COMMUNIST PRINCIPLES AND TACTICS CONCERNING NATIONAL LIBERATION AND COLONIAL MOVEMENTS

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• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP65-00756R000300040001-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 95
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 20, 2003
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: November 1, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

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COMMUNIST PRINCIPLES AND TACTICS
CONCERNING
NATIONAL LIBERATION AND COLONIAL MOVEMENTS
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
John Edgar Hoover, Director
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CONFIDENTIAL
COMMUNIST PRINCIPLES AND TACTICS CONCERNING
NATIONAL LIBERATION AND
COLONIAL MOVEMENTS
November, 1952
United States Department of Justice
Federal Bureau of Investigation
John Edgar Hoover, Director
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pref ace - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - L - -
Introduction- - -
1-3
I. BASIC COMMUNIST PRINCIPLES CONCERNING LIBERATION
AND COLONIAL MOVE ME NTS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4-38
National Oppression and the Class Struggle - - - - - - - - - -
Communist Definition of Nation and State
- - - - - - - - -
Origin of the Nation - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - 6
National Oppression as a Product of Capitalism - - - - - - - -8
Working-Class Solidarity vs. Nationalism - - - - - - - - - 9
The Class Struggle Is Compromised - - - - - - -
- - - - -11
The "National Question" Is Expanded - - - - - -
Liberation and Colonial Movements as Part of the
- - - - - 12
Revolution - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 14
National Liberation the "First Phase" of Socialist
Revolution - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 16
"Revolutionizing the Colonial Reserves" - - - - - - - - - -20
Flexibility of Communist Theory - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 22
Self -Determination of Nations - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -25
Self-Determination Becomes "Reactionary" - - - - - - - - 27
Self-Determination Is Abandoned - - - - - - - - - - - - - -30
"Right of Secession" Replaces Self-Determination - - - -- - - -33
"Right of Secession" In Soviet Union - - - - - - - - - - 35
Conclusions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -37
H. APPLICATION OF COMMUNIST THEORY TO NATIONAL AND
COLONIAL PROBLEMS AFFECTING THE UNITED STATES - - : 39-78
U. S. as an Imperialist Power and: National Oppressor - - - - -- 39
Methods of U.S. Imperialism - - - - - - - - - - - - - -40
Good-Neighbor Policy - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ' 43
Pan-Americanism - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 43
Monroe Doctrine - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 44
Open Door Policy for China - - - - -- - - - - - - - -44
Point Four Program - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -i44
Extent and Aims of U.S. Colonial Empire - - - - - - - - - - 48
Communist Propaganda Concerning Puerto Rico - - - - - - - -54
Communist Propaganda Concerning the Philippines - - - - 61
CONCLUSIONS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 78-81
SOURCES - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 82- 89
Pages
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PREFACE
The purpose of this study is to briefly examine Communist Party
principles and practice with respect to national liberation and colonial inde-
pendence movements, with particular emphasis on those national and .colonial
problems affecting the United States. This paper is broken down into two main
parts:
1. Basic Communist principles concerning liberation and
colonial movements;
2. Application of Communist theory to national and colonial
problems relating to the United States.
It is the intention of this study not merely to furnish a factual
description of Communist doctrine and policy in this field, but also to relate
Communist theory to changing historical conditions, to trace the development
of this theory, to point out its objectives, and to suggest its weaknesses.
In some respects this paper, particularly the first section, will
represent more of a critique of Marxist theory on this subject than merely a
literal description of such theory. It is hoped in this manner not only to acquaint
investigative personnel with the major features of Communist doctrine and
propaganda concerning the national and colonial questions, but also to enable
the reader to tie in specific Communist Party policies with the over.-a11 Marxist
program as well as with historical conditions.
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No effort has been made to examine the extravagant Communist
claims relating to the "complete" and "brilliant" solution of the problems of
national oppression in the Soviet Union, although the tireless Communist
propaganda on this score has no doubt converted some of the more gullible
members of national minority groups to the Marxist, cause. Furthermore, it
has been the aim of this limited study to bypass the vast "dialectical", smoke
screen with which the Communists have surrounded this issue and, instead,
to isolate the crucial statements in Marxist literature which offer clues to a
real understanding of the Communist position
However, it will be noted that in every case the conclusions
reached in this study are substantiated and documented from authoritative
Communist sources..
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CONFIDENTIAL
INTRODUCTION
A study of Communist principles concerning the national liberation
and colonial independence movements is especially appropriate at this time in
view of the current state of world affairs. Both the Communist and the, non-
Communist will probably agree that the world today is divided into two powerful
and hostile camps: the camp of socialism headed by the Soviet Union and including
the Soviet satellite countries of Eastern Europe and China; and the camp of
capitalism led by the United States and including the democratic nations of
Western Europe and North America. According to authoritative sources, the
"socialist" camp today exercises direct control over approximately 850 million
people, whereas the so-called "capitalist" camp has clear-cut control of some
550 million people.
In between these two belligerent forces, however, there lies a
great body of temporarily "neutral" peoples who have not as yet definitely
committed themselves to either socialism or capitalism, namely, the
approximate one billion peoples comprising the colonial, semicolonial and
undeveloped areas of the world. Among this vast number of "neutrals!' are
such key regions as India, the countries of the Near and Middle East, South
America, and virtually all of the nations of Africa and the Far East (other
than China).
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It is obvious that the final victory of either socialism or capitalism
will depend to a large degree on the ability of each system to enlist the active
support of these present "non-belligerents, " not only because of their tremendous
reserves of manpower, but also because control of these regions involves a
crucial share of vitally needed raw materials, foodstuffs, military bases, etc.
The fact that the Western democracies are keenly aware of the
decisive nature of this contest to win the support of the vast body of colonial
and dependent nations can be seen in a number of ways. The International
Development Program ("Point Four") of the United States, the establishment
of many foundations and agencies to extend scientific and material assistance
to. backward countries, the granting of independence to many former colonies
of the United States and Great Britain, all these are important steps in the
Western world's effort to strengthen its ranks among the "neutral" nations.,
The Communists, likewise, clearly recognize the crucial
importance of this issue. Although they have not been able to offer the colonial
world the same economic and material aid as that furnished by the Western
democracies, they have flooded the airwaves and printing presses of 'the world
with a steady stream of propaganda which aims to convince the various national
minority groups (e, g., the American Negro) and the colonial or semicolonial
independence movements (e.g. , Puerto Rican patriot) that the "national oppression"
they suffer is part and parcel of the capitalist system and that the only solution
for their problems lies in the overthrow of capitalism and an alliance with the
"dictatorship of the proletariat" (io e. , Soviet Russia).
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With these considerations in mind, the importance of understanding
Communist theory and practice with respect to the national liberation and colonial
movements becomes apparent. For only by recognizing the peculiar "logic" of
Marxist principles in this field can we effectively oppose Communist propaganda
and expose its fallacies.
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PART I
BASIC COMMUNIST PRINCIPLES CONCERNING
LIBERATION AND COLONIAL MOVEMENTS
NATIONAL OPPRESSION AND THE CLASS STRUGGLE
The crux of Communist doctrine is the idea that the class struggle
is the motive force in history, and that the character of nearly all human insti-
tutions as well as most social problems can therefore be seen as symptoms or
reflections of the conflict between classes, between the ruling class and the
subject class, the oppressing class and the oppressed class, the bourgeoisie
and the proletariat. According to the Communist creed, the only lasting
solution to all of mankind's problems, social and economic alike, lies in the
abolition of classes under a "dictatorship of the proletariat" leading to the
formation of a completely classless society.
The problem of national oppression, the persecution of national
minority groups and the enslavement of colonial peoples, is viewed by the
Communist as symptoms of the class struggle during a particular historical
period, the era of capitalism. National oppression, the Marxist believes, is
only a special form employed by the dominant class of the capitalist epoch
(the bourgeoisie) to exploit its rival class (the proletariat) under the historical
conditions of capitalism.
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COMMUNIST DEFINITION OF NATION AND STATE
To avoid confusion, an approach to Communist theory in this field
must begin with the Marxist definition of "nation." Joseph Stalin provided the
most widely accepted Communist definition of the nation in 1913 when he declared
that a nation was "a historically evolved, stable community of people" with four
necessary characteristics-
1. a common language
2. a common territory
3. a common economic life or "economic cohesion"
4. a common psychological make-up or "national character"
manifested in a community of culture. 1
It can be seen that this definition is sufficiently broad to include not
only such clearly defined nations as Ireland and Finland, but also such hazy and
poorly defined "nations" as the American Negro, at least in the so-called
"Black Belt" of the South where a "common territory" can be claimed.
It is important to distinguish here between the Communist concepts
of "state" and "nation. " According to Marxist doctrine, the state (with the
exception of the dictatorship of the proletariat) is a political unit and' is
essentially an instrument used by the ruling class to oppress the subject class.
In the words of The Communist Manifesto, the state is the "executive,
committee" 2 of the bourgeoisie. Consequently the state in Communist theory
is bitterly denounced as an enemy of the, working class; and one finds'no
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discussion of the "rights of states" or the oppression of one state by another
On the other hand, the nation in Communist doctrine is a social,
territorial, and economic unit, which may or may not coincide with the geo-
graphical limits of the state in any given case. The nation is not seen as an
instrument of ruling class oppression and, therefore, the Communist propa-
gandist can devote considerable attention to the "rights of nations" and to the
problem of national oppression.
ORIGIN OF THE NATION
Although Communists look upon the nation as a gradually developing
historical form with its origins in the dim past, they nevertheless assert that
the establishment of full-fledged nations (i.e., meeting all the prerequisites in
Stalin's definition) only took place with the advent of capitalism. Stalin himself
declared:
"... there were no nations in the pre-capitalist period."31:
It is argued that the formation of nations was promoted by the
bourgeoisie in the early stages of capitalism in order to facilitate the expansion
of capitalist productive forces and to centralize bourgeois economic and legal
power for the coming struggle between rival factions of the bourgeoisie. In
Marxist terms, the development of nations signalized a change in the productive
relations of society (or "super-structure") which resulted from a change in the
mode of production (or "substructure").
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Thus, the nation is regarded as being primarily a bourgeois
institution. This idea is expressed in the first public statement of Communist
principles, The Communist Manifesto:
"More and more the bourgeoisie keeps doing away with
the scattered state of the population, of the means of
production, and of property. It has agglomerated
population, centralised means of production, and has
concentrated property in a few hands. The necessary
consequence of this was political centralisation,
Independent, or but loosely connected provinces, with
separate interests, laws, governments and systems
of taxation, became lumped together into one nation,
with one government, one code of laws, one national
class interest, one frontier and one customs tariff. " 4
Stalin indicates his approval of this thesis in the following passages:
"A nation is not merely a historical category but a
historical category belonging to a definite epoch, the
epoch of rising capitalism. The process of elimination
of feudalism and development of capitalism was at the
same time a process of amalgamation of people into
nations. Such, for instance, was the case in Western
Europe. The British, French, Germans, Italians and
others formed themselves into nations at the time of the
victorious advance of capitalism and its triumph over
feudal disunity, " 5
"From what has been said it will be clear that the
national struggle under the conditions of rising
capitalism is a struggle of the bourgeois classes
among themselves. Sometimes the bourgeoisie
succeeds in drawing the proletariat into the
national movement, and then the national struggle
externally assumes a 'nation-wide' character. But
this is so only externally. In its essence it is always
a bourgeois struggle, one that is chiefly favourable to
and suitable for the bourgeoisie. " 6 (Words under-
scored are italicized in original text - ed.)
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"The fate of the national movement, which is essentially
a bourgeois movement, is naturally connected with the
fate of the bourgeoisie. " 7
NATIONAL OPPRESSION AS A PRODUCT OF CAPITALISM
From the premise that national movements and the est4blishment
of nations are sponsored by the bourgeoisie for economic reasons, Communists
conclude that national oppression results from the bitter rivalry between various
factions of the bourgeoisie. National oppression is seen as being caused by the
"irreconcilable" economic strife promoted by the capitalist system. Stalin
characterized national oppression as follows:
.... that system of exploitation and plunder of subject
peoples, those measures of forcible restriction of the
political rights of subject peoples, which are resorted to
by imperialist (i. e, , capitalist - ed.) circles. "8
Communists, therefore, fix the ultimate blame for national oppression on the
capitalist system itself rather than on any geographical or historical circum-
stances, human nature, or other noncapitalist factors:
".. > private property and capital inevitably disunite people,
inflame national enmity and intensify national oppression..:' 9
"The existence of capitalism without national oppression is...
inconceivable. " 10
Following this line of argument, Communists declare that national
problems and national oppression are, in the last analysis, the product of
economic exploitation under the capitalist system and that they represent, in
fact, only one aspect of the class struggle in the capitalist era. It is Concluded
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that national oppression will vanish with the overthrow of capitalism and the
creation of a classless (i. e. , Communist) society. In the words ofTY The
Communist Manifesto:
"In proportion as the exploitation of one individual by
another is put an end to, the exploitation of one nation
by another will also be put an end to. In proportion as
the antagonism between classes within the nation vanishes,
the hostility of one nation to another will come to an end, " 11
With this brief background, it is now proper to examine in more
detail the Marxist attitude towards national liberation and colonial independence
movements - or, in Communist phraseology, towards the "national question. "
WORKING-CLASS SOLIDARITY VS. NATIONALISM
One of the most difficult problems facing the Marxist theorist in
dealing with the "national question" has been the effort to reconcile au apparent
contradiction between Marx's view of nations as primarily a bourgeois institution
and the necessity of portraying Communism as the defender of downtrodden and
oppressed nations. In other words, if the Communist sees history as a class
struggle and if he consistently urges that the worker's first loyalty should be to
his class as opposed to his nation, how can he profess to champion the purely
national aspirations of liberation movements in the colonies and dependent
nations ?
The attempt to resolve this seeming paradox has, in fact, strained
the flexibility of Marxist dialectics nearly to the breaking point.
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As we have seen, the Communists are plainly on record as believing
that nations originate and develop during the early stages of capitalism as a
result of the bourgeoisie's need for economic and political centralization; that
national movements are, therefore, essentially bourgeois in character; and that
"the fate of the national movement,. is naturally connected with the fate of the
bourgeoisie. " 12
The Communist Manifesto bluntly declares that "workingmen have
no country, " inferring that they, therefore, owe no loyalty to any nation. 13
In fact, the student of Marxist literature will not have to look far to find a
number of critical remarks concerning attachment to nation or patrigtism; or,
in Communist terminology, "bourgeois nationalism, " "nationalistic chauvinism,
"nationalist deviation, " and "nationalistic imperialism. "
The very word "nationalism" is frequently placed in quotes by
Communist writers so that there may be no misunderstanding on the reader's
part, a device often employed to label an idea as dangerous or "counter-
revolutionary. "
But despite the evidence that Communists care little for' the
intrinsic rights of nations or for the success of any national independence
movement per se, they have still recognized the need to enlist the support of
various national and colonial movements in the struggle against capitalism.
For this reason, Communist writers have faithfully labored to construct a
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theory which would prove that the interests of the world-wide proletarian
(class) struggle were dependent on and connected with every liberation or
colonial (national) struggle and vice versa.. It was inevitable, of course,
that along the way the Communists would have to make many concessions to
the hated idea of "nationalism, " at the expense of their concept of working-
class solidarity or "proletarian internationalism.."
THE CLASS STRUGGLE IS COMPROMISED
The Communist attempt to compromise the theory of the class
struggle, in order to allow leeway for the encouragement of purely national
movements whenever the practical need might arise, began with the recognition
that nations are a historical fact, . and that, therefore, the class struggle would
often outwardly assume a national form. Even The Communist Manif~sto,
with all its stress on the class struggle as the primary force in history, conceded
this fact' although with an appropriate cautions
"Since the proletariat must first of all acquire political
supremacy, must rise to the leading class of the nation,.'
must constitute itself the nation, it is, so far, itself 14
national, though not in the bourgeois sense of the word.
"Though not in substance, yet in form, the struggle of
the proletariat with the bourgeoisie is at first a national.
struggle, " 15 (Underscored word is italicized in origin 1
text-ed.)
Lenin, who had a knack of adapting theory to the practical needs
of revolution, repeated this idea in slightly expanded form:
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"Nations are an inevitable product, an inevitable form in
the bourgeois epoch of social development. The working class
could not grow strong, could not become mature and formed
without ' constituting itself within the nation, ' without being
'national' (though not in the bourgeois sense of the word). " 16
Stalin, who is hailed by Communists as the final authority on the
national question, extended the concession to nationalism, even agreeing that
the interests of the proletariat in the class struggle occasionally coincided with
the interests of the bourgeoisie in the national struggle:
"Sometimes the bourgeoisie succeeds in drawing the
proletariat into the national movement, and then the
national struggle externally assumes a 'nation-wide'
character. But this is so only externally. In its
essence it is always a bourgeois struggle.,...
"But it does not follow from this that the proletariat
should not put up a fight against the policy of national
oppression" (i. e. , should not cooperate with the
bourgeoisie of its own nation in the national movement
directed against the bourgeoisie of a rival nation - ed. ). 17
"The bourgeoisie of the oppressed nation.. is naturally
stirred into movement. It appeals to its 'native folk' and
begins to cry out about the 'fatherland,' claiming that its
own cause is the cause of the nation as a whole.... Nor: do
the 'folk' (i. e. , proletariat and peasantry ed.) always
remain unresponsive to its appeals, they rally around its
banner. the repression from above affects them also and
provokes their discontent. " 18
THE "NATIONAL QUESTION" IS EXPANDED
By such reasoning, Communist theorists laid the groundwork for
a compromise between nationalism and revolutionary internationalism. But
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these concessions to nationalism were minor and granted only begrudgingly.
It may be noted that the foregoing statements were made prior to the Success
of the Russian Revolution in 1917 and the establishment of a definite base of
Communist operations (ia e. , Soviet Russia).
With the victory of Bolshevism in Russia and the ensuing all-out
struggle between world capitalism and Communism, Soviet leaders promptly
appreciated the need to enlarge their theories concerning nationalism: in order
to capitalize on the ever-increasing independence movements in the colonial
and semicolonial nations. It was important to expand the "national question"
from merely a theoretical discussion of the development and rights of nations
into a world-wide revolutionary slogan which would exploit the liberation
struggles of the "backward" or n o n capitalist peoples of China, Egypt, India,
Latin America and elsewhere.
As early as 1918 Stalin foresaw this need and tried to establish
a connection between the national liberation movements and the world-wide
proletarian revolution:
"Having triumphed in the centre of Russia and spread to a
number of the border regions, the October Revolution
could not stop short at the territorial frontiers of Russia...
Russia's break with imperialism.... and the militant battle
cry for a determined struggle against imperialism issued
to the world by the Soviet government.. .could not but
greatly affect the enslaved East and the bleeding West.:.
The important thing is not that the struggle in the East
and even in the West has not yet succeeded in shedding
its bourgeois-nationalist superstrata the important thing
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is that the struggle against imperialism (i. e., world
capitalism - ed.) has begun .... In this way the October
Revolution is establishing as tie between the nations of
the backward East and of the advanced West and is ., 19
drawing them into a common struggle against imperialism.
Based on these arguments, Stalin proclaimed that the successful
Bolshevik revolution had'
widened the scope of the national question and converted
it from the particular question of combating national oppression
into the general question of emancipating the oppressed nations,
colonies and semi-colonies from imperialism. " and,
greatly helped the cause of emancipation of the oppressed
nations of the West and the East, having drawn them into, the 20
common channel of the victorious struggle against imperialism.,,
LIBERATION AND COLONIAL MOVEMENTS AS PART OF THE REVOLUTION
By 1923 Stalin had developed the "organic connection" 21 between
the national and colonial independence movements and the world-wide proletarian
revolution to the point where he essayed to "prove" that colonial and national
oppression was inevitable under capitalism and could only be solved by the over-
throw of the capitalist system and the establishment of a dictatorship of the
proletariat. Stalin offered the following arguments to support this claim:
1. Capitalist Development Automatically Leads to National Oppression.
" . The subsequent growth of capitalism in Europe, the; need
for new markets, the search for raw materials and fuel,; and,
finally, the development of imperialism, the export of capital
and the necessity of protecting the great sea and rail routes,
have led ... to the seizure of new territories by the old
national states... (and subjugation) of new (weak) nationalities
at the expense of neighboring states. * 22
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2. Capitalist Attempts to Solve Problem Cannot Succeed.
"The imperialist war (World War 1).. . led to an extreme
aggravation of national conflicts within the victorious
colonial states (Great Britain, France, Italy), to the
complete disintegration of the defeated former multi-
national states (Austria, Hungary, Russia in 1917) and,
finally - as the most 'radical' solution of the national
problem of which the bourgeoisie is capable - to the
formation of new bourgeois national states (Poland,
Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, etc.). . But the formation
of new independent national states.. P did not eliminate,
and could not eliminate, either national inequality or
national oppression; for the new national states, based
as they are on private property and class inequality,
cannot exist without: oppressing their own national
minorities.. without extending their territories at
the expense of their neighbours, which leads to conflict
and war..and without becoming subject financially,
economically and militarily to the 'Great' imperialist
powers.,,, 23
3. National Oppression Is Inherent in Capitalist System-.
Thus, postwar capitalist society "presents a gloomy picture of
national enmity, oppression, conflict, war and imperialist brutality on the part
.of the nations of civilized countries both towards each other and towards the non-
sovereign peoples.." The irreconcilable contradictions inherent in the capitalist
system are seen as follows-
It... on the one hand we have a few 'Great' Powers, which
oppress and exploit the mass of dependent... national states
and the struggle of these powers among themselves for the
monopoly of exploiting the national states; and on the other
hand we have the struggle of the dependent national states
against the intolerable oppression of the 'Great' Powers;
the struggle of the national states among themselves for.
the extension of their national territory; the struggle of
the national states, each in particular, against its own
oppressed national minorities; and, finally, the growth
of the movement for emancipation on the part of the
colonies against the 'Great' Powers, "24
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It is concluded that "bourgeois society has proved to be utterly
bankrupt in the matter of solving the national problems " 25
4. Socialism,, by Contrast, Does Away With National Oppression.
",Whereas private property and capital inevitably disunite
people, inflame national enmity and intensify, national
oppression, collective property and labour just as :
inevitably bring people closer and undermine national
oppression. The existence of capitalism without national
oppression is just as inconceivable as the existence of
socialism without; the emancipation of oppressed nations,
without national freedom... national peace and national
freedom may be regarded as assured when the peasantry
follows the proletariat, that is to say, when the dictator-
ship of the proletariat has been secured.,, 26
In summary, Communists have appealed to the national liberation
and colonial movements throughout the world to join the revolutionary forces
of Marxism on the basis of creating a united front against a common enemy, i. e.,
the capitalist, imperialist system which fosters national oppression and colonial
bondage.
NATIONAL LIBERATION THE "FIRST PHASE" OF SOCIALIST REVOLUTION
Having established a connection between the national liberation and
colonial movements and the proletarian revolution, some of the more adept
Marxist dialecticians have tried to carry the argument one step further, i. e. ,
to show that the various independence movements actually constitute :'a pre-
liminary phase of the proletarian revolution, that they represent a necessary
step in the socialist program to overthrow capitalism.
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The strategy of the Communist Party consists of supporting this
"preliminary" stage of the full-fledged socialist revolution, while at the same
time attempting to manage the liberation movement in such a way as to pave
the way for an immediate transition to the "second phase"--the "fully developed"
proletarian revolution. In Marxist terms, this might be described as capitalizing
on the "anti-imperialist factors" inherent in the independence movements, while
emphasizing their "revolutionary aspects.
In actual practice Communists employ an ever-shifting; policy in
stressing the dual objective of the independence struggle: at one moment
picturing the final goal of such movements as national independence for its own
sake; and at the next moment emphasizing the need to "convert" these movements
into an all-out attack on the entire capitalist-feudalist system and viewing national
independence as merely a means to this end.
The extent to which Communists focus attention on the "revolutionary
aspects" of any particular liberation movement depends chiefly on two factors:
1. the over-all strategy of World Communism (or Soviet Russia)
at that time;
2. the practical chances for succeeding in an all-out attack on
the capitalist or feudalist regime in the particular colony or
dependent nation involved.
Translated into formal Marxist language, the two factors to be
considered are:
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1. "the concrete historical conditions" present at the time;
2. "the degree of development of class contradictionsthe
class-consciousness and degree of organisation of the
proletariat" in the colony or dependent nation involved. 27
This "dual character" of independence movements (i. e.., their double
objective of gaining national freedom and overthrowing capitalism) enables the
Communist theorist to neatly second-guess the outcome of any specific liberation
movement, no matter what results the movement may have had in terms of
actual freedom. Thus, if the newly gained independence should happen to conflict
in some way with the practical aims of the Soviet Union or the Communist Inter-
national, the independence movement can be immediately condemned for having
"stopped short" of its "real" goal - the overthrow of capitalism and feudalism -
and for having fallen a victim to "bourgeois nationalism.. "
The following statement from 'William Z. Foster's book, Outline
Political History of the Americas, provides a good example of the Communist
position in this respect:
"The Mexican Revolution (1910 ed. )... was not a
socialist revolution. It was directed against feudalism
and imperialism, not against the capitalist system as
a whole-, The revolution did not solve the basic problems
of the Mexican people....
"The greatest weakness of the Mexican Revolution, from
the very start, was the fact that the working class did not
assume the leading role.... The non-working class leader-
ship slowed the revolution on all fronts, prevented it from
realizing its limited program, and also diverted the
revolution from its potentially anticapitalist trends...
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"... One of the very greatest lessons taught by the historic
Mexican struggle was the fundamental necessity for a strong
Communist Party, one that would have enabled the Mexican
people to realize the full revolutionary potentialities of
their struggle... .
"... the Mexican Revolution was a dress rehearsal of a still
greater revolution in the future. This eventual revolution
will not have petty bourgeois leaders at its head; it will be
led by the working class and the Communist Party, and
instead of stopping short while still in the capitalist jungle,
it will lay the basis for resolutely pressing along the road
to socialism.,,
This conception of the liberation movement as only a "phase" of
the socialist revolution allows the Communist room to maneuver in alternately
supporting or denouncing specific groups or policies relating to the independence
struggle. He may, for instance, during a "united front" period of World
.Communism, vigorously encourage a coalition between the working class and
the bourgeoisie and even carefully praise such avowed anti-Communist leaders
as Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek of China or former President Cardenas of
Mexico. Such policies are easily justified by playing up the theme of national
independence and national unity against imperialist oppressor nations.
On the other hand, when it suits his purpose, the Communist may
bitterly attack any suggestions of an alliance between the working class and the
bourgeoisie and violently condemn all national leaders who are not in complete
sympathy with Communism. This abrupt shift is achieved by simply: stressing
the all-important "second phase" of the liberation movement (i.e., socialist
revolution) and by labeling all persons or programs that aim only at national
independence as "nationalist deviators-, " "petty bourgeois chauvinists, " etc.
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But, while affording the Communists definite advantages in quickly
adapting their propaganda line to changes in Soviet tactics, the "dual objective's
theory of liberation movements has caused Communist leaders some of their
most anxious moments.. The Party organizer or Daily Worker editorial writer
is constantly in danger of failing to correctly interpret the rapidly changing
Moscow line and, therefore, either overstressing the ."independence"' factor or
the "socialist revolutions" element of the liberation struggle..
Above all, the Communist spokesman must be careful not to commit
himself so strongly to either "phase" that a complete reversal in policy with
little or no forewarning might prove embarrassing. He must, in summary, tread
a narrow path between overemphasis on the purely national factors in the
liberation movement and the purely revolutionary aspects. In the carefully
chosen words of Georgi Dimitroff, former General Secretary of the Communist
International, the "correct" Marxist position is to avoid both "'bourgeois
nationalism" and "national nihilism. " 29
"REVOLUTIONIZING THE COLONIAL RESERVES''
The plain fact that Communists have no sympathy towards the
motives of national liberation movements or towards national independence as
such, but are only allying themselves with such movements as a temporary
expedient, can be realized from such frank statements as the following made by
Stalin to the Soviet people.: .
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"You know, comrades, that we. . represent the vanguard
of the world revolution. You know that we were the first
to break through the general capitalist front., ...You know
that we went as far as Warsaw (in 1919 - ed. ), that we
then retreated, entrenching ourselves in the positions we
considered strongest.. from that moment we realised that
the international revolutionary movement was slowing down,
and from that moment our policy changed from a policy of
offensive to a policy of defensive... we decided that we ne6ded
a respite, that we must heal our wounds, the wounds received
by the vanguard, the proletariat, that we must establish contact
with the peasant rear... the reserves of the West and the reserves
of the East, the heavy reserves which form the main rear-line
reserves of world capitalism. It is of these reserves.... which
constitute the rear-line of world imperialism.... that we must
speak when discussing the national question. "
"Two things are possible. either we succeed in stirring up
and revolutionising the far imperialist rear - the colonial
and semi-colonial countries of the East - and thereby
hasten the fall of capitalism, or we muff it, and thereby
strengthen imperialism and weaken the force of our
movement., " 30
"Lenin was right in saying that the national movement of
the oppressed countries should be judged not from the
point of view of formal democracy (i.'e.., socialist ideals - ed, ),
but from the point of view of the actual results in the sum:
total of the struggle against imperialism, that is to say,
'not in an isolated way, but on a. world scalp."' 31
From such statements as the foregoing, it is obvious that: the
informed Communist, whatever passionate appeals he might make to excite
the.patriotism of colonial and minority groups, looks upon the nationnal liberation
struggle as merely an unexpected windfall to be used to weaken and disorganize
capitalist society.. Marxist theorists have even coined a phrase to describe this
tactic. It is called "revolutionizing the colonial reserves."
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This stratagem is expressed in the following manner:
"If Europe and America may be called the front, the scene
of the main engagements between socialism and imperialism,
the non - sovereign nations and the colonies, with their raw
materials, fuel, food and vast store of human material,
should be regarded as the rear, the reserve of imperialism.
In order to win a war one must not only triumph at the front
but also revolutionise the enemy's rear, his reserves.." 3:2.
"Leninism. ..recognizes that there are revolutionary
capabilities inherent in the national liberation movement
of the oppressed countries, and that they can be utilised
for the purpose of overthrowing the common enemy, for
the purpose of overthrowing imperialism.... Hence the
necessity for the proletariat supporting, vigorously and
actively supporting, the national liberation movement of
the oppressed and dependent peoples. " 33
"Having sown the seeds of revolution both in the centres
of imperialism as well as in its rear, having weakened
the might of imperialism in the 'mother countries' and
having shaken its domination in the colonies, the October
Revolution (Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 - ed.) has
thereby jeopardized the very existence of world capitalism
as a whole" 34 (Underscored words are italicized in
original text - ed. )
"The October Revolution has shaken imperialism not only
in the centres of its domination, not only in the smother
countries,' It has also struck blows at the rear of
imperialism, its periphery, having undermined: the rule
of imperialism in the colonial and dependent countries.."
FLEXIBILITY OF COMMUNIST THEORY
With such a convenient yardstick to measure the merit of any
particular liberation movement, namely, whether it is anti-imperialist or anti-
capitalist in its effects, irrespective of its purpose, the Communists are able to
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picture any national independence cause as either "revolutionary" or
"reactionary," "anti-fascist" or "imperialist,'' "progressive" or "counter-
revolutionary, " all according to the changing mood and practical needs of the
world revolutionary movement or the Soviet Union.
The flexibility of Communist theory with respect to the "national
question" was clearly brought out by Stalin during the course of a lecture
delivered in 1924:
"The unquestionable revolutionary character of the ovelcwhelming
majority of national movements is as relative and specific as
the possible reactionary character of certain national movements.
The revolutionary character of a national movement in the
conditions of imperialist oppression does not necessarily
presuppose the existence of proletarian elements in the
movement, the existence of a revolutionary or a republican
programme of the movement, (or) the existence of a democratic
basis for the movement.. The struggle which the Emir of
Afghanistan is waging for the independence of his country is
objectively a revolutionary struggle, despite the monarchist
views of the Emir and his entourage, for it weakens, dia-
integrates and undermines imperialism.... For the same
reason, the struggle which the Egyptian merchants and
bourgeois intellectuals are waging for the independence of
their country is objectively revolutionary despite the bourgeois
origin and bourgeois calling of the leaders of the:Egyptian national
movement and despite the fact that they are opposed to .socialism;
whereas the fight the British Labour Government is waging to per-
petuate Egypt's state of subjection is for the same reason a
reactionary struggle, despite the proletarian origin and the
proletarian calling of the members of that government and despite
the fact that they are 'for' socialism." 36 (Underscored words are
italicized in original text - ed.)
Moreover, by simply applying a touch of "dialectical reasoning,"
the Communist political analyst can easily reverse his field a half-dozen times
when discussing the same liberation movement. Thus, the struggle of the
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Chinese people to gain national independence has been branded during. one period
as "chauvinistic" and "anti-revolutionary, " and several months later applauded
as "patriotic" and "progressive. "
For the non-Communist reader, the key to an understanding of the
many sudden shifts in Communist Party policy concerning any. given independence
movement lies in examining the objectives and strategy of international
Communism (i. a.., Soviet Union) at that particular time.
During the last twenty-five years, for example, Soviet policy has
passed through five distinct phases, alternating between a militant, revolutionary,
or offensive attitude and a passive, evolutionary, defensive pose... The "people's
front" era (1935-1939) and the "unity-for-victory" period (1941-1945) are
examples of the defensive, cooperative strategy adopted by World Communism
during periods of danger for the Soviet Union when the support, or at least the
tolerance, of the Western democracies was needed.
On the other hand, during the period 1945-1952 (so-called;"cold
war" stage), from 1939 to 1941 (when Hitler-Stalin Non-Aggression Pact was
in effect),. and :during the late 1920's and early 1930's, the Soviet dictatorship
felt comparatively secure, and therefore Communist propaganda was aggressive
and openly hostile to the Western democracies.
Communist doctrine dealing with the national and colonial questions
has'undergone a corresponding evolution. During the offensive phases of World
Communism, national liberation and colonial movements have generally been
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encouraged to become as radical as possible and cautioned not to enter into any
alliances with the bourgeoisie of their own nation. By contrast, during the
defensive stages of International Communism, independence movements have
usually been urged to modify their demands and even to join forces with the
native bourgeoisie in a "united front" against rival bourgeoisie.
Several examples of the vacillating course of Communist Party
propaganda on the national question will be offered later in this study..
In summary, it may be said that Communists have no fixed
principles concerning national or colonial problems; that Marxist "theory" may
be applied to the most diverse sets of facts and still manage to find'some
justification in the ambiguous "teachings" of Stalin or Lenin relating to the
national question; and that the real motive for any specific Communist policy
in this field is to be found in the over-aR aims of International Communism at
that particular time.
An excellent example of the flexibility of Communist theory
concerning the national question is afforded by a study of the strange career of
a principle, "Self -Determination of Nations, " in Communist literature.
SELF-DETERMINATION OF NATIONS
One of the cornerstones of early Marxist doctrine with respect to
the national question was the principle that all nations have the right of self-
determination, i. a ,. the right to manage their own affairs and develop their
own institutions and policies entirely free from outside interference. The first
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Communist statements dealing with the national question are especially insistent
on the principle of self -determination and support this principle in almost
unequivocal terms. For example, in a thesis written in 1913, Stalin declared:
"Social Democratic parties (i. e. , Communist Parties - ed.)
in all countries... proclaim the right of nations to self -
determination. The right of self-determination means that
only the nation itself has the right to determine its destiny,
that no one has the right forcibly to interfere in the life of
the nation, to destroy its schools and other institutions, to
violate its habits and customs, to repress its language, or
curtail its rights.." 37
"A nation has the right freely to determine its own destiny.
It has the right to arrange its life as it sees fit, without,
of course, stamping on the rights of other nations. That
is beyond dispute.,, 38
"The right of self-determination is an essential element in
the solution of the national problem.,, 39
"The right of self -determination means that a nation can
arrange its life according to its own will. It has the
right to arrange its life on the basis of autonomy. It
has the right to enter into federal relations with other
nations. It has the right to complete secession. Nations
are sovereign and all nations are equal.,, 40
It may be noted that the above-quoted statements, boldly championing
the principle of self-determination, were made prior to the Russian Revolution of
1917 and at a time when the Communists had nothing to lose and everything to
gain by espousing such an ideal. As long as the czarist regime was still in
control and the Communists did not exercise political power or control any
territory of their own, the concept of self -determination could not gmbarrass
them in actual practice and, at the same time, was calculated to attract to the
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revolutionary banner the oppressed national minorities of both ~czarIst Russia,
and Europe.
SELF-DETERNUI'JATION BECOMES "REACTIONARY"
With the success of the. Bolshevik Revolution, however, the
Communists were suddenly faced with the task of organizing and copsolidating
into the new Soviet state the great complex of racial, ethnic and religious
minorities that had formerly comprised the czarist empire. The "national
question" was abruptly catapulted from the realm of theory and abstraction
into explosive reality.
Communist theorists wasted little time in revising the principle of
self-determination of nations to fit this new environment and by 1921: they were
contemptuously referring to self-determination as a "bourgeois" and "imperialist"
slogan.
In an article written in 1918, shortly after the Bolsheviks' seizure
of power, Stalin indicated the compromising position that Communists should
take in the future when dealing with the principle of self -determination and with
the national question:
"The national question is not something self-contained and
fixed for all time. Being only part of the general question
of the transformation of the existing order, the national
question is wholly determined by the conditions of the
social environment, the character of the power in the country
and by the whole course of social development generally. This
is being strikingly borne out during the period of revolution in
Russia, when the national question and the national movement
in the border regions of Russia are rapidly changing them character in
accordance with the course and issue of the revolution. " 41
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The reasons for this abrupt shift in theory were evident. Following
the overthrow of the czarist regime, a number of independent. nationals movements
had sprung up in the border and non-Russian regions (e. g., the Baltic; area,
Armenia, Georgia, White Russia and the Ukraine) which showed little' inclination
to merge with the new Bolshevik state in Great Russia and, in fact, demanded
national independence under the principle of self -determination.. Stalin was well
aware of the "weaknesses" of self-determination in these new circumstances:
"The right of nations to self-determination was interpreted;
to mean the right of the national bourgeoisie in the border
regions to take power into its own hands and to take
advantage of the February Revolution in order to form its
'own' national state. A further development of the revolution
did not and could not come into the calculations of the above-
mentioned bourgeois institutions. And the fact was over-
looked that tsarism was being replaced by a naked and bare-
faced imperialism, that this imperialism was a stronger and
more dangerous foe of the nationalities, and the basis of new
national oppression. v., 47,
"Thus the old bourgeois-democratic interpretation of the
principle of self-determination became a fiction and lost
its revolutionary significance. It was clear that under
such circumstances there could be no question of the
abolition of national oppression or of the independence
of the small, national states. 11 Stalin argued, in effect, that the principle of self-determination
was valid only in conjunction with the proletarian revolution; that it did not apply
to the establishment of independent "bourgeois" states but only to the formation
of workers' republics (which, of course, would speedily join forces with the new
Soviet government in Greater Russia). This revision of the concept: of self-
determination was explained by Stalin as follows' .
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"Now at last it has become obvious that the emancipation
of the oppressed nationalities is inconceivable without a
rupture with imperialism, without the overthrow of the
bourgeoisie of the oppressed nationalities and without
the transfer of power to the toiling masses of these
nationalities. Thus the old bourgeois conception of the
principle of self-determination, with its slogan 'All
power to the national bourgeoisie, ' was exposed and
cast aside by the very course of the revolution. The
socialist conception of self-determination, with its.
s 1 o gan 'All power to the toiling masses of the oppressed
nationalities, ' entered into its own and obtained the
opportunity of being applied in practice.
Having oriented the principle of self -determination to the needs of
the revolution, Stalin was later able to denounce both the theory of self-
determination and its proponents whenever it suited the Communists': practical
interests. The following examples demonstrate the scorn and suspicion with
which Marxists came to regard this once "inalienable" right of nations:
"The mortal sin of the Second International and its leader,
Kautsky, consists incidentally in the fact that they have
always wandered into the bourgeois conception of national
self -determination, that they have never understood the
revolutionary meaning of the latter, that they were unable;
or unwilling to put the national question on the revolutionaty
footing of an open fight against imperialism.
"Comrade Chicherin's third mistake is that he speaks too
much of national self-determination, which has in effect
become an empty slogan easily adaptable to the use of the
imperialists.. Comrade Chicherin has strangely forgotten; that
we discarded this slogan two years ago (1919 - ed.). Our
programme no longer contains this slogan... neither in my
theses nor in the programme of the Party is there a single
word about 'self -determinations " ' 46
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"We have long ago abandoned the nebulous, slogans of self-
determination--there is no need to revive them." 47
"It is not surprising that the imperialists, realising how
convenient for them-this peculiarity of the slogan of self
determination is, proclaimed this slogan as their own.
As we know, the imperialist war, the aim of which was
to enslave peoples, was fought under the flag of self-
determination. Thus the vague slogan of self -determination
was transformed from an instrument of emancipation
of nations and equality of nations into an instrument for
taming nations, an instrument for keeping nations in
subjection to imperialism..,, 48
SELF-DETERMINATION IS ABANDONED
This astonishing reversal on the .question of self-determination
was justified by the Communists chiefly by two lines of argument. First,
they rationalized, the question of self -determination was a meanings ess one in
view of the all-out conflict between world capitalism and world socialism; i. e. ,
unless a newly established independent nation joined forces with the socialist
camp (Soviet Union), it was bound to become economically and politically
enslaved to the Old World imperialist states. Weighing the demand of various
Russian border nations for complete independence, Stalin wrote in 1920:
"Apart from the fact that the separation of the border
regions would undermine the revolutionary might of
Central Russia, which is stimulating the movement
for the emancipation of the West and the East, the
seceded border regions themselves would inevitably
fall into bandage to international imperialism. One
has only to glance at Georgia, Armenia,. Poland,
Finland, etc., which have seceded from Russia but
which have retained only the semblance of independence,
while in reality they have been converted into un-
conditional vassals of the Entente; one has only,
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finally, to recall the recent case of the Ukraine and
Azerbaidjan, the former of which was plundered by
German capital and the latter by the Entente, in order
to realise the counter-revolutionary nature of the demand
for the secession of the border regions under present
international conditions. When a lif e.-and-death struggle
is being waged, and is spreading, between proletarian
Russia and the imperialist Entente, only two alternatives
confront the border regions: either they join forces with.
Russia, and then the toiling masses of the border regions
will be emancipated from imperialist oppression; or they
join forces with the Entente, and then the yoke of
imperialism is inevitable.,, 49
"So-called independence of a so-called independent Georgia,
Armenia, Poland, Finland, etc., is only an illusion, and
conceals the utter dependence of these apologies for states
on one group of imperialists or another.,, 50
Secondly, the Communists, as though suddenly realizing that the
"inalienable" right of nations to self -determination was somehow incongruous
with the fundamental Marxian view of history as first and foremost: a class
struggle, began to stress the fact that the principle of self-determination was
in every case subordinate to the needs of the proletarian revolution; that the
"national question, " after all, could only be considered as part of the greater
problem of the "labour question. " At first, this idea was broached in very
tentative fashion. Writing in 1917, when the success of the Bolshevik Revolution
was still in doubt, Stalin declared:
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"The question of the right of nations freely to secede must
not be confused with the question that a nation must neces
sarily secede at any given moment. This latter question
must be settled by the party of the proletariat in each
particular case independently, according to circumstances....
Thus we are at liberty to agitate for or against secession, .
according to the interests of the proletariat, of the proletarian
revolution.,, 51 (Underscored words are italicized in original
text - ed. )
Later, when the revolution was an accomplished fact and when the
need to appease nationalistic-minded minority groups in the border regions had
lessened, Stalin pointed out the secondary position of the national question (or
self-determination) in more forceful language:
"It should be borne in mind that besides the right of nations
to self-determination there is also the right of the working
class to consolidate its power, and to the latter right the
right of self-determination is subordinate. There are
occasions. when the right of self-determination conflicts
with the other, the higher right - the right of a working
class that has assumed power to consolidate its power.
In such cases - this must be said bluntly - the right to
self -determination cannot and must not serve as an
obstacle to the exercise by the working class of its
right to dictatorship. The former must give way to the
latter.,, 52
With this frank admission, Stalin let the cat out of the bag, in
effect, conceding that the Communist movement, although supporting self -
determination in principle, would not be so foolish as to subscribe to this
ideal whenever it conflicted with the realistic aims of the Bolshevik 'dictatorship I
The following passage from Stalin's writings on the national question is also
illuminating in this connection.
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"It must therefore not be forgotten when handing out all
sorts of promises to.the nationals, when bowing and.
scraping before the representatives of the nationalities...
that the sphere. of action of the national question, its
competence, so to speak, are, in view of our external.
and internal situation, confined within the sphere of
action and competence of the 'labour question' as the
fundamental question. " 53
"RIGHT OF SECESSION" REPLACES :SELF-DETERMINATION
Although, as the foregoing quotations plainly show, Communist
theorists had virtually discarded the principle of self-determination in order
to justify Bolshevik suppression of independence movements in the border
regions of Russia, they were nonetheless careful to retain enough of the
principle of autonomy for nations so as not to alienate a great potential revo-
lutionary ally, namely, the ever-increasing national movements throughout
the colonial and semicolonial world.
Having discovered that "self-determination" was an excellent
servant but a very poor master, the Communists tried to salvage the propaganda
value of this principle, while at the same time freeing themselves from its
"counter-revolutionary" logic. This attempt took the form of substituting for
"self-determination" another attractive slogan: "the right of political secession, "
that is, the right of any nation to freely secede from any federation, state or
empire to which it belonged.
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A study of Marxist literature on the national question during the
period 1919 - 1923 reveals a gradual, almost imperceptible, substitution of
the phrase "right of political secession" for the term "self-determination. "
By 1923, although no Marxist writer had troubled to distinguish between
"secession" and "self-determination" and although the two principles appeared
to be similar if not identical, Stalin was able to announce:
... our national programme is based on the, right of
nations to independent political existence, formerly
called the right of nations to self-determination. " 54
It is plain from the following statements that the Communists were
convinced that by proclaiming the principle of secession as opposed to self-
determination, they had somehow solved their dilemma and discovered a
"revolutionary" concept which would apply to the capitalist world without
embarrassing the Soviet dictatorship:
" .. Our programme speaks not of national self-determination.. .
but of a better-minted and more clearly defined slogan - the
right of nations to political secession. These are two different
things.... neither in my theses nor in the programme of the
Party is there a single word about Mself-determination;.
What they speak of is the right of peoples to political secession.
But for us at the present moment, when the movement for
emancipation has flared u- n in the colonies, this slogan is
a revolutionary slogan. 55
"The course of events in recent years all over the wor.ld.... .
the growth of the movement in the colonies... demanded
that this slogan (self-determination - ed.) be cast aside
and replaced by another slogan, a revolutionary slogan,
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which would serve to dissipate the atmosphere of mistrust
entertained by the toiling masses of the non-sovereign nations
towards the proletarians of the dominant nations and to clear
the way for the equality of nations and for the unity of the
toilers of all nations. Such a slogan is the slogan issued
by the Communists demanding the right of non-sovereign
nations and colonies to political secession." 56 (Under-
scored word is italicized in original text - ed. )
"RIGHT OF SECESSION" IN SOVIET UNION
i
Almost invariably Communist propagandists have applied the
"right of political secessiorf9 to the colonies and semicolonial nations of the
capitalist world. Whenever this principle is appealed to in connection with the
national minority groups of Russia itself, the question is brushed aside as
academic:
"Some people ask a purely scholastic question--whether
after amalgamation the republics (border republics of
Russia - ed.) remain independent. This is a scholastic
question. Their independence is restricted, for every
amalgamation involves a certain restriction of the rights
of the amalgamating parties. But the elements of inde-
pendence of each of these republics undoubtedly remain,
for each republic retains the right to leave the Union at
its own discretion. There you have the elements of
independence, the maximum of independence, which is
potentially retained by each of these republics. " 57
(Underscoring added - ed.)
"Of course, none of our republics would atually raise
the question of seceding from the USSR." 8
Moreover, it is pointed out that the continued federation of Soviet
nationalities under the proletarian dictatorship is guaranteed by common economic,
military and diplomatic needs:
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"Hence, in isolation, the existence of the various Soviet
republics is uncertain and unstable, because of the
menace to their existence offered by the capitalist states.
The joint interests of the Soviet republics... imperatively
dictate the political union of the various Soviet republics
as the only means of escaping imperialist bondage and
national oppression. " 59
". , under the conditions of capitalist encirclement, not
a single Soviet republic taken alone can regard itself as
secure against economic exhaustion and military de-
struction on the part of world imperialism. "60
"The border regions of Russia... are inevitably doomed
to imperialist bondage without the political, military
and organizational support of more developed Central
Russia. "61
As in the case of self-determination, Communists have been
careful to caution that the "right to secession" is only applicable within the
greater interests of the world-wide proletarian revolution:
"The demand for the secession of the border regions
from Russia... must be rejected... primarily because'
it is fundamentally opposed to the interests of the mass
of the peoples both of the center r (Russia proper - ed..)
and of the border regions.
".. , the question of secession must be determined in
each particular case independently, in accordance with
existing circumstances, and for this reason the question
of the recognition must not be confused with the expediency
of secession in any 'given circumstance!" 63 (Underscored
word italicized in original text - ed.)
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CONCLUSIONS
It can be seen that, with all of the foregoing qualificat ions and
evasions, very little remains of the principles of self--determination or
political secession. A few Marxist writers have, in fact, even admitted that
when Communists raise the cry of national independence and the "rights of
nations, " they are merely employing good "tactics" to promote the revolution.
One Communist propagandist, in a moment of candor, stated the case quite
clearly:
"It is for the purpose of instilling a brotherly confidence
in the various sections of the proletariat that the programme
of the Communist proclaims the right of the labouring; class
of every nation to complete independence.... It is self-
evident that only by such tactics can the confidence of the
proletariat as a whole be won... Let us bear this in mind.
The question is not of the right of the nation to independence,
but of the right of the labouring classes. That means that
the so-called will of the nation' is not in the least sacred
to us. We consider sacred only the will of the proletariat
and the semi-proletariat masses.,, 64 (Underscoring added - ed. )
Contemporary Communist spokesmen, apparently profiting from the
experiences of Bolshevik leaders during the period 1913-1923 with the boomerang
effect of "self-determination, " have generally steered clear of any commitments
to definite principles in the discussion of the national and colonial questions.
Present-day Communist propaganda in this field endeavors to gain the sympathy
of liberation movements by appealing to the "anti-imperialist" sentiments of
the colonies and semicolonies, without recourse to any specific ideals, such as
self-determination, which could later prove embarrassing.
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However, in a few cases the propaganda value of the self -
determination slogan has been so tempting that the Communists have found
it advantageous to revive this motto and treat it as though it were still a
cardinal principle of Marxism. The most striking example of this maneuver
can be seen in the record of Communist Party "theory" dealing with the
American Negro problem.
Periodically, American Communist leaders have resurrected the
.concept of "self-determination for the Black Belt" and demanded the creation
of an independent Negro nation in the Southern United States. Invariably, the
campaign for American Negro self-determination coincides with a militant or
offensive phase of World Communism; whereas, during nonmilitant or "united
front" phases of. International Communism, the demand for Negro self -
determination is conspicuously missing from the Communist platform 1
That this is no mere coincidence cannot escape even the casual
student of Communist doctrine. However, it furnishes an excellent' example
of the adeptness with which Marxist leaders.. can proclaim an "inalienable"
principle, and then modify it, reinterpret it, revise it, virtually abandon it,
and resurrect it, all according to the particular needs and mood of World
Communism or the Soviet Union at any given moment.
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PART II
APPLICATION OF COMMUNIST THEORY TO NATIONAL AND
COLONIAL PROBLEMS AFFECTING UNITED STATES
U. S. AS AN IMPERIALIST POWER AND NATIONAL OPPRESSOR
The first task facing the American Communist Party with respect
to the "national question" has been to clearly establish the fact that the United
States, like all capitalist nations, is an imperialist state which consistently
follows a policy of national oppression as part of a deliberate program of
capitalist exploitation.
American Communist Party leaders have especially labored to
overcome the widespread belief that the United States has few, if any,
territorial or colonial ambitions, or that U. S. policy with respect to the back-
ward nations is prompted in a large measure by moral principles and idealism.
William Z. Foster, National Chairman of the Communist Party,
USA, attacked this popular idea, when he wrote during 1948.
"American capitalism, contrary to widespread capitalist
denials, is imperialist in the fullest sense.... The United
States is covering up its determined drive for imperialist
world control with a blanket of hypocritically disarming
pretenses, especially adapted to deceive the Americanand
world democratic masses.... American imperialists.. .
speak in the name of democracy and of the defense of world
peace.... They are vociferous defenders of 'free enterprise, '
'free trade, ' and 'free competition. ' They also talk, tongue
in cheek, of America's 'moral world leadership. ', .. This
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leadership, allegedly forced upon their 'unwilling'
capitalist shoulders, they claim they are carrying
out for the benefit of all the world.... These democratic
and pacifistic pretenses are, of course, merely a tipping
of the hat to the deeply ingrained democratic and anti-
militaristic sentiments of the American people.,, 65
Foster reiterated this idea in the following passage from his book,
Outline Political History of the Americas, published in 1951:
"To fool the gullible, the Wall Street monopolists and
their publicity mouthpieces are as a- rule very careful
to hide their grandiose and sinister bid for world control
behind a facade of euphonious statements about their
historic duty to exercise 'world moral leadership' and
professions of a selfless desire to do good to the rest
of the peoples of the world. " 66
METHODS OF U. S. IMPERIALISM
In an effort to account for the modest size of the U. S. colonial
empire and to discredit the apparent high purpose of such American projects
as the "Point Four Program, 11 the "Good Neighbor Policy" and the Marshall
Plan, Communist spokesmen have insisted that these seemingly nonimperialist
policies are actually a sinister "ideological camouflage" to disguise the real
purpose of "predatory" American imperialism.
The Communists argue that U.. S. imperialism could not operate
under the same system of "crude, " outright colonialism formerly used by Great
Britain, France and other imperialist powers because of certain historical facts.
They reason that U. S. capitalism was a "late-comer" in. the imperialist era
and therefore discovered that post of the available colonial areas had already
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been seized by Great Britain, France, Japan, etc. Moreover, by the time the
United States was ready to launch its imperialist program (about 1890, according
to Marxist historians), there had already developed a strong anti-imperialist
movement in the backward nations in the form of national liberation movements
and colonial revolutions.
Consequently, American imperialism, in order to "wean" colonial
areas away from other capitalist powers and in order to overcome the bitter
resistance of colonial and semicolonial peoples to further oppression, was forced
to abandon the cruder method of undisguised colonialism and to adopt instead a
more subtle, insidious approach. In short, American imperialism was forced
to mask its "ruthless" aims behind a program which, on the surface,. would
appear beneficial to both the colonial and semicolonial peoples and to the world
in general.
The well-known Communist position in this regard is expressed in
such statements as the following.
".., American imperialism... operates only partly through
colonial rule, made classic by British imperialism... .'The
reason for this was that American imperialism was a late-
comer on the world stage - Britain, Germany, France and
Japan having already seized most of the available 'colonial'
areas - and that the developing national liberation movements
from the beginning of this century in the colonies and dependent
countries were making it extremely difficult to establish new
colonial empires.... Thus it came to pass that American
imperialism was not of the same colonial type as British
imperialism. This did not make it any less reactionary
or imperialistic.... The so-called anti-colonialism was
only a weapon of American imperialism - an 'ideological'
and political weapon - for imperialist penetration..... "67
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"One of the most widespread expressions of the myth
of 'American exceptionalism' among the American
workers is the belief that this country is not a colonial
power. This misconception is due in part to the
characteristic hypocrisy with which American imperialism
has shrouded its brutal rule and dominating influence in the
colonial and semicolonial countries of the Philippines,
Puerto Rico, and Latin America.... All of these reactionary
lines of policy (American imperialist program-ed.) are
bang carried out under the most extreme demagogy, even:
to the point of President Truman's fantastic big lie that
American imperialism is now the 'champion of the darker
peoples' against the so-called 'tyranny of Communist
imperialism. "' 68
"America has long been a colonial, an imperialist power....
America is rapidly replacing England as the dominant
colonial power of the world, although it is exacting that
dominance through many new forms. This is evident
from its aggressive war to throttle the peoples of the
Far East (Korean War - ed. ), ... its Marshall Plan,
its imperialist Point 4, the rearmament of its European
satellites (NATO ed.), etc... "69 (underscoring added-ed.)
The "many new forms" by which the United States is indicted as
being the "biggest and strongest imperialist country in world history" 70 are
said to include economic, political and military pressure together with mass
propaganda aimed at creating anti-Soviet and anti-Communist "hysteria. "
Following this line of attack, American Communist Party leaders
have denounced all of the principal planks of U. S. foreign policy affecting the
colonial areas or the so-called "dependent" nations (e. g., Latin Ameri0a). A
few examples will show the manner in which Communist propaganda has tried to
subvert U. S. policy in this field:
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Good Neighbor Policy
"Widely, in Latin America and elsewhere, the Good
Neighbor 1blicy was mistakenly conceived as an abandonn ent
of imperialism by the United States. All of a sudden.Yankee
imperialism was supposed to have become progressive....
But in reality, the Good Neighbor Policy was simply a
reformulation of the old imperialism in order for it to
counter more effectively the growing nationalism and
democratic spirit of the Latin American peoples, as well
as to offset the increased imperialist competition. It was
the adoption of more efficient methods of imperialist
penetration. " 71
"It must be firmly kept in mind that the 'Good Neighbor'
policy of the Administration has become nothing else but
a cloak for predatory imperialism and militant aggression.', 72
"American imperialism is trying to surmount its difficulties
in Latin America by an intensified and elaborate campaign
of demagogy. The United States, President Roosevelt
announces, directing his voice toward the South, is no longer
an imperialist nation. The American vulture, having shed its
claws, has turned over-night into a 'good neighbor.'... Under
the guise of abandoning the Monroe Doctrine, through this new
formula, United States imperialism would be utilizing its
puppet governments to `support the Doctrine of American'
domination... (But) American imperialism's pretensions to
magnanimity cannot conceal the same old club behind its
back,', 73
Pan-Americanism
"Pan-Americanism has come to mean but one thing - United
States rulership of the western hemisphere. "74
"An aggressive political expression of Latin American
domination by the United States, Pan-Americanism is a
weapon that is turned against the similar aims and
aggression of rival imperialisms, principally British
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Monroe Doctrine
"Undoubtedly, in the formulation of the Monroe Doctrine
(1823 - ed.) there already lurked the idea of establishing
United States hegemony over the whole western hemisphere. ",76
"Originally the Monroe Doctrine was issued ostensibly in the
general defense of all the young republics of the western
hemisphere. But, being a unilateral statement by the United
States, this country has ever since put such interpretations
upon the Doctrine as it has seen fit in its own capitalist
interests. "77
"The magic formula of the Monroe Doctrine: 'Latin America
.belongs to the United States, has assumed many forms. Under
it whole countries have been held by American armed forces for
decades, cities have been bombed, fake revolutions fomented to
further the interests of Yankee imperialism, treaties rammed
down at the point of bayonets, millions of acres of land plundered,
and thousands of natives slaughtered..... The persistence,: pene-
tration and precision of this doctrine are characteristics of United
States imperialism in one of its most fundamental forms,! colonial
domination..,, 78
Open Door Policy for China
the 'Open Door' is fundamentally an imperialist policy,
taking this form for the United States because of its relatively
late arrival upon the Far Eastern scene. By the 'Open. Door'
is meant- (a) that China must not shut its gates to the
imperialists; (b) that American imperialism shall not be denied
by rival imperialist powers 'equal opportunity' to plunder China.... "79
"... the` Open Dod policy as employed by Great Britain and
inherited by the United States, was part of the diplomacy of
imperialism. It was imperialist because its objectives were
imperialist prizes. It was a policy designed to preserve and
even extend foreign domination and exploitation of China and
the Chinese.... "80
Point Four Program
"President Truman's 'Point Four' program is also primarily
an attempt to extend and tighten United States monopolist, grip
upon the undeveloped colonial and semicolonial countries;,
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It is thus a major economic and political weapon, along
with the Marshall Plan, for fastening United States
imperialist control upon the whole capitalist world.,, 81
"The main .purpose of the much-vaunted Point 4 is to
guarantee the economic penetration and the subjugation
of the undeveloped colonial areas of the world - Asia
and Africa, in particular - by the American monopolies
and trusts... this program has nothing whatsoever in
common with achieving the equality of the colonial and
darker peoples.,, 82
Communist propagandists have not only strenuously attacked
American policies bearing directly on colonial or dependent nations, they. have
also frequently tried to establish a connection between the "national and colonial
problem" and virtually every major feature of United States foreign policy. For
instance, they have often pictured U. S. intervention in Korea as part of a
calculated imperialist program to crush the liberation movements of Asia and
to perpetuate a policy of national oppression in Asia.
"The aggression against Korea was launched with the hope
of securing all of Korea as a base of operation against
China, the liberation movements of Asia and the Soviet
Union." ' (Underscoring added - ed?
"The war in Korea is not a civil war. It is not a war
between the people of the North and the South. It is
not, as the Truman-Acheson-Dulles bipartisan
combination would have the American people believe,
a war to 'repel the Communist invasion of South Korea. ' ..
It is a war of imperialist aggression. It is Wall Street's
war ! ... American imperialism needed the Korean 'incident'
to speed up its war drive, to intervene openly in the
countries of the Pacific where the imperialists have not
succeeded in 'containing' the liberation struggles. " 84
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"American imperialism has unleashed war - a reckless
adventurist war of annihilation in order to drown in
blood the struggle of 30, 000, 000 people on the Korean
peninsula for national unification and independence....
American planes rain bombs on Korean cities and
villages, murdering and maiming Korean men, women
and children.. American troops die in agony... not to
promote the cause of freedom and liberation, but to
perpetuate colonial enslavement. " 85
The day following President Truman's order to American troops
to resist the North Korean invasion of South Korea, the National Committee of
the Communist Party, USA, issued a statement denouncing American intervention.
The statement read in part.
11... The military provocation in Korea (by U. S. troops - ed.) is
planned as a smokescreen behind which to intervene against the
struggle for independence of the peoples of Korea, ChinaFormosa,
the Philippines, Viet Nam, Indonesia and Malaya..... The bi-
partisan war coalition has solely one aim: to conquer the peoples
of Asia, to rob them of their natural resources, to multiply
Big Business' profits from a subjugated world. "86
Communist leaders have even sought to characterize the entire
European Recovery Program or so-called Marshall Plan as a cleverly ,
engineered scheme on the part. of the United States to subjugate the world'and
oppress the nations of Europe, Africa and Asia. During February, 1948, when
Congress was considering adoption of the European Recovery Program, the
Communist Party, USA, submitted a formal statement to the House Foreign
Affairs Committee. This statement described the ERP as having been "designed
to subvert the national sovereignty of the countries of Western Europe and place
them under the domination of Wall Street" and to "convert them into helpless
dependencies of the United States. "87
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An article appearing in the January, 1950, issue of Political
Affairs blasted the Marshall Plan as:
"... an economic, political and military lever with the help
of which U. S. imperialists subordinate the economy of
Western Europe to their control and dictate, striving to
turn it into a colonial adjunct of the United States of
America. '"' 88
The foregoing examples serve to show how Communists have
endeavored to connect the question of national liberation and colonial independence
with the most divergent and apparently unrelated issues. In reviewing Communist
literature dealing with the "national question, " therefore, it is not unusual to
find detailed references to such diverse topics as the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization, the Taft-Hartley Act, the Federal Loyalty Program, and the
development of nuclear energy... Communist propagandists purport to believe
that U.. S. policy concerning all of these issues - and many more - is ;intimately
tied in with a monstrous plot on the part of American capitalism to create a
world-wide system of colonies and national oppression.
For a good example of this type of reasoning, the readers is referred
to. an article by Benjamin J. Davis, National Board member of the Communist
Party, USA, which appeared in the December, 1950,issue of Political:Affairs.
Although the article is entitled "On the Colonial Liberation Movementq, " Davis
makes reference to such varied subjects as the Korean War, the. Taft-Hartley
i
Law, the McCarran Communist Control Bill, American labor union leadership,
the United Nations, the Marshall Plan, the Point Four Program, the Stockholm
Peace Petition and the atom bomb.
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EXTENT AND AIMS OF U. S. COLONIAL EMPIRE
It is popularly believed that the American colonial empire comprises
at the most the Philippine Islands, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Alaska, the Virgin
Islands, the Panama Canal Zone, and several small naval bases in the Pacific,
having a total population of approximately 13, 000, 000. Communist propaganda,
however, portrays the American colonial system as consisting of some thirty
countries with an aggregate population of about 200, 000, 000. Included in the
list of U. S. "colonies, 91 according to the Communists, are all of the above-
named countries as well as the following: Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela,
Colombia, Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Israel, Greece,
and Liberia.
Victor Perlo's American Imperialism, a book advertised in the.
July, 1951, Political Affairs as a "brilliant extension of and application" of
Lenin's theses on imperialism, charged that the population of the U. S! empire
as of 1947, "broadly defined, " amounted to 563 million persons or about one-
fourth of the total population of the earth! 89 Perlo arrived at this total as
follows:
U. S. proper..... ................................... 144 million
Complete domination - minimum estimate of U. S.
colonial and semicolonial empire ................... 197 million
In process of transition to U. S. colonial domination
(Argentina, Spain, Egypt, Thailand, and Yugoslavia). 96 million
Military occupation, colonial rule not yet consolidated
(Japan, Western Germany).......................... 126 million
Total population of U.S. . empire....................... .
63 million
George Marion, former correspondent for the Daily Worked, in a
book entitled, Bases and Empire published in 1948, drew a chart of the American
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"strategic empire" at the close of World War II which showed a total; population
of more than 667, 000, 000 and a total area of more than 110, 000, 0001square
miles including nearly 14, 000, 000 square miles of land area. 90 Moreover,
Marion was able to reach these staggering figures without crediting the U. S.
with any colonies or semicolonies in Europe or Africa, an omission with
which most Communists would take issue 1
One of the reasons for such extravagant claims concerning the
scope of the American "colonial empire" is obviously the fact that the
Communists hope to persuade t h e noncapitalist world that the United States
poses a threat to. the independence of all nations and, in fact, that the United
States seeks nothing less than domination of the entire world.
George Marion, after carefully compiling a "chart" of the
American empire, concluded as follows-
"Thus the reality beyond the chart is this: the United
States seeks literally global strategic hegemony. "91
In an article appearing in the December, 1950,issue of Political
Affairs, William Z. Foster, after finding that the United States had already
succeeded in gaining domination of the capitalist world, charged that American
imperialism would be satisfied by nothing short of a world-wide empire.
Foster took special care to stress the danger to the colonial peoples of the
world:
"The aim of American imperialism, of course, is not
limed simply to exercising world hegemony over
capitalism - which it has already, in considerable
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measure, achieved. It drives for domination over the
entire world; not only the capitalist segment of it, but
the Socialist segment as well. Wall Street, in its
grandiose plans and preparations for world conquest,
far surpasses even the wildest dreams of Hitler and
other would-be world conquerors of the past....
"The aggressive American imperialists... are pro-
claiming themselves to be the champions of the
equality of all peoples; although, in reality, they
themselves are definitely white supremacists and
are seeking to establish Anglo-Saxon cultural, as
well as political dominion over the darker peoples
of the world. " 9~
Communist propaganda that the United States seeks world domination
and, therefore, menaces the national independence of all countries - colonial,
socialist and capitalist alike - dates back to the beginning of the cold war, or
about 1946. Two more examples will suffice, again from the writings of
William Z. Foster in 1948:
"American imperialism... lacks all restraint in its wild
dream of complete and sole world domination. It is
determined to rule alone, with other leading capitalist
states relegated to minor satellite roles, if not reduced
practically to the position of colonial possessions of the
U. S. it 93
"The central objective of Americcl imperialism is to be
the supreme world master.... "
As most of the foregoing quotations illustrate, Communist
propaganda relating to the national and colonial questions has dealt chiefly
with the general features of the problem, such as the imperialist natir.e of
American foreign policy and the resultant threat to the national independence
of all countries. Communist literature for the most part has paid less
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attention to specific liberation and colonial movements.
In other words, Communists usually do not consider any particular
independence struggle on the part of a national group or dependent country
primarily in terms of its own peculiar features. Instead, they invariably view
each liberation movement from the standpoint of its connection with the struggle
between socialism and capitalism - and from the standpoint of such rigid and
overworked Marxian "laws" as the class struggle, "proletarian internationalism,
"the uneven development of capitalism, " etc. Similarly, in evaluating the
success or failure of any liberation struggle, the Communists' emphasis has
nearly always been placed on some hazy, underlying (or "revolutionar;y")
meaning, rather than on specific and practical results.
Moreover, Communist writers frequently neglect or completely
overlook all noneconomic factors which may be involved in specific cases of
national oppression. They take little, if any, notice of the psychological,
historical or geographical issues involved, which frequently are essential
to a clear understanding of the problem. The oversimplification of national
and colonial problems, this interpretation of the most complex cases of national
oppression solely in terms of stereotyped Marxist formulas, is one of the major
weaknesses of Communist propaganda in this field.
The following is a typical example of the Communist technique of
magnifying supposed "revolutionary" (ie e., pro-Communist) factors in a
specific case of national independence, thereby greatly oversimplifying and
distorting the entire matter.
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Shortly after the establishment of an independent state of Israel
in 1948, Alexander Bittelman, leading Communist Party, USA, theoretician,
wrote:
"The struggle for the independence and territorial integrity
of the new Jewish state is part of the general struggle for
peace, national independence and democracy. It is also a
struggle for the liberation of the Arab peoples from British
and Anglo-American imperialist domination. It is a fight
to prevent the imperialists and warmakers from turning
the Middle East into a major base of military operations
in a new world war. " 95 (Underscoring added - ed.)
The following provides a good example of the exaggeration of
mysterious "anti -revolutionary" factors in evaluating a national independence
movement without any effort whatever to consider concrete historical influences.
Endeavoring to explain the recent break between Yugoslavia and the Cominform -
which, on the surface at least, appeared to be a move towards greater national
independence on the part of Yugoslavia - V. J. Jerome, editor of Political
Affairs, blamed this counterrevolutionary development on the following shadowy
factors:
"The nationalist spirit was further stimulated by intoxication
with successes of the liberation movement and reconstruction
immediately following the war. The Party leadership, departing
from Marxian internationalism, in a purely opportunist fashion,
encouraged this spirit of conceit and self-sufficiency, and itself
sank to the low level of bourgeois-nationalist megalomani ai 11
The Communists' pronounced tendency to discuss national and
colonial problems in terms of broad generalities and hazy Marxist language,
without squarely facing specific economic, political and social issues, is based
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primarily on their desire to picture all national or colonial developments as
evidence of the decline of capitalism or, conversely, the growth of socialism.
All other issues are obscured in a maze of "dialectical" reasoning.
For example, in the above-listed statement by Alexander Bittelman
on the establishment of the state of Israel, Bittelman blithely ignored the
centuries-old struggle of the Jewish people for a homeland, the widespread
persecution and massacre of Jews by Hitler and other vital historical; factors
leading to the formation of the new Jewish state. Instead, he portrayed the
Jewish independence movement as a struggle against "British and Anglo-
American imperialist domination" and. as a fight "to prevent the imperialists
and warmakers (i. e. , capitalist states) from turning the Middle East into a
major base of military operations in a new world war. '' This statement is an
excellent example of the Communist technique of distorting historical: events
to agree with the "scientific" Marxist interpretation of history..
Although, as we have seen, the Communist approach to national
and colonial questions is usually based on vague generalities, they have
occasionally focused their propaganda on specific national groups and colonial
countries. Needless to say, the Communists have centered their attack upon
those colonial areas or national minorities which, they believe, best il]ustrate
capitalist oppression and failure. In the case of the United States, theCommunists
have concentrated their fire for the most part on three national or colonial
problems: namely, Puerto Rico, the Philippine Islands and the American Negro.
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The following summary of Communist propaganda concerning Puerto
Rico and the Philippine Islands will illustrate the application of Communist
theory concerning national liberation and colonial movements in two specific
cases. No effort has been made to outline Communist propaganda relating to
the American Negro, primarily because the great complexity of this topic is con-
sidered beyond the scope of this limited study. However, it is felt that this
omission is justified by the fact that a number of excellent studies have already
been made concerning the relationship between Communism and the Negro.
COMMUNIST PROPAGANDA CONCERNING PUERTO RICO
According to Communist historians, Puerto Rico was among the
first victims of an American imperialist program which dates back to about
1890. The first step in this imperialist program of expansion, according to
Communist writers, was to provoke a war with Spain in order to strip Puerto
Rico, Cuba and the Philippines from the rapidly waning Spanish empire. The
Spanish-American War of 1898 served as the "excuse" American imperialists
needed to seize these strategic islands and launch the American colonial empire:
"About the turn of the century the capitalists of the
United States, as budding imperialists, began to cast
about for new worlds beyond the United States borders
to conquer for the construction of a colonial system of
their own... .
"The sinking of the battleship Maine in Havana harbor on
February 15, 1898, by parties still unknown, gave the
imperialists the excuse they had long been seeking for a
war against Spain... Af ter a few disastrous battles
Spain surrendered, signing a peace treaty in December,
1898, which gave up Cuba and ceded Puerto Rico, Guam,
and the Philippines (for $20500, 000) to the United States....
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The Communists charge that United States' colonial rule in Puerto
Rico is motivated primarily by Wall Street's desire to extort "super-profits"
from the approximately two million natives of Puerto Rico. They assert that
the United States has imposed a repressive "one-crop" system on Puerto Rico,
the sugar industry, thereby stifling the development of a balanced economy and
enabling American monopolists to ruthlessly control Puerto Rican wages and
living standards by price fixing, one-sided tariffs, etc.
Communist propagandists cite an imposing number of statistics
tending to show the wretched condition of Puerto Rican living standards, health,
schools, public works, etc., under American rule. Most American. students
of Puerto Rican affairs would, in fact, agree that great improvements should
be made in the general living standards of the Puerto Rican people. However,
it is significant that Communist literature on this point almost invariably points
up the backward economic and social status of Puerto Rico by comparing the
wages, literacy, health, etc,, of the Puerto Rican worker with corresponding
living standards of the American worker, who is acknowledged to have the
highest standard of living in the world.. Communist propaganda skillfully avoids
any comparison of the contemporary Puerto Rican worker with his counterpart
of 1898 (prior to American occupation) or with the average wage-earner in the
Soviet Union today l
Although the colonial subjugation of Puerto Rico is held to be based
chiefly on economic exploitation, the Communists assert that United States
imperialism seeks to retain Puerto Rico as a colony for two other reasons:
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1. to serve as a military and naval base for further imperialist
aggression against South America;
2. to provide an outpost for political and ideological penetration
of South America.
Cesar Andreu, former Chairman of the Communist Party of Puerto
Rico, has summarized United States objectives in Puerto Rico in the following
terms:
"The maintenance of the colonial status of Puerto Rico is
of vital importance to the Wall Street and Washington war-
makers. Puerto Rico is a strategic, military, naval, air,
and atom bomb base, a political and ideological outpost for
imperialist penetration into Latin America; and finally, a
source for the extraction of superprof its. Puerto Rico is
a major market for the monopolists, grossing a half billion
dollars annually. " 98
The central theme of American Communist Party propaganda
concerning Puerto Rico has been a vigorous demand for complete independence
from the United States. Unconditional independence and freedom from all forms
of American interference in Puerto Rican affairs is pictured as a vital step in
resolving all of the island's problems, economic, social, and political. As
early as 1938, four years after the creation of a Communist Party in Puerto
Rico, V. J. Jerome, editor of :Political Affairs, declared:
". . . the main issue in Puerto Rico is nationhood and...
all facts, events, solutions, programs must stem from
this position that the people of Puerto Rico constitute a
nation with certain inalienable economic, social, and
political rights now trampled upon by North American
imperialism.. " 99 (Underscored word is italicized in
original - ed.)
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Not only has the Communist Party platform consistently advocated
full independence for Puerto Rico, but Communist policy has strongly con-
demned any compromise on this issue. For example, a proposal that Puerto
Rico be incorporated into the United States as a new state was angrily de-
nounced by Cesar Andreu, former chairman of the Communist Party of Puerto
Rico, in 1951;
"The Yankee imperialists and their lackeys in Puerto Rico
were boasting but a few short months ago that the problem
of independence of Puerto Rico was no longer an issue.
They said that the Puerto Rican people had forsaken the
idea of independence and in its place desired the institution
of the 'new state, ? The theory of the 'new state'... is a
part of bourgeois cosmopolitanism. "
Similarly, the recent adoption by Puerto Rico of its own consti-
tution, widely hailed in both the United States and Puerto Rico as signifying
the end of the island's colonial status and representing a major step towards
full Puerto Rican independence, has been bitterly attacked by the Communists
as an effort to divert the Puerto Rican people from their goal of unconditional
independence and to disguise continued oppression by Wall Street imperialists.
Writing in the April, 1951, issue of Political Affairs, Theodore R. Bassett
voiced the Party's opposition to the Puerto Rican constitution:
"The proposed constitution... would sanctify the colonial
status of Puerto Rica by the seeming consent of the
Puerto Rican people....
* "Bourgeois cosmopolith.ni.sm?'~ in Communist parlance signifies a reactionary
type of capitalist internationalism.
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"... the Communist Party of the United States (has)
correctly characterized the proposed constitution as
a fake, as a brazen and ill-disguised attempt to
perpetuate and intensify the barbarous, national and
social oppression of the Puerto Rican people....
11. .. the projected constitution for Puerto Rico could
in no way benefit the Puerto Rican people and would
only serve to screen its subjugation by Wall Street....
"The fight to defeat the colonial constitution is the
paramount question confronting the Puerto Rican
liberation movement at this time. " 101
Earlier, in February, 1951, Cesar Andreu, speaking for the
Communist Party of Puerto Rico, had also registered a strenuous protest
against the new constitution.
1411
"The so-called Constitution... does not alter one bit the:
foundations of the colonial status of Puerto Rico. This
so-called Constitution will be written in Washington. It.
will have limitations imposed by Washington....
"The so-called Constitution is, therefore, an ill-disguised
maneuver aimed at containing the independence struggle
of the people, as well as silencing the rising support in.
Latin America and throughout the world for the national
independence of Puerto Rico. It represents another example
of the tactics of imperialism to try to check the liberation
movements of the oppressed peoples. .
"The main task before the Communist Party of Puerto Rico
is to guide the working class to assume its historical role
as the leader of the people for independence and for the
defeat of imperialist oppression. Within that main task
we face as an immediate task... the organization of a
mass campaign to defeat the plans of the government to
impose the fake Constitution upon our people.... " 102
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To summarize briefly, Communist Party strategy in Puerto .
Rico has been to identify Communist policies and objectives completely with
national independence, with little or no reference to the ultimate and. real aim
of the Communist movement, namely, the overthrow of the feudal and capitalist
system and the establishment of a socialist state which would speedily ally
itself with the world Communist movement (i. e. , the Soviet Union).
A review of Communist literature concerning Puerto Rico' fails to
reveal any allusions to the independence struggle as only "the first phase" of
the socialist revolution and there are few references to the "revolutionary
aspects" of the liberation movement. As we have seen, Cesar Andreu,
former Puerto Rican Communist Party Chairman, described the "main task"
of the Party in 1951 as the attainment of national independence and the "defeat
of imperialist oppression. " 103 And in 1938, V. J. Jerome declared that the
"main issue" in Puerto Rico was nationhood. 104 This is not to say that there
are no references to the socialist revolution in Communist propaganda relating
to Puerto Rico, for there are occasional remarks to the effect that complete
freedom for Puerto Rico can only be realized under a socialist system..
However, for the most part, national independence is pictured as a goal in it-
self, and the overthrow of capitalism is mentioned only in veiled and secondary
terms.
The reason for this de-emphasis on the question of a full-scale
proletarian revolution can be found by referring back to the first section of
this paper dealing with basic Communist theory. As previously noted
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(see pages 15-19), the Communists conceive of each national liberation movement
as having a t w oofold purpose, (1) national independence, and (2) the establishment
of socialism. The extent to which they emphasize the latter goal depends in
any given case upon two practical considerations: (1) the over-all strategy of
World Communism at that time, and (2) the realistic chances for the success of
a full-fledged proletarian revolution.
In the case of the Puerto Rican liberation movement, these consider-
ations call for the Communists to tone down the "revolutionary aspects" of the
situation. The reason, obviously, is that an all-out workers' revolution would
have virtually no chance of succeeding in Puerto Rico at this time. For one
thing, being essentially an agricultural country, the island has only a small
and poorly organized working class (or "proletariat") to carry out such a
revolution. And secondly, the Communist Party itself has made only minor
headway in Puerto Rico to date and has no substantial influence in Puerto Rican
affairs. As evidence of the failure of the Communist Party to appeal to Puerto
Ricans, we are able to cite no less an authority than William Z. Foster, chairman
of the Communist Party, USA. According to Foster, the membership of the
Communist Party of Puerto Rico numbered only 1, 200 as of 1947, but of a
population of more than two millionb 105 Actually, the membership. of the Party
is probably a great deal less. According to a reliable source, Communist Party
membership in Puerto Rico in 1952 numbered only about 60 persons,. 106
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COMMUNIST PROPAGANDA CONCERNING THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS
Communist Party attacks on United States "colonialism" in Puerto
Rico have been inspired in large measure by the desire to discredit this country
in the eyes of the other colonial and semicolonial peoples of South and Central
America and the Caribbean area.
In like manner, Communist propaganda with respect to the 'Philippine
Islands is aimed at arousing suspicion and -hostility towards the United States
among the various nations of the Far East and the Pacific area. For this reason,
Communist propagandists picture United States interest in the Philippines as
merely a "preliminary" step in an ominous plan to make the entire Pacific
Ocean an "American lake" and the whole continent of Asia an "outright colony
of Wall Street " This familiar Communist claim is illustrated in the following
statements.
"As in the bloody adventure of 1898 when the Philippines
were seized as a 'stepping-stone' to China, American
imperialism is gearing the islands as a key base for ag-
gression against China and Southeast Asia in a third world
war,,, 107
"o 0 o Asiatic empire, not mere possession of the Philippines
themselves, was the true objective of- e program" (of American
annexation of the Philippines - ed.)
" ... the Philippines are to be turned into a base for struggle
for the Dutch East Indies and hegemony in the Pacific,
Communist propaganda also seeks to arouse a hatred for the United States
among the Filipino people themselves. For the most part, this takes the form of
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violent criticism of American policies in the Islands as well as alleged
"exposures" of economic, social and political injustices suffered by the
Filipino people as a result of American influence. The Communist Party line
holds United States "imperialism" responsible for virtually every problem faced
by the Philippines-. low wages and poor living conditions, inadequate housing,
illiteracy, malnutrition and disease, and even the slow development of Filipino
industry and science.
As in the case of Puerto Rico, Communist propaganda of this type
conspicuously ignores the fact that all of these economic and social problems
afflicted the Philippines long before the United States had any influence at all
in the Islands' affairs. Also, the Communists make no effort to compare living
standards in the Philippines today with what they were in 1898 when the United
States first acquired possession of the Islands.
Although pretending to be wholly objective and to be based entirely
on concrete economic facts, Communist literature in this field frequently
resorts to a psychological appeal to Filipino national pride. This is achieved
by such devices as the following-. American officials and businessmen in the
Philippines are portrayed as being contemptuous of Filipino customs and culture;
the Filipino people are "consoled" on the "national humiliation" they suffer as
a result of American influence in the Islands; and it is suggested that the
Filipino people can have no "national self-respect" so long as American interests
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predominate in the Islands' affairs. The following excerpts from a recent Com-
munist article relating to the Philippines offer good examples of this effort
to play on Filipino nationalism:
"The Filipino moves about in an American-made world.
The clothes he wears, the cigarettes he smokes, the
canned food he eats, the music he hears, the news of
the world he reads... are all American, although his own
country has the ability to produce all of these things.. .
The very home he lives in.... is American-made: the
corrugated iron roof, the nails in the walls, the electric
light bulbs, the electric wiring, the electric switch, the
kitchen utensils, the plates and spoons, his toothbrush,
the bed clothes, 'the ring with which he weds his wife... 110
"The Filipino people have had to drain to the bottom the
bitter dregs of national humiliation in being forced by their
own oppressor (the United States - ed.) to send Filipino:
soldiers to their death in a vain effort to re-enslave
the Korean people. The American headquarters did not
even deign to permit the Filipino unit to retain its own
Filipino commander." 111
Although, consistently critical of United States policies in the
Philippines, Communist propaganda has been highly contradictory on the sub-
ject of Filipino independence. During the past twenty years, for example, the
Communist platform has ranged from an unqualified demand for immediate and
unconditional freedom from every trace of American influence to a program of
moderation and gradual independence. Similarly, Communist propaganda has
alternately urged a solution of the Islands' problems by violent revolution and,
again, by a process of peaceful reform and evolution. These otherwise baffling
shifts in Communist tactics can be understood, of course, only through a study
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of corresponding changes in the strategy of the Soviet Union during the same-
period.
For example, during the spring of 1935, the Communist Party.
of the Philippine Islands issued a "Manifesto" which frankly avowed the
Party's goal as the violent overthrow of the existing Filipino social system and
the establishment of a Soviet state patterned along the lines of the U. S. S. R.
The "Manifesto" declared that Filipino independence was only a secondary aim,
and that national independence, in fact, could only be realized as a product of
all-out proletarian revolution. Indeed, the "Manifesto" went so far as to character-
i zle the Filipino national liberation movement (which was then dominated by
non-Communist elements) as a "bourgeois national-reformist hoax" which was
aimed at perpetuating imperialism in the Islands.
The "Manifesto" took particular pains to denounce the Tydings-
McDuffie Independence Act which had recently been adopted by the United States
Congress. This measure, providing immediate commonwealth status for the
Philippines and guaranteeing complete independence for the Islands by 1947,
had been welcomed enthusiastically by nearly all Filipinos. However, the
Communist "Manifesto" of 1935 bitterly condemned the bill as a "reformist
parliamentary" approach to the question of independence which would only
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"disrupt and retard the advance of the national-revolutionary movemnnt.
Having in this manner dismissed national independence as the
primary objective, the "Manifesto" candidly set its sights on nothing less than
a violent workers' revolution. All suggestions of moderation or gradual reform
were rejected. As a matter of fact, it appeared to regard violence as a pre-
requisite for success.
"There is no salvation for us, our children, our country,
except by revolutionary struggle. National freedom, land
and a Workers' and Peasants' Republic have to be fought
for and won. For under imperialism, the basic problems
of the toilers are decided by force and by revolutionary
mass force alone.. .
"The issue is clear. Only the toilers themselves can save
themselves and our country. All of us must realize that
our problems, the problems of the toilers, the problems
of food, land, national independence, and workers'
and peasants' power, can only be finally solved by a great
armed uprising of the people, led by the most revolution-
ary class, the working class, in close alliance with the ex-~
ploited peasantry - an alliance headed by the revolutionary
proletarian party, the Communist Party. Our problems:
can only be finally solved by the violent overthrow of
the rule of American imperialism and the Philippine;
exploiters, by the revolutionary establishment of an Inde-
pendent Workers' and Peasants "Government of the
Philippines a . "
* The use of the hybrid term "national-revolutionary" is significant, for it
clearly betrays the fact that the Communists are concerned with Filipino
independence only in so far as such independence is "revolutionary" L:: e. , only
to the extent that it is beneficial to World Communism. The phrase "national-
revolutionary, " it might be added, is a favorite Communist cliche applied to
colonial liberation movements during militant stages of Soviet policy.,:. During
nonmilitant or "evolutionary" periods in Soviet strategy, colonial movements
are not described as "revolutionary" but rather as "patriotic, " "progressive"
or "anti-fascist. "
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"The issue is clear. Just.as national independence will:
never be 'granted' by American imperialism, so national
independence will never be ;secured as a result of peaceful
'constitutional' methgds, as a result of national reformist
leadership and policy,,, 112
As might be expected, the "Manifesto" was also careful to stress
the need for an immediate alliance between the Filipino peoples and the Soviet
Union as well as with the world-wide Communist movement. Without such an
alliance, the "Manifesto" warned, the national liberation movement in the
Philippines would somehow degenerate into "Filipino chauvinism":
"Either the policy of Filipino bourgeois national chauvinism,
of national hatred and prejudices, of dividing the Filipino,
workers and peasants from the Moro, Chinese, etc. ,
toilers, of attempting to isolate the Filipino masses.
from the international revolutionary movement....
"Or the Communist policy of proletarian internationalism,
of, the revolutionary unity of all workers, peasants and
toilers in the Philippines in joint struggles in defense
of our common interests; of the establishment of a revalu-
t i o nary: , alliance of, the masses of the Philippines
with the international proletariat and colonial peoples,
particularly with workers and peasants of the U. S. S. R.!...
Proletarian internationalism- -this is vital forl#he revolution,
for the victorious solution of our problems. "
The Communist Party line of this period (prior to the adoption
of "united front." tactics in 1936) also sought to undermine the prevalent belief
that the Philippines were in need of United States protection against Japan.. Com-
munist writers dismissed this popular argument as "imperialist propaganda"
invented by Wall Street in order to justify its continued exploitation of the
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Philippines:
"Ironically enough, Wall Street has been able to win
'liberal' advocates for retrenchment of the Philippines.
These people argue that, to avoid a dangerous game
of experimental independence by means of which the
Philippines may be lost, the United States must retrace
its steps (i. e. , cancel plans for eventual Philippine.
independence - ed.)...
"The Scripps-Howard press has begun a lively campaign
for retention of the Philippines, chauvinistically ex-
ploiting the growing distrust of Japanese imperialist
intentions in the Far East... On the basis of struggling
for peace and preserving 'peace and order in the Far
East', it becomes the chief propagandist for imperialist
retention of the Philippines on the; ground of the lesser
colonial evil: better a Wall Street pawn than a victim
of Japanese imperialism. " 114
The "Manifesto" of the Communist Party of the Philippine Islands
was issued in April, 1935, during the last few months of a distinctly aggressive
phase of Soviet foreign policy. This militant stage of Soviet tactics began about
1928 and it had been marked generally by a hostile, uncompromising and ex-
pansionist attitude on the part of the Soviet Union and International Communism
towards the entire non-Communist world.
However, between 1935 and 1938, the propaganda line of.the
Filipino Communist movement underwent a remarkable transformation I During
August, 1938, the Central Committee of.the Communist Party of-the Philippine
Islands convened in what was described as an "Extraordinary Plenary Session. "
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After meeting for three days, the Central Committee approved a "draft statement"
setting forth in detail the Party's analysis of Filipino affairs as well as its
recommendations for future Communist strategy. Taken alone, this document
might be said to offer a reasonably accurate picture of conditions in the
Philippines at that time as well as a fairly sound program for the future.
But, if anyone were inclined to regard this document as a sincere and repre-
sentative statement of Communist views, they had only to compare the "draft'
statement" with the 1935 "Manifesto" issued by the same Party only three
years before and with which the "draft statement" was in almost complete dis-
agreement) Even the sketchiest comparison of these two documents clearly
reflects the hopeless inconsistency (or more exactly, the hypocrisy) of Com-
munist propaganda in the colonial field.
In 1935, as we have seen, the Communists had denounced as
"imperialist propaganda" the idea that the Philippines required United States
protection against Japan. The 1938 "draft statement, " by contrast, is largely
premised on this very ideal Copying a page right out of the "imperialist" argu
ments of..1935, the draft statement declared-
"We would condemn ourselves in advance to national
suicide if we blinded ourselves to the fact that we lie
in the. direct path of the..Jap.anese war of conquest.. .
The Filipino people must chart such a course as will
safeguard them against aggression by Japan... Immediate
severance of all relations with the United States would
mean cutting ourselves loose from one of the most demo-
cratic powers in the Pacific, and would be a fatal blow
to our independence... The Interests of the Filipino
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people lie in establishing their unity with the democratic
and progressive forces in the United States.... and not
in an attitude which would... pl i 1% the Philippines
under the heel of the Mikado. "
The 1935 "Manifesto" had demanded immediate, unconditional
independence for the Philippines and the "violent overthrow of the rule of
American imperialism. " The 1938 draft statement, by comparison, bitterly
condemned advocates of national independence as "unprincipled" individuals
who, in all probability, were "agents of a foreign power. " Even the idea of
national independence, accordingto the 1938 statement, was "dangerous pro-
paganda." As though attempting to justify this startling change from policies
supported by the Communists themselves only three years earlier, the draft
statement explained weakly-
"The right to separate from the United States does not
place upon us the obligation to separate... Under present
circumstances, separation does not assure the best
means towards the attainment of fuller democracy for
the people and complete independence.'' 116 (under-
scored words are italicized in original text. - ed. )
As we have previously noted, the 1935 "Manifesto" of the Party was
unreservedly opposed to the Tydings-McDuffie Independence Act providing a
commonwealth status for the Philippines. Among other epithets hurled at the
Tydings-McDuffie bill, the "Manifesto" had described the measure as: a
"bourgeois national reformist swindle, " an "imperialist deception, " a "fake, "
a "sham independence bill, " a "national-reformist hoax, " and an "imperialist lie. "
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The 1938 draft statement, .by contrast, had nothing but praise for the Tydings-
McDuffie Independence Act, which it characterized as the mark of a
"progressive" American government:
"The well-being of our people, the preservation and
extension of our democratic rights and the advancement
of the. cause of complete independence can best be ob-
tained, under the present circumstances, within the
form of relationship established under the Independence
Act...
"The Communist Party of the Philippines hold in-
alienable the right of the Filipino people to self-
determination, the right to independence. This right
has been recognized in the Independence Act, in which
a progressive American government has guaranteed
it. it 117
As though to add a final touch to the complete scuttling of the pro-
gram advanced by the 1935 "Manifesto, " the draft statement of 1938' went so
far as to assert that a socialist revolution was neither possible nor desirable
in the Philippines at that time. The statement even hinted that the local
Communist Party had abandoned its revolutionary goals and that henceforward
the Communist movement would gladly cooperate with all democratic elements
in the Islands:
"We recognize that our country has not yet reached the
level of development where establishment of socialism'
is immediately possible and that this goal is not acceptable
as yet to the majority of our people.... we recognize- that.
the chief concern of our country now is to improve
conditions of work and life, to def end and extend demo-
cratic liberties, to preserve our country from the
ravages of intervention and war. The Communist Party,
therefore, is ready to do all in its power to obtain
these immediate objectives.... We are ready
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to cooperate with all parties,. political groups, labor,
peasant and fraternal organizations, no matter what
our difference may be with regard to ultimate aims and
program, for the purpose of establishing a democratic
front of the Filipino people... "
As evidence of the Communists' newly adopted spirit of cooperation,
the 1938 draft statement even made friendly overtures in the direction of
Filipino President Manuel Quezon - the same Quezon who had been blasted by
the Communists only three years before as a "leader of national betrayal and
counter-revolution, " a "treacherous enemy of the people" and "faithful lackey
of American imperialism, " a "traitor" to the cause of Filipino independence, 119
The 1938 draft statement, on the other hand, pledged the Communists' "con-
sistent cooperation" to Quezon along with a magnanimous offer to "drop all
differences of the past"-
"We offer President Quezon the consistent cooperation:
of our Party to organize mass support for, and to realize
legislation of a progressive and democratic character,:
and to carry on further along the path of democracy.
We stand ready to drop all differences of the past in
the face of the present national emergency in order to
make possible the democratic unity of the people. " 120
This otherwise baffling change of Communist Party policy between
1935 and 1938 can be understood only in the perspective of over-all Soviet
strategy during the same period. The complete about-face of the Filipino
Communist Party on virtually every phase of its 1935 program represents,
in fact, only a miniature version of a corresponding reversal in the: tactics of
the Soviet Union between 1935 and 1938, i e., a shift from the offensive to the
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defensive..
The reason for this major turn in Soviet strategy was the sudden
threat offered to the U. S.S. R. by the rapid expansion of fascism both in Europe
and Asia during the early 193O's. This development was especially-ominous
for the Soviet Union in view of the violent anti-Communist disposition of the
leading fascist states, climaxed by the signing of a three-power "anti-Comintern
Pact" between Germany, Italy and Japan in late 1936.
In these circumstances, the U.S.S.R. quickly dropped its former
hostile attitude towards the entire capitalist world and strove frantically to
create a common anti-fascist front with all non-fascist powers, notably the
United States, England and France. The...new strategy, popularly dubbed the
"united front, " called for the Soviet Union, as well as its various satellite
Communist Parties throughout the world, to adopt a friendly pose towards the
Western democracies. Revolutionary slogans and violent denunciations of
capitalist "imperialism" were replaced almost overnight by the call for "unity"
and by warm praise for the "progressive" institutions of the Western democ -
r.acies. ,
The draft statement issued by the Communist Party of the Philippines
in 1938 is typical of the conciliatory propaganda produced by the Communist
movement during this "united front" period. As far as representing actual Com-
munist principles concerning the Philippines goes, however, it is sheer fiction -
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a fact which becomes clear by comparing the draft statement to the earlier or
more recent propaganda line of the Party.
This "united front" strategy lasted until August, 1939, when this
Communist `maneuver was suddenly jolted by the signing of a nonaggression'
treaty between the Soviet Union and Germany and by the outbreak ofa world
war which did not immediately involve the U.. S. S. R. At once, Communist prop-
aganda. dropped its feigned admiration for the Western democracies and resumed.
its violent attacks against United States "imperialism. " World War, II was
characterized by Communist writers as an imperialist struggle heralding the
final breakdown of world capitalism. As in 1935, the Philippines were again
described as a victim of Wall Street exploitation. Once morn the demand for
unconditional Filipino independence was dusted off and made a principal plank
of the Communist platform.
This 'te-eeva]uation.t' of..the situation in the Philippines was sum-
marized in a "Resolution on Latin America and the Philippines" adopted by the
Eleventh National Convention of the Communist Party, U.S.A. in June, 1940.
The resolution read, in part, as follows.
"...North American imperialism seeks to utilize the
peoples of the Latin American republics and the Philippines
in its own plans for participation in the frightful massacre.. .
Wall Street pursues its predatory policies in various
forms... The Philippines are to be turned into a base for
struggle for the Dutch East Indies and hegemony in the
Pacific.- The Convention sends its warm fraternal
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greetings to our brother Communist Parties south of
the Rio Grande and in the Philippines which are dis-
playing great heroism in the task of rallying the
people to the anti-imperialist struggle. In solidarity
with the peoples of Puerto Rico and the Philippines, our
Party supports their demand for national independence
from the yoke of American imperialism.'" 12I
This new phase of Communist propaganda was comparatively
short-lived. It endured only until June 22, 1941, when the Nazi invasion of
Russia exploded the strange alliance between Hitler and Stalin and suddenly
converted the erstwhile "imperialist" war into a holy "anti-fascist" crusade.
As might be expected, the Communist Party line with respect to the Philippines
promptly reverted to its "evolutionary" approach. The United States was
again pictured as a kindly benefactor of the Filipino peoples. The demand for
unconditional Filipino independence was abruptly discarded and replaced with
the theme of "unity.
As a matter of fact, following the Japanese invasion of the Philip-
pines in December, 1941, the Filipino Communist Party took a leading part
in the formation of a powerful resistance movement which, during the succeeding
four years, was to prove a constant thorn in the side of Japanese occupation forces.
The Filipino resistance movement, popularly known as the Hukbalahap or
simply as "Huks, " is credited with killing some 20, 000 Japanese troops in
the course of more than a thousand skirmishes and raids. Moreover, the Huk-
balahap furnished valuable intelligence information to the United States Army
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prior to the American counterinvasion of the Philippines in 1945. The Philip-
pines were liberated by American troops in March, 1945, and in August,
1945, the Japanese capitulated to the Allies thus bringing World War II to
an end.
During the seven years which have elapsed since these dramatic
events, Communist propaganda concerning the Philippines has like over-all
Soviet policy - again assumed a belligerent attitude towards the United States
and towards the capitalist world in general.
During 1946, in accordance with the provisions of the Tydings-
McDuffie Independence Act of 1935, the Philippines were granted full national
independence. Despite this evidence of good faith on the part of the United
States and despite the fact that it is no longer reasonable to describe the
Philippines as a colonial area, the Communist line has continued to denounce
American "imperialism" in the Islands and to cite the Philippines as an example
of U. S. "colonialism. "
Ignoring all proof to the contrary, Communist propagandists
insist that the independence now enjoyed by the Philippines is only a "sham"
which conceals an even greater degree of American exploitation.
"For the American imperialists the liberation of the
Philippines meant simply the restoration of American
colonial control... American imperialism set as its
immediate aims the re-establishment of the power of
the feudal landlords and the crushing of the Huk forces
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and the peasant, and especially the labor movement,
the main revolutionary force...
"A few trial balloons in 1945. ..urging postponement
of independence, burst under a barrage of hostile comment.
American policy then definitely committed itself to
granting formal independence, while using it as a
screen behind which to impose greater economic, mili-
tary and political control. o " 1h2
The Communists claim, in fact, that American control of the
Philippines is actually enhanced by Filipino independence. This argument is
justified by the following curious reasoning.-
". In effect this(American grant of independence to
the Philippines - edo) represented a 'cunning counte
offensive' of the imperialists, much the same as the
Communist Party of India has described the formal
grant of independence to India. Independence was to
provide greater formal control to the Filipinos and
greater real control for Americans. Divested of the
formal responsibility for rule, retained American
power, ope rating through puppets, would be all the
greater. " underscored words italicized in
original nai i text - edo )
One of the surest ways to start an argument with the Communists
in recent years has been to merely suggest that the granting of independence to
the Philippines in 1946 is proof of the benevolent motives of the United States
in the colonial field
Earl Browder, former Communist Party leader in the United
States, recently published a book ("War or Peace with Russia") in which he
advanced this idea. The book was promptly denounced by Communist writers
Singled out for special abuse was 13rowderls claim.that the new. Filipino
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independence was part of a "progressive" American colonial policy..
Writing in the June, 1947, issue of Political Affairs, Alexander
Bittelinan blasted Browder's proposals:
"Perhaps the most outrageous part of the book.... is
its 'original' theory of the anti-colonialism of the
United States. Q o
"This is a most amazing performance, which develops
to the full all the absurdities, unrealities, and brazen
revisionist opportunism of Browderism. At this time
American imperialism is engaged in a full-fledged drive
for world domination; employing for the purpose atom-
bomb intimidation; using food as a means of securing
economic penetration and political influence; supporting
every reactionary and fascist force to secure positions, . .
for imperialist rule and exploitation... At this time...
American imperialism is working hand in glove, in an
alliance, with the most sinister forces of world reaction...
At this precise time, then, Earl Browder, still claiming
to be a Marxist, has the audacity and shamelessness
to tell the people that American imperialism is following
a progressive policy of 'anti-colonialism'.
According to Browder, the Philippines are no longer
a colony because an act of formal independence has been
enacted by the United States Congress. But what is the
actual situation? Under the cover of formal independence,
the Philippines are today more oppressed by American
imperialism than before. They are robbed and exploited
by Wall Street monopolies with the assistance of the most
reactionary and fascist and corrupt lilord capitalist
forces of the Philippine Islands... "
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Six years have now passed since the formal ratification of Filipino
independence. During this period the Communists have continued to insist
that the fledgling government of the Philippines represents nothing more than
a "lackey" of American imperialism, a "betrayal" of the real interests of
the Filipino peoples.. But despite the disruptive and obstructionist tactics
employed by the Communists, the Philippines have made steady progress
towards full self-government.
Anyone familiar with the shifting course of Marxist propaganda
during the past twenty years will agree that it would be foolish to try to predict
what future tactics the Communists may adopt in the Philippines. But one
fact is clear: namely, that Communist strategy in the Philippines wail continue,
as it has in the past, to be merely an adjunct of the over-all strategy of the
Soviet Union and world Communism, rather than an honest expression of the
needs and desires of the Filipino peoples themselves.
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CONCLUSIONS
The chief conclusion to be drawn.. from this study is that Com-
munist tactics concerning national liberation and colonial movements are not
related to the actual needs and aspirations of the dependent nations and colonies,
but are based instead only on the self-interests of the Communists themselves -
to be more precise, on the self-interests of the Soviet Union. Such "principles"
as the Communists have advanced with respect to dependent nations and
colonies have, in actual practice,. been rapidly discarded whenever they opposed
the practical aims of the U. S. S. R.
The fraudulent character of Communist theory in this field
is clearly shown, for instance, in a review of changing Communist attitudes
toward the concept of self-determination of nations. The principle of self
determination, as we have seen, has been described by the Communists at one
time as "an inalienable right of nations" and, in almost the next breath, as an
"imperialist slogan"; at one moment it has been called an "essential element
in the solution of the national question, " and the very next it has been dis-
missed as a "scholastic question.'' In each case, of course, the favor or
scorn with which self-determination was regarded was not based in any way
upon ethical considerations but only on the naked self-interest of the Soviet
dictatorship.
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It follows from this that Communist policy with respect to any
particular colonial movement can only be understood in the light of the over-
all strategy of the Soviet Union.
The contradictory course of Communist propaganda with; respect
to the Philippine Islands, for instance, defies any reasonable explanation so
long as the student tries to relate such propaganda primarily to conditions
in the Philippine Islands themselves. But as soon as the Communist pro-
paganda line is examined against the background of changing Soviet policies,
the mystery dissolves; for it is discovered that Communist tactics in the
Philippines at any given time are nothing more than a small-scale version
of world-wide Soviet tactics during the same period.
It is also apparent that, although the Communists have no real
interest in colonial liberation or national independence as such, they' never-
theless consider the colonial and national minority problem one of the major
potential weaknesses of the capitalist system. By the same token, the
Communists believe that the colonial and dependent nations of the world
are among the strongest potential allies of their revolutionary cause.
This explains the Communists' constant effort to convince the
colonial peoples of the world that they have a mutual interest, with Communism,
in the violent overthrow of the capitalist system. It explains the Communists'
constant attempt to persuade colonial peoples that only through the downfall of
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CONFIDENTIAL
capitalist society will all of their problems be solved.
In the two specific colonial areas which we have considered -
namely, Puerto Rico and the Philippine Islands - Communist propaganda has
had little real success thus far. To date, the Communists have been unable
to divert the national liberation movements of either of these nations into
a pro-Communist or pro-Soviet direction. Both Puerto Rico and the Philippines
continue to move. steadily forward towards full self-government and independence,
in both cases without any great degree of Communist control.
However, it would be foolish to believe that the Communists
will not continue, or even intensify, their efforts to exploit the colonies
and dependent nations of the world in the interests of Soviet dictatorship.
One of the primary aims of this paper has been to point out the
many fallacies and inconsistencies of Communist theory and practice
regarding national liberation and colonial movements. It is hoped that the
reader will, as a result, be better able both to recognize Communist prop-
aganda . in this field and to effectively counter it whenever the occasion should
arise.
25X1
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SOURCES
1. Joseph Stalin, Marxism and the National and Colonial Question, p. 8.
(New York: International Publishers, .
2. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto, p. 11.
New York: International Publishers, 1932; eleventh printing, 1939).
3. Joseph Stalin, The National Question and Leninism, p. 11.
(Moscow: Foreign Language Publishing House, 1959).
4. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, op. tit., p. 13.
5. Joseph Stalin, op. cit., p. 13
6. Ibid. , p. 1?.
7. Ibid.,. p. 19.
8. Ibid. , p. 62.
9. tVid., p. 91.
10. Ibid., p. 91.
11. Marx and Engels, op. cit., p. 28.
12. Joseph Stalin, op. cit., p. 19.
13. Marx and Engels, op. cit. , p. 28.
14. Ibid., p. 28.
15., Ibid., p. 20.
16. V. I Lenin, Selected Works, Vol. XI, p, 35.
(New York: International Publishers, 1943).
17. Joseph Stalin, op. cit., p. 17.
18. Ibid. , p. 15.
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19. Ibid., pp. 74-75.
20. Ibid., p. 76.
21. Ibid., p. 114.
22. Ibid., p. 89.
23. 'Ibid, , pp. 89-90.
24. Ibid., p. 90.
25. Ibid., p. 90.
26. ibid. , p.. 91,
27. Ibid., p. 16
28. William Z. Foster, Outline Political History of the Americas, pp. 316-320.
(New York; International -Publishers, 1951)..
29. Georgi Dimitroff, The United Front: The Struggle Against Fascism and War,
p. 79. (New York, ternational Publishers, 8 .
30. Joseph Stalin, op. cit., pp. 147-148.
31. Ibid., p. 195.
32. Ibid., p. 115.
33. Ibid., p. 193.
34. Joseph Stalin, "The International Character of the October Revolution, "
Problems of Leninism, p. 202. (Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing
House, 1947).
35. Ibid., p. 200.
36. Stalin, Marxism and the National and Colonial Question, pp. 194-195.
37. Ibid., p. 18.
38. Ibid., p. 20.
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39. Ibid., p. 56.
40e Ibide, p. 19.
41, Ibid. , p. 68.
42.. Ibid.
p. 69.
43. Ibid.
p.. 70.
44. Ibid
pp. 73-74.
45. Ibid. , p. 75.
46. Ibid., p. 106.
47. Ibid-, p. 110.
48. Ibid., pp. 112-113
49. Ibid., p. 79.
50. Ibid., p. 79.
51.. Ibi a, , p. 64.
52.. Ibid, p. 168.
53. Ibid.., p. 169.
54. Ibid., p. 151...
55. Ibid., p. 106.
56. Ibid., p. 113.
576 Ibid., p... 152.
58. Joseph Stalin, Marxism and the National Question, p. 220.
(New York: International Publishers, ,
r
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59.. Stalin,, Marxism and the National and Colonial Question, pp. 92-93.
60 Ibid., p, 92
61. Ibid.o., p. 78
62, Ibid., pe 79..
63. Ibidq p. 64.
64. N. Bucharin, Programme of the World Revolution, p. 4.
(Glasgow, Scotland: Socialist Labour
65. William Z. Foster, "Specific Features of American Imperialist Expansion, "
Political Affairs, August, 1948, pp. 675-678.
66. William Z. Foster, Outline Political History of the Americas, p. 483.
(New York: International Publis ers, 1951).
67. Alexander Bittelman, "Problems of Peace, Democracy, and National
Independence, "" Political Affairs June, 1947, pe 512,
68, Benjamin J. Davis, "On the Colonial Liberation Movements, " Political
Affairs December, 1950, p. 42.
69. Benjamin J. Davis, "Foster's Contributions to the Cause of National and
Colonial Liberation, " Political Affairs, March, 1951, p. 39.
70., William Z.. Foster, "Specific Features of American Imperialist Expansion,
Political Affairsg August, 1948, p. 676.
71. Ibid.
72. "Review of the Month, " The Communist October, 1940, p< 881
73. Lucille Perry, "The Coming Pan-American Conference at Montevideo, "
The Communist, November, 1933, po 1113.0
74. William Z. Foster, Outline Political History of the Americas, p. 2540
75. Lucille Perry, op. cito , p. 1108a
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76. William Z. Foster, Outline Political History of the. Americas
77. Ibid., p. 262.
78. Lucile Perry, op. cit. , po. 1108.
P.
258.
79. B. T. Lo, "American Policy in the Far East and the Roosevelt: Regime,
The Communist, June, 1940, p. 554.
80. George Marion, Bases & Empire, p. 90. (Printed in U. S. A. by Prompt
Press, for Fairplay Publishers, 25 West 44th Street, New York City).
81. William Z. Foster, Outline Political History of the Americas, p. 487..
82. Benjamin J. Davis, "On the Colonial Liberation Movements, " Political
Affairs, December, 1950, pp., 43-44.
83. A. Capek, "The United States in Asia, " Political Affairs, October, 1951,
p. 63.
84. Betty Gannett, "Wall Street's War Against the Korean People,
Political Affairs, August, 1950, p. 7.
85. Ibid. , p. 6,
86. Statement of the Secretariat of the National Committee, Communist Party,
U. S. A. , "Halt Wall Street Aggression in Asia! ", Political Affairs,
August, 1950, p. 1..
87. "The Communist Position on the Marshall Plan, " Statement of the Communist
Party, U. S. A., Political Affairs, April, 1948, p. 308.
88_. M. Suslov, "Defense of Peace and the Struggle Against the War-Mongers, "
Political Affairs, January, 1950, p. 33.
89. Victor Perlo, American Imperialism, p. 57.
(New York- International Publishers, 1951).
90. George Marion, op. cit., p. 167..
91. Ibid., p, 167.
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92. William Z. Foster, "The Domination of the Capitalist World by the United
States, " Political Affairs, December, 1950, pp. 5-6.
93. William Z. Foster, "Specific Features of American Imperialist Expansion, "
Political Affairs, August, 1948, p. 677.
94. Ibid., p. 677
95. Alexander Bittelman, "The New State of Israel," Political Affairs,
August, 1948, p. 720.
96. V... J. Jerome, "The Yugoslav Leaders on the Path of Betrayal, " Political
Affairs, August, 1948, p. 705..
97. William Z. Foster, Outline Political History of the Americas, p, 231.
98. Cesar Andreu, "The Rising Tide of Struggle in Puerto Rico, " Political
Affairs, February, 1951, p. 223.
99. V. J. Jerome, 'Idarxism-Leninism for Society and Science, '' The Communist,
January, 1938, p.. 77..
100. Cesar Andreu, op. cit. , p. 221.
101. Theodore R. Bassett, "Washington's 'Constitution' for Puerto Rico,
Political Affairs, April, 1951, pp, 65-73,
102. Cesar Andreu, op.. cit. , pp. 221, 225.
103.. Ibid., p. 225.
104.. V. J. Jerome, "Marxism-Leninism for Society and Science, " The Communist,
January, 1938, p. 77.
105. William Z. Foster, Outline Political History of the Americas, p. 386.
106. A confidential source.
107. Henry Newman, "The Stake of the American People in Philippine 'Independence, "
Political Affairs, May, 1951, p. 54.
108.. George Marion, op. cit., p. 84.
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109. "Resolution on Latin America and the Philippines, " adopted by Eleventh
National Convention of the Communist Party, U. S. A. , May 30-June 2,
1940, The Communist, July, 1940, p, 621.
110. Henry Newman, H. Lit. , p,. 59.
111. Ibid. , p. 66.
112. "Manifesto," Communist Party of the Philippine Islands, The Communist,
April, 1935, pp. 372, 374.
113. Ibid., pp.. 378-379.
114.. Harry Gannes, "Wall Street Faces the Far East, " The Communist,
January, 1936, pp. 43-44..
115. "The Philippines Mobilize Against Japanese Aggression, " draft statement
approved by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the
Philippine Islands, August 26-28, 1938, The Communist, December, 1938,
pp. 1112-1124..
116. Ibid , p. 1123.
117. Ibid., pp. 1123-1124.
118. Ibid., p. 1130
1190 "Manifesto " Communist Party of the Philippine Islands, The Communist,
April, 193'5, pp. 366-380.
120. "The Philippines Mobilize Against Japanese Aggression, " draft statement
approved by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the
Philippine Islands, August 26-28, 1938, The Communist, December,
1938, p.. 1130.
121. "Resolution on Latin America and the Philippines, " adopted by Eleventh
National Convention of the Communist Party, U.S.A., May 30-June 2,
1940, The Communist, July, 1940, pp. 621-622.
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122. Henry Newman, op. Sit,, , p. 56.
123. Ibida , pp. 56-57.
124. Alexander Bittelman, "Problems of Peace, Democracy, and: National
Ir Independence," Political Affairs, June, 1947, pp. 511-512.
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