A Brıef Overvıew Of Internatıonalısm And Internatıonal Actıvıtıes From The Past To Today
The thoughts we will put forward in this document recapitulate our view of international work from the past to the present. For this reason, we will both cite extensive quotations from our past documents and attempt to answer the question of what kind of international work we should be doing in the current context. Of course, we will discuss the ideas we will put forward on our own front with other sister parties and organizations. At this point we are open to any kind of criticism and suggestions. Like any revolutionary work, international work requires collective work, collective thinking, and the creation of a common approach by emphasizing common points. As is well known, the working class, which entered the stage of history with the development of capitalism, also faced the historical responsibility of destroying its creator. In the Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels express this fact in clear language: “The bourgeoisie has produced not only weapons that destroy themselves, but also the people who will use these weapons – modern workers, proletarians.” Today, as yesterday, the working class is the most revolutionary class in history.
The solidarity of working-class conscious proletarians of all countries against the oppressive and exploitative order of the imperialist-capitalist system that dominates the world is both an objective fact and a historical phenomenon. The slogan “Workers of all countries unite” is this truth itself. It is a concrete expression of the internationalist character of the proletariat. For the struggle of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie is essentially internationalist.
In the struggle to turn the wheel of history further in favour of the working class and the oppressed peoples of the world, one of the main weapons of the MLM is proletarian internationalism. And this weapon draws all its strength from the ideological unity of the proletariat. Undoubtedly, international consciousness does not arise spontaneously. It is the class-conscious proletariat that will carry it. Therefore, if the international solidarity and struggle of the working class is not linked to the proletarian internationalist consciousness, it cannot escape spontaneity and being confined within the limits of the order.
Our Age Is The Age Of Imperıalısm and Proletarıan Revolutıons
Despite all the quantitative changes in the first quarter of the 20th and 21st centuries, our age is still the age of imperialism and proletarian revolutions. The fact that the proletariat has lost the positions it had gained in the 20th century is nothing but a traffic accident. It is the seizure of power by the bourgeoisie in the class struggle under the dictatorship of the proletariat. But the class struggle continues. Despite all “democracy” and “freedom” demagogues, imperialist occupations do not end. Imperialist monopolies are trying to break the unity of the oppressed by scratching out national, religious, and sectarian contradictions on some continents of the world. The politics of divide and rule remain on the agenda in regions where the contradictions between imperialism and oppressed peoples are intense.
But despite all these counterrevolutionary attacks, the imperialist-capitalist system still does not feel safe. It drifts from crisis to crisis. The anger of the oppressed peoples of the world, especially the working class, is gradually brewing. Movements against economic and social injustice, dictatorship regimes around the world, or like the women’s struggle, gather large masses in the streets from time to time. What does this show us: This shows us the signs of a resurgence and an uprising in the ruins created by the socialist masked bureaucratic bourgeois dictatorships on the ideological front among the working masses in the name of socialism.
Those who put a facade of radical change on imperialism should compare the current picture with the imperialist aggression half a century ago. The destruction right next to us in Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Afghanistan is the result of the policy of exploitation and aggression of all imperialist powers, especially American imperialism. All these attacks not only caused deep destruction in these countries, but also reminded us once again of the importance of the anti-imperialist struggle before the oppressed peoples of the world. It led to a new discussion about the weakening international consciousness and the culture of solidarity among oppressed peoples. Although these debates and practical attitudes are not able to build a barricade against the reactionary wave that is gripping large masses today, they contain strong signs of a bright wave coming from below. It also carries the message to the international proletariat that the new process must be prepared more quickly for its tasks. Assimilation of past experiences is necessary to properly grasp the tasks of the new process. The first thing to do is to examine the historical conditions under which international organizations came into being. And this is what we will do. The way to overcome the complex situation of the international communist movement today is to grasp the past and to shape the present ideologically and organizationally accordingly.
Understanding Recent History Contributes to the Solution of Today’s Problems
As will be recalled, the struggle launched by the CPC under the leadership of Chairman Mao against the modern revisionists who usurped the leadership of the CPSU after the death of Comrade Stalin ended in an organizational rupture in the 1960s. Through the ideological struggle they waged, MLMs were able to win some parties and created the conditions for the formation of new MLM parties. The fact is that modern revisionists tried to legitimize their revisionist theses by hiding behind the moral authority of the CPSU under the leadership of Comrades Lenin and Stalin within the international communist movement. It cannot be said that they were very unsuccessful in this. Several parties undoubtedly began to defend the modern revisionist theses put forward under the name of “changing conditions”. They lost their communist character and became revisionist bureaus.
Communist parties that took a stand against modern revisionism, especially the CCP led by Comrade Mao, could not establish a binding organization among themselves despite their efforts to achieve unity in the ideological and political fields. Relations between the parties were maintained through mutual negotiations. After Chairman Mao’s death, the leadership of the CCP was also seized in a counterrevolutionary coup. And then, under the leadership of Enver Hoxha, the AEP also launched an unmasking campaign against Chairman Mao under the name of fighting the Three Worlds Theory. With the betrayal of the AEP, the international communist movement was almost surrounded by anti-MLM understandings. This period, when the ideological struggle between MLM and all kinds of anti-MLM understandings intensified, was also the period when the communist movement was most organizationally dispersed in the international arena. With the measures taken to eliminate this confusion, a more organized and coordinated approach could be taken in certain processes. But overall, it was not possible to create an organization whose ideological unity was strengthened and interwoven with a network of international struggle and solidarity against imperialism and world reaction.
To the General Line of our International Activities:
“Development of the Country Revolution in the service of the World Revolution”.
At the 1st Party Congress of our Party, the following assessments were made on international activities:
“In its present form, international activity is one of the main tasks of our Party, and our Party still faces important tasks and responsibilities in this area.
The importance of this responsibility lies in the problems and ruptures that the people’s war practices and revolutionary struggles in some countries after the death of Chairman Mao, after the death of the international communist movement, after the seizure of power by the capitalist passengers through a coup and the reversal in socialism; The fact that the communist core, which will lead the class struggle, cannot recover and move forward despite the mobility of the masses, is, on the contrary, accompanied by the strengthening of all kinds of reformist revisionist currents and understandings.
In a process in which imperialism and its local lackeys intensified their attacks on the working class and the popular masses, all kinds of bourgeois currents, especially modern revisionism, became rampant, and reformism and Trotskyism intensified their attacks against MLM ideology in various disguises, communist parties and organizations formed an ideological centre.
At the 8th Conference of our Party, the stress was on Comrade Mao Zedong’s determination that the vacuums and drift of the ICM increased and that opportunism and revisionism were developed in various forms is still valid today. More importantly, some of the institutional initiatives and unions to restore the ICM, including our party, have been dissolved.
In November 2012, the 8th CC stated the following determination on the ICM: “The ideological attack, which bears the hallmarks of this period, has hit the common front beyond individual positions and caused considerable damage. Therefore, it is necessary to speak not of a defeat on the international stage, but of a dissolution, not of a destruction, but of a concussion. The task that our party should undertake so that this does not lead to worse results; Given the shrill call of the struggle developed by the oppressed peoples and nations around the world to the communists, it has become so critical that history will never forgive their indifference. Under the crisis conditions that have rendered the imperialist-capitalist system helpless, the need of the oppressed to march against the enemy under the leadership of the working class has become a burning need for pioneers and leaders. (6th Meeting, November 2012)
Currently, the state of disintegration and tremors within the ICM continues. The task that our party should undertake in this area has not been accomplished. It is necessary to have a practice that includes self-criticism on this issue…. Finally, the arrest attack of the imperialist powers against our party and the subsequent coup against the will of the party have further aggravated this negative situation on the international scene.
This state of disintegration and commotion within the ICM is directly related to the conditions in which we find ourselves. Therefore, a correct analysis is the first step towards a correct synthesis. This process cannot be separated from the crisis of the imperialist-capitalist system. Not from the change of essence of the imperialist-capitalist system, but from economic, social, cultural, political, etc. changes are to be mentioned. This reality is the political, social, environmental, cultural, etc. of the economic crisis that the system (…) could not overcome. is not independent of the design of fields. The crisis of the imperialist capitalist system has led to new alignments and changes in the balance of power among imperialists, and new imperialist alliances and focuses have become more obvious. In accordance with the nature of the imperialist capitalist system, the struggle for market and hegemony continues at full speed in various forms.
In any situation where the analysis of this existing reality is inadequate or incomplete, it is inevitable that those who claim to be the leader of the class struggle will go astray.
Although the problems the communist movement experienced after the death of Chairman Mao, with the burning effect of the people’s wars led by communists in some countries created a positive wind, the defeats, and blockades of these people’s wars, especially the attitude of its leadership, has helped the communist movement to face and repel this counter-revolutionary wave, has led to a very negative situation. Even if the practice of people’s war that started with Peru has continued with Nepal, the results of the experience of the mentioned country have reinforced this negativity.
For this reason, before the ICM, it is correct to speak of a state of defence and not of attack. The state of defence in the ranks, the inability to respond to the attacks of the imperialist-capitalist system, the situation to refer to the struggle of the working class and toilers on the right basis, creates a certain pressure and other ways are taken in the name of “solution”. “Innovations” are put on the agenda, old revisionist theses, which are not actually new, are put on the agenda. The other extreme, as the last trial of our party shows, leads to dogmatism, and forms the basis for a line that tries to replace its own subjectivity with objective reality. This, in turn, leads to the emergence and development of lines that blasted the communist parties from within and tended to liquidation.
Both lines should be condemned for the ICM. If MLM science is a guide to action, solving current problems and responding to the problems of the class struggle cannot be achieved either by revising the basic concepts of MLM science or by dogmatically defending these basic concepts.
In fact, the current situation can be found in the past democratic and proletarian revolutionary processes, in the history of the CP. As we can learn from these experiences, the topics of discussion are similar. First it starts with the changing conditions, and then it is claimed that “new openings” are made. The discussion topics include the basic concepts of MLM ideology, class, revolution, democracy, state, war, etc. It has similarities with previous experiences of struggle. Then alliances in democratic revolution, united front, power sharing in socialism, dictatorship of the proletariat, multi-party system, return to socialism, and finally the structure of the communist party, etc. numerous topics being on the agenda.
First, as already mentioned, the essence of the imperialist-capitalist system does not change. The policies that the system, which does not change its essence and is still a crisis, puts forward into practice to overcome this crisis should not be misleading. Although the attacks that the imperialist capitalist system is putting on the agenda and the policies being implemented include some innovations, it is important to be aware that these innovations originate from the same core. (From TKP-ML 1st Congress Resolutions, 2019)
Our Dutıes and Responsıbılıtıes In The Current Context
The degree of success in international studies is not independent of the extent of the struggles developing in the country. And again, the struggle to be developed by the communist parties in each country is a great contribution to the international proletarian cause. This is an objective phenomenon and is as true today as it was yesterday. The originality of today is that the attacks and the struggle take on an even more international dimension. It is that the ruptures and shifts in the ideological plan gain a more destructive dimension. This puts a more organized, coordinated, and orderly struggle on the agenda of the MLMs than yesterday.
Maoists who cannot achieve ideological unity among themselves and cannot give an international level to the struggle against anti-MLM understandings cannot be a point of attraction for the oppressed peoples of the world. Even if the internal and external historical conditions have serious differences, there are historical responsibilities and duties that communists face on the front of ideological struggle, just as in the process of the Second International.
Above all, we must accept this fact: The destructive consequences of the vacuum and drifts experienced by the international communist movement continue. Efforts in this direction have been insufficient. Some units that were established were also dissolved. Resistance to the liquidating wind has acquired a decisive importance for the future of the world proletarian revolution.
Neither the process in Peru nor the events in Nepal are independent of this reality. With a long and patient struggle, it is not possible to prevent defeat and destruction without developing effective and striking steps towards the main area of intervention, namely the ideological-political platform.
According to this view, which we have tried to present at this stage, we can summarize the tasks ahead under the following main headings:
- Our party is part of the international communist movement. Therefore, it considers the creation of a proletarian internationalist organization as inevitable in the struggle against imperialism and world reaction. The way to transform the slogan “Workers and oppressed peoples of all countries unite”, which Comrade Lenin left us as a legacy, into a concrete phenomenon is to create the international unity of the MLMs. TKP-ML is aware of its responsibility to fulfil its duty at this point.
- Today, the international communist movement is organisationally disorganised and ideologically under siege. To break this siege, there is a need for organisational unity based on minimal ideological-political unity. This organisational unity should not exclude the internal ideological struggle, on the contrary, it should include it. Of course, we should not hide our differences not only in principle but also in tactics. The main problem here is to show the ability to use the weapon of unity and criticism fully and comradely. This is not a question of intention. On the contrary, it is an internationalist task that must be carried out to ensure the unity of the international communist movement. For this reason, we should create platforms for discussion based on mutual respect and mutual listening and understanding, where we can discuss our differences and find common ground. Highlighting the points of division or not showing the necessary patience to eliminate them is not enough to understand the reality and the demands of the process we are going through.
- As our party expressed both during the RIM debate and later; In the current situation, an organization to be established at the international level must have flexibility within it. The present objective and, of course, subjective reality is not big enough to support an organization that dominates the central aspect. On the other hand, this flexibility should not lead to a spontaneous practice. The long-term relationships of MLM parties have such weaknesses.
- The forces that are more effective in the class struggle can naturally become a morally authoritarian force within the revolutionary and communist parties and organizations. This is understandable to a certain level. What should be rejected here however are the imposing and egocentric attitudes that violate the principle of mutual equality. The organizations that will create MLMs at the international level must be based on the principle of equality and political-ideological struggle. This is because opposing attitudes break the initiative of the parties and organizations that are part of the communist composition, paralyze independent thinking and eventually lead to the disintegration of unity. Historical experience has also shown that not everything that says quantitatively powerful is true. Let us look at history: The leaders who once sent the brightest rays to the peoples of the world and the parties they led got into “hard to believe” situations, turned their way to class collaboration when they were on the verge of revolutions, and hoped for help not from the world proletariat and oppressed peoples, but from the elements and institutions within the system. It is as astonishing as it is surprising. The maelstrom that occurs when large ships sink produces suffocating results that engulf anyone who is unprepared and unequipped. The history of the democratic and proletarian revolutionary processes of the CPs writes it.
- Organizations to be formed by MLM parties and organizations in the international plan should not exclude continental and regional organizations. On the contrary, efforts should be made to form regional and continental organizations. In such organizations, naturally, the levels of existing parties and organizations in the class struggle will impact the differences in the ideological plan and the way they act and move together. Despite all the difficulties, organizations at the regional and continental levels will also contribute positively to international work for a more intense discussion and unified practice of the concrete tasks and any success of these organizations. In all these developments, of course, the quantitative and qualitative levels of MLM forces at the regional or continental level will play a decisive role.
- Great forces acting on the correct line accelerate the awakening of the oppressed peoples and strengthen the idea of fighting together against imperialism and world reaction. Such a formation encourages action and support, rather than spectatorship, in the face of movements that strike at imperialism. The narrow nationalist perspectives that paralyzed proletarian thinking can only be overcome through such a revolutionary internationalist practice. If all the fraternal parties, which are part of the international proletariat, approach the problem within the framework of this historical consciousness and responsibility, a more qualified development in the elimination of ideological differences and the creation of organizational unions will be reached.
- The organization to be established in the international plan should not break the initiative of its members who participate in other revolutionary unions formed in the regions or in individual countries. In some countries, concrete circumstances require short- or long-term participation in such unions. In fact, our party TKP-ML is currently participating in more than one anti-imperialist anti-fascist formation. We consider it a comradely obligation to provide MLM forces with experience about the nature of these structures or to be open to criticism and suggestions about the units formed in this direction. Again, sometimes opportunistic and liquidationist forces make false and phony propaganda against MLM based on these unions. The way to prevent this black propaganda is to listen to all sides, not just one side. One-sided information often leads us to make wrong decisions. Therefore, deciding by listening to the interlocutors ensures the prevention of possible negativities.
August 2021