11. The Stalinist Experiment with Ministerialism
In Russia, in 1917, the Bolsheviks refused to support the Popular Front Provisional Government. They called on the reformist and centrist parties to sack the capitalist ministers, from the Cadets and other bourgeois parties, from the government, under the slogan, “Down With The Capitalist Ministers”.
In China, not only did the Stalinists not raise such a demand, but they entered the Popular Front government, in Wuhan, themselves. The consequence was inevitable. The Stalinists gave left cover for the bourgeoisie and petty-bourgeoisie, and nothing more. In doing so, they disgraced themselves in the eyes of the workers.
“two Communists entered the bourgeois government in the capacity of ministers of labour and agriculture – the classic posts of hostages! – under the direct instructions of the Comintern: to paralyse the class struggle with the aim of retaining the united front.” (p 280)
Trotsky cites Chitarov's account of the experience. He describes how these ministers first gave up even entering the ministries, and how nothing to the benefit of workers or peasants resulted from it. Eventually, one of them claimed to be ill, and the other wished to go abroad. Chitarov says,
“They did not resign with a political declaration in which they would have declared: You are counter-revolutionists, you are traitors, you are betrayers – we will no longer go along with you. No. They declared that one was allegedly ill. In addition, Tang Pingshan wrote that he could not cope with the magnitude of the peasant movement, therefore he asked that his release be granted. Can a greater disgrace be imagined? A Communist minister declares that he cannot cope with the peasant movement. Then who can? It is clear, the military, and nobody else. This was an open legalization of the rigorous suppression of the peasant movement, undertaken by the Wuhan government.” (p 280-1)
In Ukraine, the Ukrainian social-patriots cannot even claim the superficial involvement in the government, whilst they, and the social-imperialists supporting NATO and Zelensky did not even get an invite to the London Conference of imperialists, to discuss the future exploitation of Ukrainian workers, and pillage of Ukrainian resources. Instead, they simply and voluntarily brought their heads to the slaughter – or rather the heads of Ukrainian workers – and provided Left cover for the imperialists.
Tang Pinshan said he could not cope with the peasant movement, but that was the task Stalin had given him.
“Tang Pingshan complained – Khitarov raged hypocritically – that he could not cope with the peasant movement. But Khitarov could not help knowing that this was just the task that Stalin set before Tang Pingshan. Tang Pingshan came to Moscow at the end of 1926 for instructions and reported to the Plenum of the ECCI how well he coped with the “Trotskyists”, that is, with those Communists who wanted to leave the Guomindang in order to organize the workers and peasants. Stalin was sending Tang Pingshan telegraphic instructions to curb the peasant movement in order not to antagonize Chiang Kai-shek and the bourgeois military staff. At the same time, Stalin accused the Opposition of underestimating the peasantry.” (p 281-2)
The ECCI even passed a resolution attacking Trotsky for calling for the creation of soviets, calling it a demand for the overthrow of the Left KMT government. That is the government that was about to repeat the exercise of Chinag Kai Shek's April coup.
“We see here in all its nakedness the essence of the struggle against Trotskyism: the defence of the bourgeoisie against the revolution of the workers and peasants.” (p 282)
No comments:
Post a Comment