National Communism

National Communism National National Communism Peter Zwick Peter Zwick ISBN 978-0-367-01943-3 www.routledge.com an informa business 9780367019433.indd 1 9/23/2018 3:41:33 AM NATIONAL COMMUNISM Also of Interest t The Impasse of European Communism, Carl Boggs t Nations and States: An Enquiry into the Origins of Nations and the Politics of Nationalism, Hugh Seton-Watson t Theories of Comparative Politics: The Search for a Paradigm, Ronald H. Chilcote Marxism in the Contemporary West, edited by Charles F. Elliott and Carl A. Linden t The Unfinished Revolution: Marxism and Communism in the Modern World, Adam B. Ulam Self-Determination: National, Regional, and Global Dimensions, edited by Y onah Alexander and Robert A. Friedlander Vietnamese Communism in Comparative Perspective, edited by William S. Turley History of the International: World Socialism 1943-1968, Julius Braunthal t The Communist Road to Power in Vietnam, William J. Duiker Communism and Political Systems in Western Europe, edited by David E. Albright Innovation in Communist Systems, edited by Andrew Gyorgy and James A. Kuhlman Perspectives for Change in Communist Societies, edited by Teresa Rakowska-Harmstone Developed Socialism in the Soviet Bloc: Political Theory vs. Political Reality, edited by Jim Seroka and Maurice D. Simon t Available in hardcover and paperback. About the Book and Author NATIONAL COMMUNISM Peter Zwick According to the generally accepted view that nationalism is alien to communism and that internationalism disallows divisions based on nations, the existence of national communism is often interpreted as a sign of the breakup of the world communist movement. This book reexamines the evidence on the role of nations and national variations, beginning with Marx and moving through Leninism and Stalinism to Titoism, Maoism, Castroism, and current national liberation movements (e.g., in Nicaragua). Professor Zwick concludes that nationalism has always been an inherent element of communism. He demonstrates with numerous concrete cases that, rather than signaling the decline of communism, national adaptation is the source of its strength. The limits of national variation as defined by the Brezhnev Doctrine are precisely defined and examined in the cases of Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. The book bridges the gap between Marxist theory and communist practice with respect to the central role that nationalism will continue to play in the contemporary world. No other study presents this material in a cross-national, comparative perspective. Peter Zwick is an associate professor and acting chairman of the Department of Political Science and a member of the Russian area studies faculty at Louisiana State University. His research focuses on biographical studies of the Soviet political elite and analyses of administrative reorganization in the USSR, Soviet nationality policies, and Soviet socioeconomic development. NATIONAL COMMUNISM Peter Zwick I~ ~?io~I!~n~~~up LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 1983 by Westview Press Published 2018 by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright © 1983 by Taylor & Francis All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Zwick, Peter, 1942- National communism. Includes bibliographical references and index. I. Nationalism and socialism. I. Title. HX550.N3Z88 1983 335.43'5 82-17642 ISBN 13: 978-0-367-01943-3 (hbk) To Shelly Contents 1 The Nationalist and Communist Roots of National Communism. .1 . Nationalism and Communism-Myths or Realities. 3 The Common Features of Nationalism and Communism . 11 2 Marxism and National Communism ........................ 15 Problems in Interpreting the Marxist View of Nationalism .................................... 16 The Nation and the Revolutionary Process ................. 20 Economic Development and European Nationalism ......... 23 Anticolonialism and Non-European Nationalism ............ 25 The Marxist View of National Communism ................ 28 3 The Soviet Hegemony ..................................... 33 Nationality Policy in Theory .............................. 41 Nationality Policy in Practice .............................. 45 Lenin and the International Movement . .49 . From Lenin to Stalin . 59. The Final Step: Socialism in One Country . 64. 4 National Communism Redux .............................. 73 Titoism as National Communism .......................... 75 National Communism in the Soviet Bloc ................... 84 Destalinization: National Communism Unleashed ........... 88 The Czechoslovakian Challenge and the Brezhnev Doctrine. 106. ix x Contents Romania: The Epitome of National Communism .......... 116 The Polish Crisis Renewed: From Gdansk to Gdansk ...... 126 National Communism and Eurocommunism ............... 136 National Communism and Proletarian Revolution . .145 5 National Communism as National Liberation .............. 149 Mao and the Chinese Revolution ......................... 153 Anticolonial National Communism in Asia ................ 172 From National Liberation to National Communism: Castroism ................................ 182 The Sandinist Variation .................................. 194 Noncommunist National Liberation Movements ........... 203 Conclusion .............................................. 218 6 Prospects for National Communism ..... , ................. 221 Notes ................................................... 231 Abbreviations ............................................ 251 Index ................................................... 253 1 The Nationalist and Communist Roots of National Communism In his ylassic critique of contemporary communism, The New Class, the ~slavian Marxist Milovan Djilas argued: "Today, national Communism is a general phenomenon in Com- munism. To varying degrees all Communist movements ... are gripped by national Communism." 1 Djilas contended that "in order to maintain itself" any communist regime "must become national."2 These observations, made in the 1950s, have unquestionably been confirmed by subsequent developments within the communist movement. In the past few decades China and the Soviet Union have taken markedly different courses an:d the two nations have been in serious conflict. The communist leaderships of Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czecho- slovakia, and, most recently, Poland have openly challenged the Soviet hegemony in East Europe. A war between Vietnam and Kampuchea over national territorial issues has drawn China into an invasion of Vietnam. Cuba has developed its own communist model, which has had some influence in Latin America, most notably in Nicaragua. The nonruling parties in some Western nations have embarked on a separate, Eurocommunist road. In short, wherever there are communist movements there are national variations. The right of each communist party to determine its own future in the context of unique national conditions has become the universal theme of Marxists. This contemporary marriage of communism and nationalism, movements that have historically been at opposite ends of the ideological spectrum, raises some difficult questions. How can "international" communism become "national" communism without losing its ideological identity as a global movement that transcends national boundaries? After all, wasn't Karl Marx an internationalist 1 2 The Nationalist and Communist Roots of National Communism who abhorred nationalism and called on the workers of all countries to unite? Didn't Engels, Marx's collaborator, predict that the nation- state would "wither away" under communism? Isn't nationalism historically a right-wing political movement that has been universally condemned by communists? The apparent contradictions between what is seen as Marxist theory and contemporary communist practice have raised some doubts as to the future of communism. For those who view national and communist commitments as antithetical, such as Djilas, "national Communism is Communism in decline."3 An alternate but less orthodox interpretation would be that there is no inherent contra- diction between national and communist sentiments. This latter view, which will be the underlying theme of this book, holds that whatever vitality persists in contemporary communism actually derives from its national orientations. Rather than being a source of weakness, nationalism is communism's major source of strength, and rather than being communism in decline, national communism is the only form capable of survival in the contemporary world. As a first step toward understanding the relationship between nationalism and communism and the phenomenon of national communism, we must give these concepts some meaning. Often, however, they are defined in vague terms that contribute little, if anything, to our understanding of them. For example, one scholar has defined national communism as "the explicit assignment of priority to internal considerations even if openly challenged by those who consider

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