Formed in the wake of the dissolution of the Communist International in 1943, it did not replace that body, but instead mainly served as an expression of solidarity and as a means of disseminating Stalinist propaganda.
The Cominform initially included the communist parties of the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia (expelled in 1948), France, and Italy.
Cominform was officially established on 5 October 1947 with the intended purpose of coordinating actions between European communist parties under the direction of the Soviet Union.
published in several languages, and to one goal: "to organize an exchange of experience, and where necessary to coordinate the activity of the Communist parties, on the basis of mutual agreement.
[4][5] The French and Italian communist parties were specifically tasked by Cominform with the obstruction of the implementation of the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine in Western Europe.
[6] From a global standpoint the Cominform strived/ventured to unite the Communist parties against the copious policies which threatened to empower Western Europe to oppose communism, mainly through pinpointing/underlining the importance of national independence and peace.
More important though was that the Cominform had to remain small in size (Eurocentric Organization),[citation needed] in order to preserve its maneuverability and efficient centralisation, mainly because it operated as a propaganda tool controlled by the International Communist movement to instruct and inform the leading members of the different national parties.
[7] The primary reason for the Communist Party of Greece not being a member was fears of western powers using this to paint the KKE as foreign insurgents, although they did contribute to Cominform publications.
[7] From 1950, Cominform became rapidly irrelevant after the victory of the People's Republic of China in the Chinese Civil War weakened Europe as the center of communism.
Meanwhile, the Soviets had gradually replaced Cominform with more effective and specialized organizations to exert their influence, such as the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) in 1949 and the Warsaw Pact in 1955.
Cominform was officially dissolved on 17 April 1956 in a decision by the Central Committee of the CPSU, prompted by the Soviet rapprochement with Yugoslavia and the De-Stalinization process following the rise of Nikita Khrushchev as Stalin's successor.
Members present at the first meeting were Kardelj and Djilas for Yugoslavia, Chervenkov and Poptomov for Bulgaria, Gheorghiu-Dej and Anna Pauker for Romania, Farkas and Revai for Hungary, Gomułka and Minc for Poland, Zhdanov and Malenkov for the U.S.S.R., Duclos and Fajon for France, Slánský and Bašťovanský for Czechoslovakia, and Longo and Reale for Italy.
In the report "On co-ordination", the key points, apart from Poland's evaluation, seem to be criticisms of the French and Italian communist parties after the emancipation, due to their missing the opportunity to seize power, contrary to the Eastern Europeans, who proved their political superiority by quickly dealing with the issue of ensuring their dominance on the government.
The significance of this criticism is shown by the regret of the French and Italian representatives, accompanied by the following statement in the final resolution: "the need for interchange and voluntary co-ordination of action in the various parties is particularly keenly felt at the present time".
Furthermore, given that the dissolution of the Comintern had been understood by some people as the subsequent elimination of all ties, "continued isolation may lead to a slackening of mutual understanding and at times even to serious blunders".
The first part of Zhdanov's report was included in a published declaration, which designates the task of the communist parties as "taking into their hands the banner of defense of national independence and sovereignty of their countries".
It also led to the relocation of the Cominform's headquarters to Bucharest and initiated the great campaign of transforming the programs and cadres of the Eastern European communist parties.
On 6 July 1948, a meeting of the Plenum of the Central Committee of the Polish Workers' Party was set up to carry out a discussion about the considerable deviations of Gomułka.