Past Present Future Political Conversions: Communism – The God That Failed
Mar 29, 2026
David Klemperer, a political historian of interwar intellectual life, discusses writers who embraced then renounced Communism. He explores comparisons between political faith and religion. Short segments cover pivotal moments like the Spanish Civil War and the Nazi-Soviet pact. The conversation looks at why intellectuals converted, how they lost faith, and what they sought afterward.
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Communism As The Only Alternative To Fascism
- Communism attracted some intellectuals as the only plausible bulwark against rising fascism in the early 1930s.
- John Strachey left Mosley and embraced communist ideas because he saw capitalism failing and fascism as the imminent mortal threat.
Popular Front Made Communism Widely Appealing
- The Popular Front pivot turned communism into an anti-fascist umbrella appealing to many previously skeptical intellectuals.
- That appeal collapsed for some after the Nazi-Soviet pact and Moscow orders made domestic communist parties oppose the war.
Three Waves Of Intellectual Conversion To Communism
- David Klemperer identifies three waves of communist conversion: post-1917 revolutionaries, 1920s critics of Western decadence, and early-1930s anti-fascist converts.
- Examples include Ignacio Silone (1917 wave), Louis Fischer (1920s), and Arthur Koestler (1930s).
