 Lenin saw this as a revival of the Second International, which he had despised, and formulated his own rival international socialist conference to offset its impact.Organised with the aid of Zinoviev, Trotsky, Christian Rakovsky, and Angelica Balabanoff, the First Congress of this Communist International ("Comintern") opened in Moscow in March 1919.It lacked global coverage; of the 34 assembled delegates, 30 resided within the countries of the former Russian Empire, and most of the international delegates were not recognised by any socialist parties in their own nations.