1942: Communism

The successful resistance of the Soviet Union to German aggression has tended to increase respect for the stability of the Communist regime in the Soviet Union, yet Communism outside the Soviet Union has recently shown no added strength. That may be explained, among other reasons, by the fact that the year 1942 showed a more and more definite shift of Communism in the Soviet Union away from emphasis on the proletariat and world revolution, to emphasis on the Russian nation, its traditions, and its national liberty. All public utterances in Russia during the last year have emphasized 'the glorious motherland, freedom, and independence.' In that they followed a trend noted in Russian Communism for the last three or four years, a new pride in Russian patriotism, in the Russian past, in the national heroes and traditions, even those dating from Tsarist, feudal, and capitalistic times. In his speech on Nov. 7, 1941, Stalin turned for inspiration to the 'manly images of our great ancestors.' Among these ancestors he did not name one proletarian, or one fighter for Socialism or for social revolution, he did not refer to the heroic struggles of Socialists in Russia or throughout the world. He named only heroes of the Russian feudal past, or Tsarist generals like Alexander Suvorov, the commander of the Russian armies in the dynastic wars of the second half of the 18th century, and General Mikhail Kutuzov, the commander of the Russian armies at the time of Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812. Generally the war of 1812, known in Russia as 'the war for the fatherland,' has become the model and the inspiration of the present war. Stalin in his proclamation of Feb. 23, 1942, used the same name for the present war. He pointed out also that 'the theory of race equality in the Soviet Union, and the practice of respect for the rights of other peoples have brought about a situation in which all freedom-loving peoples have become friends of the Soviet Union.'

New Interpretation of History.

This shift in Communist theory and even more in Communist ideology found its expression in a new interpretation of Russian history. While formerly it was only the economic aspects of history which interested the Communists, and everything done by representatives of the feudal or capitalistic class, by the Tsarist government, or by the Church was regarded with hostility, the Communists began now to view Russian history as a whole and to appreciate the part of Tsars and priests, of barons and generals, of administrators and capitalists in the growth of the Russian nation. Anti-religious agitation was stopped, organizations of the godless disbanded, publication of their papers abandoned. The Church declared its wholehearted cooperation with the Soviet government in the defense of the Russian fatherland. On the 25th anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution in November 1942, all religious leaders sent messages to Stalin, an unprecedented step, and for the first time these were published in the Soviet papers as evidence of the new relations between the Soviet government and the Church. Metropolitan Sergei of Moscow, the ranking prelate of the Russian Orthodox church, wrote to Stalin: 'In the name of our clergy and of all believers of the Russian Orthodox Church, true to the spirit of our fatherland, I heartily and with blessings greet you, the God-chosen leader of our military and cultural forces, who is leading us to victory over the barbarous invaders of our peaceful and blossoming country, and to a bright future for this nation. May God bless your great exploits for the fatherland with success and glory.' Similar letters were sent by Metropolitan Nikolai of Kiev, by Klistrat, Patriarch of Georgia, and by Archbishop George, head of the Armenian church. The heads of the Mohammedan and of the Jewish religious communities also sent similar letters and messages to Stalin. It is remarkable that Soviet newspapers now capitalize the word for God in the Russian language, an unusual procedure for Communists.

This new feeling of patriotism and of patriotic interpretation of Russian history finds its expression also in literature, on the stage, and in film productions of the Soviet Union. All of them vie with one another in patriotism. The former subject of proletarian struggle, and of sympathy with the Socialist movements outside the Soviet Union, has been completely dropped. In its place there appears the glorification of Russia and of the Russian past, especially of the struggle against foreign nations.

The collaboration of the Soviet Union with Great Britain and the United States, the conclusion of a twenty years' alliance with Great Britain, the steady flow of supplies from Great Britain and the United States to the Soviet army, all these facts are beginning to change the outlook of the Soviet government and of the Soviet people upon the outside world and to diminish their deeply-rooted suspicion of 'capitalists.' As a result it may be expected that after the war there will be a closer cooperation between the Soviet Union and the western democracies. As far as the conditions of the Soviet Union allow, especially the fact that the Soviet people have never been trained in democratic self-government or in democratic traditions, it may be hoped that there will be a certain growth of democracy in the Soviet Union. With increased cultural and economic interchange this growth may be accelerated. The Soviet Union has proclaimed as one of its war aims the liberation of all oppressed peoples from the Nazi yoke. Thus the war aims of the Soviet Union and of the democratic powers coincide more and more. The Soviet Union will be faced at the end of the war, and for years to come, by the difficult task of rebuilding the economic life of a country completely ravaged and laid waste by German invaders. For that task the Soviet Union will need, above all, a long period of assured peace which, as Stalin has said, may be found in an Anglo-Soviet-American collaboration.

Communism Outside the Soviet Union.

In Nazi-occupied countries, during 1942, Communist parties were the spearhead of resistance and were prominently active in all sabotage. In Great Britain and in the United States the Communist parties, numerically insignificant, cooperated with all the requirements of national defense. Their attention was of course centered not on defense of Great Britain or the United States, but of their ally, the Soviet Union. They were the most active proponents of the quick establishment of a 'second front' in western Europe. During the summer of 1942 they arranged large meetings and carried on an intensive propaganda for this objective.