Evening star., 1947-10-07
The Russian Challenge

It is not quite accurate to say that the
Communist international has been re
vived." A revival presupposes kind OF
prior death, but this thing never really
died. When it was dissolved" in 1913
at a moment when the Russians were
locked in a desperate struggle with the
Nazis-it was merely ordered to make it
self as inconspicuous as possible in keep
ing with the party line of that time, a
line designed to encourage closer Allied
military cooperation.
This came to an end on We day. Since
then the Comintern's activities have been
obvious, and its re-emergence into the
open now is significant chiefly for this
reason: That the men of the Kremlin,
being unable to hide its operations any
longer, have decided to be more or less
frank about its existence and about their
intentions to use it wherever they can to
wage an allout political and economic war
against the United States. Stated another
way, the revival" is important not be-
cause it is surprise in itself, but because
its official announcement serves as notice
to the world that the Soviet Union Is
determined not to cooperate with the
West. 1t serves as notice that the Rus
slams will spare no effort to spread their
dominance by relentless campaign to
undermine the antitotalitarian Truman
doctrine and the European recovery pro-
gram envisioned in the Marshall plan.
To this end, the new" Comintern will
operate through representatives of the
Central Communist. Committees of Yugo-
Slavia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Po-
land, Czechoslovakia, France, Italy and,
of course, Russia-the boss country. Our
own country is among those not included,
but we can be sure that the comrades in
our midst will faithfully follow any line
the Kremlin enunciates through the or
ganization's headquarters in Belgrade. At
the moment, the line-as expressed in a
manifesto" drawn up at secret meeting
in Poland last month-fts in perfectly
with the one laid down by Soviet Deputy
Foreign Minister Vishinsky in his recent
address to the General Assembly of the
United Nations. 1t is to vilify the United
States at every turn; to call us war
mongers" and "imperialists"; to represent
us as conspiring to dominate the earth;
to wreck the Marshall plan, If possible; in
short, to do everything that can be done
to keep the world split in two, to promote
and capitalize on confusion, hard times
and chaos, and to succeed thereby in push
ing the advance of Red totalitarianiSm.
1t would be mistake to underestimate
the ominous implications of all this,
especially when the evidence is clear that
the Communists are in a position to pre-
cipitate real trouble in such key countries
as France and Italy But it would be
mistake also to suppose that Russia has
most Of the good cards in its hands. To-
gether with the other Western powers, we
have several ourselves Actually, like the
Vishinsky address, the manifesto" issued
by the revived" Comintern is slightly
hysterical in tone-shrill enough in fact,
to suggest that the Kremlin may be more
than little worried over the possibility
that the Truman doctrine and the Mar
shall plan will succeed in attaining their
decent, antitotalitarian objectives.
Accordingly, instead of being surprised
by Russias open acknowledgment of the
Wcu-kuOWll 1aCt LlaC CQe COIIllNLern Is on
the job. the Government and people of
the United States, together with those of
hke-minded countries, should be spurred
by that acknowledgment into a redoubled
effort to defeat Soviet aims. In effect,
ending all pretense, the Kremlin has flung
down a challenge to the West, and 1t is
up~to the West now to respond af1irma-
tiVely-with resolute and bold measures to
hold back the Russians and keep them on
the defensive until the day comes when
they may be willing to live up to the
principles of the United Nations and CO.
operate in building a peace worthy of the
name.
The first step, certainly must be move
by our own Congress to furnish stopgap
aid to our friends abroad until the Mar
shall plan itself can become operable. This
is no time for vacillation or delay. If we
do not do what needs to be done, If we
do not do it on time, the Soviet doctrine
not the Truman doctrine or the doctrine
of free mems likely to come to dominate
and enthrall so much of the world that
our own liberty and securitywill be gravely
imperiled.