Cohesion and Conflict in International Communism: A Study of Marxist-Leninist Concepts and Their Application

ISBN-13: 9789401500302 / Angielski / Miękka / 1968 / 257 str.

Peter Mayer

Opis

The current conflict which threatens the very existence of the inter national communist movement as a single coherent entity must be looked for in the roots of Marxian philosophy. The central concept of pre-Leninist communism is contained in the notion of "proletarian internationalism. " Yet the emergence of the communist party-states has been squarely predicated on the requirements of single national states, as viewed through the training and experience of the various communist leaders. Thus the Soviet version has been shaped by the nationalism of Lenin, Stalin, and Khrushchev. The only aberrant case, the internationalism of Trotsky, was doomed to failure. The Chinese version of "communism" has as its root concepts the spirit of "prolonged" struggle against a superior enemy, whose ultimate defeat is ensured through the dialectics of political growth. The non communist societies are by definition "decadent. " The movement came to power by exploiting the nationalism engendered within China by the Japanese invasion. Its mass support was based on the peasantry, although the transparent fiction of "proletarian leadership" was strictly maintained. Further, "communism" is a term which has lost its original encompassing definition. Peking now narrowly defines it as policies consonant with "the thought of Mao Tse-tung. " Thus both the Soviet and the Chinese interpretation of "commun ism" are based on a concept which was anathema to the intellectual founders of the movement."

Spis treści

I. The Unity Theory VS. Socialism in One Country.- From “Proletarian internationalism” to “Socialism in One Country”.- II. The Soviet View of the Socialist World State: Development and Control Factor Aspects.- a. Factors based on power and ideology.- b. Historical-analytical approach based on world Communist Party history.- c. Historical-analytical approach based mainly on bilateral relations between communist states.- d. Variations of (b) and (c).- e. The “documentary with comments” approach.- f. Anthologies.- g. Works outside political science.- The Soviet Conception of the Communist Camp Future.- III. A Consideration of Chinese Contributions to “Marxism,” Including “Prolonged Struggle” and “revolutionary Fervor”.- The Chinese Communist View of Permissible and Impermissible “Paths to Socialism”.- IV. The Sino-Soviet Dispute, and Some Implications for the Future of the World Communist Movement.- The Dialectics of Dispute: Tactics and Strategy of Communist Concepts in the Thermonuclear Age.- 1. Precedence in Camp Affairs.- 2. The Marxist Concept of War and Peace.- 3. The Balance of Power Between the Two Camps.- 4. The Kremlin’s Theory of Coexistence.- 5. Policies Regarding the Underdeveloped Areas.- 6. Material Aid: Who Gets What.- 7. Personality Factors.- 8. Population Pressures.- Unity or Diversity.- Factors Tending Toward Unity in the Communist Camp.- The Breakdown in Communications.- The Changing Political Realities.- The Italian and German Party Congresses, 1962 and 1963.- Communist Dogma or “Creative Marxism”?.- V. The Soviet Union and East Europe: Conflict, Support and Opposition.- Institutionalized Divergence: The Case of Yugoslavia.- Albania: China’s Window to Europe.- Poland: Nationalism Contained by Territorial Claims.- Hungary: From Repression to Permissiveness?.- Rumania: Path to Economic Independence.- Bulgaria: Unconditional Support for the U.S.S.R..- Czechoslovakia: Politics take Precedence over Ideology.- East Germany: The Permanent Satellite.- Conclusion.- VI. The International Communist Movement: A Reappraisal of Some Theoretical Concepts.