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Russian capitalism. It was only conceivable in the absence of a real bourgeoisie and as the result of a revolution: “In Russia, the bourgeoisie was liquidated by the revolution and its power destroyed [...] State capitalism could arise because a powerful bourgeoisie was lacking”. In the end, state capitalism was seen as the product not of a counter-revolution but of the class struggle, and it was ‘revolutionary’ in the sense that it affected the passage from “barbarism” to “developed capitalism”. In this sense, it was a ‘special case’ whose foundation was more political than economic: “...each case is a particular case; each country has a particular form of political development.” 987 This rejection of the theory of a general tendency towards state capitalism outside the special case of Russia was justified by the theoretical blunders of the German council communists. The GIC wanted to close the door to the conception that “state capitalism would everywhere become the most developed form of capitalism” and would thus constitute “a necessary transition phase between capitalism and communism”. 988 As Marxists, the GIC condemned in advance the idea – developed by Socialisme ou Barbarie in the 1950’s 989 – that state capitalism was “a new system” with a “new ruling class”. Even in the Russian case, it was not at all a new system. Russian state capitalism remained a capitalist system in which the new ruling class was only new chronologically, not structurally. Organised in the Russian party – which the GIC, not seeing the discontinuity between Lenin and Stalin, still called ‘bolshevik’ the bureaucracy had taken on “the same role as the private capitalists in their countries” and had itself become the bourgeoisie. 990 In this way Pannekoek and the GIC showed that state capitalism did not constitute a historic ‘solution’ to the crisis of capitalism. Without using the theory of capitalist decadence, they rallied to Mattick’s position that in the era of the “permanent crisis” 991 , there could be no rationalisation of capital through state planning. Paradoxically, this could only reinforce the anarchy of the capitalist system: “Capitalist ‘planning’ only increases the absence of any plan”. 992 Thus, as in the analysis of the crisis, there was a lack of homogeneity and cohesion in the council communist movement on the question of state capitalism. Faced with a novel phenomenon, the Dutch, like the Germans, groped their way forward. The differences between the GIC and the German groups were by no means as clearcut as they may have appeared at first. The Germans were far from defending the idea of a ‘new system’ that had overcome the contradictions of capitalism. In a more elaborated response to the GIC they showed that state capitalism could only slow down the permanent crisis, not overcome its basic contradictions. It was not a new system but a phase of evolution: “In this state capitalist phase of evolution – which is expressed most clearly in the German and Soviet Russian conditions – the contradictions of capitalist society have not been overcome, but only displaced, concentrated, openly appearing as a contradiction”. 993 At the same time, within the GIC Pannekoek himself, who was the most determined opponent of the Germans’ theory, paradoxically adopted their conclusions. In an article published in the organ of the American council communists in 1936, under the pseudonym of John Harper, he admitted that there was a general tendency 987 Ibid. 988 ’Antwort der GIKH’, op. cit. 989 The group ‘Socialisme ou Barbarie’, which published the periodical of the same name after 1949, came out of trotskyism. Its dominant personality was Cornelius Castoriadis – his pseudonyms were Chaulieu or Cardan or Coudray – who ceased to be a Marxist after the 1960’s. 990 ‚Sowjet-Rußland heute’, in: Räte-Korrespondenz No. 20, Dec. 1936. 991 The GIC published Mattick‘s text on the ‘Permanent Crisis’ in PIC, No. 8, August 1935. In No. 9 of August 1935, it criticised the “mechanical and schematic conceptions” in Mattick’s ‘Grossmannite’ view. 992 P(aul) M(attick)], ‚Erwiderung der amerikanischenen Genossen’, in: Räte-Korrespondenz, No.18/19, cited above. Mattick, like the GIC, denied capitalism’s evolution towards state capitalism. This could only be conceived on the Russian model, and required “a revolutionary overthrow, the suppression of the present possessing class”. 993 ‘Anti-kritik der deutschen Genossen’, in: Räte-Korrespondenz, ibid. The German council communists concluded that state capitalism, the expression of a “latent, persistent crisis”, involved the absorption of civil society by the state: “All the essential functions of society are more and more being taken over by the state apparatus, which ends up dominating the whole of social life and, as a parasitic body, threatens to smother it entirely”. 248
towards state capitalism in all countries, after having denied it a few months before. It is true that, for him, this tendency was more political than economic in character, its aim being to prevent the proletarian revolution: “A development of European and American capitalism in the direction of some form of state capitalism could show itself to be a way of preventing, counter-acting, or deforming a proletarian revolution”. And Pannekoek added that all the parties, whether fascist, ‘communist’, or social-democratic aspired “to a form of state capitalism or state socialism in which the working class is directed and exploited by the state, by the community of chiefs, directors, functionaries and managers of production”. 994 Admittedly, like the revolutionary movement as wholes, the council communists had great difficulty in setting out a coherent and global view of state capitalism. 995 Some, like the Germans, saw all state capitalisms as identical, without taking into account differences in their emergence and development. The GIC on the other hand, had a tendency to see only the specificities, ‘special cases’ like the Russian model, to the point of refusing to see a general tendency towards state capitalism in the economic sphere of the developed countries. In fact, the GIC and Pannekoek only recognised the existence of state capitalism in the political sphere, where totalitarianism and the one party state were going from victory to victory. But, in this case, the GIC and its theoretician gave a purely sociological explanation: for them, state capitalism, a particular form of capitalist domination, was based on a new middle-class stratum, the ‘intellectuals’. 996 The German ‘councilists’, following Rühle, saw the basis of state capitalism in the phenomenon of capitalist decadence in which “all the essential functions of society are more and more absorbed by the state apparatus, which has ended up dominating the whole of social life”. Their framework of interpretation was therefore neither sociological nor purely political, but historical, and much closer to economic reality. But in seeing fascism everywhere, in all countries – from Germany to Russia – they fell into political simplification. The “state capitalist foundations of society” could only have one political superstructure, not several. fascism was this form and, in typical ‘councilist’ manner, it was mixed up with ‘bolshevism’, which Rühle saw as ‘red fascism’. 997 Class Struggle and the Popular Front: a new course? In 1932, in an ‘Address to all revolutionary workers’, the GIC wrote that “the epoch of mass revolutionary movements is fast approaching”. 998 Despite the terrible defeat of the German proletariat in 1933, the GIC maintained this view of a course towards revolution until 1936 at least. All the defeats of the proletariat were seen as so many experiences marking the end of one epoch and the opening of another, in which the world proletariat would launch into mass revolutionary action. With the terrible defeat of the Viennese proletariat in February 1934, the GIC had to bow to the evidence: “the international working class is on the road of repeated defeats”. 999 The struggles of the Amsterdam workers in the same year, then that of the French workers in 1936 forced the GIC to draw clearer lessons about a whole period of defeats. The struggle of the Amsterdam unemployed (July 1934) 994 J(ohn) H(arper): ‘The Role of fascism’, in: International Council Correspondence, No. 8, July 1936, pp. 10-16. 995 The question of state capitalism was raised in Bilan, organ of the Italian communist left, above all by Mitchell, then a member of Hennauts’ LCI. See our work: The ‘Bordigist’ Current 1919-1999, Italy, France, Belgium, op. cit. 996 ‘De intellektuele middenstand’, article by Pannekoek (unsigned), in: PIC, No. 4, March 1934. Unlike Pannekoek, Mattick, in a 1934 text published in International Council Correspondence [French translation in 1967 by Informations et Correspondance Ouvrières (ICO) – La dictature des intellectuals). This showed that the ‘intellectual’ stratum, like the petty bourgeoisie, had no future and was doomed to lose its social influence. 997 See: O. Rühle, Fascisme brun, fascisme rouge (Paris: Spartacus, 1975), text from 1939. 998 PIC, No. 12, August 1932. 999 Einde en Begin, in: PIC, No. 7, May 1934. 249
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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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parliamentary stipend financed the
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shreds”. 706 But significantly, t
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KAPD. The GIC, followed by Pannekoe
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It was a party which dared not spea
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a big impact in the unemployed move
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Page 212 and 213: Secondly, by trying at all costs to
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Page 218 and 219: The function and functioning of the
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Page 222 and 223: and developed since the birth of th
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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
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Page 268 and 269: esult which appeared positive to th
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Page 272 and 273: to the previous history of Germany
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Page 276 and 277: Council communist theory had a revo
Page 278 and 279: organisations together, including t
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Page 296 and 297: 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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