106 years ago today, March 4, 1919 (February 3, 1919, the lunar calendar), Lenin formed the Third Communist International. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin On March 4, 1919, an international communist organization with the purpose of promoting world revolution was established in Moscow. The Third International or the Communist International would play a major role in the Soviet Union's foreign policy. Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik leader, believed that the stability of the Russian regime depended on revolutions in other European countries and the establishment of friendly regimes across Europe. Lenin believed that although the European people were preparing for revolution, the cowardice of the Second International or the Socialist International held them back. Members of this older group were swallowed up by nationalists and completely lost the unity it had had at the outbreak of the war. The First International was established in London in 1864 by Karl Marx to coordinate working class movements around the world. It was dissolved in 1876. The First Conference of the Third International had 35 elected representatives representing 19 groups. As the war prevented delegates from attending the meeting, only five people came from outside Russia.