Evening star., 1936-10-26
On the Record
Fascist Dictators Have Shown Nationalsm Is Anti.
dote for Marxist Class Struggle.

legally held the power. But unless
democracy itself has been definitely
threatened by an anti-democratic die
tatorial attack, as 1t Is In Spain, 1t
has been impossible to organize the
class struggle to the point where the
workers will stand together and fight,
either with force or with ballots.
Can Cripple Capital.
They have been sufficiently strong
and united to bring about immense
social disorder, to hamper and even
cripple the working of capitalism.
But they have not appropriated it.
The argument of the Marxists that
their collapse is due to the superior
financial power Of capitalism and its
ability to use that power to purchase
the instruments of force. simply will
not hold water. There have repeat
edly been times when capitalism
was fiat on its back and when the
instruments Of political power were
definitely, already, in the hands of
the representatives of the working
classes. That was true at one time
in Germany; it is true at this moment
in France. Why do they not use
that power to carry their philosophy
to its logical conclusion?
Struggle Not a Reality.
The reason is that the class struggle
is not reality. The class idea is
not the strongest force dominating
the minds and emotions Of even the
most exploited.
There are psychological forces enor-
mously stronger than class interests.
And Of all these, the strongest, it
would appear, is nationalism. For is
not the whole history Of the last rs
years one universal assertion Of the
fact of nationalism? international
class solidarity could not prevent the
war; it could not prevent the peace
that was made; it could not hold
together great economic completes
like the old Austro- Hungarian empire,
which from a MARKHAM point Of view
was an infinitely preferable field for
operation than half a dozen small
states. And since the war, in the
revolutionary epoch through which We
have been living, is it not an out
standing fact, that whenever the class
idea has confronted clear national
idea, whenever class interests have
confronted national interests, the class
idea and the class interests have
capitulated?
Dictat0rs Forgot Class Strife.
The ease with which Mussolini, we'll
trained Socialist that he was, swung
the emotions of his nation away from
the class struggle toward the idea OF
the revival of the Roman heritage;
the ease with which Hitler swung
the aggressive instincts of the Ger
man masses away from hostility to-
ward the bourgeoisie and against what
he dextrously created as an allen
element'-these are startling phenom-
ena from which one is forced to learn.
Perhaps the most amazing demon
stration Of the virility Of the national
idea is Russia. Today the idea of Rus
sian nationalism is far stronger than
the idea of international working
class solidarity. This fact is daily
demonstrated. AS a result that coun-
try is in a serious diplomatic dilemma.
and is totally incapable of a clearly
integrated policy.
Her national pride rests in her
prestige as the worlds first workers
Soviet. Her children are brought up
to believe in the moral and technical
superiority of the working-class state.
They are trained in the idea Of the
world class struggle which will finally
consolidate the earth according to the
Soviet pattern. But Russia's national
interests are all against the weaken