left communists generally supported the bolshevik seizure of power in october 1917 and entertained enormous hopes in the founding of the communist international, or comintern. in fact, they controlled the first body formed by the comintern to coordinate its activities in western europe, the amsterdam bureau. however, this was little more than a very brief interlude and the amsterdam bureau never functioned as a leadership body for western europe as was originally intended. the vienna bureau of the comintern may also be classified as left communist, but its personnel were not to evolve into either of the two historic currents that made up left communism. rather, the vienna bureau adopted the ultra-left ideas of the earliest period in the history of the comintern.