The Daily Worker Newspaper, July 26, 1929, Page 4

Page Four “== DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, FRIDAY, JULY 26, 1929 THE PROLETARIAN ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE ARMY to democratize armies but to dis- | Disarming and dissolution’ of Fas- {program for revolutionizing the |forward only in the inevitable transi- One of the most serious mistakes | * the Communist Parties have com- mitted hitherto, is that they regard- stion fr ab- ed the war que om the stract, pu t and agi- tational point of view, and that they ent attention to propaga! did not devote s the army, which is the decisive fac- tor of all wars. Unless the signifi- cance of the revolutionary policy in the war question is explained to the broad masses, and unless work is carried on in the ar , the strug- gle against imperialist war and at- tempts to prepare for revolutionary wars will never reach beyond the stage of theory. For the most part, this mistake ntegrate them. cist Leagues; The adoption of a uniform attitude! Concrete demands for the reduc- towards the army in principle, does | tion of period of military service; not mean that the important differ-| Introduction of the territorial sys- bourgeois army. Organized Soldiers Special attention must be paid to organizing the soldiers for the pro- | tional stage in the military policy of the proletarian revolution, in the pe- riod prior to the organization of the Red Army. Where there is no im- belonging to the exploiting class the ranks, C. The Proletariat's Attitude To- | given war or army. Such a posi-|ultaneously with the organization of must not be permitted to serve in| tion must be taken up at the pres- |Soviets. The old, ent time in those provinces in China which are under the rule of Kuomin- tang generals. ences in the systems of defense and nilitary organization in the respec- tive States must be ignored, for these differences are extremely im- portant from the point of view of practical work. Although imperialist armies are a part of the bourgeois State apparat- nevertheless, owing to mutual rivalries and wars among the capi- talist States, modern armies are tending more and more directly or indirectly, to embrace the whole na- tion and to militarize it (“the arm- us, ; is mistake | .q nation”) the militarization of is due to the bad legacy inherited| omen, military training of the —— nternational, which, | youth, ete. This tendency subsided while never ceasing to declaim |; against imperialist wars, never car- ried on any work in the armies. In- deed, it described Karl Liebknecht as an “anarchist” because he de- manded that such work be carried on. Instead of carrying out a revo- lutionary policy, and instead of working in the armies, the II Inter- national advocated the “abolition of standing armies” and their sub- stitution by a “national militia.” The slogan: “national militia,” which was suitable for the period in which national States were struggling in- to existence in Europe, had some revolutionary significance in con- nection with the demand for the abo- lition of standing armies, so long as Tsarism and Absolutism represented | a menace to revolution (up to the] end of the 19th centu: But with} the growth of imperialism, this slo- temporarily at the end of the world {war; but at the present time, on the eve of a new war, it is manifesting itself again very strongly (United States, France, Poland). The imme- diate results of this tendency are, however, that the class antagonisms between the bourgeoisie and the pro- letariat — between the exploiters] and the exploited — are being re- flected in the armies, between | the officer class and the “common peo- ple.” In the words of Engels, mass militarism results in the disintegra- tion of all armies from within. Hence, Communists must not “boy- cott” bourgeois armies, but must join them and take revolutionary control of this objective of internal disintegration, The bourgeoisie is exerting every effort to create a reliable army by drilling, stern discipline, by isolat- gan became inadequate and finally |‘ bs : became a chauvinistic slogan (Hynd-|ing the soldiers from the ordinary man in 1912), The resuscitated If|PoPulation, by prohibiting the sol- Interfiational abandoned the demand |¢ iers from taking part in politics, {and in certain cases, even by giving for a “national militia” only in or-} ns ‘ ae der to subordinate itself entirely to|them a privileged social positiono. the political interests of the bour- geoisie in the various States, In| ’ : France, under the guise of support-| In recent years, particularly in ing the old slogan of a “national |those countries where formerly con- militia,” the II International is ad-|S¢Tiption prevailed, and even where vocating an imperialst “national | it is still in vogue, the bourgeoisie army”; a : Britain, on the pretext of advocating |"ectuiting mercenary armies from disarmament, it is supporting mer- |certain selected elements (Germany, cenary volunteer armies. The prin-|France). But this does not relieve ciple proclaimed by the II Interna- the bourgeoisie of the necessity to tional of “freedom for each nation|Militarize the masses. It can suc- to select the form of military or-|¢¢ed in this only by combining the ganization it desires” is tantamount | Mercenary troops with the “national armies” or else by establishing a mi- to freedom to repeat the events of | 8! <4 Bets August 4, Meanwhile, the Social |litia type of military organization. Democratic flunkeys of the bour-|It cannot stop the process of disin- geoisie are conducting a campaign | tegration in the bourgeois armies; of slander against the Red Army it can only retard this process and and the dictatorship of the proletar- | Place severe obstacles in the way of iat in the U. S. R. R. and are spread- |revolutionary work in the army. For ing legends about “Red militarism,” |these reasons, the Communists are |confronted with the important task jof studying carefully the conditions As against this counter revolution- cei eted ss, 8 romlb Ot She cane ns ni ~ {adopted by the bourgeoisie and to ary military policy which serves the i Ganteract. these ints by new interests of the bourgeoisie, + the | nethods of revolutionary work. Communists advance a revolutionary | Must Study Conditions Revolutionary Policy in Germany and in Great |have been adopting the system of| military policy, which serves the in-|, The proletariat’s attitude towards terests of international proletarian | revolution. Of course, no hard and fast rules can be laid down as to the position to be adopted in regard to armies in general. The proletariat must determine its attitude towards the army in accordance with the class and the policy the particular army serves. It is not the military system, or the form of organization imperialist armies is closely linked up with its attitude towards imperi- alist war. For that reason, defeat- ism, and the slogan of transform- \ing the imperialist war into civil war |indicate the manner in which the |partial problems of tke system of defense and military organization |should be approached. Bourgeois militia, universal milita- of the army in any given State that |ry service, the military training of matters so much as the political role | the youth, etc., were all at one time that army plays, i. e., imperialistic, | advocated by revolutionary democ- nationalist or proletarian. The Com- munist Parties must follow the pre- cepts of Marx and Engels who, in the epoch of great national wars, opposed the petty bourgeoisie demo- | eratic utopia of militia and advocat- | ed universal military service, the} democratization of existing armies, and their conversion into revolution- ary armies, After the Paris Com- mune, Marx and Engels advocated the ‘destruction of the bourgeois State that matters so much as, the political role that army plays, of standing bourgeois armies and their substitution by the armed nation— these they regarded as the most im- portant lessons to be learned from the Paris Commune from the stand- point of the proletarian revolution. The II International distorted these precepts, but Lenin restored and developed them and drafted a mili- tary program of the proletarian revolution. The Proletariat’s Attitude Towards Armies in Imperialist States. In imperialist States the attitude of the proletariat towards armies is determined by the following: No matter what their form of or- ganization may be, armies are a constituent part of the bourgeois State apparatus, which the proletar- iat, in the course of the revolution, must not democratize, but break up. In the light of this task, the or- ganizational difference between the standing armies and militia, between conscript armies and volunteer ar- mies, etc., disappears. The slogan: “Not a man, not a penny for the army,” i.e. relentless struggle against bourgeois militarism, against its armies of whatever form, voting against war budgets, etc., holds good. This attitude must be maintained equally towards standing armies and democratic militia, for both these forms of military organization rep- resent the armed forces of the bour- ‘geoisie held against the proletariat ni Democratic partial demands, a which the proletariat must under no n es abandon, assume an different character from |racy. At the present time, however, they serve as ordinary reactionary instruments for oppressing the mass- es and for preparing for imperialist wars, Consequently, they must be combatted as strenuously as possible. This applies also to those countries where the bourgeoisie has abolished conscription and adopted the volun- tary system (for example, in Ger- many), Although universal military service would facilitate revclution- ary work and would provide the workers with opportunities for the use of arms, the Communists in im- perialist countries must not demand the introduction of the system; they must oppese conscti;t armies in the same way as they oppose volun- teer armies, The s!oyan: transform imperialist war into civil war indi- cates how the Comtnunists must fight against measures for mass militarization (introduction of con- scription). By militarizing the workers and training them in the use of arms, imperialism creates the prerequisites for the victory of the proletariat in the civil war, Hence, the revolutionary proietariat must not combat mass militarization with the arguments advanced by the paci- fists. In conducting the struggle for revolution and for Socialism, we do xot refuse to bear arms, The aim cf cur struggle is to expose the -nili- tarization the imperialists introduce for the benefit of the bourgenrs.e, As against this sort of militariza- ticn we advance the slogan: \vm the proletariat. Simultaneously, the Communists must advance and give support to the partial demands of the soldiers which, in a concrete sit- uation, stimulate the class struggle in the armies and strengthen the al- liance between the proletarian and peasant soldiers and the workers outside the ranks of the army. 46. The partial demands are ap- proximately as follows: 1. Demands in Connection with the System of Defence: Dissolution of mercenary forces; dissolution of standing and princi- pal military units; Disarming and dissolution of the advanced during democratic 3; their purpose mut be Jcial armed forces of civil war; gendarmerie, police and other spe- aiden Aa tem of military service; Abolition of compulsory residence |in barracks; soldiers’ committees; The right of labor organizations |to train their members in the use of arms, with the right to the free |selection of instructors. The fact that the reduction of the period of military service in some countries is being planned and car- ried out by the capitalist govern- |ments themselves, has given rise to | doubts as to whether we should put |forward such a demand, But the reduction of the period of military \service, taken by itself, under cer- |tain circumstances, means not the strengthening but the weakening of the military system. Consequently, this demand can be put forward as }a general partial demand in rela- tion to conscript armies under the | following circumstances: (1) That a distinct defeatist line jis maintained; (2) complete disso- {ciation from analogous partial de- mands advanced by the Social Demo- |erats; (3) that the illusion that this |is a step towards the abolition of |militarism is combatted. It goes | without saying that partial demands |must always be concrete, i.e, that |they must be put forward in such a |form and at such a time that the masses will ~nderstand them and support them, and that they will |help to revolutionize the masses, In |those cases where a reduction of the |period of military service is being planned by the capitalist govern- ments, or is demanded by the Social | Democrats, a fight must be put up |against the measures that are usu- ally adopted simultaneously with this \for the purpose of strengthening |the bourgeois system (militarization of the whole Population, the organi- zation of strong cadres of profes- ‘sional soldiers, etc.). The pseudo- |democratic programme of reducing the period of military service must |be countered by a defeatist program of partial demands. In the case of volunteer, mercen- ary armies, the demand should not |be for the reduction of the period of military service, but for the right |to leave the service whenever the soldier desires, | 2. Demands in Connection with the Legal Rights and Economic Po- sition of the Soldiers. Increased pay for soldiers; Improved maintenafce; The establishment of stores com- mittees composed of soldiers’ repre- sentatives; Abolition of disciplinary punish- ments; Abolition of compulsory saluting; Severe penalties for officers and non-commissioned officers inflicting |corporal punishment on private sol- | diers; The right to wear mufti when off | duty; The right to be absent from bar- racks every day; Furlough, and extra pay while on furlough; The right to marry; Maintenance for soldiers’, families; The right to subscribe to newspa- | pers; | The right to organize in trade unions; The right to vote; the right to attend political meetings. The fact that in numerous imperi- alist countries a considerable per- centage of the armies are recruited from among oppressed national mi- norities, whereas the officers either entirely or for the greater part be- long to the oppressing nation, pro- vides very fzvorable ground for rev- olutionary work in the army. Con- sequently, among the partial de- mands we advance in the interests of the masses of the soldiers should be included demands corresponding to the needs of these oppressed na- tionalities (for example: military service in their home district; the use of the native language in drill- ing and instruction, ete.), 47. The~demands of both the above-mentioned categories (only a few of which have been enumerated) must not only be put forward in the army but also outside of it—in Par- liament, at mass meetings, etc. Pro- paganda in support of these demands will be successfcl on'7 if they bear a conerete character. In order that they may do so it is necessary: 1. To hav» a close acquaintance with the army, with the conditions of service, with the needs and de- mands of the soldiers, ete., which can only be acquired by maintaining close personal contact with the army. 2. To give consideration to the system of defence in the given States and to the situation in re- gard to the military question at the given moment. 3. To take into consideration the morale of the army and the politi- cal situation in the country at the given moment. For example, the de- mand for the election of officers, as a rule can be advanced only when the army has reached an advanced stage of disintegration. 4. To link up closely partial de- mands with the principal slogans of the Communist Party—arming the proletariat, proletarian militia, etc. ‘ance only if they are political tionary sign: linked up with a distinct tection of their interests, in alliance {with the revolutionary proletariat, prior to their being called up for service (recruits’ leagues, mutual aid clubs), during the period of mil- itary service (soldiers’ councils) and also after the conclusion of mil- itary service (revolutionary ex-ser- vicemen’s leagues), It must be the special task of the trade unions to maintain contact with their members in the army and to help them to form the above-mentioned organiza- tions. The conditions for revolu- tionary work in volunteer armies differ from the conditions for such work in conscript armies. In volun- teer armies it is usually much more difficult to carry on agitation in mediate revolutionary situation, this slogan can have only a propagandist significance, Nevertheless, it may become an immediately practical slogan in the fight against Fascism. At all events, the demand for a proletarian militia, or for a militia of the toilers, can only be put in the form of a direct appeal to the proletariat and not as a demand upon the bourgeois government. That being the case, this demand should be made to governments, or to parliaments, only in exceptional ‘cireumstances (f example, where there is a Social Democratic govern- mertt, or where there is a Social Democratic majority in parliament, or among the masses). Under such jcireumstances, the demand must be put forward only as a means for ‘5 = exposing the Social Democratic support of partial demands like those | party, mentioned above. Nevertheless, the si work must be undertaken. The fact! The Red Guard is an organ of re- bellion. It is the duty of the Com- that in a majority of cases yolun- teer armies are recruited from among the proletariat (the unem- ployed) and from among the poor peasants, provides a social base for} mass work among the soldiers. The forms of this work must be carefully adapted to the social composition | and the special features of the troops. Strenuous agitation must! be carried on among the masses against the special forces the bour- | geoisie organize for’ class struggle| against the proletariat (gendarmes and police) and especially against their volunteer forces (the Fascists). | munigts to agitate for the estab- lishment of such a Red Guard and to organize it when an immediate revolutionary situation arises, Under no circumstances must it be forgotten that the existence of a proletarian militia, or a Red Guard, in imperialist countries, un- der a bourgeois State and in a state of “peace” is absolutely impossible. The proletarian militia the armed organization of the proleta- riat fighting for the establishment is | ward Armies in Colonial and Semi-Colonial Countries. In laying down the military pro- gram for oppressed countries, con- a i sideration must be given to the stage . With the opening of the pe-/ of economic and political ate: riod of national revolutions and wars | mont of those countries, Siigepremad nations against IMbes 1) /4 1) dhdes countries in which rislism, the military question as-| 116. democratic: revolution "has. not |sumed decisive importance in all co- fat: Beans acsomsalaheae aha al |Ionial and semi-colonial countries. |* pala obi gp de aide Anis is true of countries which are itia) must be adopted, particularly : ARSE bons, «. |in those countries where the class imperialism (China, Morocco, Syria, | Nicaragua) as well as of those coun- | {tries in which open war is not yet | being conducted (India, Egypt, Mex- ico, the Philippines, Korea). Clearly, |the military question in relation to national wars against imperialism | ¢,, boufgeois “officers. In must be formulated differently from peaalnge which lake. differentia: that in relation to imperialist states. |tion is strongly expressed, but where It must not be forgotten that two | the bourgeois revolution has not yet altogether different types of armies |been accomplished, for example in exist in these countries at the pres- | Latin-American countries, this slo-| ent time. On the one hand we have | gan must bear the class character | national armies (which are not al-| of a workers’ and peasants’ militia. | ways revolutionary armies) and on} 8. In countries passing through the other hand we have imperialist the stage of democratic revolution, armies (which are either expedi- | the slogan for militia will prove in- tionary forces dispatched from the | adequate and must therefore be ex- home country or armies consisting | panded into the slogan: organize a of natives of other colonial coun- |zevolutionary army. This, of course, | the proletariat is not yet very jand Egypt). This slogan must be |linked vp with democratic demands directed against feudalism and the tries or else armies recruited in the }does not prevent the militia slogan given colonial country). In China/from heing advanced at the same we have both types of armies and | time, particularly in preparing for slso an example of how national | rebellion. It must be noted that armies become practically converted | arming the proletariat does pot con- into imperialist armies. After Chang | tradict the demand for the armed Kai-shek’s* coup, the Southern na- nation; in fact, the armed proletariat tional army became transformed is a fundamental part of the armed into an army practically serving im-|nation. While participating in the perialist aims. Obviously, the at-| general organization of the armed of the armed nation (nationa] mil-| rupture between the bourgeoisie and | strongly expressed (Syria, Morocco | The reformists who talk loudly about | of the dictatorship of the proletariat the “public utility” of these forces, or, an organ of the proletarian dic- about the “national police” and | tatorship for the purpose of sup- This dis- tinguishes our slogan of proletarian militia from the reformist plans for establishing yellow ‘“workers’ de- fense corps,” consisting of specially selected, ignorant, or bribed prole- tarian elements. The latter kind of about Fascist “equality” must be! __.. Da Ye pelentlensly’ combated with particu:|"Cene “He. exuloiters: lar energy, and every effort must be} made to rouse a passionate hatred among the people towards these forces and to expose their real char-| acter. But every effort must be made to stimulate social differentia- | tion even among these forces ‘and to win over the proletarian elements in them. 9. Revolutionary work in the army must be linked up with the general revolutionary movement of |the masses of the proletariat and poor peasantry, If an immediate revolutionary situation prevails, and if the industrial proletariat is be-| ginning to establish Soviets, the} slogan: establish soldiers’ councils, | assumes immediate practical impor- | tance and facilitates the work of uniting the masses of the soldiers} with the proletariat and the poor peasantry in their struggle for| power. : Wherever circumstances permit, the Communists must try to organ- ize the masses of the soldiers in vol-| unteer armies under the slogan of soldiers’ councils, and mobilize them for the fight against the officers | and the bourgeoisie. Where the so- |“labor defense corps” was used for the purpose of disrupting and re- straining the proletariat in the struggle in the Ruhr in May, 1923, and after the Vienna uprising in 1927. It is the duty of the Com- munists strenuously to combat these \despicable maneuvers of the social democrats. A distinction must be made between the militant slogan of workers’ militia, proletarian militia and Red Guard—to be established prior to the capture of power, and which represent the rudiments of the Red Army,—and the forms of militia which must arise after the dictatorship of the proletariat has been established and consolidated, in ‘the period when the state and classes are dying out, In order to protect itself against imperialism, the pro- letariat must have a strong, disci- plined, well-armed and efficient Red |Army. Under present conditions, titude of the proletariat and of the revolutionary toiling masses toward these two types of armies must be | different. With regard to the na- tional armies, the military program of Marx and Engels of 1848-1870, i. e., the democratization of these armies for the purpose of convert- ing them into revolutionary armies, must be applied with certain modi- fications. In regard to the imper- ialist armies, we ean apply only the defeatist program, i. e., disintegra- tion from within. In the event of | special officer units or bourgeois class military organizations exist- ing, efforts must be made to isolate | and liquidate them, i. e., the pro- gram which must be appliéd in im-| perialist countries must be applicd | here. | From the point of view of tactics there exists a third type of army in| colonial and semi-colonial countries in addition to the two types already + mentioned, i. e., the army com-| manded by the imperialists, and in which a struggle is proceeding be- tween the national movement and | the imperialists (India, Egypt, Indo- China, Syria, Algiers, Tunis, ete.). | In such cases, the elements of both | programs must be combined accord- | ing to concrete circumstances, i. e., | the defeatist program must be ap-| nation, it is absolutely essential te set up special. proletarian, armed units, commanded by officers elected by these units. revolutionary, democratic forms of army organiza- tion must be substituted by class forms, dictated by the proletarian revolution. In the fight against imperialism, for the carrying out of a national- revolutionary military policy, it is absolutely necessary to conduct sys tematic agitational and propagan- dist work among the colonial armie: Communists and national revolution- aries must therefore carefully study the various types of colonial armics and to devise effective methods for working among the various types. As the case of China shows. work in badly-disciplined and badly-paid native mercenary troops frequently has many chances of success. In such eases, the partial demands may be somewhat similar to those enumerated above for imperialist states; but here, too. a careful study must be made of the concrete cir- cumstances (class composition of the army, morale of the troops, econo- ie conditions, ete.). Special atten- {tion must be paid to the formule- jtion of the demands of the natiye | troops, and to combating ill-treat- ‘ment of the native troops by the white officers. \ Work Will Differ | The character of the work that Communists must carry on in na- |tional armies will differ from that |in other types of armies, but it is jextremely important that this work should be done as the experience of | the national war in China in 1925-27 |has shown. In this case, the task of the Communists is to organize nuclei throughout the whole of the | army; to make it a more conscisus |instrumeént in the fight against im- \perialism; in the interests of the na- | tional revolution to fight against the 3. stage of democratic revolution to proletarian revolution, the military program of the Communists in im- 3. In countries passing from the | unreliable elements among the offi- jcers, and where the command is not | yet in the hands of the Communists to subject the command to the con- 'perialist countries may be adopted, | trol of the soldiers by the applicction with certain concrete modification. | of wide revolutionary democracy. It must always be borne in mind that the system of electing officers pre- The slogan proletarian militia (a| veiled in the army of the Convent militia of the toilers, a workers’ and | during the French revolution, and neasants’ militia) takes the place of | that that army achieved great vic- the demend for a democratic militia. | teries, whereas the absolutely un- When in the process of the revolu- | democratic system of organization tion in the colonies, the question of | of the Southern armies in China in the immediate seizure of power|1926-27 greatly facilitated the rises, the question of organizing a| treacherous turn taken bv the bour- Red Army must be brought up sim- geoisie and their generals. Proletarian Militia International Red Day and the Working Women By OLGA GOID. |Dept. in the 1928 report. On August Ist, under the banner vicious theory of the A. F. of L., in of the Communist International and | its collaboration with the bosses, 1s its various sections, the class con- that women in industry are not cr- scious workers, the world over will ganizable, that they are not.a stable plied to the armies, or certain units |not only voice their protest to the of these armies which are under the |imperialist war preparations but element in industry, that large per- centage of the women expect to be married and thus supplied with all cial composition of certain units do|this function can be fulfilled only not permit of this being done, the|by a standing army representing Communists mtzt demand the im-|the core of the armied mass of the mediate disarming and dissolution of toiling population. To demand such military units. \from the dictatorship of the prole- |tariat, when it is surrounded by a B. The Military Question During the capitalist environment, the immedi- Proletarian Revolution. |ate and complete transition to the The main slogans upon which the democratic partial demands are based are: disarm the bourgeoisie; | militia system, is petty bourgeois |and counter-revolutionary stupidity. The more or less complete introduc- tion of the militia principle in its arm the proletariat. pure form without any weakening of These demands will have revolu-/ The arming of the proletariat as- sumes various forms at various stages of the revolution. In the period prior to the seizure of power, and in the first period after the seizure of power, it takes the form of a proletarian militia,—a militia of the toilers, the Red Guard, and also Red Guerilla detachments. The Red Army is the form of military organization of the Soviet Govern- ment, i,e., it is the army of the dic- tatorship of the proletariat. The demand for a proletarian mil- tia consisting of toilers. (a workers’ alist country is merely another way of formulating the demand for arm- and peasants’ militia) in an imperi- | ing the proletariat and can be put | Defend the Soviet Union! military power will be possible only when the productive’ forces have been completely developed, when So- cialism has been fully established jand the masses have been thoroughly trained in the spirit of Communism. Only when the proletarian revolution has been victorious in a number of |big capitalist states will the prole- |tarian government (as the VIII. Ple- num of the E. C. C. I. has declared) be in a position to substitute the | standing Red Army by a class mili- tia. At all events, the spirit, discipline and system of organization of the | defense force of the dictatorship of | the proletariat must bear a dis- tinctly class character. Elements Things You Must Do! 1. Rouse the workers in the factories to the danger con- | which will improve the defense of fronting the Soviet Union. 2. against the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union. izations. | yg ¢. Organize anti-war committees in the shops. Prepara- tory for the antiwar demonstration August 1st, resolutions must be passed in the shops protesting the provocative acts resolutions for the defense of 3. Adopt resolutions of protest and support for the Soviet Union in all trade unions and in all labor organ- 4,—Propagate for the slogan of anti-war day on August First! Join the demonstration at Union Square. 5.—On every occasion, wherever possible, speak at fac- tory gate meetings, spread Party leaflets, issue special edi- tions of shop bulletins, issue special leaflets to the factories in your locality raising the call for the fight against the com- ing war! DOWN TOOLS AUGUST FIRST. 6.—Be prepared for the call of the Party for every event in the present war developments. The above tasks are the concern of every loyal member that feels himself a soldier of the worid proletarian army. To forsake your duty at this moment is treachery to the work- ing class! All unit functionaries, all Party memho:s, redouble your energies; speed up the fight! : bs command of the imperialists, and at | the same time the slogans of the armed nation (militia) and a na- | tional army must be advanced. The slogan for a national army must be advanced when the con- crete situation is suitable for it and put forward in such a way as to prevent it being misused by the im- perialists and their flunkeys (com- plete independence of the army from the imperialists, organization cf the army on the widest demo- cratic basis, ‘election of officers, ete.). The slogan: withdraw the i ialist armies from the colonie: draw the imperialist cadres and of- ficers from native armies, must be advanced in cclonies as well as in the home countries. | Consider Political Role | In order to determine the attitude | to be taken toward the military sys- tem in colonial and semi-colonial | countries, consideration must be given to the political role being played by the given country at the given moment, in the decisive stages of the international revolution, i. e., whether it is an ally or a foe of the Soviet Union, of the Chinese Revolu- tion, etc. On the whole, the prole- tariat, end the revolutionary masses among the oppressed nations, must demand the democratic system of armaments in which all the toilers are able to learn the use of arms, the country against imperialism, se- eure the influence of the workers and peasants in the army, and factli- tate the struggle for the hegemony | of the proletariat in the democratic revolution. Unlike the position in regard to the imperialist states, the slogans: universal military service, the mili- tary training of the youth, a demo- cratic militia, a national army, etc., must be included in the revolution- ary military program in colonial and semi-colonial countries. In the pres- cnt historical epoch, however, the tactics of the national revolutionary movement must be, subordinated to | the interests of the, world proleta- rian revolution. Revolutionaries |cennot advance such a program in oppressed countries which are them- } selves opnressors ond act as the vas- sals of the imperialists in a war | against proletarian, or national rev- | olutions. In such countries Com- munists must unfailingly combine their propaganda in favor of revolu- \tionary war for the defense of other revolutionary countries, and their propaganda in favor of a revolu- ; tionary military nolicy. with a de- } teatist poottleg, da relation to the will monstrate their growing | nd 3 power and determination to fight to | the necessities of life. r a victorious end. | Aceording to government si i On the occasion of this gigantic) tics, over two million wage earners’ review of the fighting forces of the|are married and even the wo ng proletariat for the defeat of the|men’s wives and mothers are feel- oppressors, the women of the pro- jing the brutal system of oppression. letariat, the women workers, must|They must struggle and attempt to take an active and energetic part. make the ever-shrinking pay en- velope cover the high rents, the ris- Today with the growth of capi- talist rationalization and the instal- lation of more and more modern machinery, the simplification of technique of production replaces mil- lions of human beings, cuts them off fresh from their means of livelihood and swells the great army of the unemployed. With the simplifica- |tion of the process of production, the bosses are constantly seeking new and rawer recruits. The women, more than ever, are the chief vic- tims of the ever-increasing exploi- tation. Young Women in Industry The percentage of women in the many basic and war industries has increased in the last few years, es- pecially the young women. The role of the young women workers in the process of capitalist rationalization and preparation for imperialist war must not be under- estimated, for it is to force young, inexperienced, unorganized women to submit tamely to exploitation, Women Bear Double Burden Women have always been the most brutally oppressed of all the workers under capitalism. They bear the double burden of oppression. After nine to twelve hours of gruei- ling toil in the factories, often under intolerable conditions of speed-up, they are forced to tend to their wretched homes and large families. The burden of motherhood and of enforced motherhood, of the enforced bearing of children to be fed into the factories in times of peace and to serve as cannon fodder on the fields of slaughter in times of war; this burden must be borne together with the perpetual whip of increased speed-up, lowering of wages, as well as the lengthening of hours. The intense exploitation of wo- men workers, the long hours, the nerve-racking speeding - up, the lengthening of hours, so robs wo- men of their strength that they are unable to live through the hard strain of child-birth. More women die of child-birth in the U. S. than in any other country, A. F, of L. Misleads the Women. Today only one-quorter of a mil- lion or two per cent of eleven mil- lion working women, are organized. Tiis informaiion was given by the Women’s Bureau of Y. 5. Lahor ing cost of food and they, too, feel the burden of long periods of un- employment, lockouts, ete, Workers Are Taking the Offensive The workers everywhere are be- ginning to awaken to the growing offensive of the bosses and steadily the power and the willingness and determination of resistance, of counter-offensive grows. The work- ers of the U. S. have just gone through and are conducting at the present time, intense fierce battles ‘to build new, militant, fighting unions, to better their conditions. In the South, an inspiring revolt has broken out among one of the most exploited sections of the entire American working class, the native born white and’ black workers of North and South Carolina, upon the backs of whom the.reins and harness of Northern industrialism were too hastily, with too assured a crassness, placed by the textile barons of the North. In all the struggles con- ducted unde rthe left-wing and ES munist leadership the women pla’ an outstanding role; the wome have shown how they can fight shoulder to shoulder with the men workers, and once awakened, are most determined, inspiring fighters. Soviet Union Threatened The intensification of exploitation, the introduction of all kinds of ra- tionalization plans, speed-up, wage cuts, smashing the union, all these are part and parcel of hastened im- peralist war preparations. The threatening war danger is becoming more and more acute. The impera- list powers, \-hile preparing to fight each other, are preparing a military crusade against the Soviet Union, the only country in the world where the workers and peasants rule, the only country in the world in which women can stand upright, free from the chains or exploitation, as work- ers and women, freed from sex slavery. " (To Be Continued} trial starts July 20! Twenty-three workers face eleétrocution or prison terms! Rally all forces to save them. Defense and Relief Week July 27—August 3! Sign the Protest Roll! Ru ° funds to International Labor Defense, 80 } Kast Mth Street, New Yor. <style ee. The Gastonia Textile Worker’ ? {