet officially affiliated to the Communist International should do so immediately; for in the present instance, particularly as regards the Industrial Workers of the World in the U.S.A. and Australia, as well as the Shop Stewards’ Committees in Great Britain, we are dealing with a profoundly proletarian and mass movement, which in all essentials actually stands by the basic principles of the Communist International. The erroneous views held by these organisations regarding participation in bourgeois parliaments can be explained, not so much by the influence of elements coming from the bourgeoisie, who bring their essentially petty-bourgeois views into the movement—views such as anarchists often hold—as by the political inexperience of proletarians who are quite revolutionary and connected with the masses.

For this reason, the Second Congress of the Third International requests all Communist organisations and groups in the Anglo-Saxon countries, even if the Industrial Workers of the World and the Shop Stewards’ Committees do not immediately affiliate to the Third International, to pursue a very friendly policy towards these organisations, to establish closer contacts with them and the masses that sympathise with them, and to explain to them in a friendly spirit—on the basis of the experience of all revolutions, and particularly of the three Russian revolutions of the twentieth century—the erroneousness of their views as set forth above, and not to desist from further efforts to amalgamate with these organisations to form a single Communist party.

19.In this connection, the Congress draws the attention of all comrades, particularly in the Latin and Anglo-Saxon countries, to the fact that, since the war, a profound ideological division has been taking place among anarchists all over the world regarding the attitude to be adopted towards the dictatorship of the proletariat and Soviet government. Moreover, a proper understanding of these principles is particularly to be seen among proletarian elements that have often been impelled towards anarchism by a perfectly legitimate hatred of the opportunism and reformism of the parties of the Second International. That understanding is growing the more widespread among them, the more familiar they become with the experience of Russia, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Poland and Germany.

The Congress therefore considers it the duty of all Communists to do everything to help all proletarian mass elements to abandon anarchism and come over to the side of the Third International. The Congress points out that the measure in which genuinely Communist parties succeed in winning mass proletarian elements rather than intellectual, and petty-bourgeois elements away from anarchism, is a criterion of the success of those Parties.

July 4, 1920

[6] Lenin is quoting from Marx’s work “Zur Kritik der Hegelschen Rechtsphilosophie” (see Marx/Engels, Werke , Bd. 1, S. 385).

[7] The American Socialist Party was formed in July 1901 at a congress held in Indianapolis, as the result of a merger of groups that had broken away from the Socialist Workers’ Party and the Social-Democratic Party of the U.S.A. Among the new party’s organisers was Eugene Debs, a popular figure in the U.S. labour movement. The social composition of the party was not uniform, it contained native-born and immigrant workers, as well as small farmers and people of petty-bourgeois origin. The Centrist and the Right-wing opportunist leaders of the party (Victor Berger, Morris Hillquit and others) denied the necessity of the proletarian dictatorship, renounced revolutionary methods of struggle, and reduced all party activities to participation in election campaigns. During the First World War (1914-18) three trends appeared in the Socialist Party: the social-chauvinists, who supported the imperialist policy of the Administration, the Centrists, who opposed the imperialist war only in word, and the revolutionary minority, who took an internationalist stand and struggled against the war.

The Socialist Party’s Left wing, headed by Charles Ruthenberg, William Foster, William Haywood and others, relying on the proletarian elements, waged a struggle against the party’s opportunist leadership, for independent proletarian action and the formation of industrial trade unions based on the principles of the class struggle. In 1919 a split took place in the Socialist Party. The party’s Left wing broke away, bccoming the initiator and nucleus of the Communist Party of the U.S.A. At present the Socialist Party is a small sectarian organisation.

[8] The Social-Democratic Party of Switzerland (known as the Swiss Socialist Party) was formed in the seventies of the last century and affiliated to the First International. The party was re-formed in 1888. The opportunists were very influential in the party, and during the First World War took a social-chauvinist stand. In the autumn of 1916, the Party’s Right wing broke away to form their own organisation. The majority, headed by Robert Grimm, took a Centrist, social-pacifist stand, while the Left wing of the party adhered to an internationalist stand. The Great October Socialist Revolution in Russia influenced and strengthened the Left wing which, in December 1920, broke away and joined the Communist Party of Switzerland in 1921 (see Note 69).

[9] “Draft (or the Theses) of the R.C.P.’s Reply to a Letter from the German Independent Social-Democratic Party” (see present edition, Vol. 30, pp. 337-44).

[10] The Turin section accused the Italian Socialist Party with its conciliatory leadership, of failing to give a correct analysis of events, in the conditions of the revolutionary upsurge in Italy (1919-20) that had created the possibility of the seizure of political power by the proletariat, and of having failed to advance any slogan acceptable to the revolutionary masses, and expel the reformists from its ranks. The section made a number of practical proposals: the expulsion of the opportunists from the party; the formation of communist groups in each factory, in the trade unions, co-operatives, and army barracks, the setting-up of factory T.U. committees to organise control of production in industry and agriculture. The section demanded that work to prepare the working masses for the creation of Soviets should be begun at once.

[11] In October 1918, part of the Social-Democrat Left wing united to form the Communist Party of Switzerland. It was not a big party at the time, being represented by two delegates at the Second Congress of the Comintern.

In December 1920, the Left wing of the Swiss Social-Democratic Party broke away from it, and raised the question of forming a strong section of the Communist International in Switzerland. At a congress held in Zurich in March 1921, attended by 28 delegates from the Communist Party and 145 delegates representing the former Left wing of the Social-Democratic Party, the two groups officially united to form a single Communist Party of Switzerland.

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