A School of Revolutionary Strategy¶
Core Argument¶
Marxist theory teaches that no social system departs until its productive forces are exhausted, and no new order emerges without its economic premises being prepared. Yet this proposition has often been understood mechanically. Productive forces drive history, but development occurs through human beings and class struggle, not automatically. When an old society exhausts itself, a new class must be conscious, organised, and powerful enough to overthrow it; if no such class exists, societies can disintegrate or regress into barbarism, as with ancient slave civilisations. The bourgeois system has now completely drained itself—world productive forces cannot develop further within its framework—yet the bourgeoisie remains a living, active force, attaining its greatest political and military concentration when most threatened. History provides the premise for revolution but does not solve the task for the proletariat; the working class must solve it or perish.
The Third Congress of the Communist International was the highest school of revolutionary strategy. It faced two central tasks: first, to purge communist ranks of reformist and centrist elements who feared struggle and inclined toward conciliation with bourgeois society; second, to learn the art of revolutionary struggle through experience, criticism, and self-criticism. The Congress insisted it desired not merely heroic struggle but victory. Defeats were inescapable, but must not occur through the party’s fault. Many struggles had been dictated by revolutionary impatience rather than political sagacity. The revolutionary struggle for power has its own laws, tactics, and strategy; those who do not master this art will never taste victory.
The Italian Socialist Party exemplified centrist tendencies, having joined the Third International while containing reformists like Turati. During the September 1920 mass strikes and factory occupations, the party had agitated for Soviet power but retreated at the critical moment, leaving workers exposed to fascist gangs. The Congress issued an ultimatum: the Italian Socialists must expel all reformists and unite with the Communists. Italian left Communists criticised this as opening doors to opportunists, but the Congress replied that the task was to win over worker-Socialists, not turn one’s back on them.
The March 1921 events in Germany were a central issue. The German Communist Party, provoked by the Social-Democratic police chief Hörsing, called a general strike without prior agitation or preparation, violating the ABC of revolutionary strategy. Influential party theorists justified this with a doctrine of permanent revolutionary offensive. In reality, the offensive came from the enemy; the correct tactic was to unite workers for defence, then escalate if conditions allowed, or retreat if they did not. The Congress condemned such adventurism, exemplified by the Communist Workers Party of Germany (KAPD), which advocated arson and sabotage to worsen workers’ conditions and make them more revolutionary. This was Left SRism, not Marxism.
The Congress also rejected the theory of trade union neutrality from the party, which implied the class’s indifference to revolution. The party, as the conscious vanguard minority, must lead ideologically and politically inside the mass trade unions, though without organisational subordination. The Communist International instructs all parties to deepen ties with the masses, placing Communists in the most responsible and dangerous posts across all strata of the working class. The epoch favours revolution; organisation and consolidation will speed the decisive offensive, which the party will both command and lead to victory.