Organisation and Structure of the Communist Party -3
V. THE ORGANISATION OF POLITICAL STRUGGLE
31. For the Communist Party, there can be no period in which its Party organisation cannot exercise political activity. For the purpose of utilizing every political and economic situation, as well as the changes in these situations, organisational strategy and tactics must be developed. No matter how weak the Party may be, it can nevertheless take advantage of exciting political events or of extensive strikes affecting the entire economic system by radical propaganda systematically and efficiently organised. Once a Party has decided to thus make use of a particular situation, it must concentrate the energy of all its members and Party in this campaign.
Furthermore, all the connections which the Party possesses through the work of its nuclei and its workers' groups, must be used for organizing mass meetings in the centres of political importance and following up a strike. The speakers for the Party must do their utmost to convince the audience that only Communism can bring the struggle to a successful conclusion. Special commissions must prepare these meetings very thoroughly. If the Party cannot, for some reasons, hold meetings of its own, suitable comrades should address the strikers at the general meetings organised by the strikers or any other sections of the struggling proletariat.
Wherever there is a possibility of inducing the majority, or a large part of any meeting, to support our demand, these must be well- formulated and properly argued in motions and resolutions being passed, attempts must be made to have similar resolution or motions adopted in ever-increasing numbers, at any rate supported by strong minorities at all the meetings held on the same question at the same place or in other localities. In this way we shall be able to consolidate the working masses in the movement, put them under our moral influence, and have them recognised our leadership.
After all such meetings the committees, which participated in the organisational preparations and utilised its opportunities, must hold a conference to make a report to be submitted to the leading committees of the Party and draw the proper conclusion from the experience or possible mistakes, made for the future. In accordance with each particular situation, the practical demands of the workers involved, must be made public by means of posters and handbills or leaflets distributed among the workers proving to them by means of their own demands how the Communist policies are in agreement with and applicable to the situation. Specially organised groups are required for the proper distribution of posters, the choice of suitable spots, as well as the proper time for such pasting. The distributing of handbills should be carried out in and before the factories and in the halls where the workers concerned want to gather, also at important points in the town, employment offices and stations. Such distribution of leaflets should be accompanied by a attractive discussions and slogans, readily permeating all the ranks of the working masses. Detailed leaflets should, if possible, be distributed only in halls, factories, dwellings or other places where proper attention to the printed matter may be expected.
Such propaganda must be supported by parallel activity at all the trade unions and factory meetings held during the conflict and at such meetings, whether organised by our comrades or only favoured by us, suitable speakers and debaters must seize the opportunity of convincing the masses of our point of view. Our Party newspapers must place, at the disposal of such a special movement, greater part of their space as well as their best arguments. In fact, the active Party organisations must, for the time being, be made to serve the general purpose of such a movement whereby our comrades may work with unabated energy.
32. Demonstrations require very mobile and self-sacrificing leadership closely intent upon the aim of a particular action, and able to discern, at any given moment, whether a demonstration has reached its highest possible effectiveness, or whether during that particular situation, a further intensification is possible by inducing an extension of the movement into an action of the masses by means of demonstration, strikes and eventually general strikes. The demonstrations, in favour of peace during the war, have taught us that even after dispersal of such demonstrations, a really proletarian fighting Party must neither deviate, nor stand still, no matter how small or illegal it may be, if the question at issue is of real importance, and is bound to become of ever greater interest for the large masses. Street demonstrations attain greatest effectiveness when their organisation is based on the large factories. When efficient preparations by our nuclei and groups, by means of verbal and handbill propaganda, has succeeded in bringing about a certain unity of thought and action in a particular situation, the managing committee must call the confidential Party members in the factories and the leaders of the nuclei and groups to a conference, to discuss and fix the time and business of the meeting on the day planned, as well as the determination of slogans, the prospects of intensification and the moment of cessation and dispersal of the demonstration. The backbone of the demonstration must be formed by a well- instructed and experienced group of diligent officials, mingling among the masses from the moment of departure from the factories up to the time of the dispersal of demonstration. Responsible Party workers must be systematically distributed among the masses, for the purpose of enabling the officials to maintain active contact with each other and keeping them provided with the requisite political instructions. Such a mobile, politically organised leadership of a demonstration permits most effectively of constant renewal and eventual intensification into greater mass actions.
33. Communist Parties already possessing internal firmness, a tried corps of officials and a considerable number of adherents among the masses, must exert every effort to completely overcome the influence of the treacherous socialist leaders of the working class by means of extensive campaign, and to rally the majority of the working masses to the Communist banner. Campaigns must be organised in various ways depending upon whether the situation favour actual fighting, in which case they become active and put themselves at the head of the proletarian movement, or whether it is a period of temporary stagnation.
The make-up of the Party is also one of the determining factors for selection of the organisational methods for such actions.
For example, the method of publishing a so-called “open letter” was used in order to win over the socially decisive sections of the proletariat in Germany to a greater extent than had been possible in other countries. In order to unmask the treacherous socialist leaders, the Communist Party of Germany addressed itself to the other mass organisations of the proletariat at a moment of increasing desolation and intensification of class conflicts, for the purpose of demanding from them, before the eyes of the proletariat, whether they, with their alleged powerful organisations, were prepared to take up the struggle in co-operation with the Communist Party, against the obvious destitution of the proletariat and for the slightest demands even for a pitiful-piece of bread.
Wherever the Communist Party initiates a similar campaign, it must make complete organisational preparations for the purpose of making such an action reach among the broad masses of the working class.
All the factory groups and trade union officials of the Party must bring the demand made by the Party, representing the embodiment of the most vital demands of the proletariat to a discussion at their next factory and trade union meetings, as well as at all public meetings, after having thoroughly prepared for such meetings. For the purpose of taking advantage of the temper of the masses, leaflets, handbills and posters must be distributed everywhere and effectively at all places where our nuclei or groups intend to make an attempt to influence the masses to support our demands. Our Party Press must engage in constant elucidation of the problems of the movement during the entire period of such a campaign, by means of short, or detailed daily articles, treating the various phases of the question from every possible point of view. The organisation must continually supply the Press with the material for such articles and pay close attention so that the editors do not let up in their exertions for the furtherance of the Party Campaign. The parliamentary groups and municipal representatives of the Party must also work systematically for the promotion of such struggles. They must bring the movement into discussion according to the direction of the Party leadership of the various parliamentary bodies by means of resolutions or motions. These representatives must consider themselves, as conscious members of the struggling masses, their exponents in the camp of the class enemy, and as the responsible officials and Party workers.
In case the united, organisationally consolidated activities of all the forces of the Party succeed, within a few weeks, in including the adoption of large and ever increasing numbers of resolutions supporting our demands, it will be the serious organisational task of our Party to consolidate the masses thus shown to be in favour of our demands. In the event of the movement having assumed a particular trade union character, it must be attempted, above all, to increase our organisational influence in the trade unions.
To this end, our groups in the trade unions must proceed to well- prepared direct action against the local trade union leaders in order either to overcome their influence, or else to compel them to wage an organised struggle on the basis of the demand of our Party. Wherever factory councils, industrial committees or similar institution exist, our groups must exert influence through plenary meetings of these industrial committees or factory councils also to decide in favour of supporting the struggle. If a number of local organisations have thus been influenced to support the movement for the bare living interests of the proletariat under Communist leadership, they must be called together to general conferences, which should also be attended by the special delegates of the factory meetings at which favourable resolutions were adopted.
VI. THE NEW LEADERSHIP
The new leadership consolidated under Communist influence in this manner, gains new power by means of such concentration of the active groups of the organised workers, and this power must be utilised to give an impetus to the leadership of the socialist parties and trade unions or else to fully unmask it.
In those industrial regions where our Party possesses its best organisations and has obtained the greatest support for its demands, they must succeed by means of organised pressure on the local trade unions and industrial councils, in uniting all the evident economic isolated struggles in these regions as well as the developing movement of other groups, into one co-ordinated struggle.
This movement must then draw up elementary demands entirely apart from the particular craft interests, and then attempt to obtain the fulfilment of these demands by utilizing the united forces of all organisations in the district.
In such movement the Communist Party will then prove to be the leader of the proletarians prepared for struggle, whereas the trade union bureaucracy and the socialist party who would oppose such a united, organised struggle, would then be exposed in their true colours, not only politically, but also from a practical organisational point of view.
34. During acute political and economic crisis causing, as they do, new movements, the Communist Party should attempt to gain control of the masses.
It may be better to forego any specific demands and rather appeal directly to the members of the socialist parties and the trade unions pointing out how distress and oppression have driven them into the unavoidable fights with their employers in spite of the attempts of their bureaucratic leaders to avoid a decisive struggle. The organs of the Party particularly the daily newspapers, must emphasize day by day, that the Communists are ready to take the lead in the impending and actual struggle of the distressed workers, that their fighting organisation is ready to lend a helping hand, wherever possible, to all the oppressed in the given acute situation. It must be pointed out daily that without these struggles there is no possibility of increasing tolerable living conditions for the workers in spite of the efforts of the old organisations to avoid and to obstruct these struggles. The Communist fractions, within the trade unions and industrial organisations, must lay stress continually upon the self-sacrificing readiness of the Communist and make it clear to their fellow workers that the fight is not to be avoided. The main task, however, is to unify and consolidate all the struggles and movements arising out of the situation. The various nuclei and fractions of the industries and crafts which have been drawn into the struggles must not only maintain the closest ties among themselves, but also assume the leadership of all the movements that may break out, through the district committees as well as through the central committees, furnishing promptly such officials and responsible workers as will be able to lead a movement, hand in hand, with those engaged in the struggle, to broaden and deepen that struggle and make it widespread. It is the main duty of the organisation, everywhere, to point out and emphasize the common character of all the various struggles, in order to foster the idea of the general solution of the question by political means, if necessary. As the struggles become more intensified and general in character, it becomes necessary to create uniform organs for the leadership of the struggles.
Wherever the bureaucratic strike leaders have failed, the Communists must come in at once and ensure a determined organisation of action —the common preliminary organisation— which can be achieved under capable militant leadership, by persistent advocacy at the meeting of the fractions and industrial councils as well as mass meetings of the industries concerned.
When the movement becomes widespread, and owing to the onslaughts of the employers' organisations and government interference, it assumes a political character, preliminary propaganda and organisation work must be started for the elections of workers' councils which may become possible and even necessary.
It is here that all Party organs should emphasize the idea that only by forging their own weapons of the struggle can the working class achieve its own emancipation. In this propaganda not the slightest consideration should be shown to the trade union bureaucracy or to the old socialist parties.
35. The Communist Parties which have already grown strong and particularly the big mass parties, must be equipped for mass action. All political demonstrations and economic mass movements, as well as local actions must always tend to organise the experiences of those movements in order to bring about a close union with the wide masses. The experience gained by all great movements must be discussed at broad conferences of the leading officials and responsible Party workers, with the trusted (trade union) representatives of large and middle industries and in this manner the network of communication will be constantly increased and strengthened and the trusted representatives of industries will become increasingly permeated with the fighting spirit. The ties of mutual confidence between the leading officials and responsible Party workers, with the shop delegates, are the best guarantee that there will be no premature political mass action, in keeping with the circumstances and the actual strength of the Party.
Without building closest ties between the Party organisations and the proletarian masses employed in the big mass actions, a really revolutionary movement cannot be developed. The untimely collapse of the undoubtedly revolutionary upheaval in Italy last year, which found its strong expression in the seizing of factories, was certainly due, to a great extent, to the treachery of the trade unionist bureaucracy, unreliability of the political party leaders, but partly also to the total lack of intimacies of organisation between the Party and the industries through politically informed shop delegates interested in the welfare of the Party. Also the English coal-miners' strike of the present year (1921) has undoubtedly suffered through this lack to an extraordinary degree.
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