SN All Power to the Workers!
WWW MONIST INTE THE COMMUNIST Official Organ of the Communist Party of America (Section of the Communist International)
Vol. III. No. APRIL 1921 Ten Cents THE CRISIS IN THE ITALIAN SOCIALIST PARTY Comrade Zinoviev Masterful Analysis of Serratianism or Italian Centrism party must remain intact; and that since these bodies, which cover the country with the network of their organizations, are now in the hands of the reformists, the relations with these reformists should not be disturbed and the unity of the party must therefore be upheld at any price.
According to this view the unity of the party becomes a revolutionary necessity.
In his letter Serrati has expressed his views with delightful and unexpected clearness. There is, however, much more to be noted. Serrati has attempted to give the principal bases of the tactics of limping behind the advancing masses (a practice followed by the Italian Socialist Party. of the tactics of half measures, which were mostly half defeats.
It therefore becomes necessary, if we wish to understand the phenomenon of Serratianism of Italian centrism thoroughly consider Serrati letter.
The most important point, which illuminates the entire letter, is that in which Serrati claims that the final and decisive act of force comes fatalistically of it self. With this the position of Serrati is made absolutely clear. This also establishes the position of the Italian Socialist Party, which in April, 1920, looked on while the revolutionary general strike of the working class was crushed. The Italian Socialist Party again wavered when in June the soldiers mutinied in many ities; when in Ancona the workers fought on the barricades the Italian Socialist Party again hesitated to bring the movement against the Albanian war adventurers to a head by proclaiming the general strike. The Italian Socialist Party re What the Communist International What, however, does this mean. to demands of its followers, is the recogni.
MAKE the revolution?
tion not in words, but in deeds that civilized mankind has entered the revolu. Making the revolution, says Sertionary epoch, that all capitalist countries rati, means not so much to provoke are facing the greatest convulsions and a decisive act of force (which beopen class war, and that the task of the lieve to a necessary consequence of revolutionary representatives of the prole.
tariat therefore consists in preparing for the whole situation and comes of itthis inevitable, approaching civil war the self, almost fatalistically) as to prenecessary spiritual weapons and organ pare those factors which can give us ized points of support.
as a party the possibility of utilizing Those Internationalists who consider it this unavoidable act of force and to possible to work together with Kautsky, attract those Socialist elements who Longuet and Turrati, to appear on their side before the toiling masses, renounce will follow us according to the time, in deeds the spiritual and organizational the circumstances, and the surroundpreparation for the revolutionary uprising ings. We are not the ones who make of the proletariat, altogether apart from the consideration as to whether this may the revoution, or, in other words, achappen in a month or a year, sooner or complish the decisive act of revolulater. TROTSKY, tion which violently cuts the connecin Terrorism and Communism. tion between the past and the future.
We are those who are conscious of this new power which has arisen unor some time the comrades of one of der the desired circumstances, and we the larger cities of Southern Italy ap must so act as to lead to the successproached Serrati asking him to explain ful outcome of the revolution.
his views of the present situation and the The task of the Socialist Party, tasks of the Italian Socialist Party arising according to my view, is not so much therefrom. Serrati answered them in deto lead the masses into the streetstail and later published his reply in the as the romanticists of the barricade periodical, Communismo, of which he is think but above all to prepare all the the editor. In this article Serrati mainforces of the Socialist order which tained that the present situation in Italy are indispensable to establish the new was undoubtedly revolutionary, and that regime and thus assure its eventual the revolution could not be averted, and triumph.
that there were only two paths open to From this hypothesis Serrati draws the the Italian Socialist Party, e. either to conclusion that it is necessary, in order enter the government, using lawful means, to solve the great tasks that await the proletariat after the seizure of power, not which would mean co operation with the to lose connection with the trade unions bourgeoisie and the betrayal of the prole and comrades; that the majority of Sotariat, or to make the revolution.
cialist co operative organizations of the to