MIA > Archive > Wilhelm Pieck
From International Press Correspondence, Vol. I No. 4, 1 November 1921, p. 34.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for the Marxists’ Internet Archive.
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The cleansing of its membership which the Russian Communist Party has undertaken makes it appear as if Levi and his followers were right when they charged that the Communist International laid more emphasis on the formation of a small but unblemished party, a sect, than on the building of mass parties. And an article by comrade Lenin in Pravda on the cleansing of the party, which was reprinted in the German party press, could easily be used to support this statement, when the difference between the Russian Communist Party and the communist parties of other countries is not pointed out.
The Russian Communist Party has become a government party and it is therefore only too natural that a large number of persons have contrived to enter its ranks who thought that they could thereby create “careers” or obtain other advantages as Soviet officials. The same experience befell the German Social Democracy, when, through the November revolution, it became a governing party. Of course it undertook no party-cleansing, and now its leaders rely in no small degree upon the support of this infiltration from the petty-bourgeois camp. If the Russian Communist Party is now undertaking a cleansing of its ranks, it does so conscious of the fact that, in spite of the existence of the dictatorship of the proletariat, the class struggle in Russia has not yet been decided, and that therefore the advance-guard of the revolutionary struggle, united in the party, must be kept free of any influence hostile to this struggle. That is all the more necessary since in Russia the non-Bolshevik elements have forced their way into the communist party and are attempting, by referring to the Russian economic crisis, to incite the workers against the party leadership and thereby against the Russian government. They are seeking to achieve this by apparently placing themselves upon the intellectual level of the communist worker and demanding complete democracy within the party, that is, in order to carry through their carefully deliberated plans. In Russia, under the Bolshevik government, membership in the communist party does not imply political persecution, but especial confidence, does not mean exclusion from all governmental functions, but appointment to positions of the greatest responsibility. Therefore the cleansing of the Russian party does not mean a weakening, but rather a strengthening of the worker’s government, for the government’s policy is decisively influenced by the party. If the petty-bourgeois and non-bolshevik elements should obtain the upper hand in the party, this would soon be noticed in the change in the policy of the government, and its fighting strength against all internal and foreign enemies of the Russian workers’ and peasants’ state would be seriously impaired.
The conditions in other countries where capitalism and the bourgeoisie rule unchecked are rather different. There the communist parties are the organizations in which the workers of town and country who desire the overthrow of this rule and the establishment of the proletarian dictatorship are united. In these countries membership in the communist party implies persecution and oppression by the bourgeoisie, means the struggle for liberation from capitalist rule and exploitation and the readiness to make any and all sacrifices demanded by the fight. The greater the membership of the communist party, the stronger the revolutionary advance guard, which leads the working class in its battles, will be. Therefore the communist parties in the capitalist countries can and must include a much greater percentage of the working-class than the Russian Communist Party. They are protected against the attempts of career seekers or petty-bourgeois elements to crowd into their ranks. Only working men, conscious of their class interests, will enter the party. They will comparatively easily comprehend the ideas of Communism and revolutionary tactics and will in a short while become excellent fighters. It is therefore not correct to set up difficult requirements for workers’ entrance into the communist party, in the sense that entrance is made dependent upon the possession of a certain amount of communist preparatory knowledge. It is the task of the party to impart political and scientific knowledge to the workers by enabling them to comprehend the communist conception and tactics. In order to do this the party must take the necessary steps therefor, and it will be able to carry on this education better and more quickly within its ranks than without. Of course the party must be kept clean of impure elements, but, in the majority of cases, these find their way into the party in spite of all preventative measures. It would be therefore unwise in create such difficult entrance conditions.
If the limits of the membership of the party are to be made so extensive, there follows therefrom of course the necessity of the education of a body of capable, trustworthy functionaries who are to have the leadership of the party in their hands, by influencing the resolutions of the party in a decisive manner. Only enlightened members are to be admitted to this corps. The greatest demands in the way of readiness for sacrifice and communist education are to be made of them and they must stand in the forefront of the conflicts of the working class. Furthermore, especial attention must be paid to the maintenance of the most rigid discipline within the party. According to experience, however, breaches of discipline occur less often among the workers than among the comrades who are no longer active as workers in the factories and have attained a position of leadership in the party. Even if it is not always necessary to proceed against such violators of discipline with exclusion from the party, nevertheless the especially strict observance of party discipline must be demanded from such comrades.
When the communist parties increase their membership, they will have members in every factory, in every workers’ organization, in every village and city borough, who will have to ensure the spreading of our ideas there and thus strengthen the influence of the party in the masses. That is urgently necessary, because the intensification of the political and economic crisis is driving the working class to struggles in which the communist party must have the leadership.
Therefore the international Communist Recruiting Week must be made a great campaign for the winning of party-members and subscribers to the party press. The slogan, “Approach to the masses” also means “Into the Communist Party”. It means the party’s taking root m the great working masses. Only through the Communist Party will the proletariat be able to vanquish the bourgeoisie.
Last updated on 10 January 2019