International Notes

[p003] INTERNATIONAL NOTES ~- HIGHLIGHTS OF 1953 1953 was a year of important changes in world politics. A few of the highlights follow. Throughout the year there was a marked increase in the clash between the colonial peoples and imperialism. The Tory Government adopted a more naked and open im- perialist policy. We saw a continuation of the terror bomb- ings; collective punishment and suppression by Templer in Malaya; the ruthless campaign against the rise of massed armed resistance of Africans in Kenya—the so-called Mau Mau. In British Guiana a leftist Government, newly elected under the new constitution, was deposed and the constitu- tion suspended. Towards the end of the year there was the crude removal of the Kabaka of Buganda. 1953 opened with the inauguration of General Eisen- hower as president of the United States. Shortly after-_ wards, at the beginning of March, came the sudden death of Joseph Stalin, followed by turns in Russian internal and also her foreign policy. In June, came the uprising of the workers throughout Eastern Germany, set off by a strike of building operatives in the Stalin Alee in Berlin. The East German stalinist government was proved to have lost all popular base. Only with the aid of the fully mobilised Soviet occupation forces could it put down the uprising. July saw the conclusion of the armistice in Korea. In August the general strike in France revealed a ruling class virtualiy prostrate. The year closed with France once again in a governmental crisis, the over-riding issue being foreign policy, particularly Indo-China. In Indo-China, Ho-chi-. min’s Vietminh forces cut the country in two, meantime in- dicating willingness for peace negotiations, 3

[p004] the at relationships international] in development big The Soviet the between agreement the was year the of Close power four a hold to France and Britain America, Union, ” Review Labour ‘‘ of issue this in article An conference. the in talks international these to background the discusses and Union Soviet the and America of developments internal . relationships. international their INDO-CHINA in ended War World the since ever Indo-China, In re- to vainly struggled has Imperialism French 1945, ' for- patently been have would hope This itself. establish French then the in Communists the if 1945, in already lorn attempt. the to support their lend not did Government the on seriously embarked French the encouraged, Thus. the methods: main two using Indo-China, of re-conquest inter- vested native reactionary of contiliation and bribing in Regimes Puppet of creation the in culminating ests, the against .war all-out and Cambodia; Laos, Vietnam, terms. to come to refused who Vietminh signally have policy Imperialist French of lines Both war the Military, today. admit themselves they as failed, futile. as well as exhausting, and expensive proved has in down bogged are proportions incredible of forces French French in today anxiety causing is what and jungles, the of short is France Europe in while that is circles capitalist German of threat the of view in (especially forces military entangled remain should army large a such re-armament) are rebels the over victory of Prospects East. Far the in serious a is war the of cost the while ever; than dimmer funds. available on drain is circles, capitalist in France, in opinion that wonder No that is mood prevailing The semi-defeatist. today fact in possible, as quickly as end an brought to be should war the con- the permit will which settlement any of basis the on in form some in activity imperialism French’ of tinuance spokesmen Government French even fact, In Indo-China. res- is that pressure U.S. is it that fact the conceal not do War the up” “freshen to attempts recent all for ponsible French the in Deputy Communist A Indo-China. in 4

[p005] Assembly taunted the Government recently with “ trading French blood for American dollars.” This gibe hit the target. . The frustration is all the more profound because of the equal failure of the other line of French policy referred to, the creation of puppet regimes loyal to themseives. The grand plan was, firstly to create several separate puppet regimes (divide and rule); secondly to ensure that their rulers supported Indo-China remaining part of the French Union, or Empire; thirdly, to see that these native Govern- ments threw their own man-power into the War, to enable the withdrawal of badly needed French troops to Europe. The U.S. gave its backing in full to this policy, sent Donald Heath as its boss-on-the spot to bribe all these regimes with the same kind of financial and military aid that Chiang Kai Shek and Syngman Rhee receive. But the programme has stalled an every conceivable issue. First, the regimes were clearly unrepresentative, and unable to take over ‘‘ responsibility ’’ in the face of tremen- dous mass hostility to the War and to the French. Secondly, what has upset the French even more, the heads of these regimes (reflecting their own precarious position in their territories) are proving less co-operative than the French could wish Both in Vietnam and in Cambodia, the most reactionary politicians are forced to tell the French to get out, and to say that only the Indo-Chinese can settle their own future, and the question of the Vietminh. No self-respecting poli- tician in the country can be made to say a good word for the idea of “‘ French Union ”’ which is the most that the French will offer and means much less than dominion status. THE COLOMBO PLAN Whatever the prospects are of an early economic depres- sion in the West, there is no doubt whatever that a serious economic crisis already grips every colonial country in the East within.the orbit of Imperialism. . This crisis, which is the result of a steep fall of agricultural prices, and prices ot other raw materials in the world market, underscores the distorted and one-sided development that has marked all 5

[p006] and Malaya Pakistan, India, Imperialism. of colonies these unfavourable seriously a with faced been all have Ceylon sorts” all take to compelled been have and trade, of balance standards living the of expense the at measures economy of population. the of ”’ Plan Colombo ‘‘ advertised much the meantime, the In Im- benevolent” “‘ by countries of development the for only, words of Plan” “‘ a be to itself shown has perialism problems economic the to relation in insignificant utterly territories. these ‘facing - turned Plan Colombo the publicity, of fanfare its Despite one (as plan”’ a have to plan ‘“‘a than more little be to out it). named proponents original its of technical ‘‘ for providing sides—one two had Plan This countries. backward the to advanced the from assistance” farcical. most the be to once at proved Plan the of part This . laugh a provokes word very (the ” experts “ Innumerable wrote and Asia, to (literally) visits flying paid today) Asia in already were which ideas containing advice gave or reports Plan—envisaging: the of part other The commonplace. provea countries—has backward the to assistance financial o1 case a is it For all. of part ridiculous most the be to Commonwealth the of None Prince. the without Hamlet - etc.) Australia, (Britain, Plan the in co-operating countries finance high the produce to ability or readiness shown have U.S., the for as And plans. development the in involved Four Point its Plan, Colombo the to party a officially not political as well as economic and military such has Aid of regimes capitalist the even not that it to tied Strings on help U.S. accept to persuaded be can countries Asiatic terms. U.S. PAKISTAN IN IMPERIALISM U.S. difficulties economic severe with faced been has Pakistan of balance unfavourable exchange, foreign of —dwindling agricultural in slump a and living, of costs soaring trade, to turning in out way their seen have rulers its But prices. knows, everyone as aid, U.S. Aid. for States United the be should proportion larger its that condition the carries 6

[p007] spent on military purposes, and the people of Pakistan have the comfortless prospect of seeing U.S. dollars go into aerodromes, airplanes, etc., instead of into their own econo- mic projects. But apart from this, the entry of the United States into Pakistan is going to have far-reaching conse- quences for.this part of Asia. In response to sharp protests from India that the ‘* balance of power” in this region was being altered, the Americans announced that no military bases were being established in Pakistan by them. Nevertheless, the re- armament of Pakistan brings closer the danger of War in Kashmir, which remains an unsolved Indo-Pakistan prob- lem. The American aim of ringing the U.S.S.R. with bases from which air and atomic attacks can be made (the air- fields in Pakistan bring the hitheto invulnerable Urals in- dustries within striking distance) is thus creating an entirely new power-relationship in this part of Asia, and if the American plans go much further, we are bound to see a re- action in the form of India seeking guarantees in other quarters from attack. - INDIA’S CRISIS India is running into the same sort of difficulties as her neighbours. Here again we have strange combinations of features—famine and a fall in agricultural prices going to- gether, for instance. The Five Year Plan adopted by India is proving a difficult one to fulfil. Here again it is the lack of Capital—the fulfilment of the Plan depends on foreign aid—that undermines the Plan. The chief feature of Indian politics today, is the lack of an opposition party to the Capitalist Congress which Nehru leads. The Indian Socialist Party, led by Jayapra- kash Narain has made the most sorry capitulation to capitalist pressure, and merged within the Praja Party, a a breakaway wing of the Congress. Those militants who — tefused to join this suicidal merger have continued to work . in the name of the Socialist Party, but have not yet de- veloped their forces on a national scale. 7

[p008] been has Party Communist the circumstances, the In the in position strong its in reflected support, gaining Party this But legislatures. Bengal and Malabar, Andhra, aims it because chiefly India, to policy of line clear no gives all an at than more policy foreign Nehru’s influencing at tone Their masses. Indian the emancipate to struggle out turn and twist every with fluctuates Congress the towards dis- alone This Nations. United the in makes Nehru that leader- giving of task the for Party Communist the qualifies regime Capitalist Congress the against revolt the to ship India. in maturing certainly but slowly is which and ideas, their to true remained who Socialists Those - carry therefore Party Praja the to capitulation the rejected leader- another build to starting of responsibility heavy a ship. FASCISM AMERICAN : MACARTHYISM leader- the for bidding now is McCarthy that clear is It . His States. United the of Party Republican the of ship preparing is he indicate Eisenhower and Truman on attacks in McCarthyism of issue the on victory electoral an for 1954. McCarthyism hunt, witch the of atmosphere foul the In America, in insecurity of feelings widespread the on feeds prosperity Despite classes. middle the among particularly a is there preparations, war the accompanying conditions the throughout instability emotional of degree tremendous propaganda, war itself, hunt witch the of result a as country is that frustration the scares, spy warfare, atomic of fear interna- perenial the hunt, witch the of result natural the living rising war, Korean the over bitterness crisis, tional these use to attempting is McCarthy taxes. high and costs purposes. own his for feelings dis- of feeling general a mobilise to tried Hitler as Just direct to trying is McCarthy so Jews,” the “ against content the both by prepared scapegoat convenient a against them . and communists” the Republicans—“ the and Democrats - them. with associated those 8

[p009] The depression in. America will speed up the growth of © his movement. McCarthyism is the American form of fascism. Its victory would signal the crushing of the labour mevement in America. It is heartening that the McCarthy danger has been realised by sections of the American Labour Movement. In December six thousand San Francisco members of the International Longshoremens’ and Warehousemens’ Union struck work in protest when one of the witch-hunt- ing Congressional Committees visited that city and launched a red baiting attack on their union. - The Socialist Workers Party of America has called for a National Congress of Labour to consider the problem of» fighting McCarthyism and to launch a campaign to put labour’s own candidates in office in 1954 and a Workers’ and Farmers’ Government in power in Washington in 1956. ANNOUNCEMENT This is “‘ Labour Review ” number 5. Our readers must have wondered at its somewhat belated appearance. This has been due to a number of reasons, chiefly financial. The ever quickening tempo of international and national events has brought about an increased demand for a serious journal such as this. And so, we resume publication. More important, we are resuming publication regularly. From now on we wil] appear bi-monthly. We will attempt to cover the main international and national developments. In this period we feel it absolutely necessary to cut through all the confusing theories that will arise out of the turmoil and our contributors will attempt to give a serious analysis, to help the left wing of the Labour Movement. . Future issues will. deal with the colonies, the Soviet Union, the development of the American slump and inter- national events. We-will maintain a close analysis of economic, industrial and political developments in Britain. We appeal for your support. Take out a subscription gree ee we ee

[p010] THE BEHIND IS WHAT TALKS? PEACE Healy G. by power its of crest the reached has capitalism American . productive and wealth of accumulation greatest the with which capacity productive this is It world. the in capacity its for outlet an find To problem. terrible most its creates but alternative no has it capital and goods of surplus huge market a of opening the and domination world for drive to That Union.. Soviet the and China Europe, Eastern in and China in revolution colonial the suppress to war means Russia in history of wheel the reverse to and Asia over all Europe. Eastern and DIFFICULTIES MEETS DRIVE WAR AMERICAN THE has Business Big American war to drive its in However, in people the of mass The difficulties. serious against up run all-out for mood no in is elsewhere, as States, United the and more became it on dragged war Korean the As war. people. American the among unpopular more extension the feared allies capitalist European America’s _ erup- its and mainland Chinese the to Korea in war the of - the been have would that them For war. world a into tion time.” wrong the at and place wrong the in war wrong ““ on pivoted strategy American with that afraid were They shaky their to given be would support less East, Far the time, this at that well, very understood, They structures. their to lead could Europe in war the of stage first very the his and Eisenhower of attempt The collapse. complete prepara- war up speed to Dulles, Foster State, of Secretary new the of inauguration the after soon East Far the in tions _ particular, In resistance. their against up came president . blow heavy a was China on blockade the of tightening the economy. British to found imperialism American however, itself, Europe In strengthening for plans its out carrying in difficulties grave 10 .

[p011] te SET its base. German rearmament met with deep resistance from French capitalism. European war preparations were slowed down by economic difficulties and strong anti-war feelings among the masses. All these combined factors exerted their pressure to bring . about the cease fire in Korea last July.. But no sooner had the war tension eased up than American capitalism began to face trouble from another, not unrelated source. A marked decline in production set in, which towards the end of the year was close to a 5 per cent drop in the business index. And this beginning of the American slump cannot fail to have its effect on the American working class, in politicalising their movement and engendering a resistance that American capitalism must smash. It is thus faced with the necessity of attempting to secure its base at home as well as in Europe before launching an all-out attack on the third of the world which has been withdrawn from capitalist exploitation. Undoubtedly, the American capitalist class is now in the process of reconsidering and re-evaluating foreign and domestic policy. It is more inclined than previously to listen to those capitalist spokesman, like Churchill, who favour, for the present, discussions on a ‘ deal’ with the Soviet leaders. The outcome of such discussions can help them to decide, not only on a definitive foreign policy, but also on what policy to pursue on the home front. THE KREMLIN ALSO HAS PROBLEMS Their readiness to discuss is also based on considerations of developments in the Soviet Union. The Soviet sphere of economy has its own contradictions sharpened by the pace of the armaments race and the diffi- culties of assimilating the economies of Eastern Europe. There is a crisis of agricultural production. Kruschev, in his speech in the autumn of last year put it that: ‘“‘ A defi- nite disproportion has set in between the rate of growth of our large scale socialist industry, the urban population and the material well being of the working masses, on the one hand, and the present level of agricultural production on the other.” 11

[p012] the that showed June in uprising German East The _.. from pressures explosive and increasing facing is Kremlin workers Soviet The sphere. own its in class working the and skill and culture numbers, in considerably grown have con- for demands insistent with impatient become have structure bureaucratic The sacrifices. and exertions tinual monstrous more ever appear must unions and State the of the of growth the of view in eyes their in intolerable and Union Soviet the of isolation the that fact the and economy Europe Eastern in developments the by modified has-been war. the since China and confines the within crisis a shows purge Beria the Finally, stabi- to attempt must strata top The group, ruling the of position. its lise LIVE NOW UNION SOVIET THE AND CAPITALISM WILL ? PEACE IN the in moves peace the to background the given have We com- friendly of era an for heading then we Are war. cold capitalism ’—between systems two “‘ the between petition Eisenhower’s of view Indeed—in Union? Soviet the and atomic of pool world a for Nations United the at offer we it—are discuss to agreement Malenkov’s and energy, between co-operation friendly of period a for heading even ? them question that to answer the about doubt no have can We American of nature the about clear absolutely are we if propped is which capitalism European and Business Big it. by up of Eisenhower, of politicians, capitalist the of aims The the from gleaned be to not are kind, their and Churchill, and peace of name the in public in utter they words lofty _ sheathed not have war of art the in masters These freedom. capital- For to. intend not do certainly and swords, their the profit; for production by ever as motivated today, ism the to shrunk has market capitalist the of world” “free plant industrial expanded huge the threatens it where point Eisenhower and Churchill Whether attrition. outright with their ”’, truce “cold of or war” cold “‘ of policy a pursue 12

[p013] ’ ‘ : objective remains. They aim to open the vast markets of China, of the whole Far East, of Eastern Europe and even of Russia to capitalist exploitation. - For this basic reason socialists cannot give the slightest shred of credence to the benevolence of Eisenhower and his plan for atomic energy. Nor can socialists, for the same reason, have any illusions in Churchillian secret diplomacy ‘to reduce world tension.”” They merely aim to exploit the deep desire for peace with the objective of jockeying the Western Powers into a better position to pursue their war against the East. There can be no settled era of “* peaceful co-existence of capitalism and socialism” to use the for- mula of stalinism. CAN THE SECRET DIPLOMACY OF THE SOVIET LEADERS ENSURE OUR FUTURE ? There is an argument heard in the ranks of the working class movement. It is: the Soviet sphere does not want war, on the contrary, it needs peace for further develop- ment. If the Western Powers can but be brought to sit down with the Soviet leaders, we can therefore depend on them (because their economies are non-capitalist) to repre- sent the interests of the masses of the world at- top-level talks. This is more or less the line put forward by Commu- - nist Parties and their supporters, not only in Britain, but everywhere. It is the argument behind their slogans for a Five Power Conference. Now there is no doubt that the economic foundations laid by the Russian Revolution in 1917 are entirely different to those of the capitalist world. Nationalisation of the - means of production brought about a tremendous upswing of Soviet economy, which has proved its vast superiority over private ownership. Russia has, in the space of three decades, risen from a backward, semi-feudal, mainly agricultural country, to a major industrial power. A drop in armaments production means a slump for the United States under “private enterprise.”” The Soviet Union faces no such danger. It can truly be said, regardless of what the intentions or ambitions of individual leaders may be, that the Soviet economy, unlike capitalism is not 13

[p014] “4 markets, of conquest the to necessity economic by driven development. peaceful need it does Rather war. and their and leaders Kremlin the in trust justify this Does least the in Not ? diplomacy secret Socialist and Socialism to alien is diplomacy Secret support informed the on success for depend which politics, a becomes it that idea The people. the of mass the of does Kremlin the by in engaged when instrument socialist served pact Stalin-Hitler The history. of test the stand not Two War World of launching the for signal the as merely in- eventual from itself Union Soviet the save not did and Yalta, and Teheran blood-letting. and devastation vasion, members, Party Communist by enthusiasm such with hailed sacrificed Europe, Eastern and Balkans the up carved Western the to Yugoslavia sacrifice to meant and Greece War Cold the prevent not did that All influence. of sphere Three... War World to drive the and no can Kremlin the that think to foolish be would It Socjal- to detrimental imperialism with deals make longer _ fox substituted Stalinism people. working the and ism under movements the utilising of policy a internationalism cav:- with relations its in counters bargaining as control its capitalisni on pressures exert to them used It powers. talist A other. the on concession offered or hand, one the on Yugo- the and leaders Soviet the between relations of study this in instructive is war the after just and during C.P. slav split the how of history the studies who reader The respect. will Kremlin the and C.P. Yugoslav the between developed the limit to attempted bureaucrats Soviet the how find agreement its of confines the within movement Yugoslav in- of sphere capitalist a that Powers Western the with Yugoslavia. in maintained be should fluence how shows international Communist the of history The foreign Stalin’s of instrument an into transformed was it followed control its under Parties Communist The policy. workers the and manoevres its of turn and twist every the in sacrificed entirely often were them by led movement process. , 14

[p015] STALINIST FOREIGN POLICY HAS NOT CHANGED In the post-war period the basis of stalinist foreign policy remained the same. For fear of provoking retaliation from imperialism and becoming directly involved in war; for fear” that revolutionary movements might pass beyond its con- trol, the leaders of the Soviet Union have shown themselves always ready to hamstring these movements or permit them to bleed to death. Moscow, for instance, gave the North Koreans supplies enough to drag out the war, but not enough to win, even when their armies were sweeping the invaders toward the sea. When Zahedi was making ready to sieze the power in Iran, the leadership of the Stalinist Tudeh Party instructed its ranks to lie low, with the result that a landlords’ govern- ment, pro-Shah, pro-American, was instituted, proceeded to arrest and deport workers and suppress their organisa- tions. In August, the General Strike in France brought to a head the crisis of the French capitalist regime, showed the complete bankruptcy of French capitalism, and posed the question of replacing its government with a workers and peasants government. In this situation, the C.G.T. the French Communist Unions confined the strike movement to purely economic demands and failed to mobilise the working class to bring the government down. No serious student of French events last August, can draw any other conclusion but that the stalinists in France, although backed by the overwhelming majority of workers and poor farmers, were not prepared to undertake a struggle for the over- throw of French capitalism. Their policy was limited by Kremlin diplomacy, attempting to neutralise French capi- talism. Under Malenkov, as under Stalin, the Kremlin exerts its utmost influence to preserve the prevailing status quo as a lesser evil. It aims to uphold this by acting simultaneously on two fronts: against further aggression by imperialism on the one side and against any disruption of the prevailing equilibrium by eruptions and expansion of revolutionary movements on the other. Today the leaders of the Soviet Union, as ‘“ practical ”’ iS

[p016] capitalist the to effect in saying are politicians power forces from ours, have we troubles, your have you : powers the stabilise’ ‘ to together try us Let control. our beyond is There Conference. Power Four the Hence situation. for basis a is there but bargaining, hard some be to bound sides. both of needs objective the in agreement AN HAVE MUST MOVEMENT LABOUR THE POLICY INDEPENDENT policy. independent own its pursue must left Labour The deal. a such by solved be not will peace of problem The to inevitably it press capitalism of difficulties economic The peace of cause the to contribution Our solution. a as war to Movement Labour the of winning the before, as now, is abroad. and home at policy Socialist consistent a objec- the pursue relentlessly must here movement The replace must We power. from Tories the driving of tive drastic a make will which Government Labour a with them country this in power capitalist of sources the on attack That policy. socialist international an pursue will which and reactionary with alliance the from loose breaking means the to appeal ringing a means It capitalism. American done never support—something for class working American results favourable for ever than more hope can We before. go certainly most will itself class working American the as Ameri- in crisis the with developments momentous through McCarthyism. of rise the and economy can support whole-hearted pledge could Britain Labour A colonial former freed the with co-operation planned and world. the of countries anti-capitalist the with and countries Russia of masses the to impetus an give could it Thereby achieve to aspiring China as well as Europe Eastern and countries. their in rule democratic to way only the is world, Socialist a to drive a This, civi- to threat Atomic the remove and peace real guarantee lisation. 16