The daily worker., 1929-07-26

forward only in the inevitable transi
tional stage in the military policy o.
the proletarian revolution, in the pc
riod prior to the organization of the
Red Army. Where there is no i'm
mediate revolutionary situation, this
slogan can have only a propagandist
significance. Nevertheless, it may
become an Immediately practica,
slogan in the fight against Fascism
At all events, the demand for q
proletarian militia, or for a militia
of the toilers, can only be put in
the form of direct appeal to the
proletariat and not as a demand
upon the bourgeois government
That being the case, this demand
should be made to governments, OF
to parliaments, only in exceptional
circumstances (f example, where
there is a Social Democratic govern
merft, or where there is a Social
Democratic majority in parliament
or among the masses). Under such
circumstances, the demand must be
put forward only as a means for
exposing the Social Democratic
Party.
! The Red Guard is an organ of re-
bellion. 1t is the duty of the Com
munists to agitate for the estab-
lishment of such Red Guard and
to organize it when an immediate
revolutionary situation arises.
Under no circumstances must
it be forgotten that the existence of
a proletarian militia, or Red
| Guard, in imperialist countries, I'M
der bourgeois State and in a state
of peace" is absolutely impossible
The proletarian militia is the
armed organization of the proleta-
riat fighting for the establishment
of the dictatorship Of the proletariat
or, an organ of the proletarian die
tatorship for the purpose of sup
pressing the exploiters. This dis
tinguishes our slogan of proletariar
militia from the reformist plans fol
establishing yellow workers de-
fense corps" consisting of specially
selected, ignorant, or bribed prole-
tartan elements. The latter kind OF
'labor defense corps" was used fol
the purpose of disrupting and re-
straining the proletariat in the
struggle in the Ruhr in May, 1928
and after the Vienna uprising in
1927. 1t is the duty of the Com
munists strenuously to combat these
despicable maneuvers of the social
democrats.
A distinction must be made
between the militant slogan of
workers militia, proletarian militia
and Red Guard-to be established
prior to the capture of power, and
which represent the rudiments of
the Red Army,-and the forms OF
militia which must arise after the
dictatorship of the proletariat has
been established and consolidated, in
/ the period when the state and classes
are dying out. In order to protect
itself against Imperialism, the pro-
letariat must have a strong, disci-
plined, well-armed and efficient Red
Army. Under present conditions.
this function can be fulfilled only
by standing army representing
the core of the ARMED mass of the
toiling population. To demand
from the dictatorship of the prole-
tariat, when it is surrounded by a
capitalist environment, the immedi.
ate and complete transition to the
militia system, is petty bourgeois
and counter-revolutionary stupidity
The more or less complete introduc-
ton of the militia principle in its
pure form without any weakening OF
military power will be possible only
when the productive forces have
been completely developed, when So
cialism has been fully established
and the masses have been thoroughly
trained in the spirit of Communism
Only when the proletarian revolution
has been victorious in a number Of
big capitalist states will the prole-
tartan government (as the VIII. Pie
mum of the E. C. c. l. has declared,
be in a position to substitute the
standing Red Army by class mill.
tia.
At all events, the spirit, discipline
and system Of organization of thu
defense force of the dictatorship Of
the proletariat must bear dis
tinctly class character. Element: