Anti-communism in Europe - The revival of a spectre*
*Article published in "Rizospastis" of September 10, 2005
Only two years have passed since, in August 2003, the head of the Liberal Group of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe submitted a project condemning communist ideology and urging to take the necessary measures to get rid of the inheritance "of former communist totalitarian states." The project was then adopted by the Bureau of the Council of Europe. A new Neurenberg was needed, according to the words of the Minister of Justice of Estonia.
In the autumn of the same year followed the well-known declarations by the EU Commissioner on Enlargement at that time, Mr. Verheugen, saying that taking into consideration what those peoples had suffered from communism, he himself would have asked for the ban on communist parties, if he were a citizen of those countries.
But the centre-left President of the European Commission at that time, Mr. Romano Prodi, had said as well that to ban a communist party in an accession country (to the EU) is by no means a reason to specially worry about or to criticize. In the mean time new members entered the European "family", some of which having banned their communist parties or at least pursuing communists and/or putting them in prison.
But let us continue……In February 2004, that is a few months before the accession to the EU of ten new states – the majority of them former socialist – the 16th Congress of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) adopted a resolution condemning "totalitarian communism."
In May 2005 the European Parliament (EP) adopted an extremely anti-communist resolution, submitted by the Christian Democrat Chairman of the Commission of External Affairs of the EP, this time at the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Antifascist Victory.
In October 2005 the Political Commission of the Council of Europe would present a memorandum of yet more reactionary content than the resolution of the European Parliament asking for the international condemnation of communism "without any further delay." After heavy protests the discussion on this memorandum has been delayed…. This time even class struggle is a target, beyond the already well-known equalization of nazism with communism as two totalitarian monsters, plus the condemnation of the "crimes" of communism (which, according to the text, originates from the theory of class struggle!) and of course the supposedly violation of human rights in the former socialist countries or, as they put it, under communism.
A reactionary escalation.
The whole question seems to be in a process of elaboration. The systematic stepping up of reactionary assaults, as it has become evident during the last years within the official institutions of Europe against the ideology of communism, is the obvious consequence of the set-back of about 15 years ago, when the socialist countries on the European continent had been overthrown or dissolved, something which had been prepared though "underhand" during the last decades from within and from outside. This doesn't however solely indicate the "victory" of capitalist forces, which took back a piece of territory lost as a consequence of the Second World War with its great antifascist victory of the peoples, but it witnesses as well their feelings of uneasiness. Europe itself is the cradle of communism, the memorandum of the Council of Europe says.
This is evident, because Europe is the cradle of capitalism as well, so the reasonable consequence is that it would bear its opposite, according to the dialectics of history. So Europe's reactionary forces are worried. About 15 years ago all the talk was about the death of communism and the end of history.
Today there is a stepping up at an official European level of declarations so poisonous, that even the fascist snake springing from the well-known egg would be jealous of them.
This demonstrates, that reactionary forces have understood very well the point of return. For instance, the above mentioned text of the resolution of the Congress of the European People's Party notes, that "in different parts of the world a few totalitarian communist regimes are still clinging to power at high cost to the well-being of their people"- particularly cynical words in the mouth of those forces, which for centuries have been spreading out poverty and misery all over the world serving aging capitalism, while the internal contradictions of that system create everywhere the conditions for social revolutions, for socialism.
May be that's why we read in the same text, that "the danger of totalitarian communist regimes regaining power has not disappeared and this ideology continues to endanger world peace and the free development of nations"? Generally the danger of growing influence of communist ideas is being pointed out in the relevant texts. In the end "dead" communism seems to be alive….
Not only many of the existing communist parties have not proceeded to a condemnation of the "crimes of communism", according to the memorandum of the Council of Europe, but there are countries in which they keep on governing (China, North Korea, Vietnam, Cuba and Laos are mentioned). The uneasiness of the political representatives of imperialist establishment as regards the influence of communist ideas becomes more and more diffused and justified for the simple reason, that it is their very system paving the social and economic way, which once gave birth to that cosmotheory and that they know very well.
The signs of doubt and even avertion on behalf of the peoples of Europe increase as regards the growing reactionary and anti-popular European building. During the last 15 years there has been a rejection of several instruments of European capitalist unification expressed in referenda, European elections, polls etc. On top of that came the crash of the referenda in the founding member-states France and the Netherlands with regard to the culmination, the core of European "democratic" essence, the European Constitution. We don't mean to say, that all these are signs of radicalization of the people's consciousness. However, those are steps indicating to Europe's reactionary forces, that the spectre of the first phrase of Marx-Engels' Manifesto of the Communist Party keeps on haunting them.
Annoying symbols.
There is no need to say much about the fundamental lines occurring in the anti-communist memoranda, reports, resolutions and sayings of the last years at the higher levels of the European political representatives of capitalism. First of all the endlessly repeated equalization of nazism/fascism with communism as totalitarian monsters and at a more personified level the equalization Hitler-Stalin. Of course, after the "crimes" attributed to the socialist regimes, the human rights thing could not be absent. As it seems, the only institute respecting human rights is bourgeois "democracy" with its history of bloodshed.
Not even the hammer and sickle could escape from the equalization nazism-communism. Members of the European Parliament from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania and Slovakia, new member-states particularly zealous in this question and particularly American-minded at the government level, proposed a ban on that symbol, because it would be a "synonym" of the swastika….In Hungary the red star has been forbidden already. In spite of them trying to convince us that they hate fascism as much as communism, we don't hear, however, the same cry of indignation at a high European political level as regards the appearances and the symbols of (neo)fascism. The "Kiriakatiki Eleftherotypia" ("Sunday's Freepress", 15-5-05) published 12 basic symbols of fascism being used today. However, the hammer and sickle and the red star seem to annoy more.
Above mentioned examples show the limits of the antifascist feelings of the European bourgeois leadership. After all fascism springs from capitalism. It is its most brutal form of governance, the communist social proposal being exactly its opposite. With nazism they shared their class hatred with regard to the Soviet Union. Today, in the same way, all political nuances of capitalism share their class hatred with regard to the countries, in which neither the governing communist parties "fell" and therefore nor the social system, which they represent. That's why the aggression against them has been intensified, particularly vehement and dirty against Cuba.
Europe's capitalist states "beat their breast" to overcome, as they put it, the post-war division of Europe. The division amongst themselves during their whole history with its continuous wars and hecatombs of dead up to the millions of victims of the two world wars in the 20th century – capitalist ‘products' in both cases – and up to today's stage of redivision of the world had disastrous consequences for the peoples, but this seems to be an insignificant detail for the writers and supporters of above mentioned texts. For the bourgeois "democrats" the division of Europe starts after the Second World War , when the so-called socialist camp came out of it reinforced causing for them a second nightmare after the one of October 1917, the result of the first world-wide collision of capitalist countries, which meant the passing of humanity into a new age. The hated socialist eastern part of the continent after the Second World War, once more caused and provoked by capitalism, sealed most particularly a historical mile-stone. It was a sign on the wall signifying the beginning of the end of capitalism at its highest stage, imperialism. Now this is the spectre that did not die, but revives directing the hand of those writing texts like above mentioned.
Only two years have passed since, in August 2003, the head of the Liberal Group of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe submitted a project condemning communist ideology and urging to take the necessary measures to get rid of the inheritance "of former communist totalitarian states." The project was then adopted by the Bureau of the Council of Europe. A new Neurenberg was needed, according to the words of the Minister of Justice of Estonia.
In the autumn of the same year followed the well-known declarations by the EU Commissioner on Enlargement at that time, Mr. Verheugen, saying that taking into consideration what those peoples had suffered from communism, he himself would have asked for the ban on communist parties, if he were a citizen of those countries.
But the centre-left President of the European Commission at that time, Mr. Romano Prodi, had said as well that to ban a communist party in an accession country (to the EU) is by no means a reason to specially worry about or to criticize. In the mean time new members entered the European "family", some of which having banned their communist parties or at least pursuing communists and/or putting them in prison.
But let us continue……In February 2004, that is a few months before the accession to the EU of ten new states – the majority of them former socialist – the 16th Congress of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) adopted a resolution condemning "totalitarian communism."
In May 2005 the European Parliament (EP) adopted an extremely anti-communist resolution, submitted by the Christian Democrat Chairman of the Commission of External Affairs of the EP, this time at the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Antifascist Victory.
In October 2005 the Political Commission of the Council of Europe would present a memorandum of yet more reactionary content than the resolution of the European Parliament asking for the international condemnation of communism "without any further delay." After heavy protests the discussion on this memorandum has been delayed…. This time even class struggle is a target, beyond the already well-known equalization of nazism with communism as two totalitarian monsters, plus the condemnation of the "crimes" of communism (which, according to the text, originates from the theory of class struggle!) and of course the supposedly violation of human rights in the former socialist countries or, as they put it, under communism.
A reactionary escalation.
The whole question seems to be in a process of elaboration. The systematic stepping up of reactionary assaults, as it has become evident during the last years within the official institutions of Europe against the ideology of communism, is the obvious consequence of the set-back of about 15 years ago, when the socialist countries on the European continent had been overthrown or dissolved, something which had been prepared though "underhand" during the last decades from within and from outside. This doesn't however solely indicate the "victory" of capitalist forces, which took back a piece of territory lost as a consequence of the Second World War with its great antifascist victory of the peoples, but it witnesses as well their feelings of uneasiness. Europe itself is the cradle of communism, the memorandum of the Council of Europe says.
This is evident, because Europe is the cradle of capitalism as well, so the reasonable consequence is that it would bear its opposite, according to the dialectics of history. So Europe's reactionary forces are worried. About 15 years ago all the talk was about the death of communism and the end of history.
Today there is a stepping up at an official European level of declarations so poisonous, that even the fascist snake springing from the well-known egg would be jealous of them.
This demonstrates, that reactionary forces have understood very well the point of return. For instance, the above mentioned text of the resolution of the Congress of the European People's Party notes, that "in different parts of the world a few totalitarian communist regimes are still clinging to power at high cost to the well-being of their people"- particularly cynical words in the mouth of those forces, which for centuries have been spreading out poverty and misery all over the world serving aging capitalism, while the internal contradictions of that system create everywhere the conditions for social revolutions, for socialism.
May be that's why we read in the same text, that "the danger of totalitarian communist regimes regaining power has not disappeared and this ideology continues to endanger world peace and the free development of nations"? Generally the danger of growing influence of communist ideas is being pointed out in the relevant texts. In the end "dead" communism seems to be alive….
Not only many of the existing communist parties have not proceeded to a condemnation of the "crimes of communism", according to the memorandum of the Council of Europe, but there are countries in which they keep on governing (China, North Korea, Vietnam, Cuba and Laos are mentioned). The uneasiness of the political representatives of imperialist establishment as regards the influence of communist ideas becomes more and more diffused and justified for the simple reason, that it is their very system paving the social and economic way, which once gave birth to that cosmotheory and that they know very well.
The signs of doubt and even avertion on behalf of the peoples of Europe increase as regards the growing reactionary and anti-popular European building. During the last 15 years there has been a rejection of several instruments of European capitalist unification expressed in referenda, European elections, polls etc. On top of that came the crash of the referenda in the founding member-states France and the Netherlands with regard to the culmination, the core of European "democratic" essence, the European Constitution. We don't mean to say, that all these are signs of radicalization of the people's consciousness. However, those are steps indicating to Europe's reactionary forces, that the spectre of the first phrase of Marx-Engels' Manifesto of the Communist Party keeps on haunting them.
Annoying symbols.
There is no need to say much about the fundamental lines occurring in the anti-communist memoranda, reports, resolutions and sayings of the last years at the higher levels of the European political representatives of capitalism. First of all the endlessly repeated equalization of nazism/fascism with communism as totalitarian monsters and at a more personified level the equalization Hitler-Stalin. Of course, after the "crimes" attributed to the socialist regimes, the human rights thing could not be absent. As it seems, the only institute respecting human rights is bourgeois "democracy" with its history of bloodshed.
Not even the hammer and sickle could escape from the equalization nazism-communism. Members of the European Parliament from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania and Slovakia, new member-states particularly zealous in this question and particularly American-minded at the government level, proposed a ban on that symbol, because it would be a "synonym" of the swastika….In Hungary the red star has been forbidden already. In spite of them trying to convince us that they hate fascism as much as communism, we don't hear, however, the same cry of indignation at a high European political level as regards the appearances and the symbols of (neo)fascism. The "Kiriakatiki Eleftherotypia" ("Sunday's Freepress", 15-5-05) published 12 basic symbols of fascism being used today. However, the hammer and sickle and the red star seem to annoy more.
Above mentioned examples show the limits of the antifascist feelings of the European bourgeois leadership. After all fascism springs from capitalism. It is its most brutal form of governance, the communist social proposal being exactly its opposite. With nazism they shared their class hatred with regard to the Soviet Union. Today, in the same way, all political nuances of capitalism share their class hatred with regard to the countries, in which neither the governing communist parties "fell" and therefore nor the social system, which they represent. That's why the aggression against them has been intensified, particularly vehement and dirty against Cuba.
Europe's capitalist states "beat their breast" to overcome, as they put it, the post-war division of Europe. The division amongst themselves during their whole history with its continuous wars and hecatombs of dead up to the millions of victims of the two world wars in the 20th century – capitalist ‘products' in both cases – and up to today's stage of redivision of the world had disastrous consequences for the peoples, but this seems to be an insignificant detail for the writers and supporters of above mentioned texts. For the bourgeois "democrats" the division of Europe starts after the Second World War , when the so-called socialist camp came out of it reinforced causing for them a second nightmare after the one of October 1917, the result of the first world-wide collision of capitalist countries, which meant the passing of humanity into a new age. The hated socialist eastern part of the continent after the Second World War, once more caused and provoked by capitalism, sealed most particularly a historical mile-stone. It was a sign on the wall signifying the beginning of the end of capitalism at its highest stage, imperialism. Now this is the spectre that did not die, but revives directing the hand of those writing texts like above mentioned.
Rizospasts, September 10, 2005
A. I.
A. I.
e-mail:cpg@int.kke.gr