A.J.
6th April 2007, 13:23
A Year of the Heroic Struggle of the Spanish People
BY GEORGI DIMITROFF
For a whole year now the Spanish people, in the front line of the
struggle against world reaction and fascism, have been manfully
defending their liberty and independence and thereby safeguarding the
interests of democracy, culture and peace against the fascist
barbarians and warmongers. It may be asserted without any exaggeration
that after the great October Revolution this heroic struggle is one of
the most considerable events of the post-war political history of
Europe.
When on July 18 of last year the telegraph announced the
rebellion of the fascist generals against the Spanish Republic , nobody
could think that the civil war which was stirred up by the fascist
scoundrels would continue so long. Both the friends and enemies of the
Spanish people, each in their own way, counted on a very rapid
conclusion of the war.
In a few days the fascist rebellion was crushed by the Spanish
workers and the people's militia in the most important centers of the
country. Madrid and Valencia , Barcelona and Almeria , almost all the
important cities of Spain , were in the hands of the Republican
government.
In launching a struggle against the democratic conquests of the
Spanish revolution and basing themselves at the beginning of the
rebellion mainly on the counter-revolutiona ry officers whom the people
hated, on the Moroccan troops and Foreign Legionnaires, the rebel
generals met with the armed resistance of all the forces of the Spanish
revolution, of the entire Spanish people, united in the ranks of the
People's Front around the Republican government.
There can be no doubt whatsoever that had there been no
intervention by the fascist states, had Hitler and Mussolini not placed
their arms, air force and regular troops at the disposal of the rebel
generals against Republican Spain, the Spanish people would long ago
have cleared their country of the fascist aggressors. The well known
facts go to prove that the rebel generals would have never dared to
undertake a war against the Spanish Republic altogether had they not
been inspired to do so by the fascist states. Actually, this bloody
plot against the Spanish people was hatched and organized in Berlin and
Rome.
The fascist warmongers made use of the counter-revolutiona ry
generals so as to lay their hands on Spain, on its wealth, on its raw
materials for the war industry, and so as to establish themselves in
the Mediterranean Sea for the new imperialist war they are preparing.
Hitler and Mussolini apparently calculated that Generals Franco and
Mola, who acted as their tools, would be able in a few days to seize
Madrid , to dissolve the Republican regime and to present them with
rich booty in the shape of so-called "national" Spain . There can be no
doubt that they were also strengthened in this conviction by the fact
that despite the repeated and insistent warnings of the Spanish
Communist Party the Republican government of that time did not take any
radical measures against the plot that was being prepared by the
counter-revolutiona ry generals, and could have been taken unawares.
Mussolini and Hitler hoped that fascism could achieve victory in Spain
without meeting with any serious armed resistance on the part of the
people, as was the case in Italy in 1922 and in Germany in 1933.
All these calculations, however, turned out to be radically
false. Spain proved to be too hard a nut for the teeth of fascism. The
Spain of 1936 was not the Italy of 1922, nor the Germany of 1933. The
fascist rebellion in Spain broke out after the first victory of the
democratic revolution of the Spanish people, after the Spanish
proletariat and the masses of the people had drawn the lessons from the
events of Italy , Germany and Austria , after the foundations of the
anti-fascist People's Front had already been laid. By overthrowing the
medieval monarchy and establishing the parliamentary- democratic
republic, the Spanish revolution gave rise to an inexhaustible source
of the forces of the Spanish people in the struggle against the counter-
revolution, which wants to bring back the old regime of landlords and
financial oligarchy so hateful to the people. In view of this, for the
Spanish people the struggle against the fascist rebellion is
indissolubly bound up with the maintenance and development of the
democratic conquest of their revolution against the regime of
medievalism and obscurantism, against the landowners, against the
thoroughly decayed aristocracy and the counter-revolutiona ry officers.
Having become convinced of the inability of Franco to secure
victory for fascism with the aid of the Moroccans and the Foreign
Legion, the fascist states themselves took over the conduct of the war
against the Spanish Republic . There are actually units of the German
and Italian armies, their artillery, tanks and planes around Madrid and
Guadalajara , on the southern and northern fronts, pitted against the
valiant Republican army and engaged in demolishing cities, destroying
villages and deluging the land of the Spanish people in rivers of
blood. The fleets of the fascist states blockade Spanish ports, bombard
and demolish sea towns. Madrid , Guernica and Almeria will forever
remain in the minds of progressive mankind as ill-omened memorials of
fascist barbarism.
And the greater the confidence in the righteousness of their
cause the greater the energy and enthusiasm with which the Spanish
people carry on the struggle, the more they strengthen the Republican
army, close their ranks and eliminate weaknesses and defects in the
conduct of the war after each new act of provocation by the fascist
interventionists, the more cynically do Hitler and Mussolini increase
their intervention, openly declaring that they will not permit the
existence of a Republican Spain. In plain talk the recent articles of
Mussolini amount to the unbridle and cynical thesis that: Spain must be
a fascist colony, otherwise it will be transformed into ruins.
In the light of these facts it is difficult to find the pages
in modern political history recording behavior more shameful than the
behavior of the decisive Western capitalist states, which proudly call
themselves democratic, in relation to the Spanish people and their
struggle for the liberty and independence. At the very time when
before the eyes of the whole world the fascist interventionists are
openly engaged in a predatory war in Spain, these countries, and
primarily Great Britain, have been engaged for practically a year in
the farce of "non-intervention" in Spanish affairs. Even after Hitler
and Mussolini have rejected the so-called international control, those
who guide British foreign policy still continue to seek compromise
formulas of agreement with the brazen fascist interventionists.
The League of Nations, the statutes of which contain a special
clause regarding sanctions against the aggressor, providing
specifically for cases analogous to the present armed intervention of
Germany and Italy against the Spanish people, maintains an obstinate
silence.
Although it is clear that should the fascist interventionists
succeed in enslaving Spain they will not hesitate to instigate
rebellions like that of Franco in Czechoslovakia, Austria, Denmark,
Belgium and other countries, the League of Nations, chiefly under the
pressure of Great Britain, studiously avoids taking any decision on the
Spanish question which would guarantee the international rights of the
constitutional government of Spain. Thereby it actually spurs on the
fascist interventionists and aggressors. The democratic United States
of America , headed by Roosevelt , maintains the position of an
unperturbed "observer." The efforts of the Soviet Union, which stands
resolutely and consistently on the side of the Spanish people, to
induce the non-fascist states to pursue a firm and insistent policy in
relation to the fascist interventionists, so as to secure Republican
Spain in its lawful rights and the opportunities of defending itself
against onslaught and of being sovereign master of its own country,
have not yet led to positive results. The selfish interests of the big
capitalists and the financial cliques in Great Britain, France and the
U.S.A. still continue to dominate over not only the interests of the
Spanish people and of the maintenance of peace, but also over the real
interests and future of their own peoples.
Thus a strange picture is presented which should compel every
worker and every supporter of democracy and peace to think things over
seriously. At the very moment when the fascist states are acting in
agreement against the Spanish Republic, when Berlin, Rome and Tokyo are
planfully, step by step, preparing a new predatory world war, when the
increasing intervention by Mussolini and Hitler in Spain is accompanied
by the provocation of the Japanese militarists on the Amur, and by the
military operations in North China, the governments of the big Western
states are engaged in endless discussion regarding the bankrupt "non-
intervention" and "control" plans and are pursuing an ostrich policy in
relation to the frenzied interventionists and warmongers who recognize
no limits.
One must not think that the policy of the ruling circles of
Great Britain , France and the U.S.A. on the Spanish question and on
the question of maintenance of peace corresponds to the sentiments,
feelings and will of the overwhelming majority of the peoples of these
countries. It is precisely for this reason, in order to justify their
policy that they are constantly attempting to frighten their peoples
with the thought of the war which they allege will be precipitated by
the fascist states if the non-fascist states and the League of Nations
take resolute action against the interventionists.
But it is quite clear to everyone who knows the actual
international situation, the situation in the fascist countries
themselves and the relations of forces between the supporters of peace
and the warmongers, that this is nothing but cheap playing on the anti-
war sentiment of the broad masses. For in so far as the fascist states
are concerned the conquest of Spain is one of the most important
prerequisites for the world war which they are preparing. Giving them
the opportunity of entrenching themselves in Spain means helping them
increase their preparations for war, helping them to transform that
country into a base for an attack on France, helping them to strengthen
their military strategic positions in the Mediterranean.
The real truth of the matter is that a defeat of the Spanish
people would increase the threat of war a hundredfold and considerably
hasten the precipitation of a war on the part of the fascist
aggressors. A victory for the Spanish people, on the contrary, would
raise a new barrier in the way of the precipitation of war. Everyone
who is seriously desirous of maintaining peace must do all in his power
to ensure that the fascist interventionists are driven out of Spain as
rapidly as possible and that the Spanish people are able to secure
their liberty and independence.
Even such an admirer of Hitler as Lloyd George could not deny
this truth. Speaking recently in the House of Commons he declared: "it
is said that if we display firmness in relation to Berlin and Rome ,
there will be war. I say to you that if we do not display such
firmness, war will surely take place."
One of the most important reasons that make it possible for the
non-fascist Western states to occupy such a position of toleration
toward the fascist interventionists and Pilate-wise to wash their hands
is undoubtedly the circumstance that the international proletariat has
not yet succeeded in acting unitedly and preparedly for the fulfilment
of the main demands of the Spanish people, namely: the immediate
withdrawal of the interventionist armed forces of Italy and Germany
from Spain; the lifting of the blockade from the Spanish Republic; the
recognition of all the international rights of the lawful Spanish
government; the application of the statues of the League of Nations
against the fascist aggressors who have attacked the Spanish people.
These demands which in the main were advanced by the Communist
international soon after the fascist rebellion in Spain , were also
proclaimed later by Labor and Socialist International, and undoubtedly
are the demands of every class-conscious worker and every honest
supporter of peace. The international proletariat is without a doubt on
the side of the Spanish people, against the fascist rebels and
interventionists. It has displayed and continues to display its
solidarity with the Spanish fighters not only by rendering material aid
and by supplying food and medical assistance, but by giving a number of
its best sons, who are fighting in the Republican army around Madrid ,
Guadalajara and at the other fronts.
However, all this is far from sufficient. The international
labor movement, its political and trade union organizations, cannot
consider its duty toward the Spanish people and the defense of peace
fulfilled until it has seen to it that international rights are secured
to the Spanish Republic and the fascist intervention in Spain is
stopped. To achieve this it is necessary to intensify the solidarity
campaign on behalf of the Spanish people in all countries. It is
necessary to mobilize all forces so as to render impossible the policy
of toleration in relation to the fascist interventionists.
It is essential to realize that in this connection the main
role in Europe is being played by Great Britain, and therefore a
special responsibility for the fate of the Spanish people, for the
maintenance of peace, rests with the working class of Great Britain,
with the people of Great Britain. It is impossible to tolerate the
scandalous situation wherein the Labor leader Lansbury makes his
obeisances to Hitler and Mussolini with an "olive branch" in his hand,
while Citrine, General Secretary of the Trade Union Council, echoes the
songs of Chamberlain and Eden, designed to lull public opinion in Great
Britain, at the very time when the fascist hordes of Italy and Germany
are shedding the blood of the Spanish people and demolishing Spanish
cities and villages.
If the Spanish people and international are to be effectively
protected, joint and concerted action on the part of the international
organizations of the working class is absolutely essential. Let it not
be said that such concerted action is impossible. True, there are a
number of obstacles in the way. There are leaders and groups in Labor
and Socialist International and in the International Federation of
Trade Unions that, out of considerations which have nothing in common
with the interests of the international proletariat and the Spanish
people, oppose joint action by the international working class
organizations, and even threaten to leave the Socialist International
if an agreement regarding joint action with the Communist International
is adopted.
But can such a situation be regarded as something fixed once
and for all and not subject to alteration? It is necessary to overcome
obstacles and not to capitulate before them. The interests of the
international proletariat and the cause of the defense of peace, which
coincide absolutely with the interests of the Spanish people, must be
placed above all personal and group considerations.
The meetings between the representatives of the Communist
International and the Labor and Socialist International in Annemasse
and Paris have shown that both sides are at one in the main demands for
the defense of the Spanish people and the maintenance of peace. Why,
then, not do the only thing that can rapidly and surely lead to the
fulfilment of these demands – organize united action by the
international working class organizations and proceed to the joint
utilization of all the reserve forces at the disposal of the world
labor movement?
On the anniversary of the heroic struggle of the Spanish
people, in face of the ominously increasing fascist intervention in
Spain and the new Japanese aggression in North China, this question
rises most acutely before each working class organization, before every
person who is active in the labor movement, before all supporters of
democracy and peace, and demands a practical solution.
During a year of uninterrupted and tense fighting the Spanish
proletariat has succeeded in defending the conquests of the democratic
revolution, in strengthening unity in the ranks of the People's Front,
and in securing the establishment of a heroic people's republican army,
half a million strong. It is clearing the way for its united political
party and for the unification of its trade unions, and working steadily
to secure all the domestic conditions necessary for final victory over
fascism.
The Spanish proletariat, headed by the Communist Party and
marching in the front ranks of its people, is honorably fulfilling its
duty in the front line of the struggle against world reaction and
fascism. The international proletariat on its part must fulfil its duty
in relation to its glorious Spanish detachment in full.
The Communists, while intensifying their own action in defense
of the Spanish people and of peace in every way, will not therefore
cease to point still more persistently to the imperative need for
establishing united action on the part of the international labor
movement, nor will they cease to fight with all their energy to bring
it about as rapidly as possible.
-----------
This article was published in the journal The Communist International
by the Organ of the Executive Committee of the Communist International
Volume XIV Number 9, dated September 1937
BY GEORGI DIMITROFF
For a whole year now the Spanish people, in the front line of the
struggle against world reaction and fascism, have been manfully
defending their liberty and independence and thereby safeguarding the
interests of democracy, culture and peace against the fascist
barbarians and warmongers. It may be asserted without any exaggeration
that after the great October Revolution this heroic struggle is one of
the most considerable events of the post-war political history of
Europe.
When on July 18 of last year the telegraph announced the
rebellion of the fascist generals against the Spanish Republic , nobody
could think that the civil war which was stirred up by the fascist
scoundrels would continue so long. Both the friends and enemies of the
Spanish people, each in their own way, counted on a very rapid
conclusion of the war.
In a few days the fascist rebellion was crushed by the Spanish
workers and the people's militia in the most important centers of the
country. Madrid and Valencia , Barcelona and Almeria , almost all the
important cities of Spain , were in the hands of the Republican
government.
In launching a struggle against the democratic conquests of the
Spanish revolution and basing themselves at the beginning of the
rebellion mainly on the counter-revolutiona ry officers whom the people
hated, on the Moroccan troops and Foreign Legionnaires, the rebel
generals met with the armed resistance of all the forces of the Spanish
revolution, of the entire Spanish people, united in the ranks of the
People's Front around the Republican government.
There can be no doubt whatsoever that had there been no
intervention by the fascist states, had Hitler and Mussolini not placed
their arms, air force and regular troops at the disposal of the rebel
generals against Republican Spain, the Spanish people would long ago
have cleared their country of the fascist aggressors. The well known
facts go to prove that the rebel generals would have never dared to
undertake a war against the Spanish Republic altogether had they not
been inspired to do so by the fascist states. Actually, this bloody
plot against the Spanish people was hatched and organized in Berlin and
Rome.
The fascist warmongers made use of the counter-revolutiona ry
generals so as to lay their hands on Spain, on its wealth, on its raw
materials for the war industry, and so as to establish themselves in
the Mediterranean Sea for the new imperialist war they are preparing.
Hitler and Mussolini apparently calculated that Generals Franco and
Mola, who acted as their tools, would be able in a few days to seize
Madrid , to dissolve the Republican regime and to present them with
rich booty in the shape of so-called "national" Spain . There can be no
doubt that they were also strengthened in this conviction by the fact
that despite the repeated and insistent warnings of the Spanish
Communist Party the Republican government of that time did not take any
radical measures against the plot that was being prepared by the
counter-revolutiona ry generals, and could have been taken unawares.
Mussolini and Hitler hoped that fascism could achieve victory in Spain
without meeting with any serious armed resistance on the part of the
people, as was the case in Italy in 1922 and in Germany in 1933.
All these calculations, however, turned out to be radically
false. Spain proved to be too hard a nut for the teeth of fascism. The
Spain of 1936 was not the Italy of 1922, nor the Germany of 1933. The
fascist rebellion in Spain broke out after the first victory of the
democratic revolution of the Spanish people, after the Spanish
proletariat and the masses of the people had drawn the lessons from the
events of Italy , Germany and Austria , after the foundations of the
anti-fascist People's Front had already been laid. By overthrowing the
medieval monarchy and establishing the parliamentary- democratic
republic, the Spanish revolution gave rise to an inexhaustible source
of the forces of the Spanish people in the struggle against the counter-
revolution, which wants to bring back the old regime of landlords and
financial oligarchy so hateful to the people. In view of this, for the
Spanish people the struggle against the fascist rebellion is
indissolubly bound up with the maintenance and development of the
democratic conquest of their revolution against the regime of
medievalism and obscurantism, against the landowners, against the
thoroughly decayed aristocracy and the counter-revolutiona ry officers.
Having become convinced of the inability of Franco to secure
victory for fascism with the aid of the Moroccans and the Foreign
Legion, the fascist states themselves took over the conduct of the war
against the Spanish Republic . There are actually units of the German
and Italian armies, their artillery, tanks and planes around Madrid and
Guadalajara , on the southern and northern fronts, pitted against the
valiant Republican army and engaged in demolishing cities, destroying
villages and deluging the land of the Spanish people in rivers of
blood. The fleets of the fascist states blockade Spanish ports, bombard
and demolish sea towns. Madrid , Guernica and Almeria will forever
remain in the minds of progressive mankind as ill-omened memorials of
fascist barbarism.
And the greater the confidence in the righteousness of their
cause the greater the energy and enthusiasm with which the Spanish
people carry on the struggle, the more they strengthen the Republican
army, close their ranks and eliminate weaknesses and defects in the
conduct of the war after each new act of provocation by the fascist
interventionists, the more cynically do Hitler and Mussolini increase
their intervention, openly declaring that they will not permit the
existence of a Republican Spain. In plain talk the recent articles of
Mussolini amount to the unbridle and cynical thesis that: Spain must be
a fascist colony, otherwise it will be transformed into ruins.
In the light of these facts it is difficult to find the pages
in modern political history recording behavior more shameful than the
behavior of the decisive Western capitalist states, which proudly call
themselves democratic, in relation to the Spanish people and their
struggle for the liberty and independence. At the very time when
before the eyes of the whole world the fascist interventionists are
openly engaged in a predatory war in Spain, these countries, and
primarily Great Britain, have been engaged for practically a year in
the farce of "non-intervention" in Spanish affairs. Even after Hitler
and Mussolini have rejected the so-called international control, those
who guide British foreign policy still continue to seek compromise
formulas of agreement with the brazen fascist interventionists.
The League of Nations, the statutes of which contain a special
clause regarding sanctions against the aggressor, providing
specifically for cases analogous to the present armed intervention of
Germany and Italy against the Spanish people, maintains an obstinate
silence.
Although it is clear that should the fascist interventionists
succeed in enslaving Spain they will not hesitate to instigate
rebellions like that of Franco in Czechoslovakia, Austria, Denmark,
Belgium and other countries, the League of Nations, chiefly under the
pressure of Great Britain, studiously avoids taking any decision on the
Spanish question which would guarantee the international rights of the
constitutional government of Spain. Thereby it actually spurs on the
fascist interventionists and aggressors. The democratic United States
of America , headed by Roosevelt , maintains the position of an
unperturbed "observer." The efforts of the Soviet Union, which stands
resolutely and consistently on the side of the Spanish people, to
induce the non-fascist states to pursue a firm and insistent policy in
relation to the fascist interventionists, so as to secure Republican
Spain in its lawful rights and the opportunities of defending itself
against onslaught and of being sovereign master of its own country,
have not yet led to positive results. The selfish interests of the big
capitalists and the financial cliques in Great Britain, France and the
U.S.A. still continue to dominate over not only the interests of the
Spanish people and of the maintenance of peace, but also over the real
interests and future of their own peoples.
Thus a strange picture is presented which should compel every
worker and every supporter of democracy and peace to think things over
seriously. At the very moment when the fascist states are acting in
agreement against the Spanish Republic, when Berlin, Rome and Tokyo are
planfully, step by step, preparing a new predatory world war, when the
increasing intervention by Mussolini and Hitler in Spain is accompanied
by the provocation of the Japanese militarists on the Amur, and by the
military operations in North China, the governments of the big Western
states are engaged in endless discussion regarding the bankrupt "non-
intervention" and "control" plans and are pursuing an ostrich policy in
relation to the frenzied interventionists and warmongers who recognize
no limits.
One must not think that the policy of the ruling circles of
Great Britain , France and the U.S.A. on the Spanish question and on
the question of maintenance of peace corresponds to the sentiments,
feelings and will of the overwhelming majority of the peoples of these
countries. It is precisely for this reason, in order to justify their
policy that they are constantly attempting to frighten their peoples
with the thought of the war which they allege will be precipitated by
the fascist states if the non-fascist states and the League of Nations
take resolute action against the interventionists.
But it is quite clear to everyone who knows the actual
international situation, the situation in the fascist countries
themselves and the relations of forces between the supporters of peace
and the warmongers, that this is nothing but cheap playing on the anti-
war sentiment of the broad masses. For in so far as the fascist states
are concerned the conquest of Spain is one of the most important
prerequisites for the world war which they are preparing. Giving them
the opportunity of entrenching themselves in Spain means helping them
increase their preparations for war, helping them to transform that
country into a base for an attack on France, helping them to strengthen
their military strategic positions in the Mediterranean.
The real truth of the matter is that a defeat of the Spanish
people would increase the threat of war a hundredfold and considerably
hasten the precipitation of a war on the part of the fascist
aggressors. A victory for the Spanish people, on the contrary, would
raise a new barrier in the way of the precipitation of war. Everyone
who is seriously desirous of maintaining peace must do all in his power
to ensure that the fascist interventionists are driven out of Spain as
rapidly as possible and that the Spanish people are able to secure
their liberty and independence.
Even such an admirer of Hitler as Lloyd George could not deny
this truth. Speaking recently in the House of Commons he declared: "it
is said that if we display firmness in relation to Berlin and Rome ,
there will be war. I say to you that if we do not display such
firmness, war will surely take place."
One of the most important reasons that make it possible for the
non-fascist Western states to occupy such a position of toleration
toward the fascist interventionists and Pilate-wise to wash their hands
is undoubtedly the circumstance that the international proletariat has
not yet succeeded in acting unitedly and preparedly for the fulfilment
of the main demands of the Spanish people, namely: the immediate
withdrawal of the interventionist armed forces of Italy and Germany
from Spain; the lifting of the blockade from the Spanish Republic; the
recognition of all the international rights of the lawful Spanish
government; the application of the statues of the League of Nations
against the fascist aggressors who have attacked the Spanish people.
These demands which in the main were advanced by the Communist
international soon after the fascist rebellion in Spain , were also
proclaimed later by Labor and Socialist International, and undoubtedly
are the demands of every class-conscious worker and every honest
supporter of peace. The international proletariat is without a doubt on
the side of the Spanish people, against the fascist rebels and
interventionists. It has displayed and continues to display its
solidarity with the Spanish fighters not only by rendering material aid
and by supplying food and medical assistance, but by giving a number of
its best sons, who are fighting in the Republican army around Madrid ,
Guadalajara and at the other fronts.
However, all this is far from sufficient. The international
labor movement, its political and trade union organizations, cannot
consider its duty toward the Spanish people and the defense of peace
fulfilled until it has seen to it that international rights are secured
to the Spanish Republic and the fascist intervention in Spain is
stopped. To achieve this it is necessary to intensify the solidarity
campaign on behalf of the Spanish people in all countries. It is
necessary to mobilize all forces so as to render impossible the policy
of toleration in relation to the fascist interventionists.
It is essential to realize that in this connection the main
role in Europe is being played by Great Britain, and therefore a
special responsibility for the fate of the Spanish people, for the
maintenance of peace, rests with the working class of Great Britain,
with the people of Great Britain. It is impossible to tolerate the
scandalous situation wherein the Labor leader Lansbury makes his
obeisances to Hitler and Mussolini with an "olive branch" in his hand,
while Citrine, General Secretary of the Trade Union Council, echoes the
songs of Chamberlain and Eden, designed to lull public opinion in Great
Britain, at the very time when the fascist hordes of Italy and Germany
are shedding the blood of the Spanish people and demolishing Spanish
cities and villages.
If the Spanish people and international are to be effectively
protected, joint and concerted action on the part of the international
organizations of the working class is absolutely essential. Let it not
be said that such concerted action is impossible. True, there are a
number of obstacles in the way. There are leaders and groups in Labor
and Socialist International and in the International Federation of
Trade Unions that, out of considerations which have nothing in common
with the interests of the international proletariat and the Spanish
people, oppose joint action by the international working class
organizations, and even threaten to leave the Socialist International
if an agreement regarding joint action with the Communist International
is adopted.
But can such a situation be regarded as something fixed once
and for all and not subject to alteration? It is necessary to overcome
obstacles and not to capitulate before them. The interests of the
international proletariat and the cause of the defense of peace, which
coincide absolutely with the interests of the Spanish people, must be
placed above all personal and group considerations.
The meetings between the representatives of the Communist
International and the Labor and Socialist International in Annemasse
and Paris have shown that both sides are at one in the main demands for
the defense of the Spanish people and the maintenance of peace. Why,
then, not do the only thing that can rapidly and surely lead to the
fulfilment of these demands – organize united action by the
international working class organizations and proceed to the joint
utilization of all the reserve forces at the disposal of the world
labor movement?
On the anniversary of the heroic struggle of the Spanish
people, in face of the ominously increasing fascist intervention in
Spain and the new Japanese aggression in North China, this question
rises most acutely before each working class organization, before every
person who is active in the labor movement, before all supporters of
democracy and peace, and demands a practical solution.
During a year of uninterrupted and tense fighting the Spanish
proletariat has succeeded in defending the conquests of the democratic
revolution, in strengthening unity in the ranks of the People's Front,
and in securing the establishment of a heroic people's republican army,
half a million strong. It is clearing the way for its united political
party and for the unification of its trade unions, and working steadily
to secure all the domestic conditions necessary for final victory over
fascism.
The Spanish proletariat, headed by the Communist Party and
marching in the front ranks of its people, is honorably fulfilling its
duty in the front line of the struggle against world reaction and
fascism. The international proletariat on its part must fulfil its duty
in relation to its glorious Spanish detachment in full.
The Communists, while intensifying their own action in defense
of the Spanish people and of peace in every way, will not therefore
cease to point still more persistently to the imperative need for
establishing united action on the part of the international labor
movement, nor will they cease to fight with all their energy to bring
it about as rapidly as possible.
-----------
This article was published in the journal The Communist International
by the Organ of the Executive Committee of the Communist International
Volume XIV Number 9, dated September 1937