The Versailles Order and Perplexities of the Comintern’s Policy in the Balkans in the 1930s: Departure from the World Revolution

In comparison with Russia’s substantial role in Balkan politics within the pre-World War I international system and extension of the Soviet sphere of influence to the Balkans in the bipolar era, the USSR’s involvement in the affairs of South-Eastern Europe was modest in the interwar years. This was a consequence of the Soviet Union’s dubious status in the Versailles order. The purpose of this paper is to examine how multi-variable trajectories of interaction between the Soviet Union and the Versailles order were projected at the level of Balkan politics. As the USSR lacked appropriate diplomatic, economic and military representations in the Balkans, it may be stated that the Comintern became an instrument for exercising Soviet influence in South-Eastern Europe. The paper shows both the difficulties faced and the perplexities of the policy of the Comintern. The paper finally underlines how the USSR moved from the initial world revolution endeavour to realpolitik.