01.09.2010

Colossal responsibility

The path to unity in the CPGB was to have all manner of tensions and failures

The eagerness with which genuine revolutionaries in the workers’ movement in this country greeted the October 1917 revolution indicated something very important. It showed that all principled and genuinely militant elements in groups such as the British Socialist Party, the Socialist Labour Party and the Workers’ Socialist Federation had a thirst to assimilate the lessons of the highest experience of Marxism internationally. A world historic breakthrough had been achieved by the comrades in Russia - now communists in Britain saw the chance to leave behind their sect amateurishness and impotence, to learn from and emulate Bolshevism.

In particular, the challenge of revolutionary unity was posed in a direct, implacable way by the foundation of the Third (Communist) International in 1919. In the words of Arthur McManus, this conferred a “colossal responsibility” to transfer proletarian internationalism from the realm of resolutions and theory to the concrete.^[1] It posed membership of a world party of revolution, the section in Britain being a disciplined part of global whole.

Reports of the CI’s deliberations took quite some time to reach revolutionaries in Britain. But, as soon as they did, the BSP, the SLP, the WSF and the South Wales Socialist Society voted by overwhelming majorities to seek affiliation. As we shall see in future instalments of this series, the clear logic of this common response was towards revolutionary unity. If the fragmented Marxist movement in Britain was collectively applying to join an international organisation that by definition involved “subordinating the interests of the movement in each country to the common interest of the revolution on an international scale”, what was the basis for its continued national disunity? Lenin and other leading figures were not shy in pointing this out to the British comrades.

Of course, the path to unity in the CPGB was to have all manner of tensions and failures. As we shall see in subsequent reprints, outstanding revolutionaries were to fail the test. With the 1919 formation of the CI, the way forward, however, was clear.

First details of the CI’s resolutions were given by the WSF’s Workers’ Dreadnought, on Sunday March 29 1919 (Volume 6, No1). The paper admitted that its report, based on a “wireless” message received via Berne (dated March 9), was “fragmentary and full of inaccuracies”. So, the first full account in Britain seems to have been given on May 15 1919 by The Socialist, official organ of the SLP.

The SLP and Moscow International

Though somewhat tardy and belated, the document which has been the source of so much speculation in particularly socialist circles, is now to hand anent [regarding - ed] a call for a communist congress.

Due to unknown causes, but which may be pretty accurately guessed, it is somewhat obscure, which obscurity, with its rarity, is a tribute to the vigilance and censorship of our governing authorities, and marks their enthusiasm (?) to ensure that the truth should be known about Russia.

The difficulty is got over, however, by the simultaneous arrival of the Industrial Union News^[2] from America, containing a reprint of the manifesto, which is here appended.

Manifesto

Dear comrades

... During the war and the revolution not only the complete bankruptcy of the old socialist and social democratic parties, and also the Second International; not only the incompetency of the middle elements of the old social democracy (the so-called ‘centre’), for live revolutionary action has finally become evident, but at present the outlines of the genuine revolutionary international are distinctly coming into view.

The gigantic speed of the progress of the world revolution compel[s] us to take the initiative to make the discussion of the question of calling an international congress of the revolutionary proletarian parties part of our business.

As a basis for the new international, we deem necessary the recognition of the following clauses, which we shall consider our platform, and which have been worked out on the basis of the programme of the Spartacus group in Germany and the Communist Party (Bolshevik) in Russia:

1. The present is the period of the dissolution and the collapse of the entire capitalist world system, which will mean the entire collapse of European culture if capitalism, with its unsolvable contradictions, is not destroyed.

2. The problem of the proletariat consists in immediately seizing the power of the state. This seizure of the power of the state means the destruction of the state apparatus of the bourgeoisie and the organisation of a new proletarian apparatus of power.

3. This new machine of state must embody the dictatorship of the working class, and in certain places also the small peasants and farm hands - ie, it must be the tool of the systematic overthrow of the exploiting classes and the means of their expropriation ... Not the false bourgeois democracy - this hypocritical form of the rule of the finance oligarchy - with its purely formal equality, but the proletarian democracy and the possibility of the realisation of freedom for the working masses; not parliamentarism, but self-government of these masses through their elected organisations; not capitalist bureaucracy, but organs of administration which have been created by the masses themselves, with the true participation of these masses in the government of the countries and in the activity of the socialist structure - this should be the type of the proletarian state. The power of the workers’ councils and similar organisations is its concrete form.

4. The dictatorship of the proletariat must be the lever of the immediate expropriation of capital and the abolition of private ownership of the means of production, with its transformation into ownership by the people.

5. For the purpose of safeguarding the socialist revolution for defence against enemies within and without, of assistance of other national groups of the fighting proletariat, etc, the complete disarmament of the bourgeoisie and their agents and the general arming of the proletariat is necessary.

6. The present world situation demands the closest relation between the different parts of the revolutionary proletariat and a complete union between the countries in which the socialist revolution has been victorious.

7. The fundamental means of the struggle are mass action by the proletariat, even to the point of armed and open warfare with the state powers of capital.

8. The old international parted into three main groups: First, those frankly social patriots who during the entire imperialist war from 1914 to 1918 supported their bourgeoisie and transformed the working class into hangmen of the international revolution. Then there is the ‘centre’, at present theoretically led by Kautsky and representing an organisation of such elements, constantly wavering, not capable of following a definite plan of action and at times positively traitorous. Finally, the left revolutionary wing.

9. As regards the social patriots, who everywhere in the critical moment oppose the proletarian revolution, only unsparing combat is possible. As regards the ‘centre’, our tactic must be to separate the revolutionary elements and the pitiless criticism and unmasking of the leaders. The absolute separation from the organisations of the centre is absolutely necessary at a certain phase of the development.

10. On the other hand, a bloc with those elements of the revolutionary working class is necessary, which, although they formerly did not belong to the socialist parties, now on the whole hold the views of and endorse the proletarian dictatorship in the form of the soviet power. These are, in the first place, the syndicalist elements of the labour movement.

11. Finally, it is necessary to attract all those proletarian groups and organisations which, although not openly attached to the left revolutionary current, nevertheless show in their development a tendency in this direction.

12. Concretely, we suggest that representatives of the following parties, groups and movements should participate in the congress. Such entire parties will completely recognise the programme, and will be considered full-fledged members of the Third International.

13(....)

14. The congress must publish a common fighting organ for the purpose of permanent connection and systematic direction of the movement. This should be the centre of the Communist International, subordinating the interests of the movement in each country to the common interest of the revolution on an international scale. The concrete form of the organisation, representation and so forth, will be worked out by the congress.

15 ... The different parties will become the sections of this International with fraternal greetings:

Signed for the Spartacus Group, RCP (Lenin and Trotsky), CP of Poland, CP of Hungary, CP of German Austria, CP of Lettland, Central Committee of Finland, Balkan Revolutionary Social Democratic Federation (Rakowski), SLP (American).

It will be noted that the invitations include the SLP. The membership of the SLP is about to undergo the real test of its calibre, not as to the technical accuracy of the theories it propounded in the past, and discrimination by verbal and written declaration, but also as to the courage, character and fortitude which were behind these declarations. Consider the matter well and I am sure we shall rise to the occasion.

Revolutionary Russia has done us a glorious honour, but has also imposed upon us colossal responsibility. Let us, therefore, prove worthy of both.

Arthur McManus

Notes

1. Arthur MacManus was a member of the Socialist Labour Party. He played an important role the Unity Committee created in 1919 to facilitate the merger of SLP, BSL and others. Later, MacManus was the CPGB’s first chairman, a post he held until 1922.
2. Paper of the Workers’ International Industrial Union.