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inseparable from the anti-organisational theories of ‘councilism’. Nevertheless, these reactions can, partially, explain the final disappearance of the GIC – and also of Mattick’s group in the USA – at the beginning of the Second World War. The elements of the GIC were able to survive politically by joining the Communistenbond Spartacus. (See Chap. 11) 238
Chapter 8 TOWARDS STATE CAPITALISM: FASCISM, ANTI-FASCISM, DEMOCRACY, STALINISM, POPULAR FRONTS: THE “INEVITABLE WAR” (1933 – 1939) In 1933 a major debate developed in the international council communist movement, aimed at determining what course historical events were taking. Was the world economic crisis just a passing phenomenon, or a lasting one? Would economic collapse inevitably lead to a new wave of revolutionary struggles, or, on the contrary, to the consolidation of capitalism in a totalitarian form? Would fascism collapse, or grow stronger? Was the fascist phenomenon limited to a few particular countries, or was it a universal expression of the decadent capitalist mode of production? Was there a general tendency towards state capitalism, of which fascism and stalinism were particular expressions? Was ‘classical’ democracy a different form of state capitalism and was it progressive in relation to fascism? Or should the proletariat fight against it, just as it had to fight against stalinism and fascism? What should be the attitude of the Council Communist movement towards the popular fronts and anti-fascism? These were the burning political questions which obliged the GIC to go beyond the general debates it had been having for years on the Unions and Workers’ Councils. The responses to these questions, by the Dutch and German Lefts, or by Matticks’ group, were not fundamentally different to those given by the Italian Communist Left around Bilan. 931 But, given the fragmentation and isolation of the Communist Left’s various components, this identity of political and theoretical standpoints rarely gave rise to any joint statements of position. In a tragic epoch, the different internationalist groups found themselves in a tragic state of political isolation. The Theories of Capitalist Collapse Up until 1932-33, when the GIC published a pamphlet specifically devoted to the economic crisis, the Dutch groups had only dealt with crisis theory in passing. 932 But when the GIC was drawn into a polemic with the German and American council communists, it began to place this question at the centre of its intervention. 933 After 1932, each issue of the Persdienst (PIC) 934 defined its objective as follows: “The development of capitalism leads to crises increasingly more violent which are expressed themselves by an unemployment increasingly larger and a dislocation increasingly stronger of the apparatus of production, so that millions workers are out of production and at the mercy of starvation. Furthermore, the antagonisms between the different capitalist states are sharpening to the point where economic war is leading to a new World War. The 931 The view of the Italian Communist Left was based on the experience of the Russian Revolution and on the theory of the decadence of capitalism. 932 De beweging van het kapitalistisch bedrijfsleven (‘The evolution of capitalist industry’), Oct. 1932. Pamphlet written by B.A. Sijes. 933 ‘De economische crisis’, in: PIC, No. 23, Oct. 1929. 934 Before 1932, the titles of the GIC s periodical was Persmateriaal (‘press material’) of the Internationalist Communists (PIC) the title then changed to Persdienst (‘press service’). These politically very ‘neutral’ titles indicated the activity of a discussion circle, rather than of a political group. PIC was distributed free of charge, supported by voluntary contributions from militants and readers. This changed in 1938 with the publication of Radencommunisme: the periodical was sold. This had been the case with Räte-Korrespondenz since 1934. 239
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PHILIPPE BOURRINET The Dutch and Ge
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The Dutch and German Communist Left
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General studies ...................
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INTRODUCTION Despite the theoretica
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In fact, it was not the GIC, but th
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history of the Dutch communist curr
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Chapter 1: Origins and Formation of
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1862-1866, 1871-1872); these conser
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Dutch and German workers’ movemen
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However, this ‘radicalism’ of D
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emained an internationalist. It is
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a formidable weapon against the lef
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form the Tribunist movement: Mendel
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of the organisation. 31 He only dev
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The support given to the various re
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Using the pretext of the struggle a
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the end of 1903. 57 By contrast, a
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Bolsheviks had deputies in the Duma
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imposed to form an organised fracti
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was obliged to include in the pream
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‘right’ 100 - which was based i
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This was the beginning of an increa
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carried out by the SDP - in the for
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The growth of Dutch imperialism cou
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Wijnkoop’s suggestion, the SDP’
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evolution. 125 Right up until the w
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helped to write the pamphlet addres
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section, supported a counter-resolu
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Chapter 2 Pannekoek and ‘Dutch’
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The philosophical bases of radical
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Wrongly presented by its opponents
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is most necessary. Only knowledge g
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ended in defeat - but whatever help
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The Dutch Left never considered the
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ourgeois revolutions, thinks of not
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eligious faith in the success of th
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organisations they had so patiently
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forces... The most backward country
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mass strikes; the proletariat’s s
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‘Great Night’: “[passive radi
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economic, and whose political domin
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letter to Paul Lafargue (20 th June
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Luxemburg in urging a clear rejecti
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explicit criticism of their leaders
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As in most of the belligerent count
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the main goal was the return to pea
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Gorter’s analyses were remarkable
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political factors which led to this
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During 1915, opposition to the war
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inform its readers about the Confer
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It is noteworthy that Roland Holst
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powerful opposition to this policy
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The workers’ reaction was immedia
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concealed the Wijnkoop leadership
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Lenin was quite right to emphasise
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“Don’t you feel, little by litt
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dissolved itself. There only remain
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Chapter 4 THE DUTCH LEFT IN THE KOM
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Spartakusbund not rejected particip
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However, the circular of the Komint
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Kommunist, publication of the Breme
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Russians - like Trotsky 433 - no lo
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The resolution adopted by the confe
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Led by Wolffheim and Laufenberg, th
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Pannekoek’s great clear-sightedne
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Rühle’s anti-party current. But
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All these accusations fail to stand
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not that of a general staff, in whi
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democrats and bourgeois in the war
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The unions also resemble the state
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eal decision-making centre. In this
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communism extends from the Rhine to
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The NEP (New Economic Policy) in th
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and the workers, who had all been a
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However, all the left communists, G
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was more disastrous for the VKPD th
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At its 3 rd Congress, the Komintern
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when he was in fact in Spain at the
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workers, and that every three month
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committee is also of the opinion th
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large towns passed from capitalism
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KAI would be “infinitely difficul
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private property”. They constitut
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side, of two KAPDs, with two papers
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intention of working for the reunif
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‘old enemy’ Paul Levi. 650 Deth
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district in Amsterdam, condemning a
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THE GROUP OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNIS
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the Dutch theoretical review Radenc
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the CPO decided to dissolve in orde
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political sleep by the crisis of th
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economic, rather than the political
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the nationalist, even anti-Semitic
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Page 194 and 195: It was a party which dared not spea
Page 196 and 197: a big impact in the unemployed move
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Page 200 and 201: The other factor in the defeat of t
Page 202 and 203: would ‘awaken’ the German prole
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Page 206 and 207: Chapter 7 TOWARDS A NEW WORKERS’
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Page 212 and 213: Secondly, by trying at all costs to
Page 214 and 215: In a contradictory way, the GIC rep
Page 216 and 217: The ‘new workers’ movement’ a
Page 218 and 219: The function and functioning of the
Page 220 and 221: een eclipsed and replaced by a “d
Page 222 and 223: and developed since the birth of th
Page 224 and 225: GIC recognised the fundamental role
Page 226 and 227: This view has a certain resemblance
Page 228 and 229: “At the beginning of the period o
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Page 232 and 233: to construct a coherent and ordered
Page 234 and 235: “As soon as the proletarian class
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Page 252 and 253: Unlike the Paul Mattick group in th
Page 254 and 255: The contribution by this group, whi
Page 256 and 257: Chapter 9 THE DUTCH INTERNATIONALIS
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Page 260 and 261: impoverished peasants and, on the o
Page 262 and 263: The first ‘minority’ was formed
Page 264 and 265: iting, since the Dutch RSAP and the
Page 266 and 267: seems to have come from an ex-membe
Page 268 and 269: esult which appeared positive to th
Page 270 and 271: Chapter 10 FROM THE “MARX - LENIN
Page 272 and 273: to the previous history of Germany
Page 274 and 275: posterity a political, as much as a
Page 276 and 277: Council communist theory had a revo
Page 278 and 279: organisations together, including t
Page 280 and 281: This ‘broad’ policy towards oth
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Page 286 and 287: Chapter 11 The Communistenbond Spar
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political past, marked less by synd
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process, and “the [capitalist] sy
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organisation, once theoretical and
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organisation: “The Bond is a temp
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The implicit rejection of the Russi
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the ‘right’ to speak in the Ber
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slavenmaatschappij tot arbeidersmac
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In 1945-46, the Bond examined sever
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Luxemburg’s conception, it was fo
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draws in ever greater masses. [...]
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The onset of the Cold War left the
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- General rejection of all groups t
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disappeared in 1948. Canne-Meijer w
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Bond arrived at the idea that the R
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After World War II council communis
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joined the left wing of the SPD or
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Like SB, it paraded a strong anti-b
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If ‘councilism’ as an organised
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The history of the Dutch and German
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organisational discipline, both exp
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looked to changes in the sociologic
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The criticisms put forward by Geyer
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BIBLIOGRAPHY A bibliography on the
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Stan POPPE (1899-1991) archives: mi
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Rote Armee (constituted in April 19
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Korrespondenz-Blatt der KAPD, ‚an
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‘Monatsblätter aus der Jugendbew
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Nasha Duma, Sofia, Oct. - Dec. 1919
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THE NETHERLANDS The Dutch communist
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Uit eigen kring; intern orgaan (the
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(These latter two texts have been t
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There is a good choice of texts, tr
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Zur Psychologie des proletarisches
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Marxism: last refuge of the bourgeo
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(These texts are in Authier-Barrot,
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Der Kampf um die Macht in der Gegen
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Pamphlets by the Bulgarian left com
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REICHENBACH (Bernard), ‘Moscow 19
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‚Über Karl Korsch’, in Jahrbuc
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ROEGHOLT (Richter), Ben Sijes. Een
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JANEV (Nikola), Balgarskata komunis
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The ‘intellectual current’: lit
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MALANDRINO (Corrado), ‘Anton Pann
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BERENDSEN (Hans), & WEEDA (Rik), Ui
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HARMSEN (Ger), Historisch overzicht
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NGO VAN, Vietnam 1920-1945, révolu
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WINCKLER (Heinrich August), Arbeite
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Protokolle der Vereinigungs-Konfere
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Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli,
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CWI: Communist Workers’ Internati
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NSV: Nederlandsch Syndikalistisch V
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VOC: Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compa
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Blackwell (Russell) [alias: Negrete
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Fischer (Ruth) [Eisler (Elfriede),
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KAPN, 17, 138, 172, 187, 199, 204-2
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Most (Johann), 29 Mühsam (Erich),
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Rühle (Otto), 13, 17, 21, 62, 120,
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Vonk (group De), 324, 329, 337, 351
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