This study traces the development of communism and socialism in India from the Second Congress of the Communist International in 1920, which dealt with the issue of communism and nationalism in colonial and semi colonial countries, to the defeat of the left wing of the Indian National Congress, or Congress Party, in 1939. The latter date coincides with the outbreak of World War II. It marks the end of an important chapter in the development of the Indian nationalist movement and the beginning of a new phase in which the British government of India.