PRESTIGE ON THE CHEAP FOR DE GAULLE
. By Pierre Frank
Proletarian internationalism is one of the concepts that have suffered particularly under the old traditional Social Democratic and Stalinist leaderships. It has been corroded by the most variegated ideas about "national independence,"
The Social Democrats, in the name of proletarian internationalism, have condemned the struggles of colonial peoples for national independence (Guy Mollet in France, for example, in the case of Algeria); and if they have likewise denounced "nationalism" in — ‘European countries, it has been to support a policy in complete sub= servience to Washington.
The leaders of the Communist parties, for their part, apply the concept of "national independence" in both the colonial countries, where iu is completely valid, and in the imperialist countries where it is reactionary. But in each case they advocate alliance with the bourgeoisie or with one of its wings, a course that can lead only to catastrophic results.
In the present period, when: centrifugal tendencies have become stronger in both the bloc of: workers states and the bloc of imperialist countries, one of the most striking instances of what the confusion can. lead to is the ability. of de Gaulle to reap-enormous benefits because he is able bo assume the role of main champion > of "national independence.!
It is forgotten that he granted independence to Algeria only
because the Algerian people compelled him to do so by force ina struggle that was prolonged for four years under his regime. Also forgotten is everything that exposes the phoniness of his proclaimed breadth of vision -- the intervention of French troops in Gabon, the continued French domination, often marked by brutality, over Martinique, Guadeloupe, Djibouti, Réunion, New Caledonia, Tahiti,. etc. Forgotten, too, is the artificiality of the " independence" of most of the former French colonies in black Africa and Madagascar where -— neocolonialism can be seen in almost pure form.
All this is forgotten because de Gaulle threw a. well-aimedstone at Washington's involvement in Vietnam and the Dominican Republic, although not without a slap at Moscow at the same time with his innuendo about "modern imperialisms."' The move was cheap enough and would never have: been made if Washington had felt inclined to give him a helping hand in the little matter of manufacturing nuclear weapons.
De Gaulle'ts trouble-making in the Atlantic Alliance is favored
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by both the Soviet and Chinese governments -- and, of course, no one can blame them for seeking to take advantage of the contradictions in the imperialist camp if they do not build up de Gaulle's prestige among the masses in the colonial countries and in France.
To paintup de Gaulle may not be of great import in Latin America where the role of French imperialism is minor. In the Far Hast it is highly dangerous, for it could confront the South Vietnam Front of National Liberation with a difficult situation. In Africa | it fits. in with the machinations of all the neocolonialist forces. And in France it contributes to paralyzing a workers movement that is still suffering from the defeat it sustained with de Gaulle'ts coming to power in 1958,
No one is more aware than de Gaulle of the value of the slogan of “national independence.“ In a recent television speech, he virtually launched his presidential campaign on the theme of "national independence." He presented himself as. the man tied to. no strings, inferring that the other candidates could not say as much and that therefore they were more or less in the service of the USSR or the USA.
Thus even before the electoral campaign got under way, this thrust added to the disarray in the opposition which has been centering around the Social Democrat, Gaston Defferre. Some of them, able to see, have been insisting that Defferre, while standing on his pro- Atlantic, pro-European platform, shonpid cut free from Washington and not let de Gaulle reap all the benefits of. being "anti-American,"
The leadership of the French Communist party has suffered from a similar paralysis. It has organized only one meeting against the American interventions in Vietnam and the Dominican Republic, As for the presidential election, it stands on generalities and is visibly fearful of the reception that would be given a party candidate if no last-minute agreement can be reached on a joint candidate for the entire left. Among the voters generally to be:found in the Communist column, there are some who are responsive to de Gaulle's dema~ gogy as was shown in the 1958 referendum,
The official Communist press in France does not talk about "socialism in one country." But this Stalinist doctrine has never been repudiated and it is being continued in the form of "national independence" as understood by Stalin's heirs. Its evil effects can be seen in the prestige it enables an old fox to accumulate on the cheap and in the disorientation it spreads among the broad masses,
A FERTILE GROUND FOR "