[introduction.]
p The Communist Parties are fighting not only for a united workingclass front; they are striving to unite broader sections of the people. Working-class unity should be the basis for the unity of a democratic movement of the entire nation.
p Never in the past were there such favourable conditions for this unity. At the present stage of the general crisis of capitalism, as was shown in Chapter 10, side by side with the main class antagonism between labour and capital the conflict between the small monopoly clique and the rest of the population is coming ever more clearly to light. The stronger the oppression by monopoly capital becomes and the more it subordinates the state to itself, the broader and more diverse are the forces it evokes against itself. Monopoly capital is encroaching upon the interests not only of the workers and peasants but also of the middle strata of the population, the office workers, the intelligentsia, and even certain sections of the bourgeoisie. Not only the immediate interests of all these strata of society but also the most important interests of the nation are in danger. 377 Republicans, patriots and pacifists, in short, -all who remain faithful to the traditions of democracy and national freedom, are seriously alarmed at the growing tendencies towards a reactionary dictatorship of the monopolies and the increasing danger of a new war.
p Thus various social strata find a common interest, which can form an objective basis for their joint action against the rule of monopoly capital. The Marxist-Leninist Parly of the working class is destined to be the vanguard of such democratic unity. As the standard-bearers in the struggle for peace and democracy, the Communist Parties strive to be in the front ranks of the Popular Front against the reactionary policies of monopoly capital and imperialism.
p The policy of the Communist Parties for establishing unity of action and co-operation with all the national and democratic forces is a polici/ oj democratic unity; it is democratic because all sections of the people are being united primarily around democratic demands and slogans. Of course, this does not mean that the grounds for wide, popular unity disappear after the solution of the democratic tasks. As we have already seen, in our epoch a socialist transformation of society corresponds to the vital interests of ever wider sections of the population. The policy of democratic unity therefore makes it possible to enlist these sections for the solution of socialist problems. The way to this, however, is through organisation of the mass struggle for general democratic demands and the material interests of the working people.
A good deal of experience in regard to joint action of various sections of the population on the basis of democratic demands has been accumulated since the end of the war. The most striking example of this is the popular movement in defence of peace. The world-wide campaigns for banning the atomic bomb and stopping nuclear tests offer ample testimony that it is quite possible to achieve co-operation of the most heterogeneous social trends and organisations, including those that are very far from communism.
What a Workers’ Parly Must Do
p When objective prerequisites for uniting different sections of the population against the oppression of the monopolies are present, the cc’ntral feature of the situation is the activity of the working-class revolutionary party itself. Everything depends on its ability to find a common language with the various political and social organisations and movements. The fighting and organisational unity of the popular forces cannot come about spontaneously.
p To secure the co-operation of heterogeneous social forces, of which many are far removed from communism and some are infected with anti-communism, is a complicated matter requiring patience and tact. Here one has to counter the intrigues of reactionary forces, the vacillations of bourgeois and petty-bourgeois groups, and their 378 attempts to subordinate the whole movement solely to their interests.
p The experience of various countries has shown that the following factors are of the greatest importance in achieving unity of action of the democratic forces:
p A strong and united working-class movement is the chief guarantee of achieving such unity of action. Not all who are fighting for peace and democracy today are allies of the working class in the exact sense of the word. They take part in the struggle for peace and democracy, but when it comes to permanent co-operation with Communists they begin to vacillate and easily succumb to the influence of official propaganda.
p For such social forces to begin to co-operate with the Communist Party, propaganda and agitation alone are not enough. In the first place, the working-class movement must itself be strong and well organised so as to inspire all the national and democratic strata with confidence in the ultimate victory of the people. Secondly, the working class can win the confidence and support of the other classes and social groups only if it defends their legitimate and just interests as it does its own.
p The Party of the working class has many ways of doing this. It fights in parliament for reforms and benefits for the peasants, handicraftsmen, artisans and small business people. It makes a careful study of the demands of the peasant^ radical, republican and other democratic parties and lends its full support to those that coincide with the interests of the working people. The Party supports the proposals of any peasant, democratic or pacifist leader if they correspond to the aspirations of the working people and aie aimed at improving their conditions.
p Fraternal ties with all working people and a reputation among them of being the most consistent and resolute champion of their interests gives the working class a guarantee of victory in the struggle against the rule of the reactionary bourgeoisie.
p Correct choice of the platform for co-operation. The revolutionary Party of the working class cannot demand that its potential allies co-operate with it only on its own terms. Without for a moment losing sight of the specific interests and needs of the working class, and while striving for their greatest possible satisfaction, the Party at the same time seeks to formulate general demands acceptable to the potential allies. Since the other social forces are also interested in fighting the oppression of the monopolies, it is relatively easy to discover common demands. But even in this case, as experience shows, it is impossible to secure agreement on all points at once. The platform for unity of action is elaborated gradually, beginning with partial issues. This gives the co-operating parties a chance to convince themselves of the sincerity of each other’s intentions and 379 to acquire mutual confidence. Confidence is an extremely necessary element without which no united front can endure.
p At the same time, Communists do not hide the fact that they do not support all demands of the petty-bourgeois sections of the population. The working class can have interests in common with these sections, but contradictions also exist. The Communist Parties take this into account in advance and where necessary make a firm declaration of their position in relation to particular demands that are unacceptable to the working class. Unity is achieved not by endless concessions, but by resolutely supporting the just demands of the allies of the working class and simultaneously combating vacillations of a certain part of them that endanger the common aims of the people’s united front.
p Ability to compromise and make necessary concessions is an important quality of a working-class party that wishes to organise the co-operation of diverse class forces. Lenin considered this ability an absolute necessity for the class-conscious vanguard of the working class. Without it, he said, it is impossible to conclude an alliance with either the individual groups of the working people or with the middle strata who inevitably vacillate and act inconsistently. Lenin wrote: "Those who fail to understand this, fail to understand even a particle of Marxism, or of scientific, modern socialism in general.”^^211^^
p Without relinquishing any of its principles arising from the Marxist ideology, the revolutionary Party of the working class at the same time displays flexibility and takes into consideration the legitimate interests of the other social and political forces united in the bloc. It is important only—Lenin taught—that compromises and concessions should not lower but raise the general level of classconsciousness of the vanguard of the working class and enhance its ability to struggle and win.
p How does this look in practice? For example, one of the most important principles of socialism, bound up with its very essence, is that privately owned capitalist industry must be nationalised. In practice, however, this principle can be carried out by various methods. Although the victorious working class has the right to take away from the capitalists the property they have amassed by exploitation, it may, in appreciation of the services rendered by certain sections of the bourgeoisie in the struggle against the monopolies, make concessions to them. After the victory of the revolution it may leave the middle bourgeoisie in possession of its property. The people’s state may even help the middle bourgeoisie (with credits, raw materials, tax privileges, and a guaranteed market). Later, however, when the question of completing the nationalisation of the whole of the national economy comes up, the state may carry it out peacefully and gradually, taking into account the legitimate interests of the owners; for example, by buying the means of production from them, i.e., by granting them a certain compensation.
380p This example confirms that the Communists propose co-operation sincerely. They do not make promises that cannot be fulfilled, but in drawing up the united front programme take into account not only the immediate but also the future interests of their allies. Their concessions and compromises are well grounded and accord with their view of the possibility of building socialism in co-operation with their allies in the democratic front. This line of the Communists is of great importance for the success of the policy of democratic unity.
p While displaying political flexibility the Communist Parties at the same time resolutely rebuff the revisionist elements, who are ready to engage in unprincipled deals which may result in the Communist Parties becoming merged in the general national movements and losing their independence and may, in the long run, weaken the unity of the democratic forces.
p It is important not only to achieve political accord; agreement on united action needs to be consolidated organisationally. A united front becomes a powerful force only when the allies do not confine themselves to declaring their community of aims, but necessarily reach agreement on setting up a united organisation (such as a National Front, a Front of National-Democratic Unity, etc.), and on joint action within the framework of this organisation. This presupposes the formation of a co-ordinating body for joint elaboration of a united policy, and a firm agreement to the effect that the cooperating parties will obey the jointly adopted decisions. All this, of course, does not mean doing away with the organisational and political independence of the parties and movements taking part in the united front.
p It goes without saying that the strength of the united front does not depend only on the extent of agreement between the leading bodies. The chief thing is the joint action of the rank-and-file organisations, of their whole membership, who form the real strength of the bloc.
p The decisive factor ensuring the victory of the united front is the vanguard role of the Marxist party of the working class. The leading influence of a working-class party is the result of its own political activity and not of any pressure or dictation. When the Party pursues a correct policy, when the entire people heeds its voice and its prestige rapidly increases, the other political parlies and groups recognise its leading influence themselves and give it a decisive voice in elaborating the policy of the united front.
p The experience of the People’s Democracies has shown that after the victory of the democratic bloc the Right wing of the bourgeois parties may attempt to push the working-class Party out of tho leadership in order to hamper the introduction of urgent social reforms. The same experience has shown, however, that once the Marxist Workers’ party has won the sympathies and support of the 381 bulk of the membership of tho bourgeois-democratic parties it is able to isolate their Right-wing leaders, consolidate the unity of the democratic bloc and begin moving along the path of radical social changes.
p The leading role of the Marxist party in a democratic bloc does not mean that it can dictate or command. Even when it has a majority, it avoids imposing its decisions and strives to win unanimous consent through explanation and persuasion. If the Party were to act by dictatorial methods, without taking the legitimate interests of its allies into consideration, it would run the risk of losing them, would find itself isolated and would thus fail to achieve the aims pursued by the democratic bloc. The Communists are not interested in making temporary use of their partners in the democratic front and then discarding them, as reactionary propaganda asserts. On the contrary, they want to advance farther together with them so as to reach a real solution of all the democratic problems and to satisfy in the best possible manner the just demands of the broadest sections of the people, something that is possible only under socialism. The method of persuasion, which is the chief method of the Party’s work inside the bloc, does not, however, exclude the right to criticise the vacillations and inconsistency of the partners or to wage a resolute struggle against the manifest enemies of unity who are acting in their ranks.
p Finally, as experience has shown, the policy of democratic unity cannot be put into effect without a resolute struggle against sectarianism and lliglit-wing opportunism. At the time when the united front is only in course of formation, Left-wing sectarian elements are a particular danger since they antagonise the potential allies of the working class by their refusal to consider the interests of others. But when the united front has become a fact, Right-wing opportunism may become a special danger because it completely capitulates to the demands of the bourgeois allies, weakens the independent position of the revolutionary party of the working class and slips into the position of bourgeois nationalism.
The difficulties encountered in carrying out the policy of democratic unity are particularly great in the West European countries, where anti-communist prejudices are still strong and where the working class has to deal with such an experienced and cunning adversary as the West European bourgeoisie. In these countries the Coinin unists are opposed by numerous, tricky bourgeois parties that are skilled in deceiving the masses with the most “democratic” and “ peaceable” phrases. Nevertheless, the Communist Parties are persistently working to build against the ruling capitalist monopolies a powerful national democratic front which will bar the way to fascism and war, and open up the road to further social progress.
Notes
