The “European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism” is yet another piece being weaved into the tapestry of anti communist propaganda, which has, in recent times, sought to accelerate the revision of history by eliminating the role of the Soviet Union, her people’s and her communist party’s historic role liberating the working people’s of the world during World War Two; the extraordinary, superhuman efforts that laid the ground for the rapid industrialisation which saw the Nazis eradicated, enabling what was a backwards semi-feudal country prior to the revolution to overcome the most advanced capitalist army of the time; and which then went on to dwarf this achievement by sending the first man into space, all within a half century.
While we Communists rightly admire the example of Soviet socialism left to us; today, we can only look with horror, as these remarkable achievements have been forced to the sidelines, with western capitalism going all out to shamefully conflate the Soviet Union, the bastion of working class Socialism, with the beastly holocaust of Nazi Fascism; a mark of extremely disgusting disrespect for all those who sacrificed their lives, who strove with every effort so that we might live free from Fascist tyranny today.
Given the European Union’s unwavering support for the Ukraine, a nation, which since the Maiden coup, has seen its government link itself arm in arm with far right Neo Nazis such as the Azov Battalion paramilitary group, who have committed outrageous pogroms against Roma groups and Jews in the Ukraine; murdered trade unionists and communists; and continue to wage their war of aggression on the People’s Republic’s of Donetsk and Luhansk, terrorising all who courageously oppose them; given such a hypocritical situation for the EU to proudly support, how utterly foolish are we Communists that do not trust our EU masters in their choice of such worthy idols. While we seek to liberate the people’s of the world from their oppression under Capitalism, these reactionary forces seek to free the people from the oppression of life itself. That the shadowy forces of the EU see no difference between Communists and Fascists speaks volumes.
Stalin was a leader thrown up by the peoples of the Soviet Union, thrown up by history, he was key in delivering the victory over Fascism; but further, though his legacy is controversial – not everyone who suffered during the purges was guilty – it was under his leadership that the Soviet Union developed the material conditions which substantially raised the living and working conditions of the Soviet working class; which asserted each citizen’s absolute right to housing, education, jobs and the opportunity to reach their full potential; and which saw the Communist Party of the Soviet Union enjoy the widespread support of the Soviet working class, who saw in practice that the Soviet Union was an instrument utterly committed to fighting for the working class cause the world over.
Undoubtedly some innocent people suffered during Stalin’s leadership, but to attribute each and every instance of injustice in the Soviet Union to Stalin alone is to simplify a very complex state of affairs, and to approach this historical experience the wrong way. The Soviet Union, from birth to untimely death, was incredibly complex; but this was unavoidable, as a bastion of working class socialism born into the struggle of the times; much like it’s inspiration, the Paris Commune, it was an ongoing development that had no guidance and was a pioneer in the early days of building actually existing socialism in practice.
Each day it survived was another small victory against the capitalist ruling class, an act of defiance. From birth it faced unrelenting assault, best expressed by Churchill’s famous demand to strangle Bolshevism in its cradle. In all, fourteen countries took part in invading it during the Russian Civil War, every move it took was opposed by global capitalism; and so clearly, this extremely hostile environment forced the fledgling Socialist state to devote a great deal of its limited time, energy and resources to the vital necessity of defending itself from counter revolution; this atmosphere of constant assault and paranoia might help to explain why, when looking at actions taken now, in conditions very different from those of the time, that sometimes excesses and mistakes were made in defending the gain of the revolution.
As Lenin taught us, as communists, we must be ruthless in our criticism of where we go wrong, so that we might learn our lessons from our practice, impart this into our theory, and move forward with redoubled drive to take forward the class struggle. An honest assessment of the Soviet Union and Stalin must be made, but in doing so, it must be remembered that a great many more people were liberated and lead lives which we in the capitalist societies would be grateful for in terms of social utilities which were free and run for the needs of the people and not mere profit.
The European Union is not an organisation that can claim the high ground as it tries to dictatorially bully sovereign European nations, force them to bend to what an unelected commission wants to do, all the while majorly contributing to refugees and economic migrants mercilessly drowning in EU waters, and building an EU army to further its imperialist interests; an army which will no doubt take inspiration from the imperialism of its member states who acted against international law to wage illegal war and rampage on the people’s of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Venezuela and no doubt more in future.
The European Union would try to paint Communism alongside Fascism, but the EU demonstrates plain for all to see with its tacit support of the far right in the Ukraine, with the rise of far right forces across Europe under its very nose, with the blind eye turned to the plight of refugees fleeing its imperialist intrigues; that it is not the victims of Nazism that it cares about, but the growing appeal of socialist ideas amongst the world’s youth, they are terrified that the people will stir one day and realise that there is an alternative to capitalism, that they will wake up and realise that united they are strong.
Aiden O’Rourke
