The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-11-18
WHEN WAR COMES

Only the conscious stubborn work Of sn IL
legal revolutionary organization irside the army
AAd among the masses employed on war work
can turn to good account all the contradictions
and possibilities mentioned in the foregoing can
coordinate and direct these forces of protest
sntAgoriSm and desperation to definite ends
Only the Communist Party can place itself at
the head Of these spontaneous movements of
protest and indignation springng up among the
workers and soldiers, give them correct lead
to tlsn an in1periaIst war into civil war
against the bourgeoiGe.
Sf,oRld their own" imperiahStS be defeated
these possibilities would be Immediately opened
up, would become actual and real Such, too
would be the case not only during final de-
feat, but during any setback experienced by the
military machine whether it be retreat Or a
hoid-up of supplies, etc.
In such circumstances we would Immediately
witness % the complexity-dealt with above
the HnvieldineSs and sensitiveness of the modern
war machine and (2) what is even more inlpor-
tant. the class contradictions inside the mass
armies. These contradictions are bound to ap-
pear and to take on definite shape and form
result of the dsintegration and disaffec-
ton caused by defeat They are bound to grow
even though the bourgeoisie attempt frequently
successfully for a tirne) to utilize such periods
for widespread propaganda campaign, to whip
up Tagging spirits, TO appeal to patriotic en-
thusasn, to strengthen the civil peace" etc
An Army Of the Masses
Bernhardy, the ideologue of German militar-
ism, aptly stresses the Importance of the first
point when he writes: Mass armies are source
of danger which would never be moderated"
g. The mechanism of such an army is so
extensive and complicated that it can only func-
ton and be directed when all TIE wheels-at
Iooc uT,apo {An a{r, d.
running smoothly and moral :upheavals' on
wide scale are avoided. To exclude the pos
sibility of such upheavals In modern warfare
would be wrong as to reckon only on victor
ious battles. If such upheavals occur to lin
tied extent they can be successfully dealt with.
But wherever large masses of men have already
once got out Of hand Through panic or when
rations are delayed on a serious scale) and Sc
ditous spirit is in the air. then such troops are
not only incapable of resisting the enemy but
become a danger to themselves and to their
commanders They break through the chains
of discipline, arbitrarily interfere with the de-
velopment of military operations and thus
raise problems which the commanders can never
solve
The second point, e. g., the inevitable deyel-
opment Of class contradictions is instinctiveIy
felt by many representatives of the imperialist
clique and by prominent war-office officials,
(but of course, being unable to think to any
logical conclusion they hesitate to give any def
mite expression to their thoughts on this score)
1t is precisely the realization and the fear of
such a contingency that has given rise to all
those speculations about "Fullarism" dealt with
in earlier chapters.
The Fullarists realize perhaps more than any
one, the danger of class war inside the mass
armies. Hence their vain attempts to avoid
such prospect with their utopias of war oper-
ated by small mechanical armies drawn from
reliable fascist groups.
TO be continued)