Statement of the political bureau of the Revolutionary Communist Party¶
Core Argument¶
The Political Bureau of the Revolutionary Communist Party issues this statement in mid-June 1944, immediately following the launch of the second front, to counter the wave of jingoistic propaganda accompanying the invasion of Europe. The core argument is that the second front does not represent a war for democracy or the liberation of Europe, but a military manoeuvre serving the interests of Anglo-American imperialism. The blood sacrifice of hundreds of thousands, the statement insists, will not destroy fascism; it will merely clear the ground for a new reactionary settlement, as demonstrated by Allied deals with quisling Darlan in North Africa, the retention of King Victor Emmanuel and Badoglio in Italy, and Churchill’s public praise for Franco. These acts are presented as conclusive evidence that the Allies’ programme is not anti-fascist but imperialist.
The statement draws on the historical precedent of these betrayals to warn that the Allies are preparing a similar deal in France, leaving themselves free to install a Vichyite or quisling administration rather than even the anti-socialist de Gaulle. Against this, the text advances a Trotskyist alternative: the French masses, already encouraged by Nazi defeats, will arm themselves and begin liquidating quisling capitalists and administrators before Allied commanders can protect them. The centralisation of partisan bands under working-class leadership, on a Bolshevik and Trotskyist programme, is posed as the only path to a free and united France within a socialist united states of Europe. This would include a direct appeal to German soldiers for class fraternisation, denouncing national hatred and a new Versailles.
The polemic is directed at multiple targets. The Labour, trade union and Stalinist leaders are denounced as renegades who outdo each other in jingoism, with Gallacher singled out for weeping crocodile tears while urging workers to the slaughter. The French Communist Party’s appeal under the crosshead “Death to the Boche” is held up as proof of their foul role. The Stalinists are further mocked for being repaid with a kick in the teeth, denied accreditation for the Daily Worker to cover the invasion. At home, the statement notes the temporary industrial quiet following the opening of the second front and the introduction of 1AA, but warns that the ruling class is preparing post-war attacks on working-class rights, of which the arrest of comrades under the Trade Disputes Act is only the beginning. The text closes with an assertion of confidence in the working class to throw up new revolutionary leaders and to recognise that the epoch of revolutionary socialism is about to unfold.