Dear reader,
In honor of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist International that was completed in March 2019, The Editorial Committee of the “International Communist Review” decided that the issue of the journal to be prepared this year be dedicated to the issue of the Timeliness of Proletarian Internationalism under contemporary conditions, in light of the contribution and the experience of the Communist International
In this way the Editorial Committee of the “International Communist Review” honors and recognizes the important contribution of the Communist International to the international labor and communist movement, emphasizing at the same time the need to draw lessons from the experience that was accumulated from its action. Lessons useful in shaping a unitary revolutionary strategy, against capitalist power, against bourgeois and opportunistic ideologies, which reduce or downgrade the significance of the timeliness of Proletarian Internationalism.
Therefore, the 10th issue of the “International Communist Review” that you hold in your hands presents the articles that were reviewed during the meeting of the Editorial Committee of the ICR in which representatives from communist and workers’ parties participated who also wrote the articles for the 10th issue.
As the comrades from Mexico (CP Mexico) note in their article “A Tribute of Honor to the Communist International: We raise the banner of proletarian internationalism” that “The permanent and uncompromising struggle against opportunism, revisionism and reformism, for the preservation of Marxism, reestablishing the characteristics of the revolutionary ideology of the proletariat, constituted one essential base for the emergence of the Third International. The decision to hold high the banner of proletarian internationalism against its abandonment by the majority of the Second International constituted another significant base. The pressures were great and it was literally necessary to take a stand against the current. It was a crime of the opportunists to support the war and to send workers to be slaughtered.”
In the article by the comrades from Spain (CP of the Workers of Spain) entitled “The International Brigades and Proletarian Internationalism” it highlights that “The experience of the International Brigades was one of the most beautiful and rich examples of proletarian internationalism. The support received by the Spanish working class and the people, an outcome mainly from the action of the Communist International and its sections and from the Soviet Union, became an important force in World War II battlefields and also in the strengthening of the anti-fascist struggle in those countries where the confrontation did not reach an international nature. Likewise, the Spanish exile, which thousands of communist militants belonged to, contributed to the development of the communist parties in the hosting countries. The Marxist principle on the fact that the revolution is national in its form, but not in its content, was confirmed by practice. Struggles were waged under the conscience of belonging to a same international working class.”
The article of the Turkish comrades (CP Turkey), “Proletarian internationalism as a weapon of the working class against nationalism and chauvinism" notes that “Internationalism charges vanguard parties with some tasks for the struggle for establishing a society based on the equality of the worldwide proletariat as the fulfilment of these tasks become its reason of being. The argument of the Bolsheviks to turn their weapons not to their class fellows but to their own bourgeoisie during the First World War served this task. Turning the imperialist war into a civil war with the goal of seizing the power became one of the key decisions leading to the Bolshevik Revolution, the hitherto greatest step to abolish the order of exploitation around the world. This was one of the arguments that would pave the way for the establishment of the Comintern that emerged to become a world-party just after the October Revolution. Organized within the frame of a revolutionary programme, the Comintern sections found their common resolution to have a fight in their own countries against opportunism, social democracy and social-chauvinism and the betrayal of the Second International.”
In the article by the comrades from Greece (KKE), “The relations between the vanguard-the CPs in the struggle for the unity of the interests of the workers, despite the differing level of development of capitalism in various countries” it is stressed that “In conclusion, we can say that unevenness in international relations amongst powerful capitalist states and others with a subordinate position in the imperialist system is a component of the functioning of capitalism and will be eradicated with its overthrow, with the construction of the socialist-communist society. Understanding this basic issue contributes to the maturation of the political consciousness of the working class and the popular strata is a part of the strategy of the communist parties. Because otherwise, by detaching the issue of dependence and uneven interdependence, sovereignty or independence in conditions of occupation, from the struggle for socialism, the strategic goal is lost and this is the basis for deviations, utopian solutions in the framework of capitalism e.g. with governments that manage its laws.”
In the article from the comrades from Russia (RCWP) entitled “Dialectical relationship between internationalism and class struggle” it is emphasized that, “The priority of class struggle by proletariat, aiming at preparation of organizational and ideological preconditions for unification of proletarians and organizing them into a class capable of carrying out revolutionary transition from capitalism to socialism are the main issues that cannot be forgotten or neglected when facing any problem, associated with nations. That is communists always and everywhere in each country and when solving any question (national issue included) perform common task, still taking into account peculiarities of each country.”
In the article from the Latvian comrades (SPL) with the title “The Communist International and the struggle for liberation of the working people of Latvia” they write “The attenuation of the revolutionary struggle during the periods of stabilization of capitalism occurred regularly in the past. However, it is not possible to eliminate capitalist crises, and once the crisis would achieve the level of a revolutionary situation in one or several countries. In this regard, attention must be paid to the positive work experience of the Comintern regarding the coordination of the work of the communist and workers' parties. The role the Comintern had in organizing the work of the Communist Party of Latvia in the 1920s and 1930s of the last century was very significant.”
The article from the comrades of Kazakhstan (SMK) entitled “The support of the USSR to the Communist parties and the international labor movement” highlights historical experience on how “The Communists of Soviet Russia, and then the USSR, helped as the formation of foreign parties, and strengthened them ideologically, trained personnel, providing technical resources, printing houses, documents, weapons. RKP (b) in the early 20's strongly, and sometimes directly, supported all the speeches and revolts of the working class and the emerging Communist parties in Germany, Bulgaria and Estonia, assisted movements in the colonies of imperialist countries.”
In the article by the Italian comrades (CP Italy) “Immigration and class solidarity. Proletarian Internationalism is the only way to avoid a war among the poor” it is highlighted that “The communists must launch a political action in depth within the working class, the other working people and the unemployed, explaining the cause and dimensions of immigration and refugeeism, to make it clear that there is no threat or emergency , that immigrants and refugees, oppressed like and more than them, are not the real enemies , but capital and the bourgeois state are. We as well must strengthen our political work within immigrant workers and their communities, helping them to overcome cultural and religious condition, providing them with the theoretical and political tools to understand their rights and to join the class struggle.”
The Editorial Committee of the ICR