Togliatti'ts testament to account, since even in energetically condemning their positions he did not wish to break relations with them, In his document he proposed discussion, debates, eto., and “rejected a conference involving a split. The Chinese are not in disagreement with such a proposal, And while they have even denounced the preparatory conference scheduled for December, they could perhaps shift on this point in hope of putting over this position.
Widening of Discussion
But much more important than the possible .consequences among the Communist leaders are the repercussions that publication of the document will inevitably have among the rank and file of the Communist parties. Among them, the rightist. solutions proposed in Togli-~ atti'ts document will have far less impact than the questions he raises and his demand to discuss them, At a time when the Sino-Soviet discussion has lost attractiveness, becoming repetitious, Togliattils document can revive the discussion, bringing in a new viewpoint and presenting things in a new light, above all by emphasizing the need for a discussion, -
This desire for a genuine discussion -- which Togliatti sensed and which he asked Khrushchev to take into -ascount in order to keep control of the movement -- will be encouraged by the publication of what Togliatti said, All the militants who want to liquidate Stalinism -- whether they stand on the right or the left, or whether thoy are still far from having made up their minds -- will ‘utilize the document to ask for a wide debate which ‘no conference called under present conditions could terminate.
~Togliatti says: "Every party must. . . learn how to proceed in autonomous fashion. Party autonomy, which we firmly stand for, is not only an internal necessity of our movement but an essential oondition for our development under present conditions, We would therefore oppose any idea of creating a new centralized international organization," .
To go by the declarations of all the leaders of the Communist
parties, no differences are apparent on this point. But differences do exist in practice because the Soviet leadership, even in the absence of any formal organization, holds that the Communist parties should line up in accordance with its views as in the past, The Chinese challenge guidance from the Soviet leadership because of its policies, As for Togliatti, it is because he wanted to emphasize in Italy the "national" character of his party that he opposed a confer-~ ence which, even if it did not create a formal organization, could force the Ttalian Communist party to follow a line of conduct which it rejected on some points,
The real problem is not the one posed by Togliatti, Naturally it is impossible to conceive of a genuinely revolutionary party that could not stand on its own feet. Revolutionary Marxists have never defended the creation or existence of an International in order to eliminate the need for qualified national leaderships and to substi-~tute for them an international super general staff, They support an International because even on a national scale action cannot be determined except in relation to international perspectives and orientation. These canbe elaborated only by an International that is. both democratic and centralized,
This Marxist concept is among those that have been obsoured. by the decades of monolithic bureaucratic practices of Stalinism, While not a few revolutionary Marxist concepts. have begun to be revived in the current crisis, the issue of the International still remains buried under the rubbish of confusion engendered by Stalinism, In addition, the slogan of "socialism in one country" which served the Soviet bureaucracy in destroying the Communist International has. now turned. against Moscow. Each Communist party leadership demands autonomy, while seeking to impose monolithism in their own party. An international conference that could settle the current: crisis would presuppose capacity to immediately create a mass revolutionary Marxist International, The situation is far from that, What is essential at present is to widen the discussion to the maximum, to involve the cadres still absorbed by the issues, to permit the tondencies to express themselves within cach party, to bring in the views of revolutionary Marxist opposition currents, above all the Trotskyists, the Fourth International, which has not only worked out answers that are already old to the questions associated with the origin of the cult of Stalin but has also made a contribution toward solving current problems which both the Chinese and Russians reoognize with foar as can be seen from their polemics in recent months,
Communist militants anxious to find a way out of the crisis affecting their movement will energetically pick up the proposal in Togliattit'ts document for a prolonged discussion and overturn tho Kremlin's projected scheme. Togliatti's document shows that the discussion not only has not come to an end, it is only in its opening stage,
WHY