The toiler. [volume] (Cleveland, Ohio) 1919-1922, 1921-08-27

substituted by another revolutionary
slogan which could dispel the distrust
of the working masses Of the oppres-
sed nations towards the proletariat Of |
the ruling NATIONS, and thereby pave
the way for the equality of nations
and the unity df the workers of all
nations. Such + the slogan of the
Communists WHIP demand for the op-
pressed nations and colonies the right
Of complete independence. The value
of this slogan consists in:
y It does 5way with the possibility
of suspectin{ the workers of one ma,
tion in aggressive designs against the
workers of another nation, l. e. it pre-
pares the ground for mutual t:ust
and for voluntary amalgamation;
q 1t tlars off the mask from the
imperialists who hypocritically chat
ter about self-determination but who
endeavcr by every foul means to re-
tain tie oppressed nations in utter
submission to their imperialist con-
troll, whereby they unwittingly inten-
sify the liberating struggle of the
down trodden peoples against the yoke
of Imperialism.
Ex,.,s. .xl<> Ca d., D,.,.:o
1t goes without saying that the
workers Of Russia would never have
! gained the sympathy of the workers
of Western Europe had they not i'm
mediately upon capturing power de-
clared the right of nations to COM
! plete independence, and had they not
proven in actuality their readiness
to put this inalienable right of the
oppressed nations into practise by re-
nouncing their claims to Finland
! (1917), by recalling their troops from.
Northern Persia, and renouncing all
claims upon certain sections of Mon
golia, China, etc.
1t is equally certain that the ac-
cumulating failures of the imperialist
powers in the East despite their claim
to stand for the nights of self deter
mination of natioAs, are the result of
the rapidly growing liberating move
ment which has adopted as its slogan
the right of the oppressed nations to
complete independence. This the heroes
of the Second and Two and Half In
ternationals do not understand. They
ferociously denounce the Baku Coun-
ell of Action and Propaganda for some
of its trifling mistakes, which must
be fully excused by anybody who is
sufficiently acquainted with the activi-
ties of the above mentioned "Council''
for the whole year of its existence and
with the trend Of development OF the
liberating movement of the Asiatie
and African colonies for the last two
or three years.
Intertwined With Revolution.
The Third Point is the development
of an organic connection between the
national-colonial question and the
Il question of the power of capital, the
7 overthrow Of capitalism and the Die
tatorship Of the Proletariat In the
epoch of the Second International the
national question was deprived Of all
Of its wider implications and was
viewed and considered exclusively, as
a separate phenomenon, without any
relation to the impending Revolution
1t was taken for granted that the ma.
: tional question would be solved "natur-
! ally" prior to the Proletarian Revolu-
tion, by means Of reforms within the
limits Of capitalism and that, further
J more, the Proletarian Revolution can
be successfully accomplished without
cardihally affecting the national prob
: lens and reversely, the national
question can be fully disposed of with.
out the overthrow of capitalism and
the victory of the Proletarian Revoiu-
tion. This basically imperialistic point
{, Of view runs like a thread through
all the works Of Springer and Bauer
The events of the last ten years have
completely exposed the invalidity and
shallownsss Of this conception of the
national question. The imperialist has
shown and the revolutionary practise
has affirmed that;
1 y The national and colonial ques-
tons are inseparable from the ques.
tion Of the liberation from the rule
Of capitalism;
q Imperialism tthe highest form
Of capitalism) cannot exist without
the political and economic enslave.
mcnt Of the smaller nations and colo
nies;
- The small nations and colonies
cannot be liberated without the over.
throw Of the power Of capitalism;
~ The victory. Of the proletariat
cannot be secure without the emanci-
patton Of the small nations and colo
nics from the yoke Of Imperialism.
II Europe and America can be de-
signated as the Front and the area Of
the main battlesI between Communism
and Imperialism the small nations
' and calon;ss ,v;f1, th,,r ,.... ....,-.,.,