‘CAUSE FOR REVOLUTIONARY OPTIMISM

By G. HEALY THE defeat of the Hungarian revolution in 1956; the coming to power of De Gaulle in France: the abandonment of any reference to socialism by the German Social Democratic Party and the triumph of the Tory Party in the October, 1959, general election, were powerful indications of the growing strength of the Right-wing reaction over the continent of Europe.

The past few years have been anxious ones for European Marxists and in particular for our movement in Britain. Such events have, in fact, formed part of the background to recent Right-wing and sectarian defections from the Socialist Labour League.

Notwithstanding the dangers inherent in the situation, however, we patiently insisted that it would be wrong to characterize the victory of reaction in Europe as one which signified a definite defeat for the working class such as was suffered in the early and middle 1920s.

The colonial revolution, which has now spread from Asia to the continent of Africa, upset the equilibrium of imperialism to the extent that permanent stability is well-nigh impossible. But this conflict, important as it is, cannot by itself overturn world imperialism. For this we need great movements led by revolutionary Marxist parties in the advanced imperialist countries.

To faint-hearts whose opinions are formed on the basis of superficial impressions, it appeared that the construction of such parties was something to be ruled out for the next period. They looked for political gimmicks to answer difficult problems.

It was suggested that the de-Stalinization process in the Soviet Union, the rapid tempo of industrialization in that country, and the extension of the colonial revolution were a sufficiently powerful force in themselves to ensure the restoration of democracy in the Soviet Union. From these impressions the conclusion was drawn that the Stalinist parties, suitably de-Stalinized, might lead the working class to power and thus obviate the need for the construction of revolutionary Marxist parties. The Marxist movement was seriously endangered by these revisionist ideas, particularly in the countries of imperialism, where the struggle to con-— struct revolutionary parties was hardest.

Japan and Britain In the last few weeks two events which are of tremendous importance for the future of the struggle in the imperialist countries have taken place.

First, the great Japanese demonstrations where tens of thousands" of students, solidly backed by working-class organizations, brushed through the ranks of the Kishi police and created a situation where the arch-representative of imperialism, President Eisenhower, was unable to visit Japan.

It would be quite inaccurate to speak of the struggles in Japan as an extension of the colonial revolution. Japan is an advanced industrial country with a modern proletariat. It is the home of a ruthless and brutal imperialism. These great demonstrations have, therefore, much more _ specific weight than the extension of the colonial revolution, important though that is. What is being posed over the next period in Japan is a social revolution. _ This is the beginning of a great movement in the imperialist countries which will provide firm foundations on which the Marxist parties of the future will be: built.

The second event is the crisis in the British Labour Party. In its editorial of Monday, June 20, The Times described this crisis as follows :

‘The present disarray in the Labour Party is tragic. It ;

is not so much a struggle for power—the lines of fission criss-cross in the most bewildering manner—as a desperate flurry by a great party threatening fragmentation. Were this to lead either to Conservative rule for a generation or to the ultimate victory at the polls of a newly oriented By Opposition, our society would make a decided shift. The fight centred around Mr. Gaitskell is a fight involving the future of Britain.’

These remarks describe very effectively the serious nature of the conflict within the Labour Party.

The political log jam created by the division of labour ‘between the leaderships of the old parties of Tweedledum and Tweedledee, is breaking up. The process of change under the surface of political life in Britain is about to become transformed qualitatively into the emergence of powerful new trends. That is why all the King’s horses and all the King’s men, supported by the Fabian Society, cannot put the Humpty Dumpty of Transport House together again. The possibiliies of a satisfactory compromise seem remote indeed. A new stage in the long process of revolutionary change opened up by the election of the Labour government in 1945 is now on the agenda.

Youth pioneers the way What forces will supply the recruits for the new Marxist leaderships in the imperialist countries? In our opinion these will undoubtedly be drawn from the youth in industry and the universities. Was it not the tens of thousands of student youth who pioneered the Aldermaston marches in the fight against the H-bomb? Who made a powerful contribuion to the creation of a great anti-H-bomb movement? Is it not also a fact that these youth, who started out from universities and colleges are now more and more being joined by the big battalions of labour, the trade unions? Is it not this great change which has sparked off the present crisis in the Labour Party and prompted the thoughtful editorial of The Times?

Compare these events with the role of student youth in the recent Japanese demonstrations. The News Chronicle correspondent, Bruce Rothwell, writing in that newspaper on June 20, described an interview he had with two Japanese student leaders, Onda and Kurodi. They both ‘bitterly denied Premier Kishi’s charge that they and 30 other committee members leading the Zengakuren are Communists. . . .

‘The Zengakuren, covering 130 universities and schools and nearly a million students, was broken up by pre-war military officers. Banned during the war, it was revived by MacArthur in 1948 as a contribution to teaching Japan democracy. .

‘The Communists quickly infiltrated it. But last November —when Kishi tried to legislate wide police powers and students broke in to the Diet in protest—the Communist Party officially denounced them.

‘It called them Troskyists and expelled Zengakuren’s leaders from the party.

‘Few knew of Trotsky, but they held elections and confirmed their hold on the committee over “moderate” Communists, read Trotsky literature and began. denouncing Khrushchev as well as Kishi.’

The SLL looks ahead How much now for the worthless thinking of those who so optimistically declared that the Stalinist parties with the Khrushchev ‘new look’ may well be the Marxist parties of -the future. On the contrary, it was the youth of Hungary (Continued on back page, col. two)