Militant History

The movement of the working class and peasants which removed Duvalier in Haiti and Marcos in the Philippines reflects the ferment which exists in the underdeveloped countries of the world. General strikes, partial general strikes, food riots and massive demonstrations are commonplace as revolutionary developments assume regional and even continental proportions.

The crisis in the Philippines is accompanied by the crisis in South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia and Thailand. The crisis in Haiti is part of the movement of workers and peasants in all of the Latin American continent. This developing revolution has resulted in the ending of nine dictatorships in the continent over the past seven years. Regimes which appeared unshakable have had to give way to the power of the mass movements. In Bolivia alone there were twelve general strikes in 1985.

The most powerful country in Africa is facing the greatest revolt in its history. The black youth and workers are moving against apartheid and capitalism in South Africa. In Sudan a general strike overthrew the Nimeiry regime and riots have rocked Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco.

The advanced capitalist countries are also entering a period of crisis and upheaval. The decades of economic growth, rising living standards and relative peace between the working class and big business, which were the experience during the post-war boom, are now over. Partial general strikes or one-day general strikes have taken place in Greece, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and in British Columbia and Newfoundland in Canada over the past three years. These have been accompanied by the miners’ strike in Britain and the IG Metall strike for the 35-hour week in West Germany.

At the same time, left governments have been elected with outright majorities in France, Greece and Spain. This was the first time in the history of these countries that there were majorities for the left. The left parties in Belgium, the Netherlands and West Germany are at present at new highs in the opinion polls and the Swedish Social Democrats recently won re-election.

In the deformed workers’ states of Eastern Europe, Russia and China, a new crisis is also developing. The revolution in Poland in 1980 and 1981 showed the opposition of the working class in these areas to the mismanagement, corruption, privileges and repression of the dictatorial caste which rules these countries.

Economic crisis

For the first time in history, the three sectors of the world – the advanced capitalist countries, the ex-colonial or underdeveloped countries of the capitalist world, and the Stalinist countries – are simultaneously in crisis. At the heart of this crisis is the crisis of the productive forces and the slowing up in the rate of growth in these forces and in the production of goods and services.

Between 1960 and 1973, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the advanced capitalist countries rose by 5% per year. During the years 1973 to 1975 this fell to 1.7% per year. For a brief period of four years from 1975 to 1979 the figure rose to 4.3% but from 1979 to 1981 it was once again down to 1.8% per year.

In the countries of COMECON, which is made up predominantly of Eastern Europe and Russia, average growth was 10% in the 1950s. This fell to 7% in the 1960s, 5% in the 1970s and in 1979 was 2.1% according to official figures.

While the populations have increased, the rate of growth in production has slowed up. As a result, the necessities of life can no longer be provided to the extent that was the case in the years of the post-war boom.

The economic crisis in the capitalist world is rooted in the private ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange and in the existence of nation states. Big business cannot overcome these contradictions so there is the development of over-production and over-capacity. At present the economics of the West operate at only 80% of capacity in booms, and 70% in slumps. This results in plant closures and increased unemployment and poverty. At the same time protectionism develops and further exacerbates the crisis by cutting across world trade.

Reaganomics

The developing world crisis has not been overcome by Reagan’s upswing. The opposite is the case. The upswing of the past three years has resulted in the highest level of debt in US history. The total debt of US consumers, corporations, farmers and state and federal governments rose 14% in 1984 to $7.1 trillion ($7,100,000,000,000).

The current upswing has lasted longer than the average of post-war upswings. This is partly due to the increased size of the US deficit. Another factor has been the fall in the price of raw materials, which has transferred $70 billion from the underdeveloped countries to the advanced capitalist countries.

However, it has also increased the debt of the underdeveloped countries which will push forward the revolution in these areas in the coming years. Reagan’s response to this has been to increase US intervention, shown by recent events in Central America, Libya and Angola.

Recession

Reagan’s upswing will collapse in a new and deeper recession than the recession of 1981–82. Inflation will soar again. Indebted countries and consumers, corporations and farmers will default on their debts and threaten banks. A new 1929 collapse will begin to appear on the horizon.

This threatens a return to the 1930s for the advanced capitalist countries. Already 40 million are unemployed in the 24 advanced capitalist countries grouped in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

For the underdeveloped world it means an absolute nightmare. Living standards fell for the majority of people in these countries during the years of the post war boom. Now, with the boom over, outright starvation is the prospect. 50 million people starve to death each year and 700 million are either unemployed or underemployed in this part of the world.

For the working class and peasants in Eastern Europe and Russia the developing crisis means an attempt by the bureaucracy to reduce their living standards and to speed up the rate of work. This will be accompanied by increased repression.

The coming period in world history will be one of increased instability, with the working class and peasants in the West rising to end capitalism and landlordism and the working class and peasants in the East rising to end Stalinism. Developments in one area or in one country can only be understood if viewed as of this world crisis and world revolution that is unfolding.

Philippines

It is in this context that the fall of the twenty-year dictatorship of Marcos in the Philippines is to be understood. In the Philippines, 70% of the population is suffering from malnutrition while 43% of the workforce is unemployed or semi-employed. Less than one percent of the population controls 70% of the economy. While Marcos and the capitalist class were getting richer and richer, tens of thousands of young children were dying of hunger and malnutrition-related disease.

In the last two years, the economy of the Philippines experienced a massive decline: 4.6% in real production in 1985. As a result, the regime of Marcos started to crumble under the increasing pressure of the masses. The number of strikes increased by 45% in 1985 with the workers responding to the brutal repression of the regime with greater militancy and mobilization and moving to the leadership of the struggle. The strike movement was combined with riots and demonstrations in the towns and the increased activity of guerrilla movement of the New People’s Army in the provinces. The unemployed, the downtrodden inhabitants of the huge slums and other oppressed sections of society came forward to seek a way out of the crisis. In their struggles, they sought political alternatives.

In the face of these developments, the masters of Marcos – the more astute sections of Philippine capitalism and US imperialism – decided to dump him despite his insistence on clinging to power. They were terrified at the potential consequences of a more radical leadership emerging. It was the coming onto the streets by hundreds of thousands of workers who defied the bands of Marcos which decisively convinced US imperialism that Marcos had to go. However, without a clear socialist alternative being given by the leaders of the Filipino working class, they were unable to take power into their own hands and big business and the landlords remained in control.

Working class

The presidency was assumed by Corazon Aquino, one of the “Opposition” representatives of the ruling class with the support of US imperialism. The new government is largely made up from representatives of the old regime. It can not and will not solve the problems confronting the Filipino people. Aquino’s government represents the interests of the landowners and the big capitalists and therefore is unable to solve the problem of distribution of the land to the peasants.

On the other hand, the masses of the workers and the unemployed have felt their strength in the struggle. The recent events are the beginning of a new revolutionary wave in the Philippines and the entire region. The processes taking place in the Philippines constitute a confirmation of the basic ideas of Marxism that the working class is the decisive force in the revolution even in the colonial world, refuting the arguments that guerrilla movements or benevolent liberals are the key to removing dictators.

In Haiti, the hated Duvalier regime collapsed after a series of mass demonstrations of the youth, workers, and the unemployed, and a general strike. Once again, due to the lack of a clear socialist leadership in the labor movement, the opportunity was lost and a new unstable regime made up of Duvalier’s aides filled the vacuum. The collapse of the dictators in both Haiti and the Philippines marks the beginning of a new revolutionary wave that will end either with the overthrow of capitalism and landlordism, or the return – over a period of five to ten years – of a new, even more vicious repressive regime. The collapse of these regimes also hastens the end of Pinochet in Chile, with all the explosive impetus that will give to the Latin American revolution.

Stalinism

The working class will also play the leading role in the struggle against Stalinism. This was shown in the mass movement of millions of workers who built “Solidarity” (Solidarność) in Poland. Beginning in 1980, millions of workers started demonstrations against shortages and price increases, demanding higher wages, the right to a trade union organization, and called for an end to the dictatorial rule and privileges of the bureaucracy.

Solidarity was set up by the representatives of the workers in Gdańsk and the membership of the organization swelled to ten million. The sweep and power of the Polish revolution and the Polish working class is shown in the building of Solidarity. In three months, the Polish workers built a union with ten million members. This is the fastest growth of a union in world history.

Solidarity was not in anyway a movement against socialism as Reagan and other capitalist politicians tried to present it for propagandistic reasons. The demands of the workers supporting the Solidarity movement were democratic change in the direction of bringing the planned economy and state ownership under workers’ control and management. At no time did the Polish working class ever demand a return to capitalism.

The movement in Poland was a political revolution to establish workers’ democracy and open the way for a transition to socialism. However, tragically, without a revolutionary Marxist leadership at its head, the Polish working class was led from the start by a leadership that squandered all the opportunities presented to them, thus condemning the workers to defeat. The leadership of Solidarity did not comprehend that it is impossible to achieve gradual reform of the Stalinist system, or for a genuine democratic union movement to co-exist with the Stalinist bureaucracy.

Martial law

The Stalinist castes can only maintain their rule by ruthless police-state methods and the destruction of the opposition of any kind. The bureaucracy defends in every way its privilege, power, income, and prestige against every challenge of the working class.

Then, after a period of compromise, the regime struck and imposed martial law and jailed hundreds of activists in Poland. Solidarity was forced underground and the movement was defeated. However, that does not mean that political revolution is over in the Eastern European states and the Soviet Union. The working class created during the last 40 years of industrial development is extremely powerful as was shown in the case of Hungary and Poland. With even a few dozen activists armed with a clear perspective and program for the political revolution at the beginning of the events in 1980, a genuine workers’ democracy could have been established in Poland. The bureaucratic regime was suspended in mid-air when the massive general strikes occurred. The “Communist” party was totally isolated in the face of mass opposition and it could only rely on the security forces to deal with the situation.

There was no force in Poland preventing the working class from taking state power. It was held back from this task only by the mistaken policies of the leadership. The policies of the Solidarity leaders were heavily influenced by “dissident” intellectuals and the Catholic Church to whom they turned for advice. Incapable of understanding laws of revolution and the processes they were involved in, Wałęsa and the other leaders of Solidarity limited the movement to demands for partial reforms and attempted to compromise with the bureaucracy.

What the Polish working class needed was a decisive and audacious revolutionary policy and internationalist appeal to the working class in Russia, East Germany, Hungary, etc., to rise with them and overthrow their own bureaucracies.

Advanced capitalist countries

In the advanced capitalist countries also the working class leads the struggle against big business. Struggles like those of the thousands of shipbuilding workers and the youth in the barricades of Bilbao and Gijón, those of the hundreds of thousands of German metal workers for the 35-hour day, the general strikes in Greece and Denmark and the magnificent struggle of the British miners and strikes in British Columbia and Newfoundland in Canada are examples of this.

Fundamentally, the world balance of forces is more in favor of the working class than any other time in history. From the point of view of the capitalists, the traditional force used for reaction – the middle class – have been reduced to a tiny minority. This is especially the case in the advanced capitalist countries and is reflected in Europe in the mass left organizations – Socialist and Communist parties – that came to power in several countries with absolute majorities. It is also shown in the events in France in 1968 and Portugal between 1974 and 1975.

In France 1968, 10 million workers joined a general strike paralyzing the capitalist state, police and the military. The factories were occupied and the question of a peaceful transformation of society under workers control was posed. A similar process took place in Portugal 1974, when after the removal of a 40-year dictatorship, the working class and the peasantry took over 70% of the economy and the land. Had a genuine Marxist leadership existed at the head of the labor movement in either of these situations capitalism could have easily been overthrown and replaced by a genuine workers’ state.

The power of the working class is shown in countries like Spain, Greece and France where socialist governments were elected with over 50% of the vote in every case. These governments could have nationalized the commanding heights of the economy and planned production in order to end the economic and social crisis. However, what they attempted was to “reform” the capitalist system, ending up – in every case – with the implementation of severe counter-reforms and austerity to “bolster industry.”

France – where the left lost its majority in the recent parliamentary elections to the right wing – shows the forces at work. The Socialists and the Communists came to power in 1981 with a program for change and reforms. The parties of the left received 55% of the vote. During the first 12 months, the Socialist government introduced a series of reforms. They raised the minimum wage, cut retirement age to 60, reduced the work week and nationalized some sections of the economy.

Counter-reforms

However, the vast majority of the economy remained in the hands of the private sector. Under the pressure of big business both in France and abroad – who withdrew investment and speculated against the franc – the Mitterand government was pushed from their reforms to counter-reforms, forcing the crisis onto the backs of the workers and the youth. In the second year of his government, Mitterand proceeded with counter-reforms, a wage freeze, monetary devaluations, and other measures similar to those of Reagan and Thatcher. Unemployment rose from 7% to 11%.

After a period of massive strikes and demoralization, the right wing returned with a shaky majority in parliament in the March 1986 election. However, even after all those developments, the Socialist Party remained the largest political party in the assembly with 30% of the vote. Many workers continued to back the Mitterand government, alarmed by the threat posed by the right. The new events will open a series of discussions among the activists in the Socialist and Communist parties in France. What the example of France clearly demonstrates is a new period of social and political upheavals for the entire European continent and the advanced capitalist world as a whole.

North America

The unfolding crisis will see similar developments in North America and Japan. The workers’ parties, the NDP in Canada and the Socialist and Communist parties in Japan, will also be pushed toward overall majorities in the coming five to ten years. Australia and New Zealand have at present Labor governments.

In the USA there will at some stage be a new movement to build and transform the unions, and out of this will come the development of a Labor Party. The new Labor Party will gain massive support and win a majority as the crisis in the US and internationally pushes the working class into action.

The building of mass workers’ parties and the election of workers’ parties to government represents major steps forward. However, it is also necessary for such governments to carry through programs which can solve the problems. In the new period of economic crisis it is impossible to win a struggle for permanent reforms or even a defensive struggle for the rights of the working class without carrying through the socialist transformation of society.

In the Stalinist countries it is impossible to win democratic rights and solve the economic problems except by overthrowing the Stalinist bureaucracies and replacing them with workers’ democracies.

Protracted struggle

The lesson of events worldwide is that the working class is now much stronger than before. East and West, in the metropolitan countries and in the underdeveloped countries it is moving into struggle and giving leadership to all the oppressed sections of society. However, its leadership is incapable of bringing it to victory either over capitalism and landlordism in the West or Stalinism in the East. As a result, the struggle takes big leaps forward and then suffers defeats only to once again move on to the offensive. The struggle is protracted and drawn out.

What is necessary is the establishment of genuine Marxist leaderships at the head of the working class internationally. This would make possible the establishment of genuine workers’ democracies. One such victory in a major industrial country either in the East or in the West would transform the political situation worldwide. The way would then be opened to the ending of Stalinism, capitalism and landlordism, and to the establishment of a world socialist federation. This would end exploitation and oppression, and would lay the basis for a world free of want and need allowing the fullest possible human development.