State of the Movement: A selection of texts from the Marxist-Leninist Movement . State of the Movement: A documentary selection Report from Europe [1976] 5 1. War and Revolution on the Rise 7 2. Norway’s Communists get prepared 10 3. Sweden’s Communist Movement 13 4. Iceland workers’ movement on the rise 18 5. Interview with Jacques Jurquet French Marxist-Leninist leader 21 6. French Marxist-Leninists Steeled in battle against revisionism 26 7. Belgian Party on war and revolution 31 8. Bright future for communist movement 34 9. [1977] West Germany -Marxism-Leninism cannot be banned! 40 Albanian Intervention 47 10. [1976] Joint Declaration of South American Parties 49 11. [1977] Joint Declaration of Europeanparties 59 12. [1978] Letter from AKP (ML) to the Party of Labour of Albania 75 13. [1978] A Sad and Dangerous Situation 97 14. [1979] Sino-American Alliance - A Great Threat To The Peoples Freedom, Independence and Security. 114 15. [1979] The Chinese LeadershipwithDeng Xiaoping at the head has launched a military attack against Vietnam. 120 Three Worlds Theory 129 16. [1976] Imperialism, The Third World and World War 131 17. [1977] Appeal to the European patriots and Democrats 153 18. [1978] Interview with Norway’s Pal Steigan 159 19. [1979] In Order To Strengthen Peace Through An Independent And Democratic Europe -Yes To European Unity 168 20. [1979] Germany and the three worlds: interview with Christian Semler 173 21. [1980] The “Theory of the Three Worlds” as a Strategic Conception Smacks of Right-Wing Opportunism! 180 Decline and Dissolution 215 22. [1978] Mao’s Last Battle 215 23. [1979] International Communist Movement Advances 239 24. [1981] Commentary: The International Communist Movement Today 242 25. [1983] The Liquidationist Tendency Within The Marxist-Leninist Movement 261 Readjustment 306 26. [1986] Who Do You Mean When You Say ‘Maoist’? 307 27. [1993] General Declaration on Mao Zedong Thought 311 28. [1995] Proposition for the Unity of the International Communist Movement 324 29. [1995] Position of the MLPD on the Draft Resolution of PTB 332 30. [1996] Commentary: A Step Too Far:International Review No.17 336 31. [1997] Report & Proposals for the Unification of the International Communist Movement 339 2 | Page Preface: State of the Movement The European Maoist movement was essentially a product of the upsurge in radical politics in the 1960s. Its’ ideological roots, however, go back with the experience of the international communism movement. They lay, firstly, with the Nineteenth Century thinkers and organisation that found expression in the subsequent Marxist movement and working class organisations that aligned to the Leninist and Soviet models of Marxism. Secondly, it draws upon the anti-revisionist renewal of the mid-Twentieth century, arising as a response to the political dislocation that saw a split in the international communism movement. With a convenient identification between the two main protagonists – Moscow (CPSU) and Beijing (CPC), the European anti-revisionists sided with the CPC and its allies. Thirdly, the anti-revisionist movement drew new impetus from the political events and rhetoric (as they understood and interpreted) occurring in China. This was refined further with the adoption of a guiding reference point, Mao Zedong thought, which would now define anti-revisionists as Maoists. The development of the movement has seen the composition of its membership and its numerical strength differed greatly over the years, as has the public awareness of the movement and its politics. There is a relative paucity of research on the subject, with few developments in the historiography given the relative neglect, on the margins suffering neither self-publicists nor zealot promotion due largely to the failure in its institutional struggle for survival. This collection is not a definitive history, nor a complete study of any individual component of what constituted the movement: The documents presented here will illustrate some of these complexities of a political current inspired by anti-revisionist politics. The fragmentation of the movement was an early, and sustaining, feature. A listing of organisations and ‘dramatis persona’ support the selection of texts produced. These groups had a crusading vision, some even a drive to leadership, if not a capacity for national leadership, but the forces were too few and the measure of success employed a small yardstick. As in most of the European generalisations applied, one turned to Norway as an exception. These reports of ‘the state of the movement’ reflect the subjective assessments of partisan observation. The selection – a visit to MIA would illustrate why the term ‘collection’ would be inappropriate – draws upon primary European sources and excludes the major statements easily found elsewhere e.g. Encyclopaedia of Anti-Revisionism Online. Such a Eurocentric basis reflects both linguistic failings and inabilities, and archival accessibility for the editor, rather than inherent disregard for other dimension to the movement under inspection. In order to avoid the creation of basically an oral history, with little third party verifying, and scant supporting documentation, this anthology of articles and summations seeks to provide a historical treatment that avoids an ultra- subjective perspective. Any selection involves a choice that raises questions but hopeful as a starting point for further research and enquiry. The selection reflects common themes discussed, and analysis that were seldom confined to one organisation or location. They were issues that reflected the state of the movement on a scale wider than the national concern, and as such were echoed beyond national or even continental boundaries. The selected texts are reproduced in full, conveying the flavour and distinctive ethos and culture that existed at the time. The linking narrative commentary seeks to establish the context and draw attention to the consequences for the movement. 3 | Page West European Maoist Organisations 1976 (partial listing) Austria: Communist League of Austria Belgium: Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Belgium; “All Power to the Workers (AMADA)” Britain: Communist Federation of Britain (ML); Communist Party of Britain (ML) Denmark: Communist League Marxist-Leninists of Denmark Finland: Marxist-Leninist Groups of Finland France: Marxist-Leninist Revolutionary Communist Party of France Germany: Communist party of Germany; Communist League of West Germany Greece: Organisation of Marxist-Leninists of Greece Iceland: Communist Party of Iceland (ML) Italy: Marxist-Leninist Organisation of Italian Bolshevik Communists; Party of Socialist Revolution of Italy Luxemburg: Communist League of Luxemburg Netherlands: Communist Unity Movement of the Netherlands; League of Dutch Marxist Leninists;’ Marxist-Leninist Party of the Netherlands’ Norway: Workers’ Communist Party (ML) Portugal: Communist Party of Portugal (ML) Spain: Workers’ Revolutionary Organisation; Labour Party of Spain Sweden: Communist party of Sweden; Marxist-Leninist Union of Struggle of Sweden Switzerland: Communist Party of Switzerland (ML) 4 | Page Section One: Report from Europe 1976 On the march in Italy, Sweden, France, Germany, Norway Italy, Sweden, France, Germany, Norway 5 | Page Section One: The State of the Movement In the years following Chairman Mao’s death there was evidence of consolidation amongst the multitude of European Maoist groups: May Day 1976 saw 23,000 mobilised by the AKP and its paper had a circulation of 20,000 in a population of less than five million. En Lucha, the weekly paper of the ORT had a circulation of 100,000 in Spain and secured 146,000 votes (49,000 in Madrid) in 1977 national elections. There were 20,000 marching in Bonn protesting on October 8th 1977 against a proposal to constitutional ban three Maoist groups (the KBW, KPD and KPD/ML). February 1979 saw Lutte Communiste (Marxist-Leninist) unite with the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Belgium (PCMLB), the culmination of a process of unity that began in August 1976. That same year, AMADA – TPO (Tout le Pouvoir aux Ouvriers - All Power to the Workers), who claimed to have 75% of Belgian Marxist-Leninists in its ranks, transformed from a radical Flemish student organisation into a more traditional communist party, the Party of Labour of Belgium [PVDA-PTB]. With the demise of the Clarte- PCMLB group, the PTB emerged as the main representative of Maoism and a substantial presence on the political left. In Britain, the Revolutionary Communist League of Britain [RCLB] formed the only national organisation visibly representing British Maoism having united some other Maoist groups under its banner1 by 1980. In France the Parti Communiste Marxiste-Leniniste de France – PCMLF - had been formed in December 1967 by about a hundred former Communist party members (of which forty were in Marseilles). The PCMLF operated clandestinely when legally banned in June 12, 1968.Its public face and name became that of its journal Humanite Rouge. It became legal under the initials ‘PCML’ in August 1978. The PCMLF of Jacques Jurguet had a draft agreement published October 24, 1979 between the Parti Communiste Marxiste-Leniniste de France and the PCRml (formed in 1974 around the newspaper “Front Rouge”) headed by Max Cluzot. Both organisations were seeking unity after an electoral pact in the March 1978 elections. They foresaw a process of progressive fusion between the two newspapers ‘I’Humanite Rouge’ and PCRml’s ‘Le Quotidien du Peuple’