Contents "The internationalist proletarian" n.15
PARTIES AND REVOLUTIONS ARE NOT CREATED, PARTIES AND REVOLUTIONS ARE LED
“Party and Class” (April, 1921) and “Party and Class Action” (May, 1921) are two fundamental texts published after the pressure maneuvers against the newly born Communist Party of Italy (January, 1921), the tactical deviations of the German party (fusion with the left of the USPD in December 1920 and open letters in January 1921) as well as the consequences of the so-called March action (March, 1921) and before the III Congress (June-July, 1921) which should reflect the weight of all these problems[1].
We will remark that the II Congress had approved the “Theses on the role of the communist party in the proletarian revolution” (1920) to which it refers and which serve as a starting point for “Party and class” (1921). Party and Class Action (May, 1921) continues to emphasize the need for the existence of the Communist Party and its effective preparation well in advance of the revolutionary clash. It identifies the party's continuity and capacity for foresight as its strength, insisting on the necessity of a general plan of tactical methods and the importance of preserving the party from the infiltration of dubious elements. Finally, without the need for any democratic-sounding formulas associated with nebulous and deceptive 'majorities', it stresses the importance of adequately preparing offensive actions by verifying that the objective premises for their initiation and development are met. In this way, it avoids a situation like the recent March events in Germany and the ambiguity of a democratic flavor that would be launched as a slogan at the III Congress of the International, with its 'conquest of the majority'.
The purpose of the following extracts from both texts is to provide an introduction to their theoretical core and to establish the basis for the clarification of an opportunistic misrepresentation of their content in a spontaneous sense.
Party and Class – April 1921
"In the theses on the role of the Communist Party in the Proletarian Revolution, approved by the II Congress of the Communist International, the definition of the relationship between the party and the class is taken as the starting point, and it is established that the class party can only encompass within its ranks a part of the class itself—never its entirety, and perhaps not even its majority. This evident truth would have been better highlighted if it had been specified that one should not even speak of a class when there is no minority of that class tending to organize into a political party." (Party and Class, 1921).
"A party lives when a doctrine and a method of action live. A party is a school of political thought and, therefore, an organization for fighting. The first is a matter of consciousness, the second is a matter of will, more precisely, a matter of tendency toward a goal. Without these two characteristics, we do not yet possess the definition of a class. (...) And these two characteristics can only be found condensed, embodied in the class party. (...) When the masses are pushed into action, it is only these initial groups, which have the foresight of a final goal, that support and lead the rest. These groups, these minorities, are nothing other than the party. When the formation of the party has reached a certain stage—although it is certain that it will never advance without interruptions, crises, internal conflicts—then we can say that we have a class in action. Although it encompasses only a part of the class, it is only the party that gives it the unity of action and movement, because it brings together those elements that, transcending category and locality limits, feel and represent the class." (Party and Class, 1921).
"This makes the meaning of the fundamental truth clearer: the party is only a part of the class. Anyone who, looking at the fixed and abstract image of society, distinguishes a zone there, the class, and within it a small nucleus, the party, would easily fall into the consideration that all the part of the class, often the majority, that remains outside the party, could have greater weight, greater rights. But as soon as one thinks that in that large remaining mass, individuals do not yet have class consciousness and will, that they live for their own selfishness, for their category, for their local region, or for the nation, it becomes clear that to ensure the collective action of the class in historical movement, an organization that inspires, strengthens, leads, and frames it is necessary—this is the word—and it becomes clear that the party is indeed the vital nucleus, without which there would be no reason to consider the remaining mass as a bundle of forces." (Party and Class, 1921).
"The true and only revolutionary conception of class action consists of delegating its direction to the party. Doctrinal analysis, and a wealth of historical experiences, easily allow us to reduce to petty-bourgeois and counter-revolutionary ideologies any tendency to deny and challenge the need and preeminence of the party's function." (Party and Class, 1921).
"The revolution demands an organization of active and positive forces, bound by a doctrine and a purpose. Large segments and innumerable individuals who materially belong to the class in whose interest the revolution will triumph are outside this organization. But the class lives, fights, advances, and triumphs thanks to the work of those forces that it has made emerge from within itself in the vicissitudes of history. The class starts from an immediate homogeneity of economic conditions that constitutes the primary driving force to overcome and break the current system of production; but to undertake this great task, it must have its own thought, its own critical method, its own will aimed at achieving the goals indicated by research and criticism, and its own combat organization to channel and make the best use of its efforts and sacrifices. All of this is the party." (Party and Class, 1921).
Party and Class Action – May 1921
"A party is a group of individuals who share the same general conceptions of the development of history, who have a precise notion of the goals of the class they represent, and who have prepared a system of solutions to the various problems that the proletariat will face when it becomes the ruling class. Therefore, class government can only be party government." (Party and Class Action, 1921).
"Above all, it is evident that the proletariat would not be mature enough to face the extremely difficult problems of its dictatorship if the indispensable organ for solving them, the party, had not long before begun to establish the body of its doctrines and experiences." (Party and Class Action, 1921).
"But even for the direct needs of the struggle that will culminate in the revolutionary overthrow of the bourgeoisie, the party is the indispensable organ of all class action; moreover, one cannot logically speak of true class action (that is, action that goes beyond the limits of the interests of categories or contingent problems) until there is party action." (Party and Class Action, 1921).
"The indispensable task of the party is carried out in two ways: first, as a matter of consciousness, and then as a matter of will. The first is translated into a theoretical conception of the revolutionary process that must be common to all members; the second, into the acceptance of precise discipline that ensures coordination and, therefore, the success of action." (Party and Class Action, 1921).
"There is no defined or definable relationship between the party's strength and the great mass of workers. Once it is established that the party fulfills its function as a minority, it would be Byzantine to inquire whether it should be a small or large minority." (Party and Class Action, 1921).
"In the abstract hypothesis of the continuous development of revolutionary energies in the masses, the communist party continuously increases its own numerical and political strength, growing quantitatively while remaining qualitatively the same, as the proportion of communists to proletarians increases. In the real situation, in which the various constantly changing factors of the social environment reflect complexly on the dispositions of the masses, the communist party – even though it is the group of those who know and understand better than the rest of the masses the characteristics of that development – cannot help but undergo these alternations, and despite constantly acting as a revolutionary accelerator, it cannot, through any refinement of method, force or reverse the fundamental essence of the situations." (Party and Class Action, 1921).
"Once communist parties are firmly based on the results of doctrine and historical experience regarding the precise characteristics of the revolutionary process – results that can only be international and therefore give rise to international norms – their organizational structure must be considered as defined, and it must be admitted that their ability to attract and empower the masses will depend on their fidelity to strict programmatic and organizational discipline." (Party and Class Action, 1921).
"Endowed with a theoretical consciousness based on the international experiences of the movement, which makes it capable of addressing the demands of the revolutionary struggle, the communist party has the guarantee – even if the masses temporarily drift away from its side at certain stages of their life – of having them around when those revolutionary problems arise that admit only the solution outlined in its programs. When the demands of action will show the need for a centralized and disciplined leadership apparatus, the communist party, having inspired its constitution on such criteria, will come to the head of the masses in motion." (Party and Class Action, 1921).
"From all this, we want to draw the conclusion that the criteria for judging the efficiency of communist parties must be very different from the 'a posteriori' numerical control of their forces compared to those of other parties that claim to be proletarian. These criteria can only consist of the exact definition of the theoretical foundations of the party's program, and the strict internal discipline of all its organizations and members, ensuring the use of everyone's work for the best success of the revolutionary cause. Any other form of intervention in the composition of parties that does not logically proceed from the precise application of such rules leads only to illusory results and deprives the class party of its greatest revolutionary strength, which lies precisely in the doctrinal and organizational continuity of all its preaching and work, in having 'spoken in advance' about how the final struggle between classes would unfold, and in having given itself the type of organization that corresponds well to the requirements of the decisive period." (Party and Class Action, 1921).
"We will never proceed fast enough to systematize the international movement on the basis of such internationally obligatory norms, because as we have said, the great force that must guide it in the fulfillment of its task of propelling the revolutionary energies, is the demonstration of a continuity in thought and action towards a precise goal, which one day will appear in the eyes of the masses, provoking their polarization towards the vanguard party and, with it, the best probabilities of victory in the revolution." (Party and Class Action, 1921).
"One should not therefore opt for the big parties or for the small ones; one should not pretend to have to reverse all the bases of certain parties on the pretext that they are not 'mass parties'; it must be required that the communist parties be founded everywhere on solid programmatic and tactical norms of organization, in which the best experiences internationally acquired from the revolutionary struggle are compiled.” (Party and Class Action, 1921).
"The international communist movement must be composed not only of those who are firmly convinced of the need for revolution, who are willing to fight for it at any cost, but also of those who are determined to move on the revolutionary terrain even if the difficulties of the struggle indicate that the goal is steeper and more distant. In the moment of acute revolutionary crisis, acting on the solid foundation of our international organization, we will polarize around us the elements that are still undecided today, and we will prevail over the social-democratic parties of all shades. If revolutionary possibilities are less immediate, we will not, even for a moment, run the risk of being distracted from weaving our network of preparation and retreating to the solution of other contingent problems, which would only benefit the bourgeoisie." (Party and Class Action, 1921).
"No communist can object to the use of armed action, reprisals, or even terror, and deny that the communist party must be the direct manager of these forms of action that require discipline and organization. Likewise, it is childish to conceive that the use of violence and armed actions is reserved for the 'great day' when the supreme struggle for power will be launched. It is inherent in the reality of revolutionary development that bloody clashes between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie occur before the final struggle: it may not only be proletarian attempts that are not successful, but also the inevitable partial and transient encounters between proletarian groups prompted to revolt and the forces of bourgeois defense, and even between squads of bourgeois 'white guards' and workers attacked and provoked by them. Nor is it correct to claim that communist parties should disavow such actions and reserve all effort for a certain final moment, because every struggle requires training and a period of instruction, and the revolutionary organizational capacity of the party must begin to be formed and tested in these preliminary actions." (Party and Class Action, 1921).
"The offensive action of the party is only conceivable when real economic and social situations set the masses in motion to solve problems that directly concern their destiny, and that concern them in their broadest extent, creating a deep agitation whose development in the true revolutionary sense indispensably requires the intervention of the party to clearly define its general objectives, to frame it in a well-organized rational action, even from the point of view of military technique." (Party and Class Action, 1921).
"Parties and revolutions are not created. Parties and revolutions are led, unifying useful international revolutionary experiences, in order to ensure the best coefficients for the victory of the proletariat in the battle that is the inevitable outcome of the historical epoch in which we live. This must be our conclusion." (Party and Class Action, 1921).
Parties and revolutions are not created. Parties and revolutions are led.
This phrase, taken out of its context and turned into a sort of metaphysical incantation, has become a commonplace or refuge of certain spontaneist currents. With it they try to camouflage their positions against the indispensable Party organism, speculating with the widespread general habit of speaking from hearsay without having read the texts they claim to be referring to.
And yet, we continue to affirm as in 1921 that “parties and revolutions are not created”:
- Parties are not created as the future liquidators of the 3rd International wanted to do, building them like a tailor-made suitfor the occasion, with the necessary adjustments to become a mass party. The physiognomy of the Communist Party inevitably derives from the "results of doctrine and historical experience", not according to the situation, not by removing and adding parts of its programmatic postulates as if they were optional ingredients of a cooking recipe.
- Revolutions are not created because "the offensive action of the party is only conceivable when real economic and social situations set the masses in motion to solve problems that directly concern their destiny, and that concern them in their broadest extent" and because "despite constantly acting as a revolutionary accelerator, it cannot, through any refinement of method, force or reverse the fundamental essence of the situations".
- Revolutions and parties are led. The physiognomy of the latter "must be considered as defined"once they "are firmly based on the results of doctrine and historical experience." From that moment on, it must be admitted that "their ability to attract and empower the masses will depend on their fidelity to strict programmatic and organizational discipline". The Communist Party must be – says the text – "constantly acting as a revolutionary accelerator", base its strength on the demonstration of "doctrinal and organizational continuity of all its preaching and work, in having 'spoken in advance' about how the final struggle between classes would unfold", and "having given itself the type of organization that corresponds well to the requirements of the decisive period", proceeding to demonstrate "continuity in thought and action toward a precise goal", including in its ranks only those who are also "determined to move on the revolutionary terrain even if the difficulties of the struggle indicate that the goal is steeper and more distant", so that "if revolutionary possibilities are less immediate, we will not, even for a moment, run the risk of being distracted from weaving our network of preparation", and later on, "provoking their [of the masses] polarization towards the vanguard party". For this to happen, it is necessary for the Party to have started "long before (...) to constitute the body of its doctrines and experiences", because it is the only way to demonstrate continuity in thought and action to the working class and because "every struggle requires training and a period of instruction, and the revolutionary organizational capacity of the party must begin to be formed and tested in these preliminary actions."
The key concepts of Marxism in the question of the Party appear hammering in both texts: 'avant-garde precursors of the class', 'to inspire', 'to establish', 'to precede', 'to frame' (Party and Class, 1921) 'preparation', 'long before', 'in advance', 'constantly', 'continuity', 'training', 'period of instruction', 'to form', 'to be tested' (Party and Class Action, 1921)... If anyone has read these texts and 'understood' that the Party will be born through 'spontaneous generation', in a 'dynamic of competing forces,' etc., they can disappear without causing any harm to the revolution.
[1] The reader can find on pages 2 and 3 of this issue of the review “The Internationalist Proletarian”, in the article “The historical cycle of the degeneration of the Third International (III)”, a greater detail about the context in which were manifested the errors and deviations that the Communist Left of Italy fought against with these two texts.