THE UNITED FRONT
THE UNITED FRONT Lenin did not want Socialist Unity in the days when he controlled only one-third of the Constituent Assembly, the first all-Socialist legislative body ever elected — The first of a...
...As sack it is always an essentia] instrument, particularly in times of great upheaval...
...MOT until the Depression did the Great Minds accept the logic— Though for a decade it was climbing over the horizon...
...A dictator dees set tolerate any other gods at his aide...
...The Bolshevist Party wss far from S majority hi...
...But this was possible | only through the establishment of a revolutionary government supported by the overwhelming majority of the population...
...Since then there has arisen a generation which holds reason and science in contempt and venerates the power of the mailed ' fist actuated by the will to victory...
...The Constituent Assembly This united frost was rendered impossible by the insatiable yearning for power on the part of Lenin asd other leaders of the Bolsheviks...
...Fascism asd Bolshevism are the products of this state of mind...
...Bat Lenin disliked intensely any such cooperation with the Socialists...
...There were two roads ones: the read ef a Socialist united front er the road of power for the Bolsheviks alone over all Other Socialists...
...But does this mean that the Communist dictatorship could not have been avoided under the circumstances as they presented themselves in 1917...
...These are the "successes" which the working class of the world owes to the Communist dicUtorship in Russia...
...ALL this excitement about the Dionue quintuplets Is pure hypocrisy covering up the actual estimate of values— Eventually it seeped through the general public mind That saving water powers was somebody's Business— While economizing on forest reserves affected the Price of Lumber...
...NLY in dark lands, turned backward, is the ^ ancient heresy taught— Dictators, heedless of democracy, alone demand that families grow...
...But the Socialist parties—Mensheviks, Bolsheviks and' Social Revolutionists—constitutea as iiisSHsbsksliU majority in the assembly...
...Such is the inevitable accompalilalia ef conspiracy...
...Had the Bolsheviks at test time agreed to a Baited front, Russia would have bees spared the three years of civil war and the consequent horrible misery...
...Power sad saplings...
...maT'tsWelimtO'sBeaa ciicum-I stances or the tendency which they eetermined...
...Lenin himself was of the opinion that we should not hesitate to use barbarian methods in fighting barbarism, but he always valued, highly the role and importance of the mind...
...Automatic Machines waved aside irresponsible human bands...
...times when only tlw milkd".** unconcerned too Woeh .With ^intellectual and moral restraints, "can be vie-: torious...
...None of" those mentioned, nor Victor Adler, bad ever regarded the mind as an organ restraining strong action...
...To be sure, we cannot say with certainty that this would have actually come to pass, but this was the only road that offered a possibility of obtaining for the people through the revolution as great a measure of liberty and welfare as existing circumstances permitted...
...It would take us too far afield to discuss the question of'moral restraints, the nature ef which is extremely complex...
...He deplored deeply the ignorance of most ef his followers, and considered it imperative to overcome it...
...Shortly before his arrival there wss held an all-Russian conference of Soviets wtuch revealed a very great ¦sainit of agreement between the "There followed st the conclusion ef the conference s joint meeting of Missis*His sad Bolsheviks to discuss ssitavef both factions...
...In the Twentieth Century the Standard of Living became important When the Common Herd began to want iiwsstaesf and light— After Slums were found to be expensive tsr sodswrs, Breeders of Capones as well as of Diphtherias sad TJI...
...the dictatorship ef the Communist Party in Russia to the dictatorship of an individual...
...They declared test formation of a purely Bolshevist government would lead to s regime of terror and to the destruction of the revolution asd the country...
...Futility of conservation of all sorts is known— There the pyramid of human history rises toward its peak— Ail surplus of production unrequired Is relegated to its proper chasm of oblivion-The satsaSsandsd little ears of corn, sad wheat, and little pigs-'' '-' 'it Are plowed back under acres to be fallowed— While gestae coupon clippers preach of Birth...
...These segetiariaw were stopped through the arrival ef Lenin, who succeeded in turning sharply the wheel ef Bolshevist policy, although not without stubborn opposition of mssy influential Bolsheviks...
...This was no mere accident...
...But there are times when the finest mind must fall,''precisely because it foresees all difficulties and takes into consideration all obstacles against which all elements of morality and human sympathy for the sufferings of other creatures are shattered...
...Once more Hm' Bolsheviks had an opportunity to take part in s Socialist united front, which could be the basis ef s government supported by eke overwhelming majority of the people...
...Under these dream-stances their dicUtorship degenerated inevitably from the dicUtorship ef a party to the dicUtorship of as individual over the party asd ever the sUte...
...Czarism in Russia in March, 1917, it appeared self-evident that the various Socialist parties, the Social Democrats and Social Revolutionists, would work together in the Soviets, and that the cooperation would embrace both'Wings of the Social Democracy, Mensheviks and Bolsheviks, including Stalin...
...i ^^nie aessii who more than any esse* fitted the circumstances pmvsflbjg^Russm and^e^sUga ^Kpsfts^sle^ ^*¦»" compstlturs...
...On these questions we have differed since 1918...
...Learn kef sire- yew", venture to SMSSSI j or lead in any action...
...Because ef this they kept aloof from the First International, which was founded upon a demo-cratic basis, which Marx considered indispensable...
...Why the increase in commodity sources when the 1 market is gone...
...Modestus "yOU don't hear so much about Conservation any *• more— Politics used to be full of it— Presidents talked conservation of forests and water power-So did corporations which wanted electro-hydraulic franchisee— There eras mack talk of rivets running to waste— Of forest-fire hells devastating valuable timber supply— But no one ever explained what it wss really all about— Now that Super-Power & Co...
...Long before the revolution he had formed his own organization within the Social Democracy...
...To maintain their dictatorship they have had to resort to the most merciless terror and complete amoralism...
...AH this weald have bees uissibli without dictatorship, without terror, through the democracy _.of the workers asd peasants...
...They dissolved the Constituent Assembly, which they themselves had previously ae passionately championed, and with the help of the politically inexperienced and ignorant soldiery drawn from the disorganized army, whose support they had won by limitless and irresponsible promises, they succeeded in seising power, by means of which they strengthened their own party, organised on militarist lines, and crushed completely all their opponents...
...Is there reason for building Supply when Demand is dead...
...Aeeordin* als°' BauerS»opteion' ipSfrihT the resuh^of ^e ctril war, and that this tendency was further seesotimted kg jhomhmry of tike masses and the rebuilding of prodnetios, which,' in tars, brought addHaonaTnrisery, Only the dictatorship of a small group of Communists oyer the "one hundred Bullion heads of the masses," only the dictatorship of one person over the party could cope with such a situation, says Bauer...
...Lenin was ha Switzerland when the revolution of March, 1917, occurred in Russia...
...The Bolsheviks had ap-piuiliaslily one-third of the mem ¦¦estk tl Mew Leader...
...except those who were willing to obey his commands...
...Since 1921 these opponents have consisted entirely ef the Socialist parties The Bohkovirs attained sower and have been ruling ever, since not through the confidence and support of the majority of the people...
...The first seven . of the ten chapters of the book dari^msre with Lenin than with s'ie«Jst"i«f the mainsprings of Bol-sbevism and its victory in Russia-Stalin's personal characteristics are not brejbskt m to explain the e*Kr» development of the Russian dictatorship, in which Stalin §St4 *4be a long time played an swlsja|P|bjfe sele...
...To this end he employed falsehood, slander and brutal force against sjl opponents, among whom he counted ail "9oetslh»ts...
...Of course, it was an inevitable logic of facts that led to the transformation of...
...Utterly against any united frees of the workers when such a united front became possible after the revolution ef 1917...
...Slid Riding at Anchor By Mr...
...After the spht of IMS and as late as July, 1914, shortly before she outbreak of the war, Lenin fought bitterly against unity with the Mensheviks...
...Bauer answers these questions in the affirmative...
...Bolshevik Method...
...It was the Bolsheviks who utilized a favorable combination of circumstances to render impossible any ship, they ineviUbly created a situation in wkkk "only the mailed fist, unconcerned too much with intellectual and moral .restrsaatfc-djy be victorious...
...It places moral and in telle ct ua 1 restraints on an equal level...
...He writes: "Under the circumstances it was impossible to avoid the Victory of the one who exhibited the greatest will power, waO was most free of any feelings of compassion with respect to his competitors...
...For this reason he had brought about a split in the Russian Social Democracy in 1908 and declared war against all Social Democrats who had refused to give his leadership blind obedience...
...Such a government could hare bees set up only on the bafiis of a anited front of all Socialist parties...
...From the moment the Bolsheviks seized sewer is order to destroy their Socialist opponents, instead ef reaching as undersUnding with them, the development ef events assumed inevitably the coarse described by Otto Bauer...
...And why not...
...The date is already fixed when the Census will show population's ebb...
...They knew that Production could be only for Profit, That mere Use of Commodities was a bare incident...
...I have maintained from the very beginning...
...Why all the excitement about lighting up cities that are dying...
...Much more" sJaipM ii the question of intellectual restraints...
...Otto Bauer admits that Souva-rn^^boak^ as^hs^ortos^ and Iktorte fa robsta^nce3 of the book when be says 'k seeks "to explain the entimdsvelopment of the RusrM^HMlmft...
...They have always ruled as a small minority against the will of the overwhelming majority, whose misery they knew net how to heal asd which they have increased immeasurably through " civil war and bureaucratic compulsion...
...the lost contemptible . becomes the most powerful under the circumstances ef dtetaanynVibv' , I agree enttrssy^iti^ksix'Bauer on this point...
...Surpluses of land, of machines, of mere human 1 hands Are no concern of Minds responsible for Management— Of primary importance now is the Domain of Durable Goods— This is the Boot of All, and is Conservation's chief concern...
...ALL the Comforts of Home never meant very much until lately...
...A government founded OB such s basis and having virtually the entire people behind it would have been in s position to crush with est any difficulty any attempt at counter-revolution...
...But I ',mast protest, however, when he seeks to utilize this point as a justification of Stalin and declares that'there are times when the mind must be eliminated as an organ interfering with and restraining our - action...
...Origin of Dictatorship •In the quotation cited above, Bauer pmsesti a resume of the development of the Bolshevist dictatorship which pictures it as beginning in "the three-year civil war" of 1918-1921...
...Theodore Dan in his Continuation of Martoff's History of the Russian Social Democracy.— Page 296.] Lenin's ate in the Russian Revolution was to destroy not only all organs of self-administration, bet also all other parties and social organisations, except his own...
...caBsd theiseoJMJ Communists sines 1918...
...This was always considered a self-evident truth until the World War...
...has all the power locations corralled— And the big.lumber companies have learned some common sense about slash— The talk runs all to soil erosion— During the same period in which we have been plowing under crops...
...THE UNITED FRONT Lenin did not want Socialist Unity in the days when he controlled only one-third of the Constituent Assembly, the first all-Socialist legislative body ever elected — The first of a notable series of articles by the dean of Socialist thinkers ~K MONG the problems now L*^e*a»4 ^tcktchtt^In °' aarkmal and the Socialist Youth ^^Rpps*m the establishment of a'tinitii'.'fiBOOt bet ween Social ^Hnriffccy' * n d Conimiiiitsffl ^^mbs as again to examine "^•rJyVthe partner with whom e« are asked to...
...This has led, in tarn, to the weakening of the revolution and of the labor movement as a whole, and to the triumph of the counterrevolution in all countries where circumstances have favored «m rise of dictators operating on the principles governing the dicutor in the Kremlin, the principles, under which we are asked to reject "all moral and intellectual restraints...
...There is a difference between them-and there are occasions when they come into conflict...
...In fact, any such attempt would have been sipped in the bud...
...He returned to Russia s month after the revolution and" found a situation which made him very bitter...
...Nevertheless, efforts were continued by some to bring about a government of all Socialist parties...
...Dees this mean that Socialists must regard that dictatorship as necessary...
...The late Martoff, for whom Bauer entertained very high regard, also deplored the victory of Bolshevism as "the victory ef Blanquist and anarchist ignorance over Marxian culture...
...The mind is a restraining instrument,' said Victor Adler...
...vre#>4f Because of the close interse^bUM interrelation of modern amffjjjsjglf was natural that they eeaglflXtttffc struggle against the SoemljatfY other countries as wsiL Is -tips sphere they have devoted a&Ujejjr energies to the destruction ifeSp Social Democratic parties, the free trade unions and the cooperatives...
...Bauer's formulation is not a happy one...
...Production .was sees to be the high function of Industry...
...The momentum leading to Boulder Dams and Columbia Basins looked good— Here was Conservation glorified in its native hills...
...He finally succeeded in smashing all his opponents through his coup d'etat of November 7, 1917...
...conclude an ¦towever, there has appeared re-eRrtuy a ^work, ^the French lan¦pppsas^sbeMsajsaespt of Bsmhuvism ETessS...
...It -was" Marx who transformed the Communist League from a dictatorial, conspiratory organisation into a democratic association...
...KunnilaK/ia J ki Msg* and Engels hsvcjUwsys xnowieuge auu ciesr TneoretiCHr perception...
...At this/ time Zisoviev, Ksme-neff, Rykoff, Rjasanoff, Losewski and ether prominent Bolsheviks demanded the formation of a Socialist government composed of all Soviet parties...
...that the special circumstances prevailing in Russia in 1917 made possible the Bolshevist dictatorship, but that this dictatorship was by no- means unavoidable or desirable from the point of view of Socialism...
...Did not all of them have a common "aim: establishment of a democratic republic, the eight-hour jes iHsfapiliei Tl the - land *-Souvarine deals with this question very well and in ample detail...
...In reality an understanding of tiie dictatorship requires an analysis extending to an earlier period...
...Now, Business and Price have no meaning in themselves— These things are not the Ultimate Reason for Things— Unless some human being wants some of the electric juice— Or human comfort is able to demand more and better roofs^-Kilowatts and shingles cannot be converted into power bills and rente...
...Among the pretenders to this dictatorship victory fell logically to the mas who was in tellectually the lowest and morally the most brutal and least guided by conscience, even though he was the store cunning and farsighted...
...To be sure, he failed to recognize that tree knowledge and science could not flourish without freedom, for he was too much of a barbarian himself...
...Bet it is false to assert test this development was inevitable from the beginning ef the revolution is 1917...
...Blanqui and Mazzini thought and acted likewise...
...Otto" Bauer tinrladis that...
...This dual organization was IjuiH on military lines and 'within this organization.Lenin had established his own dictatorship...
...What's the reason for irrigating, asd then killing little pigs...
...mti^n\\ |^11jd^ok>gy' Hm3S«i ^It^tamV^KScularly HHt> at what Otto Baser had ¦WKinjit.-itbi a recent Issue of • The disagreement between Bauer ^K^io* the question of Soviet ^HHBtjs'nearly twenty, peers oli, Bolshevist dicUtorship, It is with reluctance that I _nr' Venture to enter upon another ^jgument against, him, because I ¦Has him very highly and con-^^^fc^hV^ieni^I feel^tt Smt involved, particularly9 the question of the united front...
...i * • • Goethe once said that the most contemptible is the most powerful...
...They regarded the mind as"as organ designed to restrain false and assess action...
...Teodore Dan in his Continuation of Martoff's History of the Russian fajhoMs Assembly, which were then in ES&Tln th* he was mlstsken...
...v?gf: To emphasize their differentiation from the Social Democracy, the Bolsheviks have...
...To iljjii ^ m ese of ttw sseet ¦ sir Wastes* Ml tie" yessg aeaees over and over again: Learn...
...Until some Cynic interrupted by asking: Whet for...
...After the' fall of...
...Maxim Gorky once revealed that Lenin had always Valued highly Stalin's fiat, bet not his mind...
...Be* Stalin's eharaeteristics are discussed be1 ""SJSKJW' anaersfand how HHHMr ^iW come to be the <tie-I tator...
...Peace and freedom would have made possible rapid economic recovery and with it a speedy development of the working class, which, in turn, would have pro-promoted the realisation of a large measure of Socialist economy and its successful administration...
...During the war he continued to preach the ides^of nations*'This was, the burden...
...On cultured shores, where intellect and science radiate...
Vol. 19 • January 1936 • No. 1
