The international conference at Frankfort was called by the Rhenish Westphalian Convention of Factory and Shop Committees, where the Communists had a major influence, The problem of this conference, which was called by the initiative of the Comintern and Profintern, was to unite on generally accepted programs all the labor organizations of the most important countries.
The Committee on Arrangements sent invitations to the labor parties and labor unions of England, to the Communist Party, to the reformist and revolutionary unions of France, to the Social-Democratic and Communist parties of Belgium and many other organizations. There were invited the Comintern, Profintern, Second and Second-and-a-Half Internationals, the Amsterdam International and the international industrial units. It was an attempt, from a non-partisan organization—the Convention of the Factory and Shop Committees of the districts occupied by France—to drag the reformist organizations into the struggle against war and international reaction and together with them to work out a plan of action.
Right from the start it became apparent that all the reformist internationals and parties were categorically opposed to this conference. They insisted on picturing the United Front as a "dirty maneuver of Moscow," to which they would not agree.
There is a "maneuver" all right, but it is contained in our attempt to make the reformist organizations act instead of talk. We want them to conduct the class struggle along with us on a platform acceptable to them. This is all the "trick" there is in our proposals. But, as the reformists do not want any struggle, it is natural for them to decline our proposals, and as a result all the reformist internationals did not come to the Frankfort conference.
Nevertheless, the workers' representatives from the factories and shops mainly of Germany, came to this conference. Greetings were received from the workers of Glasgow and other English cities. Here the workers parted ways with their leaders, they understood the importance of this conference and expressed their sympathy in the attempt to find a common platform in the struggle against war.
The Frankfort conference in itself is characteristic in that, besides the Communists, there was a Social-Democratic section; also there were the Independents, under the leadership of Ledebour. The Social-Democratic faction at this conference organized itself from factory representatives. These Social-Democrats came to the conference breaking the discipline of their international, their Social-Democratic parties, and their own trade unions.
The Social-Democratic Party of Germany and the trade unions, and those internationals which they supported, were categorically opposed
