The International Socialist Commission, also known as the International Socialist Committee or the Berne International, was a coordinating committee of socialists parties that adhered to the idea of the Zimmerwald Conference of 1915.
Early history
The Zimmerwald Conference elected Angelica Balabanoff, Odino Morgari and Charles Naine to the Commission, with the Swiss socialist Robert Grimm as chairman and Balabanoff as interpreter.Olga Hess Gankin and H.H. Fisher eds, The Bolsheviks and the First World War: the origins of the Third International Stanford University Press, 1940 pp.325-6 The Committee was charged with setting up a temporary secretariat and publishing a bulletin. The ISCs initial purpose was to act as an intermediary between the affiliated groups in their struggle for peace. It was not to act as a replacement for the International Socialist Bureau and dissolve as soon as the ISB could begin functioning normally. Other adherents of the Zimmerwald movement, such as Vladimir Lenin, saw it as the beginning of a new International.Fainsod, Merle International socialism and the World War New York, Octagon Books 1973 p.73
The Commissions activity in the first months of its existences consisted of translating the manifesto and resolutions of the conference and distributing them as widely as possible. To that end they first forwarded copies of the first number of their Bulletin to the socialist and trade union papers of the neutral countries. Within the belligerent countries the ISC was able to have the full documents published in Italy, Russia, France, England and Bulgaria but only summaries in Austria and Germany. They also sent a circular to all the parties adhering to the ISB announcing their existence and the objects of the group. Only the Danish party replied, officially disapproving of the Zimmerwald venture. However, at the Congress of the Swiss Socialist Democratic Party at Aarau November 20–21, the delegates declared their adherence to the ISC and granted the organization 300 francs.Gankin and Fisher p.363
On September 27, 1915, ISC sent out a confidential circular (which was nevertheless leaked to the unfriendly press) suggesting that the adhering groups appoint up to three extra delegates to join the Commissioners as part of an Enlarged Committee. The first session of this Enlarged Committee of the International Socialist Commission was held in Berne February 5–8, 1916. No official list of attendees was published and sources disagree about who was present. Fainsod lists the following: Robert Grimm and Fritz Platten from the Swiss Social Democratic Party; Lenin and Zinoviev from the Bolsheviks; Julius Martov and Pavel Axelrod from the Mensheviks; David Riazanov of the Mezhraiontsy (also known as the Inter-District Committee); Feliks Kon and Pawel Lewinson from the Polish Socialist Party - Left; Bertha Thalheimer, Adolf Hoffman and Georg Ledebour, dissidents from the German Social Democratic Party; Serrati, Modigliani and Angelica Balabanoff from the Italian Socialist Party; Christian Rakovsky from the Social Democratic Party of Romania and Edmondo Peluso from the Social Democratic Party of Portugal.Fainsod, p.86 However, the Hoover Institution adds Alexander Martynov, for the Mensheviks, Franz Koritschoner, a dissident member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria; Henri Guilbeaux, editor of the Demain; Karl Radek of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania; and Willi Münzenberg, secretary of the International Socialist Youth League. Furthermore, there was apparently a representative of the Dutch Zimmerwaldists present, or one of the above may have held the Dutch mandate. The identity of this person remains unclear.Gankin and Fisher pp.377-378. All party identifications are from Gankin and Fisher. Furthermore, Zinoviev's account of the conference, translated in Gankin and Fisher, mentions an Italian delegate, Rigola, representing the CGT, p.384. He also says that the French and English delegates could not attend but sent letters, despite the supposed presence of Guilbeaux.
After some debate the meeting decided to issue a circular (though not a full manifesto as the Zimmerwald Lefts had advocated) on the basis of a draft written by Grimm and extensively rewritten by a commission consisting of Zinoviev, Rakovsky, Serrati, Martov, Grimm and two delegates representing Germany and the ISC whose identity is not apparent.Fainsod, p.86 gives the name of the first four and says there were also two ISC representatives and an unnamed German. Zinoviev's account of the meeting in Gankin and Fisher p.380 mentions Grimm being on the Commission The Lefts were still not entirely satisfied with the circular, but considered it an improvement over the Zimmerwald Manifesto. The meeting also decided to arrange a new conference, drew up conditions for participation in it and a provisional agenda.Gankin and Fisher pp.381-383
Kienthal to the Russian Revolution
The ISC set to work arranging for a new congress of Zimmerald adherents which met at Kienthal, Switzerland on April 24, 1916. Forty three delegates met at this conference, representing Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Poland, Switzerland, Serbia, Portugal and Great Britain. The ISC publicly announced that the Conference was going to be held in the Netherlands to avoid passport denial or secret police surveillance, but a number of delegates were prevented from attending anyway.Fainsod, p.87
The Kienthal Conference adopted another manifesto and some important resolutions, but it declined to advocate a policy to be followed by its adherents toward the conference of Neutral Socialists scheduled to meet at the Hague that summer. This was deferred to the second meeting of the ISC Enlarged Committee on May 2. Each organization that participated in the Kienthal Conference was represented by one delegate. This meeting "considered some administrative matters, authenticated the Kienthal resolutions, and discussed matters of parliamentary action" as well as the Hague Conference. One group, headed by Martov, advocated participation, arguing that no opportunity should be missed to expose to the workers the "cause of the failure" of the International Socialist Bureau. Zinoviev argued against, claiming it would only confuse the workers. The meeting ultimately became deadlocked, with five votes for each proposition, so it was decided that each party should make up its own mind whether to attend, but they should uphold the Zimmerwald resolutions if they did.Gankin and Fisher p.465
The ISC Enlarged Committee attempted to meet again at Olten on February 1, 1917 to consider a proposed Paris conference of Entente socialist parties. The ISC called a meeting of the Enlarged Committee members of the Allied countries, but only those groups with a presence in Switzerland were able to attend. The meeting therefore, only issued a non-binding declaration recommending its affiliates not to attend. An official list of delegates was, again, not published, but the official communique stated "only those delegates of the three Russian socialist parties, who were in Switzerland - the representatives of the National Committee of the Polish Socialist Party (the Levitsa) and of the Bund, as well as a representative of La Vie Ouvriere in Paris, who resides in Switzerland - came to the conference." The editors of the Hoover Institutions The Bolsheviks and the World War, however, state specifically that the organizations represented included the Bolsheviks, the Mensheviks, and the Russian Social Revolutionaries, as well as Henri Guilbeaux and Willi Münzenberg.Gankin and Fisher pp.467-8, 472. A hostile publication wrote an "ironic" report stating that Zinoviev and Radek were present as representatives of the Swiss Social Democratic Party and argued with Robert Grimm
The Russian Revolution and Stockholm
After the March Revolution in Russia the ISC decided to transfer its headquarters to Stockholm, to be closer to the center of revolutionary activity. Grimm left Switzerland on April 20, and arrived at Stockholm on April 24. Three days before he left, however, Grimm had agreed to an appeal of assistance from the Central Committee for the Return of Political Exiles to Russia to intervene on their behalf with the Russian Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet for their return to Russia in exchange for German civil prisoners in Russia. However, Grimm was denied entry into Russia for the moment on the suspicion that he was a German spy.Gankin and Fisher p.614 In the meantime, Grimm and the ISC learned that several affiliated parties had declared themselves sympathetic to the movement for a general socialist congress at Stockholm and issued an appeal on May 10 to all the European Zimmerwaldist parties to meet in a third Zimmerwaldist conference in Stockholm for May 31 to decide the Zimmerwald movements attitude toward the proposed Stockholm Conference.Gankin and Fisher pp.608-609
A train full of Russia exiles arrived from Switzerland in mid-May, carrying fellow ISC member and interpreter Angelica Balabanoff, as well as Martov, Riazanov, Pavel Axelrod and a number of other Russian socialist luminaries. Grimm boarded this train and set off for the Russian frontier. Before he got to the Russian border he learned that the foreign minister who denied him a visa, Pavel Milyukov had resigned, and three more socialists had entered the Provisional Government. The new government issued him a visa but it did not get to him until after he had crossed the Russian border under the protection of the Helsingfors Soviet. Grimm and Balabanoff arrived in Petrograd in time to speak at the All-Russian Conference of the Menshevik party and convince that organization to approve attending the Third Zimmerwald Conference (they also voted to advocate participation at the proposed Stockholm Congress).Gankin and Fisher pp.614-615
On May 28–29 they had an informal conference with members of Zimmerwaldist parties in the city. According to Balabanoff's notes this was attended by Lenin, Zinoviev and Kamenev of the Bolsheviks; Bobrov of the Social Revolutionaries; Grigorii Bienstock, Martov, Martynov, and Larin of the Mensheviks; Raphael Abramovitch of the Bund; Leon Trotsky, Mikhail Urinovich and Riazanov of the Inter-District Committee; Lapinski of the Polish Socialist Party - Left and Christian Rakovsky of the Romanian Social Democrats. According to her notes Trotsky, Kamenev, Zinoviev, Riazanov and herself were opposed to participation in the purposed Stockholm conference, while Rakovsky, Grimm, Bobrov and Martynov were for attending. In any case, decision would have to wait until the next Zimmerwaldist Conference. The Bolshevik delegation also tried to prevail on the ISC to issue a condemnation of socialists serving as ministers in the Provisional Government. While most at the meeting who gave an opinion were against socialist participation in the Provisional Government, there was also a broad consensus that the ISC did not have the authority to make such a statement without first consulting its affiliates.Gankin and Fisher p.616
The "Grimm Affair"