The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-06-17
English worker

6On or the CLASS S5ruggl6 ana Tor Lne develop
ment of a broad revolutionary movement. The
old regime of the dictatorship has not been &C
tually altered II. has been made to appear out
wardly more acceptable to the masses by the Re-
publican signboard. AS a result Of the retention
of the economic power of the big landowners,
the preservation of the old apparatus Of power.
and the terrible fear of the bourgeoisie Of
peoples revolution, speedy return to the open
dictatorship of some general or other or of AL
fonso himself is by no means impossible. 1t was
not without reason that Alfonso declared that
he has not renowned his rights and is hoping
to return to Madrid. The present rulers in Spain
are certainly no hindrance in this respect
The totality of the class antagonisms of pres
ent-day Spain constitute an exceedingly COM
plicated phenomenon. For the G. P. of Spain
there exists in the country sufficient objective
prerequisites for the development of powerful
and real peoples revolution of the workers and
peasants
The Communist Party of Spain is faced with
task of great historical Importance: to raise the
revolution to higher stage and to prevent the
bourgeoisie from consolidating its power
Unfortunately, in the first phase of the Span
ish revolution our Spanish Party did not take UP
the slogan of Soviets as slogan of action. nor
did it attempt to rally the broad masses OF non
party social democratic and anarchist workers
round this slogan.
The Communist Party of Spain is called upon
to place itself at the head of the commencing
workers and peasants revolution.
What character has this commencing workers
and peasants revolution in Spain? bourgeois
democratic or socialist character? To this ques-
question one cannot reply with "either-or."
Lenin said that the bourgeois democratic and
the socialist revolution are not separated from
one another by a Chinese wall. The first de-
veIops into the second. The second consolidates
the work of the first. The fight and only the
fight decides how far the first succeeds in de-
veIoping into the second.
Every revolution that develops under hege-
mony of the proletariat, has the tendency to
grow into a socialist revolution Spain does not
constitute any exception in this respect. On the
contrary In the program of the Communist In
ternational Spain is included in the group of
countries with medium development of CAPT
talism" The industrial proletariat in Spain
constitutes SIS per cent of the population. The
agricultural proletariat constitutes 10 per cent
of the population Taken altogether that is
much better proportion in favor Of the prole-
tariat than was the case in pre-war Russia.
The overwhelming majority of the Spanish peas
antry consists of poor peasants. Spanish capt.
talism has undoubtedly reached the imperialist
stage of development. Spain is an imperialist
country, even if it is considerably weaker than
many other countries.
All this creates the necessary prerequisites for
Spain, as soon as the movement becomes suff1-
GENTLY mature, to advance to the socialist revo-
luton. And the fact that in Spain the bour-
geosie is now in power and that the developing
revolution is already turning directly against
the bourgeois republic and not merely against
the semi-feudal monarchy is of great import
ance in the present case.
1t would, however be incorrect to designate
the Spanish revolution already at the present
stage as socialist revolution. 1t must be re-
membered that when Lenin, in 1917, opposed the
tendency of Kemenev who attempted to drag
the movement back to the old slogan of the
revolutionary democratic dictatorship of the
proletariat and of the peasantry, he, Lenin
emphatically warned the Party against the dan
ger of "Geaping over the not completed revolu-
ton of bourgeois democratic character"
Needless to say, the Communist Party of Spain
must indefatigably propagate the socialist revo-
luton. In this respect the Spanish revolution
has the advantage over the Russian in that to-
day the Soviet Power has already existed over
Is years on sixth part of the globe that it is
at present completing the foundation of the
socialist economic system and that the general
world-criss of capitalism is increasing in depth
and rendering it ever clearer that history has
doomed the capitalist system to death. The
broadcast propaganda Of the socialist achieve
ments of the Soviet Union and the exposure
of the historical rottenness of capitalism are
one of the most important tasks of the Com
munist Party of Spain.
In view of all this, however the socialist revo-
luton in Spain cannot be an immediate task
of the day. The next task is workers and
peasants revolution against the landowners and
against the bourgeoisie the fight for a republic
of the "Soviets Of workers, landworkers soldiers
and peasants deputies" Oenin) In contradis-
tinction to the bourgeois republic. An exceed
ingly important and urgent task here is to win
the proletarian hegemony in the movement of
the people and to raise this peoples move
ment to the highest consistent revolutionary
stage.
Ito he continuedl