United front
Encyclopedia
The united front is a form of struggle that may be pursued by revolutionaries
. The basic theory of the united front tactic was first developed by the Comintern
, an international communist organisation created by revolutionaries in the wake of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.
According to the theses of the 1921 Comintern
congress: “The united front tactic is simply an initiative whereby the Communists propose to join with all workers belonging to other parties and groups and all unaligned workers in a common struggle to defend the immediate, basic interests of the working class against the bourgeoisie.” The united front allowed workers committed to the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism to struggle alongside non-revolutionary workers. Through these common struggles revolutionaries sought to win other workers to revolutionary socialism. The united front perspective is also used in contemporary and non-Leninist perspectives.
the roots of the united front go back to the practice of the Bolshevik Party in the 1917 Russian Revolution. The Comintern generalised this experience among the fledgling Communist parties that were established or grew significantly during the years following 1917. The theory of the united front was elaborated at the third and fourth congresses of the Comintern, held in 1921 and 1922.
Revolutionary socialists represented a minority in the working class, and the united front offered a method of working with large numbers of non-revolutionary workers, while simultaneously winning them to revolutionary politics. The united front strategy came to the fore in the period after the initial revolutionary tide following 1917 began to ebb. According to leaders of the Comintern, the shift from offensive to defensive struggles by workers strengthened the desire for united action within the working class. It was hoped that the united front would allow the revolutionaries to win a majority inside the class: "The task of the Communist Party is to lead the proletarian revolution. In order to summon the proletariat for the direct conquest of power and to achieve it the Communist Party must base itself on the overwhelming majority of the working class... So long as it does not hold this majority, the party must fight to win it."
Unity, however, was not to be achieved at any price—revolutionaries should not subordinate themselves within the united front, or sacrifice their independence: "The existence of independent Communist Parties and their complete freedom of action in relation to the bourgeoisie and counter-revolutionary social democracy... In the same way the united front tactic has nothing to do with the so-called ‘electoral combinations’ of leaders in pursuit of one or another parliamentary aim. The united front tactic is simply an initiative whereby the Communists propose to join with all workers belonging to other parties and groups and all unaligned workers in a common struggle to defend the immediate, basic interests of the working class against the bourgeoisie."
However, revolutionaries could not simply go over the heads of the leaders of reformist organizations. They should approach these leaders demanding unity on the bases of a united front. This would pose a dilemma for the reformist leaders: refuse the invitation and be seen by their followers as an obstacle to unity, or accept the invitation and have to operate on the terrain of mass struggle (strikes, protests, etc) on which the revolutionaries would be proved to have superior ideas and methods.
The method was put into practice in Germany in 1922-1923, and for a time proved effective in winning workers to revolutionary socialism.
As Stalinism
came to dominate the Comintern the united front strategy was dropped. In the period preceding Adolf Hitler's victory in Germany, the Stalinised Comintern argued that the social democrats were "social fascists" and that they, rather than the Nazis, represented the real danger. Following Hitler's victory, the Comintern argued for popular front
s drawing in forces far beyond the working class movement. Leon Trotsky
, now exiled from Stalin's USSR, argued that the first policy was disastrous because it prevented unity against the far right, and that the second was disastrous because the terms of the struggle would be dictated by mainstream liberal parties, and that Communists would have to subordinate their politics within the alliance. Trotsky continued to argue for a workers' united front against fascism.
Trotsky argued that the united front could have great appeal to workers who wished to fight fascism: “The programme of action must be strictly practical, strictly objective, to the point, without any of those artificial ‘claims’, without any reservations, so that every average Social Democratic worker can say to himself: what the Communists propose is completely indispensable for the struggle against fascism. On this basis we must pull the Social Democratic workers along with us by our example, and criticize their leaders who will inevitably serve as a check and a break.”
In Chinese history, the First United Front (1924–27) was a period when the Communists worked closely with the KMT. There was also a Second United Front (1937–43) to fight the Japanese during World War II
. During the Vietnam War
, the National Liberation Front (1960–77) was organized as a united front for the Vietcong.
However, Trotsky and Trotskyists, such as Harold Isaacs
, in his The Tragedy of the Chinese Revolution would argue that these were Popular Fronts, not united fronts, based upon the model employed by the Bolsheviks in 1917 and afterwards.
Revolutionary socialism
The term revolutionary socialism refers to Socialist tendencies that advocate the need for fundamental social change through revolution by mass movements of the working class, as a strategy to achieve a socialist society...
. The basic theory of the united front tactic was first developed by the Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
, an international communist organisation created by revolutionaries in the wake of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.
According to the theses of the 1921 Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
congress: “The united front tactic is simply an initiative whereby the Communists propose to join with all workers belonging to other parties and groups and all unaligned workers in a common struggle to defend the immediate, basic interests of the working class against the bourgeoisie.” The united front allowed workers committed to the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism to struggle alongside non-revolutionary workers. Through these common struggles revolutionaries sought to win other workers to revolutionary socialism. The united front perspective is also used in contemporary and non-Leninist perspectives.
History
According to Leon TrotskyLeon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
the roots of the united front go back to the practice of the Bolshevik Party in the 1917 Russian Revolution. The Comintern generalised this experience among the fledgling Communist parties that were established or grew significantly during the years following 1917. The theory of the united front was elaborated at the third and fourth congresses of the Comintern, held in 1921 and 1922.
Revolutionary socialists represented a minority in the working class, and the united front offered a method of working with large numbers of non-revolutionary workers, while simultaneously winning them to revolutionary politics. The united front strategy came to the fore in the period after the initial revolutionary tide following 1917 began to ebb. According to leaders of the Comintern, the shift from offensive to defensive struggles by workers strengthened the desire for united action within the working class. It was hoped that the united front would allow the revolutionaries to win a majority inside the class: "The task of the Communist Party is to lead the proletarian revolution. In order to summon the proletariat for the direct conquest of power and to achieve it the Communist Party must base itself on the overwhelming majority of the working class... So long as it does not hold this majority, the party must fight to win it."
Unity, however, was not to be achieved at any price—revolutionaries should not subordinate themselves within the united front, or sacrifice their independence: "The existence of independent Communist Parties and their complete freedom of action in relation to the bourgeoisie and counter-revolutionary social democracy... In the same way the united front tactic has nothing to do with the so-called ‘electoral combinations’ of leaders in pursuit of one or another parliamentary aim. The united front tactic is simply an initiative whereby the Communists propose to join with all workers belonging to other parties and groups and all unaligned workers in a common struggle to defend the immediate, basic interests of the working class against the bourgeoisie."
However, revolutionaries could not simply go over the heads of the leaders of reformist organizations. They should approach these leaders demanding unity on the bases of a united front. This would pose a dilemma for the reformist leaders: refuse the invitation and be seen by their followers as an obstacle to unity, or accept the invitation and have to operate on the terrain of mass struggle (strikes, protests, etc) on which the revolutionaries would be proved to have superior ideas and methods.
The method was put into practice in Germany in 1922-1923, and for a time proved effective in winning workers to revolutionary socialism.
As Stalinism
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
came to dominate the Comintern the united front strategy was dropped. In the period preceding Adolf Hitler's victory in Germany, the Stalinised Comintern argued that the social democrats were "social fascists" and that they, rather than the Nazis, represented the real danger. Following Hitler's victory, the Comintern argued for popular front
Popular front
A popular front is a broad coalition of different political groupings, often made up of leftists and centrists. Being very broad, they can sometimes include centrist and liberal forces as well as socialist and communist groups...
s drawing in forces far beyond the working class movement. Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
, now exiled from Stalin's USSR, argued that the first policy was disastrous because it prevented unity against the far right, and that the second was disastrous because the terms of the struggle would be dictated by mainstream liberal parties, and that Communists would have to subordinate their politics within the alliance. Trotsky continued to argue for a workers' united front against fascism.
Trotsky argued that the united front could have great appeal to workers who wished to fight fascism: “The programme of action must be strictly practical, strictly objective, to the point, without any of those artificial ‘claims’, without any reservations, so that every average Social Democratic worker can say to himself: what the Communists propose is completely indispensable for the struggle against fascism. On this basis we must pull the Social Democratic workers along with us by our example, and criticize their leaders who will inevitably serve as a check and a break.”
In Chinese history, the First United Front (1924–27) was a period when the Communists worked closely with the KMT. There was also a Second United Front (1937–43) to fight the Japanese during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. During the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, the National Liberation Front (1960–77) was organized as a united front for the Vietcong.
However, Trotsky and Trotskyists, such as Harold Isaacs
Harold Isaacs
Harold Robert Isaacs was a historian and one-time Trotskyist historian of the Chinese Revolution of 1925-27. Isaacs went to China in 1930 and became involved with left wing politics in Shanghai...
, in his The Tragedy of the Chinese Revolution would argue that these were Popular Fronts, not united fronts, based upon the model employed by the Bolsheviks in 1917 and afterwards.
See also
- Popular FrontPopular frontA popular front is a broad coalition of different political groupings, often made up of leftists and centrists. Being very broad, they can sometimes include centrist and liberal forces as well as socialist and communist groups...
- Third PeriodThird PeriodThe Third Period is a ideological concept adopted by the Communist International at its 6th World Congress, held in Moscow in the summer of 1928....
- EurocommunismEurocommunismEurocommunism was a trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties to develop a theory and practice of social transformation that was more relevant in a Western European democracy and less aligned to the influence or control of the Communist Party of the Soviet...
- Left CommunismLeft communismLeft communism is the range of communist viewpoints held by the communist left, which criticizes the political ideas of the Bolsheviks at certain periods, from a position that is asserted to be more authentically Marxist and proletarian than the views of Leninism held by the Communist International...
- EntryismEntryismEntryism is a political tactic by which an organisation or state encourages its members or agents to infiltrate another organisation in an attempt to gain recruits, or take over entirely...