The German-Dutch Communist Left - Libcom

organisation: “The Bond is a temporary organisation of Marxists, orientated towards the formation of a true
international communist party, which must emerge from the struggle of the working class.” 1199
It is noteworthy that this declaration posed the question of the birth of a party in the revolutionary period. Such a
conception was the opposite of that of the trotskyists during the 1930s, then of the post-1945 bordigists, who
considered that the party was the product of mere will, and so saw the moment of its emergence as a secondary
question. It need only be ‘proclaimed’ to exist. No less remarkable was the ‘Inaugural Address’ – adopted by the
July conference – addressed to internationalist revolutionary groups. It excluded the Dutch trotskyist CRM, with
which the conference broke off all contact, because of their position of “support for the USSR”. 1200 Finally, it
was a call for the regroupment of the different groups of the Communist Left, which rejected the vision of a
seizure of power by a party: “It is in and by the movement itself that a new Komintern can be born, in which the
communists of all countries – relieved of bureaucratic domination, but also of any pretension to seize power on
their own account – can take part”. 1201
However, it should be noted that this call for the regroupment of internationalist revolutionaries only gave rise to
limited practical measures. The conference decided to set up an Information Secretariat in Brussels, whose job
would be to make contact with various groups, and publish a Bulletin d’information. At the same time, contact
was briefly renewed with Vereeken’s group. It was clear that the positions of his group ‘Against the Current’
(Tegen de stroom) were incompatible with those of the Bond. 1202 But the very fact that the contact was made
indicated an absence of political criteria in delimiting the internationalist communist groups from other confused
or anarchist groups. The same absence of criteria appeared in 1947, during an international conference held in
Brussels (see below).
b) The Congress of December 1945 – the Theses on the Party
The Pact that the Bond was preparing for the emergence of a Party demanded the greatest possible homogeneity
within the organisation on the theoretical conception of the party. This is why the Theses on the tasks and nature
of the Party were written and discussed at the Congress of 24-26 December 1945. 1203 They were adopted by the
Congress and published in pamphlet form in January 1946. 1204 It is very significant that they were drawn up by
an old member of the GIC: Bruun van Albada. This very fact demonstrates the Bond’s unanimity on the
question, and above all expressed the explicit rejection of the conceptions which had held sway in the GIC
during the 1930s. The organisation showed how important it considered the Theses by holding public meetings
on the subject of the party throughout 1946.
The Theses are focused on the change in the Party’s function between the period of capitalism’s ascendancy –
called the period of “liberal capitalism” – and the period of decadence following World War I – the period of the
domination of state capitalism. Although the notions of ascendancy and decadence are not used, the text
forcefully emphasises the change in historical period which implies a calling into question of the old conceptions
of the Party:
1199 UEK, No. 1, April 1945.
1200 UEK, No. 2, August 1945: “The conference decides to reject any collaboration within the CRM. The decision is taken
not to enter into a discussion within the CRM.”
1201 UEK, No. 4, August 1945, draft inaugural address “to the manual and intellectual workers of all countries”.
1202 The proposal to establish an “Information Secretariat” in Brussels came from the Vereeken‘s group “Against the
Current” and of the leadership of the Communistenbond; the conference gave its Agreement. Cf. Uit eigen kring, No. 2,
August 1945, point 8 of the resolution adopted.
1203 The Theses, one of three draft versions, were published in UEK, No. 8, Dec. 1945, and in pamphlet form in Jan. 1945.
The two other drafts were submitted for discussion before being rejected.
1204 The Theses were not called into question until 1951. Proposals for amendments were submitted to the organisation by
the Amsterdam group. See: UEK, 20 th October 1951.
294