Social-fascism is a political cliche according to which European social democracy is a kind of fascism [1] . Distributed by the theorists of the Comintern in the 1920s / 1930s [1] .
Content
History
The term was first used by Grigory Zinoviev , then chairman of the Executive Committee of the Comintern .
After the Sixth Congress of the Comintern (July 1928 ), the parties of the Comintern adopted the theory of the "third period" , according to which the communist revolutionary movement in the world after the October Revolution of 1917 went through 3 stages:
- 1918 - 1923 - the first period, a revolutionary upsurge;
- 1923-1928 - the second period, the consolidation of reactionary forces and the stabilization of the capitalist system (the USSR at that time pursued a policy of NEP );
- After 1928 - the third period, the global crisis of the capitalist system and the time of decisive battles for the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat in Europe; according to the leaders of the Comintern, at that time fascism and social democracy became the main forces inhibiting the revolutionary movement of the working class.
The Confrontation of Communism and Social Democracy
In response, the German Social Democracy began to agree with the anti-communist parties that “the reds are equal to the brown” [2] ; in 1929, on the orders of the social democratic government of Berlin , the May demonstration of communist workers was shot, which exacerbated the conflict between communists and social democrats and provided additional arguments for proponents of the theory of social fascism. Subsequently, the conflict between the SPD and the KKE led to the fact that in 1931, with the approval of the Political Secretariat of the ECCI, the Communists joined the referendum initiated by the Nazis, the purpose of which was the resignation of the Social Democratic government of Prussia [3] .
Change Tactics
The rejection of the theory of social fascism occurred after the establishment of fascist regimes in Germany in 1933 (after which both communists and social democrats were repressed) and in Austria in 1934 . It became obvious that the refusal to cooperate with the Social Democrats can only lead to the strengthening of anti-communist forces. Beginning in the mid-1930s, the Communists and Social Democrats, under the fascist threat, began to unite as part of the people's fronts ; this happened in 1936 in France and in Spain, in 1937 in Chile .
Criticism
In the USSR, in particular, the People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs Georgy Chicherin spoke out against the theory of social fascism in June 1929; in his opinion, such tactics led the Comintern to death.
In the world communist movement, the theory of social fascism was opposed by the Trotskyists who defended the idea of a united front of workers' organizations [4] .
On April 27, 1931, in his letter to the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Leon Trotsky unsuccessfully called for the rallying of revolutionary forces (communists, socialists and anarchists) during the Spanish Revolution, warning that abandonment of it would lead to the establishment of real fascism in the country [5] .
On December 8, 1931, Trotsky wrote a letter to the German Communist worker, a member of the KKE, published in the Bulletin of the Opposition under the title “What is the fallacy of the current policy of the German Communist Party?” (In the English translation “For a united united anti-fascist front” [6] ) In it, he advocated a tactical alliance of communists and social democrats to counter fascism:
| Communist workers, you are hundreds of thousands, millions, you have nowhere to go, foreign passports are not enough for you. In case of coming to power, fascism, like a terrible tank, will pass through your skulls and spines. Salvation is only a merciless struggle. And victory can be achieved only by a military rapprochement with the Social Democratic workers. Hurry, workers communists, for you have little time left!Leon Trotsky. What is the fallacy of the current policy of the German Communist Party? // Opposition Bulletin , March 1932 |
Ernst Thalmann opposed Trotsky, declaring the idea of an alliance of communists and social democrats "the worst theory, the most dangerous theory and the most criminal of those that were invented by Trotsky in the last years of his counter-revolutionary propaganda." In his opinion, the peak of popularity of the NSDAP came in 1930 , after which fascism in Germany should inevitably begin to lose influence. This forecast did not materialize - in 1932 the Nazis expected even greater success in the elections than in 1930.
According to the German Communist E. Wallenberg, Zinoviev told him in 1933 that "apart from the German Social Democrats, Stalin bears the main responsibility before history for Hitler's victory" [7] .
See also
- Social chauvinism
- The theory of totalitarianism , affirming the kinship of Stalinism with fascism.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Social Fascism. - Small Soviet Encyclopedia . - M .: JSC " Soviet Encyclopedia ", 1930. - T. 8. - P. 236.
- ↑ Adelheid von Saldern, The Challenge of Modernity: German Social and Cultural Studies, 1890-1960 . - University of Michigan Press , 2002. - P. 78. ISBN 0472109863
- ↑ Chapter 7 // Rob Sewell, Germany: From Revolution to Counter-Revolution . - Fortress Books, 1988 ISBN 1870958047
- ↑ XLIX. The theory of "social fascism" and Hitler's rise to power // V. Rogovin. Power and Oppositions . - M .: Partnership “Theater Magazine” , 1993. - V. 2. - 398 p.
- ↑ Opposition bulletin. 1931. No. 21-22. with. 17.
- ↑ Leon Trotsky: For a Workers' United Front Against Fascism (1931)
- ↑ Deutscher I. Trotsky in exile. M., 1991. 227.
Literature
- in Russian
- Rogovin V.Z. Power and opposition . - M .: Partnership “Theater Magazine” , 1993. - V. 2. - 398 p.
- in other languages
- Earl Browder, The Meaning of Social-Fascism: Its Historical and Theoretical Background. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1933.
- Theodore Draper, "The Ghost of Social-Fascism," Commentary, Feb. 1969, pp. 29-42.
- Jay Lovestone, The People's Front Illusion: From "Social Fascism" to the "People's Front." New York: Workers Age Publishers, nd (1937).
- DM Manuilsky, Social Democracy - Stepping Stone to Fascism: Or Otto Bauer's Latest Discovery. New York: Workers Library Publishers, nd (1934).