THE ROLE OF PARLIAMENT IN A COMMUNIST REVOLUTION 'HOW PARLIAMENT CAN PLAY A REVOLUTIONARY PART IN THE TRANSITION TO SOCIALISM OF THE POPULAR MASSES'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 43
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 14, 2000
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: January 1, 1961
• Content Type: BOOK

Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
THE ROLE OF PARLIAMENT IN A COMMUNIST REVOLUTION
"HOW PARLIAMENT CAN PLAY A
REVOLUTIONARY PART IN THE TRANSITION TO
SOCIALISM
AND THE ROLE OF THE POPULAR MASSES 99
By Jan Kozak,
Communist member of the Czechoslovak National Assembly
Introduction by
The Right Hon. LORD MORRISON of LAMBETH, C.
Published by the Independent Information Centre, London
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 CIA-RDP78=03061A000100030018-0
INTRODUCTION
IN 1948, after a comparatively short spell of freedom following six
years of Nazi oppression and occupation, Czechoslovakia, generally
regarded as the most successful of the central European parliamentary
democracies in the period between the wars, fell under a one-party dic-
tatorship of Communists, supported by the Soviet Union and operating
through the then active Cominform.'
The first reaction in the West to events in Prague was a three-Power
Declaration condemning these developments. The question as Jo how
it was possible to overthrow within a week or so a parliamentary regime
working with a non-Communist majority based on democratic principles
(unfortunately, the non-Communist majority had to accept, in the
coalition government, a Communist Minister of the Interior imposed on
Dr. Benes in the spring df 1945 in Moscow), was put on behalf of the
outside world in the Security Council of the United Nations. Fearing
an investigation, the U.S.S.R. then applied the first double veto in U.N.
history. The Prague coup has thus remained unexamined all these
years.
As time passed, we lost sight of the trends in the case of Prague.
At the same time as the grip of the Prague Communists grew tighter,
periodically they released their testimonies concerning the background
to the coup. Step by step the pretence of constitutional changes was
dropped, so that we now have before us the testimony of a Communist
"parliamentarian", who speaks boldly of "The Possible Transition to
Socialism" (meaning Communism) "by means of the Revolutionary Use
.of Parliament" and of "The Role of the Popular Masses" in the' pursu-
ance of their revolutionary aims. In other words, his paper is intended as
a guide for anyone who may wish to conspire against any truly demo-
cratic regime which, even after the lesson of Prague, may be foolish
enough to expose its parliamentary procedure to Communist subversion.
In fact, the contents of this paper were first imparted by the author to a
theoretical conference of teachers assembled at the Communist Party's
own political University in Prague.
Before I draw attention to certain significant revelations in this
document. I must add a word on the way in which it came into our hands.
In the autumn of 1957, the annual conference of the Inter-Parlia-
mentary Union was held in London. It included Delegations from
member states from behind the Iron Curtain. From them we heard the
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP70-03061A000100030018-0
usual assurances on the legality and parliamentary character of their
regimes. Shortly afterwards the attention of a Member of the House
of Lords was drawn to a statement in the Czechoslovak Communist
Party Journal, Rude Pravo, in which the authorship of the Report with
which we are now dealing was attributed to a Czechoslovak Parliamen-
tarian. The Peer concerned immediately wrote to Prague to the leader
of the C.S.R., I.P.U. Delegation, Dr. Frantisek Berak, asking him for
a copy of the publication advertised in the Party Journal. He received
no answer. Simultaneously, an order for the book was placed through
a Communist bookshop in London and through an agent in Germany.
A few weeks later a brief answer came. The pamphlet (just published)
was "out of print." Only a few weeks ago, by a mere coincidence, a
copy of the report was secured.
The value of this document lies in the detailed description and ex-
planation for this or that tactical move in the Communist bid for power.
The Communists supported parliamentary procedure because, for the
purpose of the overthrow of the democratic regime, it was necessary to
change the character of parliament into "one of the levers actuating the
further development and consolidation of the revolution . . ." (p. 9).
They joined a "coalition Government" because "the overall character of
the participation in this government was : not to lose from sight, even
for a moment, the carrying out of a complete socialist coup" (p. 11),
They mastered the technique for a revolutionary minority to outwit,
outclass and finally render impotent the democratic majority "which had
ngmerical superiority in the decisive organs endowed with power" and
which suddenly found itself unable to stop the Communist revolution
(p. 19).
The countless details of the business of revolution, boastingly
described in this document, make it not only fascinating political reading,
but above all an important political lesson.
There are at least three valid reasons for welcoming the publication
of this document.
1. We now have confirmation in the form of an authentic Communist
document that it is still part of the Communist technique to use the
normal democratic parliamentary system as the first step on the
ladder leading to the revolutionary overthrow of the normal demo-
cratic state apparatus based on a non-Communist majority.
2. The same technique is applied to political parties, especially the
Labour or Social Democratic Parties and their so-called left wings.
This was well recognised and eventually recorded by the late Aneurin
Bevan, M.P., who, by way of introduction to a booklet on the fate
of the Social Democratic parties behind the Iron Curtain, :wrote:
"The Communist Party is the sworn inveterate enemy of the Socialist
and Democratic Parties. When it associates with them, it does so
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
as a preliminary to destroying them." ("The Curtain Falls", Edited
by Dennis Healy, M.P., London, 1951.) How this is to be achieved
is well recorded in this document.
3. The technique of Communist revolution (if expedient and possible
without war) has been attempted with varying success in several
countries since the Communists gained power in Prague. It is
continually being improved and adjusted, as envisaged in the docu-
ment, to local conditions in new target territories. These targets
are to be found nowadays largely in Latin America, Southern Asia,
the Middle East and Africa, especially among the newly-independent
nations, and in all these areas we may be sure that the Communists
are busy passing on the lesson of Prague. The purpose of this trans-
lation is that it may be a warning and an indication of what to
expect from those who work in their own countries on behalf of
the international Communist conspiracy against Parliamentary
Democracy.
It will be seen that Communist totalitarianism and imperialism is
closely similar to Fascism. Even the "dictatorship of the proletariat"
is a fraud, for it is the dictatorship of the Communist Secretariat.
Herbert Morrison,
London, January, 1961.
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-R['78-030661A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
"The philosophy of power is barbaric,
inhuman and absurd philosophy"
DR. EDUARD BENES.
The classics of Marxism-Leninism never ceased to point out that the
inexorable revolutionary transformation of capitalist society into a
socialist one does not preclude, but even presupposes, the possibility of
various forms and roads of the proletarian revolution. V. I. Lenin in
particular illuminated this serious question thoroughly and systematically.
In his lifetime the proletarian revolution became an immediate question
of the day. In his theoretical works and concretely in his practical activity
he started from the principle that the forms of transition to socialism are
dependent on the concrete balance of international and internal class
forces, on the degree of organization of the proletariat and the bour-
geoisie, on the ability to gain allies, the level of the economic structure
and on the political traditions and forms of the organizations.
From the moment the Great Socialist October Revolution broke the
chains of imperialism and gave power to the relatively weak proletariat
of the nations of backward Russia, profound objective and subjective
changes began to take place in the world. The present fruit of the Socialist
October Revolution is the new historical era, the characteristic feature of
which lies in the origin and consolidation of the socialist global constella-
tion. This constellation now embraces 17 countries with the U.S.S.R and
China at its head; it comprises over 25 per cent. of the whole world;
35 per cent. of the world's population lives in it and about 30 per cent.
of the world's industrial output is produced by it.
The second characteristic feature of this new historical era is the
collapse of the colonial system as a world factor. Important Asian and
African countries such as India, Indonesia, Burma, Egypt and others
have cast off the shackles of imperialism. In the interest of their further
development they are obliged to co-operate with the socialist camp and
thus to strike new blows at world capitalism.
Both these main characteristics of the new historical era-the origin
of the socialist constellation and the collapse of the colonial system-
have profoundly changed the objective structure of the world. These
profound changes in the objective structure of the world are necessarily
accompanied also by profound subjective changes-changes in the think-
ing, views, political and practical orientation of the broad popular masses.
The aggravated conflicts in the weakened capitalist constellation compel
the imperialists to resort to harsher oppression, exploitation, suppression
of national rights, interfering with democracy and preparations for a new
war. By this, however, they cause broader and broader oppressed and
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDf~78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
dissatisfied social sections to rally against them, sections which are fight-
ing against national suppression, for democracy and peace. In this
struggle for national and democratic interests the individual trends and
currents of the anti-imperialist battle are forming their ranks. These
trends, which are the result and the product of the new subjective pro-
cesses in society are, however, dispersed, isolated and constantly
weakened by the propaganda of the ruling bourgeoisie and by the ideology
and practice of reformism. In a number of capitalist and dependent
countries there still slumbers the enormous, but still dispersed force of
the broad popular masses. In this situation the workers' class in these
countries is faced with the task of firmly taking a stand at the head of
the struggle for the national and democratic interests of its respective
nations, of uniting in its fight for socialism and of creating, under its
leadership a united and mighty anti-imperialist popular movement.
The new historical era and its tasks have created most favourable
conditions for the workers' class in this way for gaining new allies. The
old tenets about the allies of the workers' class which corresponded to
old historical conditions are undergoing a change and are widening. Along
with the changed conditions for the struggle for national democratic and
peace interests the conditions for the struggle of the workers' class for
socialism are also changing. In the fight against imperialism, which en-
deavours to overcome its conflicts by completely ignoring the interests of
the nations and which strives to liquidate their independence as states,
the national role of the workers' class is growing and it is placed in the
forefront of all patriotic and democratic forces.
"Patriotism", V. I. Lenin proclaimed, "is one of the deepest feelings
firmly rooted in the hearts of people for hundreds and thousands of years
from the moment their separate fatherlands began to exist. It has been
one of the greatest, one can say, exceptional difficulties of our proletarian
revolution that it had to pass through a period of sharpest conflict with
patriotism during the time of the Brest-Litovsk peace". (V. I. Lenin,
"Spisy"-(Works) Vol. 28, Czech edition 1955, p. 187).
It is a great, one may say, exceptionally favourable circumstance for
the socialist revolution in the present situation that patriotism, "one of
the feelings most deeply rooted in people", leans on and needs socialism
in the struggle against imperialism for national interests. In this way
patriotism and democracy have become mighty weapons of the workers'
class in present times and, step by step, they bring masses of new allies
to the workers' class.
The new conditions which are the consequence of the profound
objective and subjective changes in the world create also new opportuni-
ties and prospects for the socialist revolution, new avenues as far as the
forms of transition to socialism are concerned. In a number of countries
which are particularly weakened by the conflicts within the capitalist
order, the opportunity has arisen for the workers' class to place itself
firmly at the head of great popular movements for national independence,
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
democracy, peace and socialism, to defeat the reactionary anti-people
forces striving for the maintenance, and aggravation of national oppres-
sion and exploitation, to win a decisive majority in Parliament and to
change it from an organ 'of the bourgeois democracy into an organ of
power for the democracy of working people, into a direct instrument of
power for the peaceful development of the socialist revolution.
Also, our experience provides notable and practical proof that it is
possible to transform parliament from an instrument of the bourgeoisie
into an instrument of the revolutionary democratic will of the people and
into an instrument for the development of the socialist revolution.
When the German imperialist occupiers, aided by the treacherous
bourgeoisie at home and with the consent of the Western imperialist
powers, destroyed the national liberty and the independence of the
Czechoslovak republic in 1938 and 1939, the Communist Party of Czecho-
slovakia (further only C.P.C.S.) placed itself at the head of the struggle
for national liberation by the Czech and Slovak people. Following up the
policy of the Popular Front originating from the time of the defence of
the republic against fascism at home and abroad, it formed, in the course
of a heavy fight against the occupiers requiring many sacrifices, a broad
National Front, in which,stood, under the leadership of the workers' class,
and side by side with it, peasants, tradesmen, the intelligentsia and part
of the Czech and Slovak bourgeoisie. This broad National Front, em-.
bracing all patriotic and democratic forces of the country, was led by the-
working class into the national and democratic revolution.
Thanks to the fact that Hitler's Germany was crushed by the armies-
of the Soviet Union and that our country was directly liberated by the'
Soviet army, national and democratic revolution conquered. As a con-
sequence the occupation power of the German imperialists and of their
domestic helpmates-the treacherous financial, industrial and agrarian
upper bourgeoisie-was swept away, national unity and independence as
a state was revived and a far-reaching democratization of the country was
carried out. Furthermore, the sovereignty and 'independence of Czecho-
slovakia was renewed in the form of a new, people's democratic order.
In this struggle the working class, led by the C.P.C.S., became the
recognized driving force of the nation, its action-unity was consolidated
and the influence of reformism which had splintered it in the years of the
pre-Munich republic was weakened. The victory of the national and
democratic revolution meant for the working class, which had relied in
this struggle on all patriotic and democratic forces-the peasants, trades-
men, the intelligentsia and part of the Czech and Slovak bourgeoisie, its
access to power.
The working class was the main force in the new revolutionary
democratic government (the so-called Kosice Government) and in the
national committees-the new organs of the state power created from
below by the revolutionary masses. The programme for the building of
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RQP78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
the liberated republic, which had been elaborated and submitted by the
Communists and which became the programme of the government was
quickly implemented by the revolutionary activity of the popular masses.
Its implementation gave rise to far-reaching political, economic, social
and cultural changes in the country. Of the political points in this pro-
gramme these were the most important; the breaking up of the basic
members of the old oppressive bourgeois state apparatus and assumption
of power by the national committees, the formation of a new people's
security system and army, the prohibition of the revival of the political
parties which had represented the treacherous upper bourgeoisie, a sys-
tematic purge of the entire political, economic and cultural life of the
country, the settlement of the relations between the Czech and Slovak
nations on the principle of equality, the expulsion of the German
minority. etc.
Of the economic measures the following were the most important:
the transfer of all enemy property, of that of the treacherous upper bour-
geoisie and of other traitors, under the national administration of the new
people's authorities, the transfer of the land belonging to these enemies
and traitors into the ownership of landless persons, tenants and working
smallholders.
The principal foreign policy task was the unequivocal alliance with
the Soviet Union, safeguarding national liberty and independence as a
state and further undisturbed, peaceful development for the nations of
Czechoslovakia.
{ All these measures, aiming at far-reaching changes in the social struc-
ture of the country, emanated directly from the conditions and tasks of
the anti-fascist, national and democratic fight for liberation and arose
from the old democratic traditions and longing of our people and they,
furthermore, deepened and safeguarded that democracy. One of the
tasks the Czechoslovak working class set itself in the struggle for the
national and democratic interests of the people, was also, therefore, the
re-establishment of the institution of Parliament which the occupiers had
abolished, aided by the treacherous domestic upper bourgeoisie, and tra-
ditions which had deep roots among the people. As early as the end of
the summer of 1945, after agreement had been reached between the
political parties forming the National Front, the Provisional National
Assembly was elected (on the principle of parity representation) and in
May 1946 the Constituent. National Assembly in general, secret, direct
and fair elections. The composition of Parliament was strongly influenced
by the results of the revolution, by the practical schooling of the working
masses in the course of the victorious revolution. Of the eight political
parties which were part of the National Front of Czechs and Slovaks at
the time of the elections the Communist Party emerged as by far the
strongest. It gained over 40 per cent. of the votes in the Czech lands and,
with the Communist Party of Slovakia, 38 per cent. of the votes cast in
the state as a whole. Parliament and, along with it, the fight between the
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDD78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061AO00100030018-0
working class and the bourgeoisie about its role and content entered the
history of the people's democratic development of Czechoslovakia. The
working class, whose struggle had made it possible that this institution
could be re-established, strove for parliament, as one of the most pro-
minent political traditions and form of the past, to change its character
(lit.: content; Tr.), to ;change from the instrument of the working class
into one of the levers actuating the further development and consolidation
of the revolution, into a direct instrument for the socialist building of the
country. The bourgeoisie, on the other hand, strove for parliament to be
revised with its old content-bourgeois parliamentarianism, and tried to
use it for the stopping of the revolution, for the demolition of its achieve-
ments, for the consolidation and widening of its former political and
economic power positions, for the preparation of the restoration of its
former rule and dictatorship.
This struggle took place during the period 1946--1948. In the
course of these years the working class, led by the Communists, made
effective use of all its old forms of fighting, employed by the revolutionary
workers' parties in parliament, adjusted however to the new conditions,
and found new ones. Helped by parliament, which was used by the work-
ing class for deepening the revolution and for the gradual, peaceful and
bloodless, change of the national and democratic revolution into a socialist
one as pressure from above" and by its effect on the growth of the
e epressure from below" the bourgeoisie was pushed step by step from its
share in the power. This gradual and bloodless driving of the bourgeoisie
from power and the quite legitimate constitutional expansion of the power
of the working class and of the working people was completed in Feb-
ruary 1948 by the parliamentary settlement of the government crisis
engineered by the bourgeoisie. The scope of power was definitely settled
in favour of the working class, and Parliament, as one of the instruments
of its power, immediately began to serve the socialist transformation of
the country.
Parliament, which had played an important role in pre-Munich,
capitalist Czechoslovakia in the political, economic, cultural and social
life of the country, which had awakened and created a number of bour-
geois, democratic, parliamentary traditions among broad sections of the
population, underwent a change. The form remained but the content was
different. Our working people, led by the Communists, provided practical
proof during the years 1945-1948 that it was possible to transform parlia-
ment from an organ of the bourgeoisie into an instrument developing
democratic measures of consequence, leading to the gradual change of
the social structure, and into a direct instrument for the victory of the
socialist revolution.
This fact, coupled with similar experiences gained by the other
Communist and workers' parties, led to the possibility being envisaged
of the transition of some countries from capitalism to socialism by revolu-
tionary use of parliament. This road which was most clearly illuminated
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RQF78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
and generalized at the 20th Congress of the C.P.S.U. shows, at the
present time, the real possibility of forming a government of broad
democratic forces grouped round the working class, relying on the revolu-
tionary activity of the masses. Such a government can be set up without
armed battle, by peaceful means. Its installation would be practically
tantamount to the establishment of the democratic revolutionary power
of the people. (Therefore, about the same would be achieved as was
attained in our country by the armed, bloody battle of the national and
democratic revolution). The purpose to which this new power, the nucleus
of which would be formed by the working class, should be put thereafter
would be using parliament for the consolidation and deepening of the
real democratic rights and to a more or less speedy unfolding of the
socialist revolution. (About our tasks during the years 1945-1948). The
use of parliament itself for the transfer of all power into the hands of the
working class, the speed of progress and the order of its revolutionary
tasks would be, however, the same as the methods of the struggle, varie-
gated, and would always correspond with the specific class and historical
conditions.
Despite these differences there are in existence fundamental, gener-
ally valid, conditions for the possibility of a revolutionary use of parlia-
ment on the road to socialism, the substance of which is revolutionary
and which are to be clearly distinguished from the reformist conception
of the aim anduse of Parliament. Our own Czechoslovak experience has
also contributed to the generalization and practical proof of the validity
of these principles.
The most important of these lies in the necessity of combining the
revolutionary activity of parliament with a systematic development and
the organization of revolutionary actions on the part of broad popular
masses.
I.
The Combination of "Pressure From Above" and that "From Be-
low"-One of the Elementary Conditions for the Revolutionary Use of
Parliament.
A preliminary condition for carrying out fundamental social changes
and for making it possible that parliament be made use of for the purpose
of transforming a capitalist society into a socialist one, is: (a) to fight for
a firm Parliamentary majority which would ensure and develop a strong
pressure from "above", and (h) to see to it that this firm parliamentary
majority should rely on the revolutionary activity of the broad working
masses .exerting pressure "from below". The elementary condition for
success consists of, therefore, a combination of pressure from "above"
with that from "below" and its joint effect on the unfolding and strength
of the revolution. This connection of the form of fighting from "above"
Approved For Release 2001/07/28.: CIA-RDR78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved F cjit~ aivoRQ~eQai etniqhaf?~`F7m tQieOpnnClp~e ~i?tOqueOsMni re-
garding the class struggle (and, all the more, the social revolution) are
decided and can be decided by strength alone. The pressure from "above"
is a combination of preparations of the conditions for the creation and
organization of the strength of the revolution, for its aggressiveness and
its drive.
II.
(a) Regarding Questions of Using Pressure from "Above".
The possibility and necessity of using tactical pressure from above
in the stage of the democratic revolution was emphasized by the classics
of Marxism-Leninism. In 1873, B. Engels criticized the Spanish nihilists
(lit.: Bakunin-ists; Tr.) for not making use of pressure from above for
the development of the democratic revolution, In 1905, V. I. Lenin
proclaimed:
1. "To restrict, as a principle, revolutionary actions to pressure from
below and to forgo pressure from above, is anarchism.
2. Whoever cannot grasp the new tasks in the era of revolution, the
tasks of actions from above, whoever cannot state the conditions for and
the programme of such actions, that person has no idea of the tasks of
the proletariat in any democratic revolution.
3. The principle that it is not admissible for social democracy (i.e. the
revolutionary party of the proletariat) to take part, jointly with the bour-
geoisie, in a provisional revolutionary government, that every such part,
cipation should rate as betrayal of the workers' class, is a principle of
anarchism". (V. I. Lenin,. Spisy, Vol. 8, Czech edition 1954. p. 477). The
Bolsheviks were to have participated in the envisaged provisional revolu-
tionary government in the bourgeois democratic revolution in Russia in
1905, with this aim: to lead a heedless fight against all counter-revolu-
tionary efforts and to protect the independent interests of the workers'
class. The overall character of the participation in this government was:
not to lose from sight, even for a moment, the carrying out of a complete
socialist coup.
Pressure from "above" is, therefore, the pressure of a revolutionary
government, parliament and the other organs of power in the state ap-
paratus or its part and it has, in substance a dual effect-the direct sup-
pression by power of the counter-revolution and its machinations and,
at the same time, exerting pressure on the citizens inciting and organizing
them for the struggle for a further development of the revolution. A
most important lesson for the whole of the international workers' move-
ment (and by this for our Party as well) was learned from the experience
gained during the era of the Popular Front in Spain and France. In par-
ticular the example of Spain showed that as a result of the weakness of
13
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
the Communists who did not stand at the head of the whole movement,
the pressure from "above" was weakened. The Republican government,
whose leading force were the Liberals, refused to meet the demands of
the Communists who pressed for a purge of the army from fascist
generals, so that the army was preserved for the counter-revolution, the
army which later became the main force of the victorious counter-
revolutionary uprising.
Our workers' class and the C.P.C.S. gained valuable experience from
the course of the struggle from "above" and the various forms of appli-
cation in the new conditions. What were the principal forms of pressure
"from above" applied in the period of the transformation of our national
and democratic revolution into a socialist one?
THE FIRST DIRECTION given to the pressure "from above",
which our working class applied from its position of power in the organs
and newly forming links of the apparatus of the peoples' democratic state,
was a systematic fight against enemies, traitors and collaborators.
Gradually, as the national and democratic revolution changed into a
socialist one the pressure "from above" was applied in an ever-increasing
measure for the direct suppression and destruction of the counter-revolu-
tionary machinations of the bourgeoisie. Let us recall the signal role
played in the development and extension of that pressure by the Ministry
of the Interior, for instance, which was led by the Communists and the
,units of State Security directed by them.
But also other organs of the state and of the state apparatus con-
trolled by the Communists served for the direct suppression of bourgeois
-sabotage and obstructionism. So, for instance, the Ministry of Agriculture
quickly completed by means of so-called "roving commissions" (lit.:
flying commissions-Tr.) the confiscation of the land of enemies and
traitors, in the autumn of 1946 sabotaged by the bourgeoisie. The national
committees organized in autumn 1947 the "Special Food Commissions"
which uncovered the hidden stores of landowners and kulaks and con-
tributed greatly in this way to their isolation. In December 1947 organs
of the Ministry of Internal Trade, controlled by the Communists, un-
covered an extensive black market in the textile trade organized by the
bourgeoisie, and liquidated for all practical purposes the private capi-
talist textile wholesale business by the setting up of state textile distribu-
tion centres.
The organs holding powers and the components of the state con-
trolled by Communists in this way became unusually effective levers for
the defence of the revolutionary achievements of the people and for the
further advancement of the revolution: They made it possible to suppress
directly bourgeois counter-revolutionary elements (to render harmless
their sabotage and subversion). They made an outstanding contribution
to the isolation of the bourgeoisie. They gave impetus to the revolutionary
determination and self-confidence of the working masses. And so they
formed a mighty support and force furthering the revolution.
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDR78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
THE SECOND PRONG of the pressure "from above" successfully
employed by our working class was the use made of the organs holding
powers (the government, parliament, national committees) for bringing
about a wide popularisation of revolutionary demands and slogans. So,
for instance, the government approved the "Programme of Building"
elaborated by the Communists, which, in its substance was a programme
for the further transformation of the democratic revolution into a socialist
one. Its passage was of immense importance since the programme of the
next economic-political measures for advancing the revolution, elaborated
by the Communists, became the programme of the entire government.
This enabled the working class afterwards to uncover all attempts made
by the bourgeoisie at thwarting it as evidence of the anti-people, treacher-
ous policy of the bourgeoisie and to isolate its political exponents. At the
same time, because of the fact that revolutionary demands and recom-
mendations were sponsored directly by organs of the state they gave an
unusually effective incentive for the revolutionary initiative of the masses.
Examples of the far-reaching results in closing the ranks of the working
masses round the slogans of the Party were, e.g. the proposal of the
Communists in the government recommending the introduction of the
Millionaires' Levy, the draft proposals of the Agricultural Laws elabora-
ted by the Communist-controlled Ministry of Agriculture and submitted
to the working peasants for comment, and other things. The fact
that such demands and recommendations emanated directly from the
highest state organs had a strong influence on their popularisation and
gave an exceptionally strong impetus to the revolutionary elan of the
masses who pressed for their implementation. (So, e.g. the notice for the
preliminary registration of all land exceeding 50 hectares, (ha) issued
by the Ministry of Agriculture in the course of the struggle for the
implementation of the third phase of the people's democratic land re-
form, had the effect of the working peasants in all villages realizing,
when the registration was carried out, what land was beyond their reach
and how much of it there was, of their visualizing the possibility of
getting hold of it soon and therefore the effect of an increasingly more
4etermined and decisive stand being taken in favour of carrying out the
proposed reform.)
This direction given to the pressure "from above", therefore, served
particularly the wide popularisation of the demands and slogans of the
policy of the Communists designed for a speedy progress of the revolu-
tion. It served as a means for the revolutionary education and organisa-
tion of the popular masses.
THE THIRD MEASURE. A particularly important and exception-
ally effective way of the struggle "from above" lay in the utilisation of
economic political power positions, especially the nationalisation of the
banks, of banking, of key and big industries.
The economic power positions of the working class, represented by
the nationalised sector of the country's economy, were a mighty lever for
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RYF78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
the development of pressure "from above". It enabled the suppression
and, to a considerable extent, the paralysing of bourgeois counter-revolu-
tionary intrigues aimed at economic decline and chaos. On the other
hand, these positions enabled the exerting of "pressure" on the citizens
and broad masses of the working people. The fast expansion of national-
ised production and the resulting rise in the standard of living of working
people presented examples in point showing the advantages of a national-
ised and, in its substance, working-class-controlled and directed produc-
tion; gave rise to revolutionary self-confidence and determination on the
part of the working people and thus contributed to a still further isolation
of the bourgeoisie.
This method of pressure "from above" was, therefore, a mighty
pillar and force of the progressing (lit. deepening-Tr.) revolution.
THE FOURTH DIRECTION given to the pressure "from above"
existed in the utilisation of the organs holding power for the direct un-
covering of the anti-people policy of the bourgeoisie, for the isolation of
the reactionary bourgeois leadership of the other parties of the National
Front.
All organs vested with powers (the national committees, Parliament,
the government) became places for the working class in which the anti-
people policy of the bourgeoisie and of its parties was being uncovered.
The Communists made use of these organs for sharp criticism levelled
against the other parties and their representatives on the grounds of in-
consistency and obstructionism regarding the fulfilment of the tasks
accepted in the programme (in parliament, for instance, the criticism and
uncovering of the anti-people activity of the Ministry of Justice which
was controlled by the National Socialist Party, the uncovering of the
obstructionist inactivity of the Ministry of Food controlled by the rightist
Social Democrat Maier, etc.). At the same time these organs holding
power were used for tabling further demands and proposals in favour of
the working people and in this way the bourgeoisie and its minions were
forced either to their acceptance or to an open showing of their antic
people's face. (How important for the isolation of the bourgeois leader-
ship of the other parties of the National Front was the proposal of the
Millionaires' Levy alone, tabled in the government by the Communists
in 1947 and at first rejected by its majority.).
These disclosures were especially tilted at those parties which pro-
fessed to be socialist by their name and slogans, particularly at the
National Socialist Party and the right wing of the Social Democratic
Party. Their lying slogans and bourgeois conception of socialism were
uncovered on the hand of their concrete activity within the organs and
their "socialist cloak" was torn from them before the eyes of the working
people.
All the basic forms and actions involving pressure "from above"
employed by our working class in the years 1945-1948 conformed, in the
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RD1g78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78=03061A000100030018-0
new circumstances, with the tasks allotted to the pressure "from above"
as predicted by Lenin-a fight without quarter against all counter-revolu-
tionary attempts and the defence of the independent interests of the
working class. By using these methods this principle was fulfilled in
practice: not to lose sight for a single moment of the aim of a complete
socialist overthrow.
The individual forms and actions of the struggle "from above"
carried out by our working class in the years 1945-1948 meant making
use of the positions held by the working class in the organs vested with
powers and in the entire state and economic apparatus for strengthening
the people's democratic power, for weakening and isolating the bour-
geoisie, for conquering its positions by the working class and for the
consolidation of the revolutionary democratic people's power in the
dictatorship of the proletariat.
These forms and actions of the struggle "from above"-always
serving the release, the mobilisation and organisation of the revolutionary
forces of the popular masses-greatly enriched the tactical armament and
experience of the international workers' movement.
Our practice and successes in the struggle "from above" made a
trenchant contribution to the generalisation of the experience gained and
for outlining the possibilities of a revolutionary use of parliament during
transition to socialism.
III.
(b) Questions of Utilising Pressure "From Below".
To bring about a parliament which would cease to be a "soft-soap
factory" and would become a revolutionary assembly of working people
requires, however, a force constituting, maintaining it and actively assist-
ing its revolutionary activity. This force, necessary for breaking the re-
sistance of the reactionary bourgeoisie, exists in the pressure by the
popular masses "from below". Whereas pressure "from above" is the
pressure exerted by the organs of the state and of the state apparatus
for the direct suppression, by power, of the counter-revolution which
helps, at the same time, to rally and organise the popular masses for the
fight for further progress of the revolution, pressure "from below" is the
pressure exerted by the popular masses on the government, on parlia--
ment and on other organs holding power. This pressure takes effect
mainly in three directions:
(a) It systematically supports the revolutionaries in the organs of power,
enhances their strength and makes up for numerical weakness;
(b) It has a direct effect on limiting the influence and positions of
waverers and enemies standing in the path of further progress of revolu-
tion;
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-R[3P78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved
For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP70-03061A000100030018-0
(c) It awakens the forces of the people dormant for many years, its
energy and self-confidence; it breaks through the onerous circle of intimi-
dation and spiritualterror of the old institutions, the Church, etc.
The pressure "from below", the revolutionary emergence of the
popular masses is, therefore, essential for the success of every revolution.
In the February revolution in France in 1848 the provisional government,
in which there were only two representatives of the workers, refused to
declare the republic. However, it was forced to do so by the threat of the
armed proletariat. The pressure "from below" prompted the provisional
government to act. When, however, the Paris proletariat came out in
unreserved support of the provisional government in the March demon-
strations it was defeated from the beginning.
"It consolidated the position of the provisional government instead
of subordinating it" (K. Marx, "The Class Struggle in France". K.
Marx-B. Engels, Czech edition, Selected Writings, I, page 156.).
When Lenin clarified the possibility of and conditions for the par-
ticipation of the revolutionary workers' party in the provisional revolu-
tionary government in 1905, at the height of the bourgeois democratic
revolution in Russia, he sharply stressed: "We are obliged to influence
the provisional revolutionary government from below in any event" (V. I.
Lenin, Selected Writings, I, page 456).
In 1936, when the Seventh Congress of the Communist International
elaborated the line of a united and popular front and the government
possibilities of a united or popular front, the necessity of pressure brought
to bear on such a government by the revolutionary masses was stressed:
"Since this movement of a united front is a militant movement
against fascism and the reactionaries, it will be a constant movable force
driving against the reactionary bourgeoisie ... And the better this mass
movement is organized from below, the broader the network of. supra-
party class organs of the united front in the factories, among the un-
employed in the labour districts, among the little men in towns and
villages, the more guarantees will exist against a possible rejection of the
policy of the government of the united front". (G. Dimitrov, Digest from
Speeches and Articles 1950, page 103).
REAFFIRMED BY THE 20th CONGRESS C.P.S.U.: The
principle and the necessity of using pressure from below by the popular
masses, forming one of the fundamental possibilities of making revolu-
tionary use of Parliament, as mentioned at the 20th Congress of the
C.P.S.U., ties in fully with the old practice of the revolutionary workers'
classes in Parliament also in the new conditions. Therefore, the revolu-
tionary workers' movement must bring pressure from below to bear on
Parliament and the government, whenever it wishes to protect, consoli-
date and extend the achievements of the revolution. It is in this pressure
of the revolutionary masses, purposefully led by the revolutionary
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDPM-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78=03061A000100030018-0
workers' party that there exists a source of strength, power, courage and
energy of the revolutionary Parliament, breaking the resistance of the
reactionary forces, that there exists an instrument of the real will of the
people which is capable of playing an exceptional part in the "peaceful"
transformation of the capitalist society into a socialist one. And it is this
principle of utilizing, purposeful development and organization of pres-
sure "from below" referred to at the 20th Congress of the C.P.S.U.,
which stands out in the sharpest contrast with the old reformist theory
and practice of the "Parliamentary road", which isolates and forgoes
the pressure of the popular masses.
Our workers' class and the C.P.C.S. gained valuable experience also
from the waging of the fight "from below" and the various forms of its
application. Of particular importance is the experience with the great
variety of forms of directing the pressure "from below" guaranteeing for
the C.P.C.S. the leadership of the workers' class and of the broad popular
masses.
The very conception of the existing broad National Front contributed
to attaining this end. It consisted not only of the political parties but also
broad united national mass organisations, the establishment of which the
C.P.C.S. achieved with the help of the revolutionary activity of the
masses. These organisations comprised broader masses than the political
parties, they fortified the unity of the people and, at the same time, they
considerably reinforced the positions of the workers' class and the posi-
tions of left progressive democratic forces in the other parties of the
National Front. Thb united mass organisations which were led and in-,
fluenced to a large extent by the Communists, represented in this way
virtually the direct reserves of the Party. Through them the strong in-
fluence of the policy of the Communists penetrated also into the other
political parties and so the unity of the National Front was strengthened
from below over the heads of the leaders.
TRADE UNIONS: Of quite exceptional importance was the origin
of the United Revolutionary Trade Union Movement (ROH). ROH, as
a class and socialist organisation, consolidated the unity of the workers'
class; it enhanced its revolutionary strength and weight and, under the
leadership of the Communist Party it used this strength most effectively
for the fortification of the people's democratic power and for the ad-
vancement of the socialist revolution.
Other means for influencing and guiding the working masses were
in particular: The United Association of Czech Peasantry, the Associa-
tion of Liberated Political Prisoners, the Association of Friends of the
Soviet Union, the C.S. Youth Federation, etc. A great help for the
guidance and organisation of the revolutionary fight of the peasants were
the so-called "Peasants' Commissions" whose members could be only
farm hands, tenant farmers and small and medium farmers from the
ranks of applicants for land.
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-F P78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
This network of broad national mass organisations was used by the
Communists for the popularisation of their policy and slogans and for
engendering and organising the initiative of the masses and for using the
various forms and actions of the pressure "from below" for the purpose
of implementing that policy.
The second experience gained in the struggle "from below" is the
many sided use of the forms proper of pressure exerted by the popular
masses. These forms corresponded to the complicated class situation in
the conditions prevailing under the people's democratic order, when the
workers' class assumed power but the bourgeoisie still kept part of the
power. On the one side all the old proven forms of the struggle of the
popular masses were employed, the forms which were in keeping with
the revolutionary initiative and determination of the workers and matched
the degree of resistance shown by the bourgeoisie: calling of protest
meetings, passing of resolutions, sending of delegations, organised mass
demonstrations and eventually also using strikes including general strikes
(when finally the open political clash with the bourgeoisie was brought
about in February 1948).
The strength and striking power of the individual actions of the
pressure "from below" was constantly increased as need arose and safe-
guarded by exceptional organisational forms. An especially prominent
role was played in this by the "Congressess of Factory Councils" and
and the "Congressess of Peasants' Commissions" (when the political
crisis was re-solved in Slovakia in autumn 1947, in the struggle for the
nationalisation of private capitalist enterprises with over 50 employees
and the entire domestic and foreign wholesale business, when the demand
was pressed home for land reform above 50 hectares and when the
political crisis was settled in February 1948).
On the other side the Communists, aided by the network of national
mass organisations (and by the pressure "from above" exerted by the
organs holding powers, especially the national committees and the
government), developed new forms of pressure "from below" meeting
the situation when the workers' class was proceeding with the assumption
of power. These forms must be particularly noted. They are the organisa-
tion of a broad building movement on the basis of voluntary brigades
(coal, harvest, machine, etc.) and the advancement of competition in
production within the factory and on a state-wide scale. These "con-
structive" forms of pressure "from below" fortified the overall position
of the people's democratic state, paralysed the efforts of the bourgeoisie
at bringing about an economic and political upheaval and through their
results (fast economic consolidation of the country and a rising standard
of living of the working people) permanently entrenched and reinforced
the power positions of the workers' class in the country.
This third most valuable experience gained by our workers' class
is the creative application of the principal condition for pressure "from
below", much emphasised by Lenin, that is to say arming the proletariat.
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP7&03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78=03061A000100030018-0
(V. I. Lenin stressed, in his work "Two Tactics"), two principal condi-
tions for the pressure from below: the proletariat must be armed because
the threat exists of a civil war and the proletariat must be led by a
revolutionary workers' Party).
The workers' class`armed itself in the course of the national and
democratic revolution. Even after the victory of that revolution it re-
tained its arms, however. One part of it from the ranks of the partisans,
barricade-fighters and ,from the units of the C.S. corps formed in the
Soviet Union, became the nucleus of a new armed state apparatus,
especially the security apparatus under the control of the Ministry of the
Interior which was in the hands of the Communists.
The second part permanently secured the safety of the works, the
so-called Factory Guards. In case of danger of an attack by the counter-
revolution individual parts of the workers' class were armed: in the
summer of 1947 the former partisans were armed for the liquidation of
the Bender groups in Slovakia and in February 1948, when the prepara-
tions for a counter-revolutionary conspiracy by the bourgeoisie were un-
covered, strong armed people's militias were formed. In the last instance
it was the arming of the workers' class which took away the bourgeoisie's
liking for an armed conflict, which prevented bloodshed and ensured the
undisturbed course of the revolution. (The necessity of arming the most
mature part of the workers' class for repulsing the counter-revolutionary
machinations of the bourgeoisie and for ensuring the undisturbed build-
ing of socialism has been proved, incidentally, again by the later forma-
tion of the workers' militias in people's democratic Hungary and Poland.)
The armed parts of the workers' class thus represented a very real
and concrete form of the pressure "from below" directed against the
counter-revolution and a very concrete and effective support for the
workers' forces in the organs of the state.
Of great importance for the international workers' movement are
not only the experience gained in the individual forms and actions of
the pressure "from below" (corresponding to the concrete historical
conditions) but also the absolute necessity of such a pressure as proved
again by the actual practice which ended in victory. The pressure of the
popular masses "from below" (in the totality of all its forms and concrete
actions) made it impossible for the representatives of the other parties
of the National Front, controlled by the bourgeoisie, which had numerical
superiority in the decisive organs endowed with power, to isolate the
C o m m u n i s t s and t o s t o p the revolution. Thus it (the pressure .. Tr.)
made up for the numerical weakness of the revolutionary representatives
of the workers' class in these organs and enhanced their strength, it con-
tributed in a decisive manner to the acceptance of further revolutionary
measures weakening the bourgeoisie and fortifying the power of the
workers' class. This experience, that pressure "from below" is absolutely
essential for the undisturbed unfolding of the socialist revolution, is also
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-Rl t'78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
reflected, in full measure, in the theory about the possibility of the revo-
lutionary utilisation of parliament in connection with the road to
socialism.
The combination of the pressure "from above" with that "from
below"-the path toward the progressive undisturbed breaking of the
resistance of the bourgeoisie, toward the gradual limitation and making
impossible of a show of force by the bourgeoisie. The real possibility of
the revolutionary utilisation of Parliament for the road to socialism lies,
therefore, in the combined mass strength of the revolutionary acting
people supporting parliament as a revolutionarily active assembly which
fights for the systematic fulfilment of the demands of the working people.
This co-ordination of actions by the broad popular masses and the
revolutionary forces in parliament, in the government and in the local
organs of power, mutually germinates their strength, drives the revolution
ahead and infuses it with attacking and penetrating power.
Can this force really render impossible or reduce to a minimum
armed violence on the part of the bourgeoisie, however? This question
is very topical and it is discussed especially among the comrades of those
Communist Parties who have orientated themselves toward a peaceful
transition toward the socialist revolution. Let us take an example from
France, where, after the 20th Congress of the C.P.S.U., a controversy
developed in the periodical France Nouvelle between comrades H. Ian-
nucci and Florimont Bonte.
Bonte's article", comrade Iannucci writes, "we
"When reading F
.
gain the impression that the bourgeois state consists of parliament alone
and not also of a powerful bureaucratic, military and police apparatus
which has grown substantially under imperialism. In our social order
great political problems are settled behind the scenes, or in administra-
tivo bodies rather than in parliament.
Is it at all possible to imagine that in a country such as France,
which has a strong and most dextrous bourgeoisie, which has a model
administration and possesses, thanks to colonial wars and the suppression
of internal disorders, strong armed and police forces-why, could one
imagine that the bourgeoisie here would `resign' because of a mere
`decree of Parliament' or without `civil war', without an `armed
uprising'?" (France Nouvelle, 1956, No. 542.)
Comrade F. Bonte replied to the doubts expressed by comrade Ian-
nucci and attempted to disperse them, referring to Engels's idea that as
soon as the workers' class gains the support of the masses of. the working
peasantry and of other exploited sections it will become "the decisive
force, to which all the other forces will have to submit willy nilly."
Let us try to imbue this theory with the life of our practice and to
render it clearer and more convincing in this way. Let us take, however,
a concrete instance first of how the pressure from "above" was combined
with that "from below" in a situation in which parliament had already
played a powerful role in our development.
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP1$8-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
IV.
LIQUIDATION OF FARMERS : In accordance with the Kosice
government programme the first big transfer of land was effected in
people's democratic Czechoslovakia. 2,946,395 hectares (ha) of land
belonging to big holders, enemies and traitors was confiscated and allot-
ted, on the basis of decrees, to 305,148 families of agricultural workers,
tenants and small-holders, put partly under the administration of the
co-operatives, national committees and the state. This land reform
resulted in the almost complete liquidation of big holdings of land in the
border regions, but the central parts of the country were affected by
these decrees to only an insignificant measure. Big land-owners, holding
above 50 ha of land, and the Church still retained some 1,400,000 ha of
agricultural land, which means almost a fifth of the entire land. An
economically and numerically strong section of kulaks still represented
a very important force of the bourgeoisie in the countryside and the
bourgeoisie was still most influential with the medium farmers as well.
The possibility of a further successful advance of the revolution
depended on the reinforcement of the influence of the workers' class and
of the C.P.C.S. in the countryside, on a further strengthening and widen-
ing of the bond between the workers' class and the working peasantry.
The road for this was the struggle for further demands of the peasants
(especially the still unquenched thirst for land,) a more intensive cam-
paign for uncovering the face of the bourgeoisie and further subversion
of the biggest bastion of the bourgeoisie in the countryside-the land-
holders' ownership of the land.
In the summer of 1946 the Communists began the fight for handing
over more land to the working peasantry (simultaneously with the de-
mands that the allotted land should be speedily registered in the land
rolls, that hunting rights should be democratised, boundary adjustments
should be effected and the splitting up of agricultural land should be
prevented and that the agricultural production plan should be safe-
guarded.) They made the demand for a revision of the land reform of
1919 the bourgeoisie had carried out in the pre-Munich republic. The
revision affected a total of 1,027,529 ha of land and its materialisation
would mean the complete liquidation of the group of big land-owners
with over 150 ha of arable or 250 ha of agricultural land, the group of
the so-called "rest-estate holders" and land speculators.
The demand for the revision of the first land reform of 1919 was
pressed home by the Communists in the programme of the new govern-
ment after the elections in May 1946 ("The Building Programme"). In
the autumn of 1946 the Ministry of Agriculture, controlled by the
Communists, 'submitted this demand (along with others) as a draft bill to
the working pcsantry for their comments (the so-called six Duris Acts.)
The fight proper for carrying out a revision of the first land reform was,
therefore, started by pressure from above.
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 CIA-Rl P78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
The acceptance of the demand for a revision was bound to affect
severely the big land-owners and the countryside bourgeoisie and, by
this, the bourgeoisie as a whole. The bourgeoisie, making use of its
positions in the leadership of the other parties of the National Front, in
parliament and in the government, therefore, started to put up resistance
against it immediately. Ittried to prevent the acceptance of this law or
to clip it and to retain big land-ownership in this way. A sharp class
fight with the bourgeoisie developed over the acceptance of this law.
The pressure "from above" exerted by the Ministry of Agriculture
(i.e. emanating directly from the supreme organ of the state-the govern-
ment) by coming out with the draft law and openly inviting the working
peasantry to comment on and to support it, triggered off, at the same
time, a strong pressure "from below".
The peasants discussed the draft proposals of the law at their meet-
ings and their overwhelming majority demanded its acceptance. In the
villages in which there was land subject to revision, "Peasants' Commis-
sions" were set up as the organs of the land-less, small and medium
farmers-applicants for land. The demand for the revision was backed
up more strongly by the local national committees (representing pressure
from below vis-h-vis the higher administrative organs, Parliament and the
leadership of the other parties of the National Front), by the United
Association of Czech Peasantry and by the local organisations of the
other political parties.
To increase the effectiveness of the pressure "from above" and
"from below" against the bourgeoisie the Communists proclaimed (on
behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture) additional far-reaching demands
for the working peasantry, the so-called "Hradec Program"'. Its basic
demand was the division into lots of all big estates of over 50 ha and
the complete liquidation of land held for the purpose of investment (lit.:
speculation; Tr.) (Furthermore, the introduction of peasants' insurance,
grants of agricultural credits and protection to peasants, the introduction
of a uniform agricultural tax graded in accordance with production areas,
the size of farms, the number of dependants etc., a speedy mechanisation
of agriculture aided by the state, especially the establishment of State
Tractor and Machine Stations.)
The area of land subject to division according to this demand
amounted to 432,905 ha, situated in 9,540 parishes, i.e. in two thirds of
all the parishes in the whole state. This meant that additional masses
of small and medium farmers were drawn into the decisive fight for the
liquidation of big estate ownership (and the other demands.) The struggle
for the revision of the first land reform entered the next, decisive stage.
In the summer the proposal of the law was debated by Parliament. The
Communists used these debates for uncovering the bourgeois leadership
of the National Socialist, the Popular and the Democratic parties, and
proved them to be furious defenders of the land owners and enemies of
the working peasantry. Every attempt of the bourgeoisie at thwarting,
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
delaying or limiting the proposed law was brought out into the open
by the Communists in Parliament and pilloried. On June 9 and 10 alone
the central organ of the Party, "Rude Pravo", published a number of
such disclosures made on the floor of Parliament ("The Representatives
of the Big Land-Owners in Parliament Against the Peasants," "They
Wanted to Give the Big Land-Owners and Rest-Estate Holders Millions
of Hectares of Forestry Land," "The Secretary General of the National
Socialist Party, Dr. Krajina, Threw the Peasants out of the Lobby of
National Socialist National Assembly Members" etc.)
The Communist pressure in the government and in Parliament (the
pressure "from above") engendered more and more decisively the pres-
sure "from below". Thousands of resolutions from meetings of peasants
demanding the immediate acceptance of these laws were submitted to
parliament and the government. This was said in the resolutions, which
were signed also by the village- organisations of the National Socialist,
Popular and Democratic parties : ". . . we now recognise who is with
us and who is against." Dozens of Peasants' Commissions, composed
of members of all the political parties, came to parliament and stormily
warned the leadership of the bourgeois parties not to obstruct their
demands, claiming their immediate implementation. (For instance, the
largest of these delegations was composed of 57 members of the National
Socialist party, 35 members of the Popular party, 38 Social Democrats,
153 Communists, 15 members without political allegiance and 48 mem-
bers who did not state to which party they belonged.)
On July 11 the pressure from "above" and from "below" closed
like the claws of a pair of pincers. The bourgeoisie whose political
positions were perceptibly shaken had to give way. The bill on revision
of the first agricultural reform was passed by the parliament. The con-
sequences of this victory were: the liquidation of more of the economic
positions of the bourgeoisie in the village, a big political defeat of the
bourgeoisie (its increasing isolation), a considerable strengthening and
broadening of the bond between the workers' class and the working
peasantry. The peasants recognized that given direct political, organisa-
tional and material help of the workers' class they could lead a successful
fight against their arch-enemy, the land-owner and his helpers. Increas-
ingly wider masses of peasants were coming over to Party positions and
supported its political line aiming at further deepening of the revolution.
V.
NATIONALISATION OF INDUSTRY: By a similar method the
claws of the pincers were being closed by pressure from "above" and
from "below" in the years 1945-1948, penetrating deeper and deeper
into the flesh of the bourgeoisie. Thus when the liquidation of the
political and economic positions of the occupiers and of the treacherous
native grand-bourgeoisie was completed in the course of the national and
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RP78-03061AQ00100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
democratic revolution on the basis of the Kosice program, further groups
of the bourgeoisie were gradually annihilated as the revolution pro-
gressed. Nationalisation in October 1945 liquidated particularly the
economic power of the financial bourgeoisie. the group of industrialists
dominating until then the key industries and the basic sources of raw
material and the group of factory owners employing over 500 employees.
Apart from the 62 per cent of the industry already nationalised
another 13 per cent of the "small confiscates" were torn from the hands
of private enterprisers in spring 1947. The revision of the first land
reform signified the liquidation of the group of big landowners owning
over 150 hectares of arable or 250 hectares of agricultural land, and
the liquidation of the owners of "residue" farms. In the autumn of 1947
these "pincers" helped to carry out the "millionaires' levy" and to solve
the political crisis in Slovakia caused by the sabotage and counter-
revolutionary activity of the strongest Slovak political party, the
democrats.
All these class clashes with the bourgeoisie had far-reaching political.
consequences. The influence and strength of the bourgeoisie was
collapsing, the broad masses gathered with growing resolution around
the CPCS and its policy.
VI
DISINTEGRATION OF POLITICAL OPPONENTS: At the
end of 1947 and the beginning of 1948 an actual disintegration of the
national socialist, the people's and the democratic parties, took place.
Honest members of these parties were parting with their bourgeois
leadership and were coming over to the ranks of the CPCS and the
Slovak CP (already in November 1947 when the Communists gained from
the beginning of the year 237,384 new members the CPCS was stronger
than all other political parties taken together), or created opposition
groups within their own parties. The isolation of the bourgeoisie within
the parties of the National Front was proceeding not only from the
outside through the turning away of the broad masses from parties ruled
by the bourgeoisie but also from within through the growth of democratic
and socialist forces in these parties; through the growth of progressive
opposition seeking the maintenance 4d strengthening of people's demo-
cratic freedoms and rights and therefore endeavouring to co-operate with
the Communists. From the bottom and over the heads of reactionary
leaders of the other political parties the Nat-cmal Front grew constantly
stronger as a class and social unity of the working people recognizing the
CSCP as its leader, the Party which worked tovn-rd a total socialist
reconstruction of the country. -
The progress of the class struggle confirmed that the C^_P would
gain in the forthcoming elections a decisive majority and woui:achieve
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDl'8-03061A000100030018O-.
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 CIA-RDP78=03061A000100030018-0
the fulfilment of its other demands with the help of a democratically
manifested will of the people. It demanded the liquidation of all private
capitalist enterprises employing over 50 people, a total liquidation of the
group of local and foreign merchants and a total liquidation of land-
owners owning over 50 hectares of land.
Thus the situation of the bourgeoisie was, at the beginning of 1948.
on the eve of the new parliamentary elections, substantially different from
that in 1946. While prior to the elections in 1946 the bourgeoisie had a
relatively strong mass basis, a short time of under two years of people's
democratic government was sufficient for the disintegration of the politi-
cal army upon which it could formerly count. The broad masses of the
people, especially working peasants, lost their illusions as regards the
bourgeoisie and went over to the side of the workers' class in order to
place the bourgeoisie and its anti-popular and treacherous policy in
the right light in the eyes of our nations.* In 1948 when the decisive fight
between the workers' class and the bourgeoisie drew closer the
bourgeoisie had only a shade of the power and influence that it used
to have in 1945. In this situation the bourgeoisie, frightened by this
peaceful progress of the revolution which kept removing and destroying
its economic and political positions one after another and which
threatened their complete annihilation within a short time, decided to
violate the lawful ways and to achieve its counter-revolutionary aims
through a coup. It was signalled by a government crisis provoked by the
resignation of 12 ministers. But by this the bourgeoisie only offered
another new and open evidence of its spirit of disruption; it achieved its
own isolation and complete defeat. After five days of government crisis
the people settled its accounts with bourgeoisie reaction, legally and con-
stitutionally (under consistent use of all forms of pressure from "above"
and from "below").
The representatives of the bourgeoisie and their agents were replaced
in the government, absolutely legally and in accordance with the constitu-
tion valid since pre-Munich days (1920), by new representatives faithful
to the people, selected from the ranks of the reconstituted National Front
and recognising the leading role of the Communists in the state. the
government was nominated by the President of the Republic and was
unanimously approved by parliament.
As evidence of the fact that this form of transition of political power
into the hands of the working class was absolutely legal and constitutional
(and this point has an extraordinary political importance) we shall use
a spontaneous and very valuable opinion of an important bourgeois
emigre, the former chief of the office of the president of the republic,
Jaromir Smutny.
"In their calculation they (i.e. the representatives of the bourgeois
? Other sources and observers point to the contrary. Editor's note.
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RtIP78-03061A00D100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
parties who submitted their resignation-J. K.) failed to take into con-
sideration other fundamental circumstances:
(a) that the Government is not `ipso facto' dissolved if a minority of its
members resigns (according to the Constitution the Government was able
to pass decisions if more than half of its members were present, not
counting the Premier. In the case of the February Government, 13 mem-
bers made up an absolute majority):
(b) that the Premier could not be forced into resignation with the rest
of his ministers unless given a vote of non-confidence by Parliament;
(c) that the President of the Republic had no constitutional right to
make the Premier resign when only part of his Ministers left the govern-
ment, even if the character of the Government was substantionally
changed:
(d) that only the National Assembly had the power to force Gottwald
to resign".
Yes. "The irony of world history puts everything upside down. With
us `revolutionaries' and `rebels' legal methods agree much more than
illegal ones or than a coup. The parties of order, as they call themselves,
die by the legal state which they created". (F. Engles, foreword to Marx'
work "Class struggles in France", K. Marx-F. Engels: Selected Works,
volume 1, 1950, p. 133).
And now let us return to the fears of Comrade Ia.nnucci. Quite
rightly he draws attention to the fact that a bourgeois state is not just
'Parliament but also an enormous bureaucratic, millitary and police ap-
paratus and he asks in the light of this warning: "Is it possible to believe
that the bourgeoisie would `yield' by a simple `act of Parliament' or
without a civil war, without an `armed uprising?'."
No, the bourgeoisie has never yielded its power by a simple "act of
Parliament". But it may be deprived of its power at an opportune
moment without an armed uprising and civil war-by the force of con-
sistently acting revolutionary masses led by the revolutionary workers'
party, supporting their representatives in the Parliament and transform-
ing the Parliament into an active revolutionary assembly.
In the fight for the ctrect national, democratic, peaceful, economic
and social demands of the people, by a combined pressure from "above"
and from "below", the position of the bourgeoisie in the organs of power
and in the state apparatus may be weakened step by step, and so may
its economic positions, and thus the working class heading the popular
masses may be given step by step conditions more favourable for its
fight for socialism. (Naturally, these demands will always be founded
upon the concrete situation prevailing in the country concerned and will
greatly differ. For example, defence of national interests by cancellation
of all agreements and treaties with the United States of America damag-
ing to the interests of the nation; prohibition of all war propaganda,
Approved For-Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP3sS-03061 A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 CIA-RDP78=03061A000100030018-0
punishment of warmongers and active support of the policy of collective
security; abolition of all forms of racial, religious and national discrimina-
tion; fight against the monopolies, and their nationalisation; carrying out
of a land reform, introduction of a general system of social security;
abolition of every kind of economic, social and legal inequality of
women, separation of Church and state; etc.). In the course of the fight
for these national, social, economic and political demands of broad
masses of the working people the following may and must be carried out
successfully: a broadly founded democratisation and reorganisation of
the organs of power (for instance, the principle that all the organs of
state power from top to bottom are elected by the people, the abolition
of the senate and concentration of all power in the hands of Parliament,
a democratisation and reorganisation of the state apparatus-courts,
police, army, etc.). This broad democratisation is in principle carried out
by the gradual destruction of the bourgeois state apparatus and its trans-
formation into an instrument and source of power of the new democratic
might. (Therefore the eighth congress of the Italian Communist Party,
which worked out the Italian line to be taken on the road to socialism,
emphasised that Parliament may and must carry out its active function
both in the interests of a democratic and socialist transformation of the
country and in the new socialist society.)
"It must be stated that the fundamental condition for its fulfilling
this function is that it must take its iniative, impulses and inspiration,for
its regenerative activity from the new political and administrative system
in the state-towns, provinces and regions-as defined by the constitution
and the forms of directing democracy which are materialised through
the participation of the working classes in the political-economic direc-
tion of the state". (Political resolution of the eighth congress of the
Italian Communist Party, Information Bulletin, International Political
Questions, No. 1-2, p.87.)
All these measures and their consequences (a systematic strengthen-
ing of the positions of power of the working class and the gradual weak-
ening and destruction of the economic-political supports of the bour-
geoisie) are in their entirety the actual way toward a limitation and per-
haps exclusion of any violence of the bourgeoisie against the people and
thus toward prevention of civil war. In this case in the course of the
fight for a complete take-over of all power by the working class no notice
can be taken of the present relationship between class forces; it must be
considered what this relationship will be during the time of government
of, the revolutionary democratic might. Thus at the moment when the
bourgeoisie is in danger that all power is about to be taken over by the
working class it will be by far not so powerful and its main supports will
be undermined.
Progress toward socialism may take, under these. circumstances, a
democratic and constitutional course. Parliament, which will be an active
revolutionary assembly relying upon the revolutionary mass movement
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDF$8-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
of the working class and its allies, will turn into an instrument of the
working class on its way to power, into an instrument of the transforma-
tion of the whole state and its machinery. Under these circumstances all
the changes which in their entirety represent a revolutionary transforma-
tion of capitalist society into a socialist one will proceed absolutely
legally. Parliament may pass in a democratic and legal way and in the
name of the nation a new constitutional codifying and making possible
a socialist transformation of the country. (Within less than three months
following the crushing of the attempt of the bourgeoisie at a coup the
Parliament of the Czechoslovak Republic approved a new constitution
which safeguarded all the progress so far made and ensured the sover-
eignty of the working people in the state, the popularisation of the state
apparatus and the liquidation of the remnants of the bureaucratic police
state apparatus, anchored nationalisation as a firm economic basis of the
people's democratic state and, in its totality, strengthened and ensured
the transition of the country to socialism.)
Thus, progress toward socialism, with the help of Parliament and
without a bloody civil war, is a real possibility. However, this possibility
must'not raise false illusions among the working class which must not be
in the least. morally disarmed through doubts as to its right to take to
arms in every case when forced to do so by the resistance of the bour-
geoisie. Therefore the 20th congress of the Soviet Communist Party pro-
claimed with absolute frankness: "There can be no doubt that for a
number of capitalist countries a violent downthrow of the bourgeois
dictatorship and, with it, a connected vehement acceleration of the class
struggle is inevitable".
Thus the 20th congress of the Soviet C.P. proclaims in full harmony
with the spirit of Marxism-Leninism that at the present historical stage
in the development of society the possibility to break the resistance of
the bourgeoisie against socialist transformation of society by non-violent
means, without recourse to revolutionary violence, has matured or will
mature in many countries. But the working class and working people will
not renounce armed right and revolutionary violence where it is inevit-
able in order to break the resistance of the exploiting classes. Thus it
uses Lenin's paraphrase: "A delivery may be difficult or easy. Naturally
we are all for an easy and painless delivery. Conditions for such a
delivery are now favourable. But if necessary we are ready to undergo
a difficult and painful delivery to see the child born".
VII. THE ROLE OF PARLIAMENT
Conflict between the revolutionary. use Parliament and the re-
formist meaning of a "parliamentary way to soalism".
A revolutionary usefulness of Parliament will ',-,,nand in,~w his-
torical conditions a realisation of a new form of transition`: *n the dicztor-Par Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RD 7803061A0001 0030018e0'
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
socialist revolution depriving the bourgeoisie of its power, of its means
of production and materialising the building of socialism with the working
class directing the policy making. Thus it serves the revolutionary aims
of the proletariat, and corresponds to the Marxist-Leninist principles of
the necessity of revolutionary transition of capitalist society into a social-
ist one, corresponds to Lenin's conclusions: " . capitalism cannot
collapse but through a revolution". (V. 1. Lenin: Works, vol. 29 of
Czech edition 1955, p. 394.) `` . . . There can be no successful revolution
without a suppression of the resistance of the exploiters". (V. 1. Lenin:
Works. vol. 28 of Czech edition 1954, p. 66). The reformist "parliamen-
tary way to socialism" denies the necessity of a revolutionary transition
of capitalist to socialist society, denies the necessity of a socialist revolu-
tion, denies the necessity (under the slogan of "parliamentary democ-
racy") of seizure of all power by the workers' class, denies the necessity
of acquiring the political direction of the state and of establishing the
dictatorship of the proletariat. The reformist "parliamentary way" can-
not therefore in its consequences ever lead to the building up of socialism,
is not in its substance a socialist programme. It is capable of attacking
within the framework of capitalism, with varying force, the consequences
of capitalist exploitation but is not capable of grasping its causes, of
smashing capitalism and materialising a revolutionary transformation of
society.
To these deep-rooted dissimilarities of the two approaches corres-
ponds a similarly profound difference in the tactics in making use of
Parliament.
The substance of the tactics of revolutionary use of Parliament 'is
fully based upon the old principle of revolutionary activity of the work-
ing class in a bourgeois parliament worked out in detail by the classics
of Marxism-Leninism and further developed in the new conditions. It
starts from the following principle: Parliament in bourgeois countries is
a product of historical development and cannot be erased from life. It
is necessary therefore to work in it and to. use it in the fight against
bourgeois society.
The task of the representatives of the working class in the bourgeois
parliament has always been to transform parliament into a mirror show
ing the working masses the class interests and conflicts in bourgeois
society in their nakedness and to unveil consistently and unflinchingly
the bourgeoisie and its helpers (whether they are aware of their position
or not). Their task has always been to use bourgeois parliament as a
platform for revolutionary agitation, propaganda and organisation, as an
effective form to unchain revolutionary activity of the broad popular
masses side by side with the working class.
Linking and systematic combination of parliamentary and non-
parliamentary actions has always been the fundamental principle of
revolutionary tactics in making use of Parliament.
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-Rl '78-03061 A0.00100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA RDP70-03061A000100030018-0
This tactic of linking and combining of Parliament with revolution-
ary actions of the proletariat and the working masses outside Parliament,
still used by Marxist-Leninist parties, may be given a new task in the
new historical conditions and under new circumstances, namely to trans-
form Parliament from an organ of the bourgeoisie into an instrument of
power of the working class, and parliamentary democracy into an instru-
ment for the establishment of a proletarian democracy, of a dictatorship
of the proletariat.
The tactic of using Parliament as a potential new specific form of
transition to socialism is therefore only a further development, another
step of the old Marxist-Leninist tactic combining the use of Parliament
with the use of the revolutionary masses, and is by its whole substance
a complete antithesis to the reformist parliamentary way to socialism.
The same way as the revolutionary tactic of making use of Parliament
corresponds to the revolutionary aims of the Marxist-Leninist party the
tactic of reformist use of Parliament corresponds to the reformist aims of
rejection of revolution.
The reformist parliament (an instrument of the bourgeoisie for
strengthening and maintaining capitalist power) is an organ for co-opera-
tion between the workers' class and the bourgeoisie. Partial reforms
achieved in Parliament (in agreement with the capitalists) serve the re-
formists as evidence that peaceful coexistence of bourgeoisie and the
workers' class is possible, that class struggle is dying down, that revolu-
tion is superfluous and political domination of the workers' class un-
necessary. Instead of the necessity of a proletarian democracy they sus-
taro the illusion of a parliamentary pure democracy.
Because in the reformist conception Parliament is an organ of co-
operation of the working class with the bourgeoisie the reformist tactic
takes the weight of political work exclusively to Parliament (i.e. organ
of bourgeois power), rejects and refuses the use of the pressure of broad
popular masses, isolates Parliament from the revolutionary actions of the
working people. The reformists have already taken care by their own
deeds to offer not one but scores of examples of the absolute impossibility
and absurdity of their "parliamentary way to socialism". In many
countries the reformists won the majority, often absolute majority. Their
governments were in existence and have been in existence for extended
periods of time.
VIII. THE LABOUR PARTIES
One of the chief propagandists of this way, the British Labour Party,
had three times had an opportunity to turn its "theories" into prac-
tice. It held the government in 1924. in the years 1929 through 1931 and
for six years in 1945 through 1951. 'fh' Swedish Social Democratic Party
has already been for 25 years, a whole q, arter century, the strongest and
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDPT-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0.
the governing party in the country (in this year's elections to the Riks-
dag, the lower chamber of the Swedish Parliament, it won 108 mandates
while the second strongest party, the Agrarian Union, obtained only 20
mandates). A similar situation prevails in other Nordic states. And still
socialism is not built in these countries-on the contrary. Captalist
domination grows stronger, the profits of the monopolies arc rising.
There could be no clearer evidence of the absurdity of the idea that
socialism may be built in co-operation with capitalism, without bringing
down the political night of the bourgeoisie, without the dictatorship of
the proletariat. (As a matter of fact the bourgeoisie in capitalist states
has a justified confidence in the reformists, as the present (1957-Ed.)
situation in France shows.) While in one place it breaks, by a strike or
by bloodshed and force of arms, it entrusts the "government" to the
reformist socialists without hesitation if need be. And it knows why. A
consistently conducted fight of .the working class in one single factory is
more dangerous to it than a formal "entrusting with the government" to
their helpers.
In spite of its absolute hopelessness the theory of "a parliamentary
way to socialism" is still alive in the capitalist states and appeals to the
backward part of the working class and especially to the petty bourgeoisie
(in view of the long, opportunistic influence exerted upon the masses
which again is in direct connection with the idealisation of parliamentari-
anism carried out by every means by the bourgeoisie). Opportunist
ideology and practice are therefore a serious obstacle to the creation of
a broad and revolutionary movement of the masses fighting consistently
for democratic and socialist demands. They are a serious obstacle in the
efforts of the working class to transform Parliament into an instrument
of power of the working class and must therefore be systematically and
energetically fought.
The Communists and the working parties seeking to make a revolu-
tionary use of Parliament in the fight for the transition may follow our
advice from the time of transition of the democratic revolution into a
socialist revolution. This advice clearly 'demonstrates the grave danger
of reformism and some of its concrete signs, which can be discovered
even in the activity of the Social Democratic party in conditions of the
people's democratic system, a party which used to have a comparatively
strong left leadership and followed a policy of co-operation with the
Communists.
IX.
ACCELERATING THE CLASS STRUGGLE: In the complicated
class conditions of the years 1945-1948 when the question of power in
people's democratic Czechoslovakia was not yet definitely settled and
when power was still shared by the workers' party and the bourgeoisie,
two basic political lines were opposing each other. One was the revolu-
tionary political line of the working class which had as its purpose and
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28: CIA-RDP78-03061 A000100030018-0
aim the achievement of the gradual isolation of the bourgeoisie and the
closing of the ranks of the nation around the working class and its
vanguard, the Communist Party; its aim was the transition from the
tasks of national and democratic revolution to the tasks of a socialist
revolution and the definite settlement of the question of power by con-
solidating people's democracy into a state of the dictatorship of the
proletariat. The second basic political line was the line of the bourgeoisie
whose aim was to isolate the working class and its vanguard, the C.P.C.S.,
to halt the national and democratic revolution and to attain with the
help of Western imperialists the restoration of the capitalist domination
under a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.
In this tug-of-war situation, when the class struggle was accelerating,
the working class fighting for complete political power is attacked from
the rear by the reformist ideology and practice of the "democratic way
to socialism" as preached by the right wing of the Social Democratic
party. While the working class under the leadership of the Communists
was locked in battle with the bourgeoisie for a deeper and broader hege-
mony among all classes of working people, a battle for the strengthening
and consolidation of its leading role in the nation, the reformists came
forward with their theories denying the leading role of the proletariat
and proclaiming its merging with (and thus absorption by) the other
classes, for instance with the peasantry.
The progress in agricultural production and the technical revolution
in agriculture signify "that the peasantry moves with increasing momen-
tum to the level of the workers, that the two massive sections of the
working people become economically balanced and that thus the cen-
turies-old wall between the worker and the peasant, between town and
country, is inevitably disappearing. No doubt this results in all the politi-
cal consequences, for now the peasants as well become the bearers of
technical and social and thus also political (!) and cultural progress;
like the workers they uphold the struggle for a new social order (!) and
take their place by the side of the workers in the socialist movement . . ."
(Minutes of the 20th congress of the C.C. Social Democratic movement,
page 80).
This is a clear example of revision of the Marxist theory of classes.
The peasantry (including the rich peasants who were the chief bearers of
technical progress in our villages), the private owners of land become
through the progress made in agricultural production (capitalist produc-
tion) and through the introduction of technical means (as well as capital-
ist) just like the working class the bearers of the struggle for the socialist
social order. What else could the bourgeoisie wish, concentrating its
efforts at breaking the hegemony of the working class in the nation.
How far was this theory suppressing the difference in purpose of the
individual classes and social groups in the socialist revolution from the
voices of the bourgeoisie itself: "The nation is not composed of one
upation or class and it.is to its benefit that all occupational and class
Approved For Release 2001/07/28: CIA-RDP~J-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
interests be harmonised for an excessive elevation or attenuation of one
class must necessarily mark a detriment for the other classes and thus
for the whole whose gain must be our only aim." ("Lidova De;nokracie",
10.6.45.)
It is as if this transparent wishful thinking were the father of the
theory of a permanent peaceful coexistence of capitalism and socialism
in one state, of the merging of antagonistic classes. "To us nationalisation
or socialisation of key positions in production and distribution and pro-
tection of private ownership of small and medium production units
and especially of private ownership of small and medium agricultural
property is an expression of a wise and economical organisation. . .
The materialisation of this plan will lead to gradual elimination of class
conflict in human society". (Draft proclamation . . ., page 566.)
Within the framework of this "democratic way to socialism" obstin-
ately supported by the right wing of the Social Democratic party the
private capitalist production sector was to be preserved permanently and
so was the bourgeoisie with its still powerful economic foundation. Also
permanently to be preserved was its position of strength, used to the
dissipation of the country's economy and to political discrimination
against the working class heading the state.
Also the old reformist understanding of the role of Parliament
manifested itself under the influence of the right wing both in theory and
practice of social democracy in the years 1945-1948 and was in crass
conflict with the revolutionary line of using Parliament followed by the
Communists., Fully in that line, the 20th congress of the Social Demo-
cratic party proclaimed that "the centre of all political life will be the
National Assembly (p. 66). The proclamation of this principle was not .
made by chance. "In every (!) democracy parliamentary support for the
will of the people is the most important". ("Social Democracy and the
Rights of the National Assembly", "Cil", 1946, page 5). "In the parlia-
mentary system (bourgeois as well?) decisions are made before the eyes
and under the direct control of the people". (V. Erban, "Svet Prace",
The World of Labour, 14.9.46.).
What this meant in practice was well defined in A. Samek's article
entitled "On the Reactionary Role of the Social Democratic Ideology of
Transition of National and Democratic Revolution into a Socialist Revo-
lution". ("Filosoficky Casopis", (Philosophical Journal) vol. 1955, No. 1.)
"In practice this meant that whenever the people manifested its
will otherwise than through its representatives in the National Assembly
the right wing of Social Democracy raised its voice in opposition to it.
When in the course of the fight for the "Hradec Programme" the Com-
munists appealed straight to the people and when the peasants approved
this programme at their meetings and sent their representatives to the
National Assembly to voice their demands, the right wing of the Social
Democratic party reacted as follows: "The Communists began to ar-
range public meetings of the peasants. This grew into a whole campaign
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-FibP78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
organised with a view to compelling the Nationa ssem y, so withthe
help of deputations despatched to Parliament, to pass without change
the draft submitted by the Ministry of Agriculture. With such influencing
of Parliament and with these methods employed by the Minister we
could naturally not agree". (Report on activity, p. 13.) The people must
not take a resolute position against the bourgeoisie; it is only allowed to
discuss through its representatives in Parliament! When the bourgeoisie
kept pronouncing, due to its position in the Ministry of Justice and in
the Courts, disgracefully mild sentences against traitors and when the
people raised its voice resolutely against this state of affairs, the C.S.
Social Democratic press wrote that the Courts (in the given case, the
,bourgeoisie) and not the street (i.e. the working people) should judge.
When the S.N.B. takes steps against the enemies of people's democracy,
when it openly defends the interests of the people and not those of the
bourgeoisie, the Report complains as to the "political influencing and-
misusing of the security apparatus". (p.'48). When the National As-
sembly discusses the bill on enlightenment of officers of the security
force, C.S. social democratic deputies submit a resolution stating that
political education of the S.N.B. is unnecessary! Thus the working class
was to be deprived of its important weapon. On 2 July, 1946, "Pravo
Lidu" writes that C.S. Social Democracy will not let itself be influenced
by public proclamations, stoppages of work, demonstrations, etc. These
facts prove clearly that Social Democracy opposes the true rule of the
people and tries to undermine the political activity of the working people,
limit their political horizon, and make them a helpless tool in the hands
of bourgeois politicians".
This characteristic may be supplemented by an example demonstrat-
ing how the theory and practice of Social Democratic isolation of Parlia-
ment from the revolutionary struggle of the masses of working people
suited the bourgeoisie. When, in the autumn of 1945, the bourgeoisie
opposed the decree nationalising key and heavy industries, the C.P.C.S.
decided to appeal to the people. A gigantic mass movement for national-
isation ensued, pressing the bourgeoisie with its back against the wall.
The bourgeoisie, afraid of the pressure of the popular masses, pro-
claimed: "We consider any pressure demanding an accelerated approval
of the decree to be harmful. The government needs nothing more than
peace and time .... " ("Lidova Demokracie", 26.9.45).
The pressure of the people's masses holding the bourgeoisie in its
pincers was to be relaxed. The Social Democratic Minister of Industry,
Lausman, attempted at the decisive moment to frustrate the political
activity of the working people. "Folks, have patience, the draft decree
on nationalisation of big industry has 46 paragraphs and we are arguing
the first". ("Pravo Lidu", 24.9.45.)
In order that the reformist "democratic way" to socialism be com-
plete there had to be, of course, a denial of the basic condition of the
possibility of victory for socialism-of the dictatorship of the proletariat.
"Our state has decided for socialisation in the democratic manner, that
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP $-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78=03061A000100030018-0
is to say through the ballot and not through revolution and dictatorship".
(Minutes of the 20th congress of the Social Democratic party, page 161).
Thus to solve the problems of transition from capitalism to socialism, of
breaking the desperate resistance of the bourgeoisie, of expropriating the
exploiters and transforming small private capitalist production into
socialist production on .a large scale should be possible without the
direction of policy by the working class, without the dictatorship of the
proletariat just by phrases about some kind of pure democracy. In
other words revision and denial of the basic maxim of Marxist-Leninist
theory of classes and class struggle.
The reformist theory and practice of the "parliamentary way",
although flavoured by new conditions, remained what it has always been,
even on the soil of people's democracy, a theory and practice of the
defence of the bourgeoisie. Its aim was the undermining of the leading
role of the working class in the revolution for it denied the necessity
itself of a revolution, proclaimed the possibility of a permanent co-
operation with the bourgeoisie, attempted to isolate Parliament from the
revolutionary pressure of the working people and preserve it as an organ
for co-operation with the bourgeoisie, negated the necessity of a dictator-
ship of the proletariat and instead of a necessity of a proletarian
democracy it nurtured illusions of "pure democracy". Therefore even in
the people's democratic system in which the working people under the
leadership of the Communist Party are able to see daily in the course of
attaining political, economic and social demands the result of their revo-
lutionary unity and of the perfidy of the reactionary bourgeoisie, it was
necessary to fight systematically against the destructiveness of reformism
subservient to the bourgeoisie. The Social Democratic party, which as a-
whole was already following the policy of co-operation with the Com-
munists, was given as an example of the strong influence of reformism
and of its dangers on purpose. Much more open and also much more
transparent was the reformism of the National Socialist party proclaim-
ing "national socialism", definitely rejecting Marx' theory and attempt-
ing without shame to strengthen capitalism. This warning experience
convincingly points to one of the basic conditions of a revolutionary use
of Parliament for the purpose of transition to socialism; namely to the
necessity of "decisive rejection of opportunist elements unable to drop
the policy of compromise with the capitalists and landowners". (20th
congress of the Soviet C.P., "Nova Mysl", February 1956, p. 23.).
Therefore, if the working class is to create under its leadership a
united revolutionary popular movement able to break the resistance of
the reactionary bourgeois forces, if it is to transform a bourgeois parlia-
ment into an organ of the will of the working people and to use it as
an instrument for a peaceful transition to socialism, it must fight systema-
tically and energetically against reformism with its treacherous ideology
and practice. Therefore it is the duty of the working class to continue
and step up its criticism of the reformists who, following their theory of
the "parliamentary way to socialism", cannot and do not want to use
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-WP78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
Parliament in the fight against the capitalists and refuse to mobilise,
organise and utilise the people's masses against the counter-revolutionary
bourgeoisie.
The fight against the opportunists who are unable to drop their
policy of co-operation and compromise with the capitalists and land-
owners whether they are aware of it or not, cannot be separated from a
systematic and purposeful effort to establish co-operation and to create
a unity of action with Social Democratic and other socialist parties. This
has been made possible by the change of objective and subjective pro-
cesses in the world during this present historical epoch. The struggle for
the preservation of national independence, democracy, peace and the
betterment of the social position of the working people presents itself
under present conditions increasingly as a common task of Communist
and all other political parties and organisations, acknowledging the prin-
ciples of socialism and democracy. In the present situation not the
questions of fundamental differences should be emphasised but those
questions which are common and which reflect immediate interests.
Evidence of the possibility and success of such a struggle is again
to be found in our own experience. In the course of the fight against
the occupiers and their helpers among the big bourgeoisie in this country,
in the course of the fight for the recovery of national and state indepen-
dence and of the anti-fascist fight for democratic right of the people a
broad National Front of workers, peasants, tradesmen, intelligentsia and
part of bourgeoisie was created. This National Front headed by the
working class represented a decisive internal force ensuring the victory
of the national and democratic revolution.
The unity of action of the working class and the strong influence
of the ideas of socialism manifesting itself in the course of the national
and democratic revolution made it possible to conclude, in June 1945,
within the framework of the National Front, a "socialist bloc". The
creation of the socialist bloc within the National Front signified an agree-
ment between the C.P.C.S., the C.S. Social Democratic party and the
C.S. National Socialist party on a common advance in all questions re-
sulting from the execution of the Kosice government programme. The
existence of the "socialist bloc" whose representatives were in the
majority in government could signify the possibility of a relatively fast
transition to socialism while a continuous strengthening of left and truly
socialist elements in the non-Communist parties was proceeding. The
practice and development of the forces in the country has shown how-
ever that the main significance of the agreement was the fact that this
agreement, concluded before the eyes of rank-and-file members of the
parties concerned, strengthened the unity of the working class and made
it more difficult for the bourgeoisie and its agents in the leadership of
the National Socialist and Social Democratic parties to find a way out
of the obligation to execute the government programme: which has be-
come the political foundation of the bloc. (It fulfilled the tactical prin-
Approved n essions, obli ations and
Approved For RdI 3@ 266ft l '- P7A-OgWg10801 ions, ob1 -0
38
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
promises as far reaching as possible, this being the surest way to com-
promise them and to help the faithful allies within these parties. This
device and this form of co-operation may lead in another situation in
other countries to a gradual rapprochement between the socialist parties
and thus to far greater and deeper consequences.) Both these agreements
and this co-operation-the creation of the National Front with the re-
presentatives of other political parties and the creation of the "socialist
bloc"-were and could be effected only because they came into being
under the pressure of the unity of. popular masses, their actual co-opera-
tion from "below".
The whole course of the struggle in the years 1945-1948 demon-
strated that the decisive and basic factor in creating and strengthening
the action unity of the working class is its creation from "below", in the
course of the fight for immediate political, economic and social demands
of the working people. Thus, for instance, when in 1947 the Communists
put forward in the government the demand of a "Millionaires' Levy" for
the benefit of the peasants suffering through the consequences of a cata-
strophic drought, even the representatives of the Social Democratic party
raised their voice against this demand. The Communists organised im-
mediately a common stand and pressure by the popular masses, especi-
ally a common and resolute stand of the working class for the approval
of this demand. "Rude Pravo", the central organ of the C.P.C.S., pub-
lished immediately after the refusal to approve the "Millionaires' Levy"
the names of all the Ministers who voted against the measure and added
the following disclosure: "All these gentlemen were elected by our
people in the honest belief that they have subscribed to the programme
of the National Front. However, by their attitude they demonstrated to
the broad masses of workers, peasants, office workers and tradesmen
who elected them that they protect millionaires, speculators, industrialists,
land-owners and merchants. There are only 35,000 such people in our
country. Their votes would hardly suffice for two mandates. In fact they
found supporters in the four parties of the National Front in the
Government". ("Rude Pravo" 4.10.57).
This comprehensive and clear demand of the Communists brought
the rank and file members of the Social Democratic party into the com-
mon fight against the right wing forces in their own party; organisations
as a whole stood resolutely behind the common actions. This represented
a very strong pressure on the leadership of the Social Democratic party,
a weakening of the right wing and strengthening of the left, with the
result that after a week's struggle, on September 11, an agreement was
concluded between the leadership of the C.P.C.S. and the leadership of
the Social Democratic party on common action. This agreement con-
tamed very important obligations on both sides:
1. to submit a common draft proposal for the "Millionaires' Levy",
2. to proceed jointly in the question of remuneration of state employees,
3. to fight for the unity of the National Front and to appeal to the
membership of both parties to act in unity from "below".
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28- CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
This whole tactic offers a clear example of the decisive influence of
unity at the bottom upon the possibility of effective co-operation with
the leadership of other socialist parties. This tactic which the Communists
employed during the whole period 1945-1948, i.e. during the period of
transition from national and democratic revolution to socialist revolution,
led to a strengthening and greater decisiveness on the left wing of the
Social Democratic party and to its successive shift to the positions of
true revolutionary Marxism and thus to its gradual ideological harmony
with the Communists. It prepared conditions for the left wing of the
Social Democratic party to expel right-wing representatives from the
party at the moment when the right, reformist, wing prepared for an
open crossing to the side of the bourgeoisie (in the February crisis in
1948), to cleanse the party and to increase substantially the party's co-
operation with the Communists.
Our experience with the creation of an action unity of the working
class, one of the fundamental conditions of a peaceful transition to
socialism, shows that the centre of its true beginning must be pressure
from below, systematic uncovering of the reformist theory and of co-
operation with the bourgeoisie, common fight of the broad masses of
all socialist parties or parties and organisations approving the revolu-
tionary demands of the working people. In other words direct actions
from below based on our own experience of fighting and winning.
X.
THE SOVIET EXAMPLE. The practical experience of the
Czechoslovak way to socialism confirmed the validity of many basic
experiences of the Great October Revolution. In these basic, gen-
erally valid, experiences of socialist revolution the Soviet Union stands
as an example for all; thus, in spite of its specific aspects our revolution
has taken its course and follows basically the way taken by the Soviet
Union. It is a very important task, also from the point of view of
the international workers' movement and its needs, to analyse how
far the generally valid principles of socialist building are applied under
the concrete historical conditions prevailing in our country. All our
experiences must be scientifically classified; it must be shown under
what situations and conditions they originated and the process of their
materialisation must be demonstrated.
Our example has shown that Czechoslovakia's transition to the
building of socialism was successful only because it was under the
political direction of the working class headed by the Marxist-Leninist
Czechoslovak Communist Party. It has shown that the specific form of
transition did not affect in any way the substance of the new force
created by the socialist revolution, the dictatorship of the proletariat.
Approved For ~eleansem~'01/07/28: CIA-RDP7 03061A00010 03001 0 nation
 Approved or oward social sm willadd something spe~ili~ to0an0 any exis 8- 0
form of democracy, to any existing form of dictatorship of the proletariat,
to any concrete pace of socialist transformation of the various aspects
of social life". (Lenin's Works CS edition 1957, page 71). While the
tasks and the form of the dictatorship of the proletariat established by
the proletariat in the October Socialist Revolution corresponded to the
actual historical situation in Russia and to the contemporary relation-
ship of internal and international class forces, the tasks and the form
of the dictatorship of the proletariat in people's democratic Czecho-
slovakia correspond to the actual historical situation in Czechoslovakia.
This form of the dictatorship of the proletariat, differs by a number of
points from the form adopted by the October Socialist Revolution.
By the existence of the National Front as a political expression of
unity between the working class and the working peasantry and the
other working people:
by the existence of more political parties within the framework of
the National Front. These non-Communist political parties are in
their substance petty-bourgeois parties fully recognising, however, and
subordinating themselves to the leadership of the CPCS and serving
the building of socialism and the common fight of the people for peace.
By the recognition o/'former bourgeois parliamentary institutions,
such as the parliament, president, etc. which have however adopted a
new, socialist purpose.
By not depriving the bourgeoisie of the right to vote having adopted
the principle of universal, secret and direct ballot. Our way has supplied
a definite proof that Marxism-Leninism has nothing in common with a
"cult of violence" and shaken very seriously the lying propaganda of
reformism, attempting to persuade the working masses that the basic
difference between the revolutionary workers' movement and reformism
lies in the question of a "non-bloody" way to socialism. The violence
employed by the Great Socialist October Revolution was forced upon
the proletariat of Russia by Russian and- international bourgeoisie.
This violence of the Great Socialist October Revolution was therefore
only a necessary specific aspect corresponding to the historical situation,
and not a generally valid rule of a socialist revolution.
In 1919, in the midst of a grave civil war in Russia, and in the
days of the foundation of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, V. I. Lenin
proclaimed:
"In a state in which the bourgeoisie do not offer such furious
resistance the situation for Soviet power will be easier; it will be able
to work there without violence, without the bloody way forced upon
us by Messrs Kerensky and the imperialists . . . Other countries arrive
at the same goal, Soviet power, by another, more human way . . . The
example given by Russia alone was not fully understandable to the
workers everywhere in the world. They knew that there were Soviets
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA4-hDP78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA` RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
in Russia, they all were for the Soviets but they were frightened by the
horrors of the bloody fight. The example of Hungary will be decisive
for the proletarian masses, for the European proletariat and for the
working peasants." (V. I. Lenin's Works, vol. 29 CS Edition 1955,
page 264, 265).
A "cult of violence" cannot be followed by the working class also
because a violent armed fight is not at all advantageous for it from the
point of view of its aim-the achievement of a complete socialist
revolution. This aim combines two inseparable tasks: to oust the power
of the bourgeoisie and to organise a new higher method of social
production, to organise and build socialism. The latter task is more
serious and more difficult for it is the best source of strength required
for the definite victory over the bourgeoisie, a source of firmness and
steadfastness of the dictatorship of the proletariat.
It is just this more difficult and serious, more decisive, task that
the working class can fulfil much faster with the help of peace production
forces, without a civil war-which is unthinkable, without disorganisa-
tion of the country, destruction of production forces, without the sacrifice
of the best cadres of the working class which, instead of following the
slogan "All for the fastest socialist transformation of the country", must
execute the slogan "All for the victory on the civil war front".
When V. I. Lenin evaluated the reasons for the imperialist inter-
vention in the Great Socialist October Revolution and its consequences
he pointed to the following fact:
"The West European capitalist powers did everything possible,
partly on purpose, partly spontaneously, to throw us back and to use
the civil war in Russia for the greatest possible devastation of the country.
It was just this outcome of the imperialist war which had for them
considerable advantages: if the revolutionary order in Russia could
not be extirpated then at least the progress toward socialism could be
retarded. This was the way in which these powers were thinking, and
from their point of view they could hardly have thought differently.
In actual fact they reached the aim half way. They did not destroy the
new order brought about by the revolution but they did prevent it from
making such progress that would confirm the correctness of socialist
predictions enabling the socialists to expand production forces rapidly
and to develop all those possibilities which form the basis of socialism,
to prove to the whole world clearly what enormous forces are hidden
in socialism and that humanity was now entering a new stage of
development with extraordinary and splendid opportunities." (V. I.
Lenin's Works, vol. 23.CS edition 1955, p. 498.)
The Czechoslovak example is evidence that an apparently slower
progress of socialist revolution (by gradual transition of national and
democratic revolution into a socialist revolution) was actually the faster
way because the two-in-one task of the socialist revolution began to
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 CIA-RDP78LZ3061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
be fulfilled simultaneously. While fast removal of the consequences
of war, efforts to renew quickly production forces, economic progress
of the country, a new working discipline, advance of education and
culture, were at first aimed at the total political defeat of the bourgeoisie,
in their consequence all these efforts created simultaneously the main
conditions of a faster and definite securing of power in the hands of
the working class. In February 1948, i.e. at the time when the working
class had already achieved all political power and when the people's
democracy was realised "as a state of the dictatorship of the proletariat,
(a) the state apparatus was already in existence in principle and the
working class could use it in its fight for socialism;
(b) the first important successes had already been achieved in creating
a new working discipline and a new relationship to work;
(c) the working masses had already gained experience in state, organ-
isational and educational work;
(d) now forms of organisation of working people were in existence,
as required for leading the broad popular masses in socialist building;
these new forms represented an important part of the system of the
dictatorship of the proletatiat following a complete assumption of power
by the working class;
(e) the economy of the country, disrupted by the war, was already
rehabilitated in principle.
All this is created and achieved by the proletariat only after its
victory if violent attainment of socialism through civil war must be
chosen. This is a truly convincing evidence that a "cult of violence"
is absolutely inacceptable for Marxist-Leninist parties because it is in
conflict with their fundamental needs and aims. The confirmation of
this principle by the actual course of our revolution has greatly en-
hanced the attraction of socialism.
In appraising our experiences and our contribution to the inter-
national workers' movement this must not be forgotten. The possibility
of the peaceful progress of socialist revolution making revolutionary use
of Parliament, as pointed our by the 20th congress of the Soviet CP,
Is a product of new class conditions created by far-reaching objective
and subjective changes in the world. It is a product of class conse-
quences resulting from the existence of the world socialist system and
its political, economic and ideological strength. People's democratic
Czechoslovakia, as one of the most highly industrialised states in the
world, is a very important part of this system. The fast industrial ex-
pansion and the growing standard of living in people's democratic
Czechoslovakia take a direct part, through their consequences, in the
changes in objective and subjective processes in the world, processes
weakening capitalism and strengthening socialism. They take an active
part in the creation of conditions in which the possibility of the peaceful
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA4RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0
progress of socialist revolution exists and in which it can be materialised.
The working people of Czechoslovakia, like the working masses in all
countries of the world socialist system, has the great luck that its building
and its systematic raising of the living standard form, at the same time,
the concrete purpose of its proletarian internationalism, Through its
success it prepares the ground for the Communist Parties, for the
workers' classes and for the broad masses in the capitalist countries and
countries dependent upon them for a peaceful transition to socialism
with the help of Parliament. (The example of Hungary demonstrates
how every success, and every failure, exerts a direct and deep influence
on the formation of the fundamental force for this transition-on the
formation of a broad united popular front on the winning over of new
allies or the working class.)
Such is and must be our contribution, an unusually valuable and
instructive contribution, to the international workers' movement, contri-
bution to the creation of conditions favourable for an accelerated march
of the world proletarian revolution.
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 CIA-RDP784O3061A0001 0003001 8-0-
 Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA,RDP7g-0306-1A000100030018-0
"How Parliament can play a revolutionary part in the transition to
Socialism and the role of the popular massess" is the title of two chapters
of Jan Kozak's study "About the Possible Transition to Socialism by
Means of the Revolutionary Use of Parliament and the Czechoslovak
Experience". His work was the subject of a discussion at the theoretical
conference of teachers of the Party University in Prague. The importance
to parliamentarians and politicians in the Free World of studying Com-
munist tactics is such that I.I.C. has, undertaken to distribute this paper
in English translation, edited by Josef Josten.
Headlines and Italics are by the Editor.
Published by the Independent Information Centre, 4, Holland Road, London, W.14,
as Documentary Evidence No. 1 on Communist Conspiracy.
45
Approved For Release 2001/07/28 : CIA-RDP78-03061A000100030018-0