Soldiers demonstrate for communism, Russia, October 1917
Elections or Insurrection? Socialism or Communism?
Lessons of the 1973 Fascist US-Sponsored Coup in Chile
August 20—Mass rebellions have erupted in Ecuador, Columbia, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, and elsewhere. They are shaking the capitalist rulers to their boots. They inspire workers everywhere.
These rebellions will grow, intensify, and become more frequent. Capitalism’s crisis deepens. Fascism intensifies. And the rulers’ fight over profits and empire explodes into World War III.
Will our class remain trapped in electoral politics? Or wage armed struggle for socialism, a failed system? Or will we choose armed insurrection directly for communism?
Chile’s Revolutionary History Suggests Answers
On September 11, 1973, General Pinochet led a fascist coup. US imperialism supported it. This ended a deadly illusion of Allende and the Chilean Communist Party. This illusion was that workers can win power through elections.
Salvador Allende was a socialist. He had won the 1970 presidential elections. The coalition that supported him, Unidad Popular, included the Chilean Communist Party (CCP).
The fascists killed Allende. They murdered, tortured, imprisoned, or exiled thousands of workers, peasants, students, and intellectuals. This reign of terror lasted until Pinochet was “voted” out in 1990.
A Tale of Two Parties
In 1917, the Bolshevik Party led the Russian masses to power. It had only 240, 000 members in a country of 150 million
In 1973, the Chilean Revolution ended in disaster. The CCP had over 125,000 members in a country of 10 million.
The big difference was political line, reflected in organization. The Bolsheviks understood the Marxist principle that no ruling class relinquishes power peacefully. They organized clandestinely for armed insurrection among industrial workers and soldiers in the Czar’s army.
Any communist party that fails to do this betrays the working class. The CCP ignored this principle. From its very founding it participated in electoral politics to vote in Socialism.
Dialectical Materialist Philosophy Crucial to Revolutionary Success
Internal contradictions determine the development and characteristics of all processes. That includes the international communist movement. Resolving its contradictions properly determines its success or failure.
Two interrelated contradictions have haunted the international communist movement. First, armed insurrection versus electoral politics. Second, whether to fight for socialism or directly for communism.
The CCP resolved neither contradiction favorably. It started as the Chilean Socialist Workers’ Party and changed its name to “Communist” in 1922. It didn’t, however, change its treacherous line of participating in electoral politics to establish socialism.
The Bolsheviks, in contrast, properly solved the contradiction between armed insurrection and electoral politics. But they failed to resolve the second contradiction. They fought for socialism, not communism.
This Error Destroyed the Leadership of the International Working Class
The CCP was not alone. The third Communist International began in 1919 to support revolution worldwide. In 1943, Stalin dissolved it. He wanted to reassure the US and UK imperialists that this was no longer the case. Khrushchev consolidated this betrayal in 1958. The electoral path to socialism became the official line of the Russian Communist Party.
This resulted from fighting for socialism and not directly for communism. We now see that socialism was state capitalism. It kept money, wages, markets, and banks. Industrial managers and high state bureaucrats earned the most. They emerged as a new capitalist class.
By the end of World War II, the Soviet Union was a full-fledged imperialist power. It challenged US imperialism for world domination.
Chinese communists exposed and attacked this betrayal. China became the center of world revolution. The 1949 Chinese Revolution, however, had adapted the Russian socialist model. By the early 1960s, China had a well-developed “Red” capitalist class.
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution erupted as masses of Chinese workers and youth tried to remove these capitalists from power. Some started building communism directly. They failed because of their own internal weaknesses. But their contributions, and those of all revolutionaries who preceded us, are invaluable.
The Main Contradiction Remains: Fight for Socialism or Directly for Communism?
We are not doomed to repeat our mistakes! Learning from dialectical and historical materialism, we can confidently answer with a resounding: Fight directly for communism and nothing less!
In a dialectical negation of the past communist movement, we discard incorrect ideas and practices while preserving correct ones to advance the process to a higher level.
Let us build ICWP into an international mass party to decide history’s course in our favor by mobilizing the international working class for communism.
Read and distribute Red Flag! Join ICWP! Build communist collectives especially among industrial and rural workers, soldiers, and youth. The future is ours!
Read Our Manifesto: Mobilize the Masses for Communism here
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