One of the central resolutions to emerge from the Comintern’s Third World Congress held over the Summer of 1921 was this document detailing Communist organizational and political practice. This original, full translation of the theses includes sections on General Principles, On Democratic Centralization, On the Duties of Communist Activity, On Propaganda and Agitation, The Organization of Political Struggles, On the Party Press, On the Structure of the Party Organism, and Legal and Illegal Activity.

‘Theses on Organizational Construction of the Communist Parties and the Methods and Scope of Their Activity’ from Theses and Resolutions Adopted at the Third World Congress of the Communist International. Contemporary Publishing Association, New York. 1921.

Guiding Rules for the Construction and Organigation of Communist Parties.

1. General Principles

1) The organization of the Party must be adapted to the conditions and to the goal of its activity. The Communist Party must be the vanguard—the advance troops of the proletariat—through all the phases of its revolutionary class struggle and during the subsequent transition period towards the realization of Socialism, i e., the first stage of the Communist Society.

2) There can be no absolutely infallible and unalterable form of organization for the Communist Parties. The conditions of the proletarian class struggle are subject to changes in a continuous process of evolution, and in accordance with these changes the organization of the proletarian vanguard must be constantly seeking for the corresponding forms. The peculiar conditions of every individual country likewise determine the special adaptation of the forms of organization of the respective Parties.

But this differentiation has definite limits. Regardless of all peculiarities, the equality of the conditions of the proletarian class-struggle in the various countries and through the various phases of the proletarian revolution is of fundamental importance to the International Communist Movement, creating a common basis for the organization of Communist Parties in all countries.

Upon this basis it is necessary to develop the organization of the Communist Parties but not to seek to establish any new model parties instead of the existing ones or to aim at any absolutely correct forms of organization and ideal constitutions.

3) Most Communist Parties, and consequently the Communist International as the united party of the revolutionary proletariat of the world, have this common feature in their conditions of struggle, that they still have to fight against the dominant bourgeoisie. To conquer the bourgeoisie and to wrest the power from its hands is for all of them, until further developments, the determining and guiding main goal. Accordingly, the determining factor in the organizing activity of the Communist Parties in the capitalist countries must be the upbuilding of such organizations as will make the victory of the proletarian revolution over the possessing classes both possible and secure.

4) Leadership is a necessary condition for any common action, but most of all it is indispensable in the greatest fight in the world’s history. The organization of the Communist Party is the organization of communist leadership in the proletarian revolution.

To be a good leader the Party itself must have good leadership. Accordingly, the principal task of our organization work must be the education, organization and training of efficient Communist Parties under capable directing organs to the leading place in the proletarian revolutionary movement.

5) The leadership in the revolutionary class struggle presupposes the organic combination of the greatest possible striking force and of the greatest adaptability on the part of the Communist Party and its leading organs to the everchanging conditions of the struggle. Furthermore, successful leadership requires absolutely the closest association with the proletarian masses. Without such association, the leadership will not lead the masses, but, at best, will follow behind the masses.

The organic unity in the Communist Party organization must be attained through democratic centralization.

II. On Democratic Centralization

6) Democratic centralism in the Communist Party organization must be a real synthesis, a fusion of centralism and proletarian democracy. This fusion can be achieved only on the basis of constant common activity, constant common struggle of the entire party organization. Centralization in the Communist Party organization does not mean a formal and mechanical centralization, but a centralization of communist activity, that is to say the formation of a strong leadership, ready for war and at the same time capable of adaptability. A formal or mechanical centralization is the centralization of the “power” in the hands of the party bureaucracy, dominating over the rest of the membership or over the masses of the revolutionary proletariat standing outside the organization. Only the enemies of communism can assert that the Communist Party conducting the proletarian class struggles and centralizing this communist leadership is trying to rule over the revolutionary proletariat. Such an assertion is a lie. Neither is any rivalry for power or any contest for supremacy within the party at all compatible with the fundamental principles of democratic centralism adopted by the Communist International.

In the organization of the old, non-revolutionary labor movement, there has developed an all-pervading dualism of the same nature as that of the bourgeois State, namely the dualism between the bureaucracy and the “people.” Under the baneful influence of bourgeois environment there has developed a separation of functions, a substitution of barren, formal democracy for the living association of common endeavour, and the splitting up of the organization into active functionaries and passive masses. Even the revolutionary labor movement inevitably inherits this tendency to dualism and formalism to a certain extent from the bourgeois environment.

The Communist Party must fundamentally overcome these contrasts by systematic and persevering political and organizing work and by constant improvement and revision.

7) In transforming a socialist mass party into a Communist Party, the Party must not confine itself to merely concentrating the authority in the hands of its central leadership while leaving the old order unchanged. Centralization should not merely exist on paper, but be actually carried out, and this is possible of achievement only when the members at large will fed this central authority as a fundamentally efficient instrument in their common activity and struggle. Otherwise, it will appear to the masses as a bureaucracy within the Party and therefore likely to stimulate opposition to all centralization, to all leadership, to all stringent discipline. Anarchism is the opposite pole of bureaucracy.

Merely formal democracy in the organization cannot remove either bureaucratic or anarchical tendencies, which have found fertile soil in the workers’ movement on the basis of just that democracy. Therefore, the centralization of the organization, i.e., the aim to create a strong leadership, cannot be successful if its achievement is sought on the basis of formal democracy. The necessary preliminary conditions are the development and maintenance of living associations and mutual relations within the Party between the directing organs and the members, as well as between the Party and the masses of the proletariat outside of the Party.

III. On the Duties of Communist Activity

8) The Communist Party must be a training school for revolutionary Marxism. The organic ties between the different parts of the organization and the membership become joined through daily common work in the party organization.

Regular participation on the part of most of the members in the daily work of the Party is lacking even today in the lawful Communist Parties. That is the chief fault of these parties, forming the basis of constant insecurity in their development.

9) In the first stages of its Communist transformation every workmen’s Party is in danger of being content with having accepted a Communist program, with having substituted the old doctrine in its propaganda by Communist teachings and having replaced the officials belonging to the hostile camp by Communist officials. The acceptance of a Communist program is only the expression of the will to become a Communist. If the Communist activity is lacking and the passivity of the mass of members still remains, then the party does not fulfil even the least part of the pledge it had taken upon itself in accepting the Communist program. For the first condition for an earnest carrying out of the program is the participation of all the members in the constant daily work of the Party.

The art of Communist organization lies in the ability of making use of each and every one for the proletarian class struggle; of distributing the Party work amongst all the Party members, and of constantly attracting through its members ever wider masses of the proletariat to the revolutionary movement; further it must hold the direction of the whole movement in its hand not by virtue of its might, but by its authority, energy, greater experience, greater all-round knowledge, and capabilities.

10) A Communist Party must strive to hare only really active members, and to demand from every rank and file party worker that he should place his whole strength and time, in so far as he can himself dispose of it, under existing conditions, at the disposal of his Party and devote his best forces to these services.

Membership in the Communist Party entails naturally, besides communist convictions—formal registration, first as a candidate, then as a member; likewise, the regular payment of the established dues, the subscription to the Party paper, etc. But the most important is the participation of each member in the daily work of the Party.

11) For the purpose of carrying on the Party work every Party member must as a rule be also a member of a smaller working group: a committee, a commission, a board group, faction, or nucleus. Only in this way can the Party work be properly distributed, directed and carried on.

Attendance at the general meetings of the members of the local organizations of course goes without saying: it is not wise to try under conditions of legal existence, to replace those periodical meetings under lawful conditions by meetings of local representatives. All the members must be bound to attend these meetings regularly. But that is in no way sufficient. The very preparations for these meetings presupposes work in smaller groups or through comrades detailed for the purpose, effectively utilizing as well as the preparations for the general workers’ meetings, demonstrations and mass actions of the working class. The numerous tasks connected with these activities can be carefully studied only in smaller groups, and carried out intensively. Without such a constant daily work of the entire membership divided among the great mass of the smaller groups of workers, even the most laborious endeavors to take part in the class struggles of the proletariat will lead only to weak and futile attempts to influence those struggles, but not to the necessary consolidation of the proletariat into a single unified capable Communist Party.

12) Communist nuclei must be formed for the daily work in the different branches of the Party activities: for home agitation, for Party study, for newspaper work, for the distribution of literary matter, for information service, for constant service, etc.

These Communist units are the nuclei for the daily Communist work in the factories and workshops, in the trade unions, in the proletarian associations, in military units, etc., wherever there are at least several members or candidates for membership in the Communist Party. If there are a greater number of Party members in the same factory or in the same union, etc., then the nuclei is enlarged into a faction, and its work is directed. by the nucleus.

Should it be necessary to form a wider general opposition faction, or to take part in an existing one, then the Communists should try to take the leadership in it through their special nucleus.

Whether a Communist nucleus is to come out in the open, as far as its own surroundings are concerned, or even before the general public, will depend on the special conditions of the case after a serious study of the dangers and the advantages thereof.

13) The introduction of general obligatory work in the Party and the organization of these small working groups is an especially difficult task for Communist mass parties. It cannot be carried out all at once, it demands unwearying perseverance, mature consideration and much energy.

It is especially important that this new form of organization should be carried out from the very beginning with care and mature consideration. It would be an easy matter to divide all the members in each organization according to a formal scheme into small nuclei and groups and to call these latter at once to the general daily party work. Such a beginning would be worse than no beginning at all; it would only call forth discontent and aversion among the Party members towards these important innovations.

It is recommended that the Party should take council with several capable organizers, who are also convinced and inspired Communists and thoroughly acquainted with the state of the movement in the various centres of the country and work out a detailed foundation for the introduction of these innovations. After that, trained organizers or Organization Committees must take up the work on the spot, elect the first leaders of groups and conduct the first steps of the work. All the organizations, working groups, nuclei, and individual members must then receive concrete, precisely defined tasks presented in such a way as to at once appear to them to be useful, desirable and executable. Wherever it may be necessary they must be shown by practical demonstrations, in what way these tasks are to be carried out.

They must be warned at the same time of the false steps especially to be avoided.

14) This work of reorganization must be carried out in practice step by step. In the beginning too many nuclei or groups of workers should not be formed in the local organization. It must first be proved in small cases that the nuclei formed in the separate important factories and trade unions are functioning properly, and that the necessary groups of workers have been formed also in the other chief branches of the Party activity and have in some degree become consolidated (for instance in the information, communication, women’s movement, or agitation department, newspaper work, unemployed movement, etc.). Before the new organization apparatus will have acquired a certain practice the old frames of the organization should not be heedlessly broken up.

At the same time this fundamental task of the Communist organization work must be carried out everywhere with the greatest energy. This places great demands not only on a legal Party, but also on every illegal Party.

Until a widespread network of Communist nuclei, factions and groups of workers will be at work at all the central points of the proletarian class struggle, until every member of the party will be doing his share of the daily revolutionary work and this will have become natural and habitual for the members, the Party can allow itself no rest in its strenuous labors for the carrying out of this task.

15) This fundamental organizational task imposes upon the leading Party organs the obligation of constantly directing and exercising a systematic influence over the Party work. This requires manifold exertion on the part of those comrades who are active in the leadership of their organizations of the Party. Those in charge of Communist activity must not only see to it that the comrades, men and women, should be engaged in Party work in general, they must help and direct such work systematically and with practical knowledge of the business with a precise orientation in regard to special conditions. They must also endeavor to find out any mistakes committed in their own activities on the basis of acquired experience, constantly improving the methods of work and not forgetting for a moment the object of the struggle.

16) Our whole party work consists either of direct struggle on theoretical or practical grounds or of preparation for the struggle. The specialization of this work has been very defective up to now. There are quite important branches in which the activity of the Party has been only occasional. For instance, the lawful parties have done little in the matter of combatting the secret service men. The instructing of the Party comrades has been carried on, as a rule, only casually, as a secondary matter, and so superficially that the greater part of the most important resolutions of the Party, even the Party programme and the resolutions of the Communist International have remained unknown to the large strata of the membership. The instruction work must be carried on methodically and unceasingly through the whole mass system of the Party organizations in all the working communities of the Party in order to obtain an even higher degree of specialization.

17) To the duties of the Communist activity belongs also that of submitting reports. This is the duty of all the organizations and organs of the Party as well as of every individual member. There must be general reports made covering short periods of time. Special reports must be made on the work of special committees of the party. It is essential to make the work of reporting so systematic that it should become an established procedure as the best traditions of the Communist movement.

18) The Party must hand in its quarterly report to the leading body of the Communist International. Each organization in the Party has to hand in its report to the next leading Committee (for instance, monthly reports of the local branches to the corresponding Party Committee).

Each nucleus, faction and group of workers must send its report to the Party organ under whose leadership it is placed. The individual members must hand in their reports to the nucleus or group of workers (respectively to the leader) to which he belongs, and on the carrying out of some special charge to the Party organ from whom the order was received.

The reports must always be made at the first opportunity. It is to be made by word of mouth, unless the Party or the person who had given the order demands a written report. The reports must be concise and to the point. The receiver of the report is responsible for having such communications as cannot be published without harm kept in safe custody, that important reports be sent in without delay to the corresponding leading Party organ.

19) All these reports must naturally not be limited to the account of what the reporter had done himself. They must contain also information on such circumstances which may have come to light during the course of the work and which have a certain significance for our struggle, particularly, such considerations which may give rise to modification or improvement of our future work. Also proposals for improvements, the necessity of which may have made itself felt during the work must be included in the report.

In all the Communist nuclei, factions and groups of workers, all reports, both those that have been handed in to them and those that they have to send must be thoroughly discussed. Such discussions must become a regular habit.

Care must be taken in the nuclei and groups of workers that individual Party members or groups of members be regularly charged with observing and reporting on hostile organizations, especially with regard to the petty-bourgeois workers’ organizations and chiefly the organizations of the “socialist” parties.

IV. On Propaganda and Agitation

20) Our chief general duty to the open revolutionary struggle is to carry on revolutionary propaganda and agitation. This work and its organization is still, in the main, being conducted in the old and formal manner, by means of casual speeches, at mass meeting and without special care for the concrete revolutionary substance of the speeches and writings.

Communist propaganda and agitation must be made to take root in the very midst of the workers, out of their common interest and aspirations and especially out of their common struggles.

The most important point to remember is—that communist propaganda must be of a revolutionary character. Therefore the communist watchword and the whole communist attitude towards concrete questions must receive our special attention and consideration.

In order to achieve the correct attitude, not only the professional propagandists and agitators, but also all other party members must be carefully instructed.

21) The principal forms of communist propaganda and agitation are: individual verbal propaganda, participation in the industrial and political labor movement, propaganda through the party press and distribution of literature. Every member of a legal or illegal party is to participate regularly in one or the other of these forms of propaganda.

Individual propaganda must take the form of systematic house to house canvassing by special groups of workers. Not a single house, within the area of party influence, must be omitted from this canvass. In larger towns a specially organized outdoor campaign with posters and distribution of leaflets usually produce satisfactory results. In addition, the factions should carry on a regular personal agitation in the workshops, accompanied by distribution of literature.

In countries whose population contains national minorities, it is the duty of the Party to devote the necessary attention to propaganda and agitation among the proletarian strata of these minorities. The propaganda and agitation must, of course, be conducted in the languages of the national minorities, for which purpose the Party must create the necessary special organs.

22) In those capitalist countries where a large majority of the proletariat has not yet reached revolutionary consciousness, the Communist agitators must be constantly on the lookout for new forms of propaganda, in order to meet these backward workers half way, and thus facilitate their entry into the revolutionary ranks. The communist propaganda, with its watchwords, must bring out the budding, unconscious incomplete, vacillating and semi-bourgeois revolutionary tendencies which are struggling for supremacy with the bourgeois traditions and conceptions in the minds of the workers.

At the same time communist propaganda must not rest content with the limited and confused demands or aspirations of the proletarian masses. These demands and expectations contain revolutionary germs and are a means of bringing the proletariat under the influence of communist propaganda.

23) Communist agitation among the proletarian masses must be conducted in such a way that our communist organization be recognized by the struggling proletarians as the courageous, intelligent, energetic and ever faithful leader of their own labor movement.

In order to achieve this, the Communists must take part in all the elementary struggles and movements of the workers, and must defend the workers’ cause in all conflicts between them and the capitalists over hours and conditions of labor, wages, etc. The communists must also pay great attention to the concrete questions of working class life. They must help the workers to come to a right understanding of these questions. They must draw their attention to the most flagrant abuses and must help them to formulate their demands in a practical and concise form. In this way they will awaken in the workers the spirit of solidarity, the consciousness of community of interests among all the workers of the country as a united working class, which, in its turn, is a section of the world army of proletarians.

It is only through the everyday performance of such elementary duties, and through participation in all the struggles of the proletariat that the Communist Party can develop into a real communist party. It is only by adopting such methods that it will be distinguished from the propagandists of the hackneyed, so called, pure socialist propaganda, consisting of recruiting new members and talking about reforms and the use of all parliamentary possibilities, or rather impossibilities. The self-sacrificing and conscious participation of all the party members in the daily struggles and controversies of the exploited with the exploiters is essentially necessary not only for the conquest, but in a still higher degree, for the carrying out of the dictatorship of the proletariat. It is only through leading the working masses in the petty warfare against the onslaughts of capitalism that the communist party will be able to become the vanguard of the working class, acquiring the capacity for systematic leadership of the proletariat in its struggle for supremacy over the bourgeoisie.

24) Communists must be mobilized in full force, especially in times of strikes, lockouts and other mass dismissals of the workers, in order to take part in the workers’ movement.

It would be a great mistake for Communists to treat with contempt the present struggles of the workers for slight improvements of their working conditions, even to maintain a passive attitude to them, on the plea of the Communist programme and the need of armed revolutionary struggle for final aims. No matter how small and modest the demands of the workers may be for which they are ready and willing to fight today with the capitalist, the Communists must never make the smallness of the demands an excuse at the same time for non-participation in the struggle. Our agitational activity should not lay itself bare to the accusation of stirring up and inciting the workers to nonsensical strikes and other inconsiderate actions. The Communists must try to acquire the reputation among the struggling masses of being courageous and effective participators in their struggles.

25) The communist cells (or fractions) within the trade union movement have often proved themselves in practice rather helpless before some of the most ordinary questions of everyday life. It is easy, but not fruitful to keep on preaching the general principles of Communism, and then fall into the negative attitude of common place syndicalism when faced with concrete questions. Such practices only play into the hands of the yellow Amsterdam International.

Communists should, on the contrary, be guided in their actions by a careful study of the practical aspect of every question.

For instance, instead of contenting themselves with resisting theoretically and on principle all trade agreements, they should rather take the lead in the struggle over the specific nature of the trade agreements recommended by the Amsterdam leaders. It is, of course, necessary to condemn and resist any kind of impediment to the revolutionary preparedness of the proletariat, and it is a well known fact that it is the aim of the capitalists and their Amsterdam myrmidons to tie the hands of the workers by all manner of trade agreements. Therefore, it behooves the Communists to open the eyes of the workers to the nature of these aims. This the Communists can best attain by advocating a trade agreement which would not hamper the workers.

The same should be done in connection with the unemployment, sickness and other benefits of the trade-union organizations. The creation of fighting funds and the granting of strike pay are measures which, in themselves, are to be commended.

Therefore, an opposition on principle against such activities would be ill advised. But Communists should point out to the workers that the manner of collection of these funds and their use as advocated by the Amsterdam Leaders is against all the revolutionary interests of the working class. In connection with sick benefit, etc., Communists should in-sist on the abolition of the contributory system, and of all binding conditions in connection with all Voluntary funds. If some of the trade union members are still anxious to secure sick benefits by paying contributions it would not do for us to simply prohibit such payments, for fear of not being understood by them. It will be necessary to win over such workers from their petty bourgeois conceptions by an intensive personal propaganda.

26) In the struggle against the social democratic and other petty bourgeois trade union leaders, as well as against the leaders of various labor parties one cannot hope to achieve much by persuasion. The struggle against them should be conducted in the most energetic fashion, and the best way to do that is by depriving them of their following, showing up to the workers the true character of these treacherous socialist leaders who are only playing into the hands of capitalism. The Communists should endeavor to unmask these so-called leaders, and subsequently attack them in the most energetic fashion.

It is not by any means sufficient to call Amsterdam leaders yellow. Their “yellowness” must be proved by continual and practical illustrations. Their activities in the trade-unions, in the International Labor Bureau of the League of Nations, in the bourgeois ministries and administrations; their treacherous speeches at conferences and in parliament; the exhortations contained in many of their written messages and in Press, and above all their vacillation and hesitating attitude in all struggles even for the most modest rise in wages, offer constant opportunities for exposing the treacherous behavior of the Amsterdam leaders in simply worded speeches and resolutions.

The nuclei and factions must conduct their practical vanguard movement in a systematic fashion. The Communists must not allow the excuses of the minor trade-union officials, who, notwithstanding good intentions, often take refuge, through sheer weakness, behind statutes, union decisions and instructions from their superiors to hamper march forward. On the contrary, they must insist on getting satisfaction from the minor officials in the matter of the removal of all real or imaginary obstacles put in the way of the workers by the bureaucratic machine.

27) The fractions must carefully prepare the participation of the communists in conferences and meetings of the trade union organizations. For instance, they must elaborate proposals, select lectures and counsel and put up as candidates for election, capable, experienced and energetic comrades.

The Communist organizations must, through their fractions, also make careful preparations in connection with all workers’ meetings, election meetings, demonstrations, political festivals and such like, arranged by the hostile organizations. Wherever Communists convene their own workers’ meetings, they must endeavor to have considerable groups of communists distributed among the audience, and they must make all due preparations for the assurance of satisfactory propaganda results.

28) Communists must also learn how to draw unorganized and backward workers permanently into the ranks of the Party. With the help of our nuclei and fractions we must induce the workers to join the trade unions and to read our Party organs. Other organizations, as for instance, educational boards, study circles, sporting clubs, dramatic societies, co-operative societies, consumers’ associations, war victims’ organizations, etc., may be used as intermediaries between us and the workers. Where the Communist Party is working illegally, such workers’ unions may be formed outside of the Party through the initiative of Party members and with the consent and under the control of the leading Party organs (unions of sympathizers).

Communist youths and women’s organizations may also be helpful in rousing the interest of the many politically indifferent proletarians, and in drawing them eventually into the Communist Party, through the intermediary of their educational courses, reading circles, excursions, festivals, Sunday rambles, etc., distribution of leaflets, increasing the circulation of the Party organ, etc. Through participation in the general movement, the workers will free themselves from their petty bourgeois inclinations.

29) In order to win the semi-proletarian sections of the workers as sympathizers of the revolutionary proletarians, the Communists must make use of their special antagonisms to the landowners, the capitalists and the capitalist state in order to win these intermediary groups from their mistrust of the proletariat. This may require prolonged negotiations with them, or intelligent sympathy with their needs, free help and advice in any difficulties, also opportunities to improve their education, etc., all of which will give them confidence in the Communist movement. Communists must also endeavor to counteract the pernicious influence of hostile organizations which occupy authoritative positions in the respective districts, or may have influence over the petty bourgeois working peasantry, over those who work in the home industries and other semi-proletarian classes. Those who are known by the exploited, from their own bitter experience, to be the representatives and embodiment of the entire criminal capitalist system, must be unmasked. All everyday occurrences which bring the State bureaucracy into conflict with the ideals of petty bourgeois democracy and jurisdiction, must be made use of in a judicial and energetic manner in the course of communist agitation.

Each local country organization must carefully apportion among its members the duties of house to house canvassing, in order to spread Communist propaganda in all the villages, farm steads and isolated dwellings in their district.

30) The methods of propaganda in the armies and navies of capitalist states must be adapted to the peculiar conditions in each country. Anti-militarist agitation of a pacifist nature is extremely detrimental, and only assists the bourgeois in its efforts to disarm the proletariat. The proletariat rejects on principle and combats with the utmost energy, every kind of military institution of the bourgeois State, and of the bourgeois class in general. Nevertheless, it utilizes these institutions (army, rifle clubs, citizen guard organizations, etc.) for the purpose of giving the workers military training for the revolutionary battles to come. In- tensive agitation must therefore be directed not against the military training of the youth and workers, but against the militaristic regime, and the domination of the officers. Every possibility of providing the workers with weapons should most eagerly be taken advantage of.

The class antagonisms, revealing themselves as they do in the materially favored positions of the officers as against the bad treatment and social insecurity of life of the common soldiers, must be made very clear to the soldiers. Besides, the agitation must bring home the fact to the rank and file that its future is inextricably bound up with the fate of the exploited classes. In a more advanced period of incipient revolutionary fermentation, agitation for the democratic election of all commanders by the privates and sailors and for the formation of soldiers’ councils may prove very advantageous in undermining the foundations of capitalist rule.

The closest attention and the greatest care are always re- quired when agitating against the picked troops used by the bourgeoisie in the class war, and especially against its armed volunteer bands.

Wherever the social composition and corrupt conduct of these troops and bands make it possible, every favorable moment for agitation should be made use of for creating disruption. Wherever it possesses a distinct bourgeois class character, as for example, in the officers corps, it must be unmasked before the entire population, and made so despicable and repulsive, that they will be disrupted from within by virtue of their very isolation.

V. The Organization of Political Struggles

31) For a Communist Party there can be no period in which its party organization cannot exercise political activity. For the purpose of utilizing every political and economic situation, as well as all the changes in these situations, organizational strategy and tactics must be developed. No matter how weak the party may be, it can nevertheless take advantage of exciting political events or of extensive strikes affecting the entire economic system, by a radical propaganda. Once a party has studied to thus make use of a particular situation it must concentrate the energy of all its members and party in this campaign.

Furthermore, all the connections which the party possesses through the work of it» nuclei and workers’ groups must be used for organizing mass meetings in the centers of political importance and following up a strike. The speakers for the party must do their utmost to convince the audiences that only communism can bring the struggle to a successful conclusion. Special commissions must prepare these meetings very thoroughly. If the party cannot for some reason hold meetings of its own, suitable comrades should address the strikers at the general meetings organized by the strikers or any other section of the struggling proletariat.

Wherever there is a possibility of inducing the majority or a large part of any meeting to support our demands, these must be well formulated and properly argued in motions and resolutions to be submitted for adoption. In the event of such resolutions being passed, attempts must be made to have similar resolutions or motions adopted in ever increasing numbers, at any rate supported by strong minorities at all the meetings held on the same question at the same place or in other localities. In this way we shall be able to consolidate the working masses in the movement, put them under our moral influence, and have them recognize our leadership.

After all such meetings the committees which participated in the organizational preparations and utilized its opportunities must hold a conference to make a report to be submitted to the leading committee of the party and draw the proper conclusions from the experiences or possible mistakes made, for the future. In accordance with each particular situation, the practical demands of the workers involved must be made public by means of posters and handbills, or leaflets distributed among the workers, proving to them by means of their own demands how the Communist policies are in agreement with and applicable to the situation. Specially organized groups are required for the proper distribution of posters, the choice of suitable spots as well as the proper time for such pasting. The distribution of handbills should be carried out in and before the factories and in the halls where the workers concerned are wont to gather, also at important points in the town, employment offices and stations; such distribution of leaflets should be accompanied by attractive discussions and slogans, readily permeating all the ranks of the working masses. Detailed leaflets should if possible be distributed only in halls, factories, dwellings or other places where proper attention to the printed matter may be expected.

Such propaganda must be supported by parallel activity at all the trade union or factory meetings held during the conflict, and at such meetings, whether organized by our comrades or only favored by us, suitable speakers and debaters must seize the opportunity of convincing the masses of our point of view. Our party newspapers must place at the disposal of such a special movement the greater part of their space as well as their best arguments. In fact, the entire party organization must for the time being be made to serve the general purpose of such a movement, whereby our comrades may work with unabated energy.

32) Demonstrations require very mobile and self-sacrificing leadership, closely intent upon the aim of a particular action, and able to discern at any given moment whether a demonstration has reached its highest possible effectiveness, or whether, during that particular situation, a further intensification is possible by inducing an extension of the movement into an action of the masses, by means of demonstration strikes and eventually general strikes. The demonstrations in favor of peace during the war have taught us that even after the dispersal of such demonstrations, a really proletarian fighting party must neither deviate nor stand still no matter how small or illegal it may be, if the question at issue is of real importance and is bound to become of ever greater interest for the large masses.

Street demonstrations attain greatest effectiveness when their organization is based on the large factories. When efficient preparations by our nuclei and groups by means of verbal and handbill propaganda has succeeded in bringing a certain unity of thought and action in a particular situation, the managing committee must call the confidential party members in the factories, and the leaders of the nuclei and groups to a conference, to discuss and fix the time and business of the meeting on the day planned, as well as the determination of slogans, the prospects of intensification, and the moment of cessation and dispersal of the demonstration. The backbone of the demonstration must be formed by a well instructed and experienced group of diligent officials, mingling among the masses from the moment of departure from the factories up to the time of dispersal of the demonstration. Responsible party workers must be systematically distributed among the masses, for the purpose of enabling the officials to retain active contact with each other and keeping them provided with the requisite political instructions. Such a mobile, politically organized leadership of a demonstration permits most effectively of constant renewal and eventual intensification into greater mass actions.

33) Communist Parties already possessing internal firmness, a tried corps of officials and a considerable number of adherents among the masses, must exert every effort to completely overcome the influence of the treacherous socialist leaders on the working class by means of extensive campaigns, and to rally the majority of working masses to tie Communist banners. Campaigns must be organized in various ways depending upon whether the situation favors actual fighting, in which case they become active and put themselves at the head of the proletarian movement or whether it is a period of temporary stagnation.

The make-up of the Party is also one of the determining factors for selection of the organized methods for such actions.

For example, the method of publishing a so-called “Open Letter” was used in order to win over to the V.K.P.D., as a young mass party, the society decisive sections of the proletariat to a greater extent than had been possible in certain districts. In order to unmask the treacherous Socialist leaders, the Communist Party addressed itself to the other mass organizations of the proletariat at a moment of increasing desolation and intensification of class conflicts, for the purpose of demanding from them, before the eyes of the proletariat, whether they, with their already powerful organizations, were prepared to take up the struggle, in co-operation with the Communist Party, against the obvious destitution of the proletariat, and for the slightest demands, even for a pitiful piece of bread.

Wherever the Communist Party initiates a similar campaign, it must make complete organizational preparations for the purpose of making such an action re-echo among the broad masses of the working class.

All the factory groups and trade-union officials of the party must bring the demands made by the party, representing the embodiment of the most vital demands of the proletariat, to a discussion at their next factory and trade-union meetings, as well as at all public meetings, after having thoroughly prepared for such meetings. For the purpose of taking advantage of the temper of the masses, leaflets, handbills and posters must be distributed everywhere and effectively at all places where our nuclei or groups intend to make an attempt to influence the masses to support our demands. Our party press must engage in constant education of the problems of the movement during the entire period of such a campaign, by means of short or detailed daily articles, treating the various phases of the question from every possible point of view. The organizations must continually supply the press with the material for such articles and pay close attention that the editors do not let up in their exertions for the furtherance of the party campaign. The parliamentary groups and municipal representatives of the party must also work systematically for the promotion of such struggles. They must bring the movement into discussion, according to the directions of the party leadership, in the various parliamentary bodies by means of resolutions or motions. These representatives must consider themselves as conscious members of the struggling masses, their exponents in the camp of the class enemy, and as the responsible officials and party workers.

In case the united, organizationally consolidated activities of all the forces of the party succeed, within a few weeks, in inducing the adoption of large and ever increasing numbers of resolutions supporting our demands, it will be the serious organizational task of our party, to consolidate the masses thus shown to be in favor of our demands. In the event of the movement having assumed a particularly trade union character, it must be attempted above all to increase our organizational influence on the trade unions.

To this end our groups in the trade unions must proceed to well prepared, direct action against the local trade union leaders, in order to either overcome their influence, or else to compel them to wage an organized struggle on the basis of the demands of our party. Wherever factory councils, industrial committees or similar institutions exist, our groups must exert influence on the plenary meetings of these industrial committees or factory councils to also decide in favor of supporting the struggle. If a number of local organizations have thus been influenced to support the movement for the bare living interests of the proletariat, under Communist leadership, they must be called together to general conferences, which should also be attended by the special delegates of the factory meetings at which favorable resolutions were adopted. The new leadership consolidated under Communist influence in this manner, gains new power by means of such concentration of the active groups of the organized workers, and this power must be utilized to give an impetus to the leadership of the Socialist Parties and trade unions or else to fully unmask it.

In those industrial regions where our party possesses its best organizations and has obtained the greatest support for its demands, they must succeed, by means of the organized pressure on the local trade unions and industrial council, in uniting all the evident economic isolated struggles in these unions, as well as the developing movements of other groups into one coordinated struggle. This movement must then draw up certain common elementary demands, entirely apart from the particular craft interests, and then attempt to obtain the fulfillment of these demands by utilizing the united forces of all the organizations in the district. In such a movement the Communist Party will then prove to be the leader of the proletarians prepared for the struggle, whereas the trade union bureaucracy and the Socialist Party who would oppose such a united, organized struggle, would then be exposed in their true colors, not only politically, but also from a practical organizational point of view.

34) During acute political and economic crises causing, as they do, new movements and struggles, the Communist Party should attempt to gain control of the masses. It may be better to forgo any specific demands and rather appeal directly to the members of the Socialist Parties and the Trade Unions, pointing out how distress and oppression have driven them into the unavoidable fights with their employers in spite of the attempts of their bureaucratic leaders to evade a decisive struggle. The organs of the Party, particularly the daily newspapers, must emphasize, day by day, that the Communists are ready to take the lead in the impending and actual struggles of the distressed workers, that their fighting organization is ready to lend a helping band wherever possible to all the oppressed in the given acute situation. It must be pointed out daily that without these struggles there is no possibility of creating tolerable living conditions for the workers in spite of the efforts of the old organizations to avoid and to obstruct these struggles. The Communist factions within the trade unions and industrial organizations must lay stress continually upon the self-sacrificing readiness of the Communists and make it clear to their fellow workers that the fight is not to be avoided. The main task, however, is to unify and consolidate all the struggles and movements arising out of the situation. The various nuclei and factions of the industries and crafts which have been drawn into struggle must not only maintain the closest ties of organization among themselves, but also to assume, the leadership of all the movements that may break out, through the district committees as well as through the central committees, furnishing promptly such, officials and responsible workers as will be able to lead a movement hand in hand with those engaged in the struggle, to broaden and deepen that struggle, and make it wide-spread. It is the main duty of the organization everywhere to point out and emphasize the common character of all the various struggles, in order to foster the idea of the general solution of the question by political means if necessary. As the struggles become more intensified and general in character, it becomes necessary to create uniform organs for the leadership of the struggles. Wherever the bureaucratic strike leaders have failed, the Communists must come in at once and ensure a determined militant leadership. Where the combination of isolated struggles has been achieved, the common organization of action must be insisted upon, and it is here that the Communists must seek to win the leadership. The common organization of action can be achieved, under capable preliminary organization, by persistent advocacy at the meetings of the factions and industrial councils as well as at mass meetings of the industries concerned.

When the movement becomes widespread and, owing to the onslaughts of the employers’ organizations and government interference, assumes a political character, preliminary propaganda and organization work must be started for the election of Workers’ Councils which may become possible and even necessary.

It is here that all party organs should emphasize the idea that only by forging their own weapons of struggle can the working class achieve its real emancipation. In this propaganda not the slightest consideration should be shown to the trade union bureaucracy or to the old Socialist parties.

35) The Communist Parties which have already grown strong, and particularly the big mass parties, must be equipped for mass action. All political demonstrations and economic mass movements, as well as local actions, must always tend to organize the experiences of these movements in order to bring about a close union with the wide masses. The experiences gained by all new great movements must be discussed at broad conferences of the leading officials and responsible party workers, with the trusted representatives of the large and middle industries, and in this manner the network of communications will be constantly increased and strengthened, and the trusted representatives of the industries will become increasingly permeated with the fighting spirit. The ties of mutual confidence between the leading officials and responsible party workers, with the shop delegates, are the best guarantee that there will be no premature political mass-action, in keeping with the circumstances and the actual strength of the Party.

Without the closest ties between the Party organizations and the proletarian masses employed in the big and middle industries, the Communist Party cannot carry our any big mass-actions and really revolutionary movements. The untimely collapse of the undoubtedly revolutionary upheaval in Italy last year, which found its strongest expression in the seizing of factories, was certainly due to a great extent to the treachery of the trade-unionist bureaucracy and the unreliability of the political party leaders, but partly also to the total lack of intimacies of organization between. the Party and the industries through politically informed shop delegates interested in the welfare of the Party. Also the English coal miners’ strike of the present year has undoubtedly suffered through this lack to an extraordinary degree.

VI. On the Party Press

36) The Communist Press must be developed and improved by the Party with indefatigable energy.

No paper may be recognized as a Communist organ if it does not submit to the directions of the Party.

The Party must pay more attention to having good papers than to having many of them. Every Communist Party must have a good, and if possible, a daily central organ.

37) A Communist newspaper must never be a capitalist undertaking, as are the bourgeois and frequently also the “socialist” papers. Our paper must be independent of all the capitalist credit institutions. A skillful organization of the advertisements, which render possible the existence of our paper for lawful mass parties, must never lead to our becoming dependent on the large advertisers. On the contrary, its unswerving attitude on all proletarian social questions will create the greater respect for it in all our mass parties.

Our papers must not serve for the satisfaction of the desire for sensation or as a pastime for the general public. They must not yield to the criticism of the petty bourgeois writers or journalist virtuosos in the striving to become “respectable.”

38) The Communist paper must in the first place take care of the interests of the oppressed and fighting workers. It must be our best agitator and the leading propagator of the proletarian revolution.

It will be the object of our paper to collect all the valuable experience from the activity of the party members and to demonstrate the same to our comrades as a guide for the continued revision and improvement of Communist working methods. In this way it will be the best organizer of our revolutionary work.

It is only this all embracing organization work of the Communist papers and particularly our principal paper, with this definite object in view, that will be able to establish democratic centralism and will lead to the efficient distribution of work in the communist party, thus enabling it to perform its historic mission.

39) The Communist paper must strive to become a Communist undertaking, i.e., it must be a proletarian fighting organization, a working community of the revolutionary workers, of all writers who regularly contribute to the paper, editors, typesetters, printers and distributers, those who collect local material and discuss the same in the paper, those who are daily active in propagating it, etc., etc.

A number of practical measures are required to turn the paper into a real fighting organ and a strong working community of the communists.

A Communist should be in closest connection with his paper when he has to work and make sacrifices for it. It is his daily weapon which must be newly hardened and sharpened every day in order to be fit for use. Heavy material and financial sacrifices will continually be required for the existence of the communist paper. The means for Its development and inner improvement will constantly have to be supplied from the ranks of party members, until it will have reached a position of such firm organization and such a wide circulation among a legal mass party, that it will itself become a strong support of the communist movement.

It is not sufficient to be an active canvasser or propagator for the paper, it is necessary to be, a contributor to It as well.

Every occurrence of any social or economic interest happening in the workshop from an accident to a general workers meeting, from the ill treatment of an apprentice to the financial report of the concern must be immediately reported to the paper. The Trade Union fraction must communicate all important decisions and resolutions of its meetings and secretariats, as well as any characteristic actions of our enemies. Public life in the street and at the meeting will often give an opportunity to the attentive party member to exercise social criticism on details, which published in our paper will demonstrate even to indifferent readers how closely we follow the daily needs of life.

Such communications from the life of workers and working organizations must be handled by the board of editors with particular care and attention. They may be used as short notices that will help to convey the feeling of an intimate communion existing between our paper and the workers’ lives; or they may be used as practical examples from the daily life of workers that help to explain the doctrine of communism. The latter is the shortest way to bring the wide masses of the workers vitally nearer to the great ideas of Communism. Wherever possible, the board of editors should have fixed hours at a convenient time of the day, when they should be ready to see any worker coming to them and listen to his wishes or complaints on the troubles of life, which they ought to note and use for the enlivenment of the paper.

Under the capitalist system it will of course be impossible for our papers to become a perfect communist workers’ community. However, even under most difficult conditions it might be possible to obtain a certain success in- the organization of such a revolutionary paper. This has been proved by the “Pravda” of our Russian comrades during the period of 1912 to 1913. It actually represented a permanent and active organization of the conscious revolutionary workers of the most important Russian centres. The comrades used their collective forces for editing, publishing and distributing the paper, many of them doing that alongside with their other work and sparing the money required from their earnings.

The newspaper in its turn furnished them with the best things they desired, with what they needed for the moment and what they can still use to-day in their work and their struggle. Such a newspaper could really and truly be called by the Party members and by many another revolutionary worker “Our Newspaper.”

40) The proper element for the militant communist press is direct participation in the campaigns conducted by the Party. If the activity of the Party at a given time happens to be concentrated upon a definite campaign it is the duty of the Party organ to place all its departments, not the editorial pages alone at the service of the campaign. The editorial board must draw materials from all sources to feed this campaign, which must be incorporated throughout the paper both in substance and in form.

41) The matter of canvassing subscriptions for “Our Newspaper” must be made into a system. The first thing is to make use of every occasion for stirring up the workers and of every situation in which the political and social consciousness of the worker has been aroused by some special occurrence. Thus, following each big strike movement or lockout, during which the paper openly and energetically defended the interests of the workers, a canvassing activity should be organized and be carried on among the participants. Subscription lists and subscription orders for the paper should be distributed not only in the industries where communists are engaged and among the trade union fractions of those industries that had taken part in the strike, but also, whenever possible, subscription orders should be distributed from house to house by special groups of workers doing propaganda for the paper.

Likewise, following each election campaign that aroused the workers, special groups appointed for the purpose should visit the homes of the workers, carrying on systematic propaganda for the workers’ newspaper.

At times of latent political or economic crises manifesting themselves in the rise of prices, unemployment, and other hardships affecting great numbers of workers, all possible efforts should be exerted to win over the professionally organized workers of the various industries and organize them into working groups for carrying on systematic house-to-house propaganda for the newspaper. Experience has shown that the most appropriate time for canvassing work is the last week of each month. Any local group that would allow even one of these last weeks of the month to pass by without making use of it for propaganda work for the newspaper will be committing a grave omission with regard to the spread of the Communist movement. The working group conducting propaganda for the newspaper must not leave out any public meeting or any demonstration without being there at the opening, during the intervals, and at the close with their subscription lists for the paper. The same duties are imposed upon every trade union faction at each separate meeting of the union as well as upon the group and factions at shop meetings.

42) Every Party member must constantly defend our paper against all its opponents and carry on an energetic campaign against the capitalist press. He must expose and brandmark the venality, the falsehood, the suppression of information and all the double dealings of this press.

The social-democratic and independent press must be overcome by constant aggressive criticism, without falling into petty factional polemizing, but by persistent unmasking of their treacherous attitude in veiling the most flagrant class conflicts day by day. The trade union and other factions must seek by organized means to win away the members of trade unions and other workers’ organizations from the misleading and crippling influence of these social-democratic papers. Also the canvassing and house-to-house campaign for our press, notably among industrial workers, must be judiciously directed against the social-democratic press.

VII. On the Structure of the Party Organism

43) The Party organization spreading out and fortifying itself must not be organized upon a scheme of mere geographical divisions, but in accordance with the real economic, political and transport conditions of the given district. The centre of gravity is to be placed in the main cities, and the centres of large industries.

In the building up of a new Party there usually manifests itself a tendency to have the Party organization spread out at once all over the country. Thus disregarding the fact that the number of workers at the disposal of the Party is very limited, those few workers are being scattered in all directions. This weakens the recruiting ability and the growth of the Party. In such cases we witness an extensive system of Party offices spring up, but the Party itself does not succeed in gaining foot-hold even in the most important industrial cities.

44) In order to get the Party activity centralized to the highest possible degree it is not advisable to have the Party leadership divided into a hierarchy with a number of rungs subordinated to one another. The thing to be aimed at is that every large city forming an economic, political or transportation center should spread out and form a net of organizations within a wide area of the surroundings of the given locality and the economic political districts adjoining it. The Party Committee of this large center should form the head of the general body of the Party and conduct the organizational activity of the district directing its policy in close connection with the membership of the locality.

The organizers of such a district elected by the district conference and confirmed by the Central Committee of the Party are obliged to take active part in the Party life of the local organizations. The Party Committee of the district must be constantly reinforced by members from among the Party workers of the place, so that there should be close relationship between the Committee and the large masses of the district. As the organization keeps developing, efforts should be made to the effect that the leading Committee of the district should at the same time be the leading political body of the place. Thus, the Party Committee of the district together with the Central Committee should play the part of the real leading organ in the general Party organization.

45) The boundary lines of a party district are not naturally limited by the area of the place. The determining factor should be that the district Committee be in a position to direct the activities of all the local organizations within the district in a uniform manner. As soon as this becomes impossible the district must be divided and new Party districts formed.

It is also necessary in the larger countries to have certain intermediate organizations serving as connecting links between the Central Committees and the various district Committees, and also the various district Committees with the locals. Under certain conditions it may be advisable to give to some of these intermediary organizations, as for example, an organization in a large city with a strong membership, a leading part, but as a general rule this should be avoided as leading to decentralization.

The larger intermediary organizations are formed out of local Party organizations: of country groups or of small cities and of districts of the various parts of a large city.

The Party as a whole is to be under the guidance of the Communist International. The instructions and resolutions of the Executive of the International on methods affecting the affiliated Parties are to be directly firstly, either to their Central Committee of the Party or (2) through this Committee to some special Committee or (3) to the members of the Party at large.

The instructions and resolutions of the international are binding upon the Party, and, naturally, also upon every Party member.

46) The large units of the Party organization (districts) are formed from the local bodies of the Party; namely, from the “local groups” in the villages and small towns, and from the “districts” or “quarters” of the various sections of the larger towns.

Any local Party organization which has grown to such an extent that it can no longer legally hold proper general meetings of its members must be subdivided.

The members of the local Party organization are to be assigned to the various working groups for the purpose of daily Party activity. The larger organizations may find it of greater value to unite the working groups into various collective groups. Each collective group should as a rule be constituted of members who are in constant contact with each other at their work-shops or in their daily associations. The duties of the collective group consist in the assignment of general Party work to the various working groups, the receipt of reports from the leaders of such groups, the education of candidate members in their midst, etc.

47) The Central Committee of the Party is elected at a Party Congress and is responsible before it. The Central Committee selects out of its own midst a smaller body consisting of two sub-committees for political and organizational activity. Both these sub-committees are responsible for the political and current work of the Party. These subcommittees or Bureaus arrange for regular joint sessions of the Central Committee of the Party where decisions of later moment are to be passed. In order to study the general and political situation and to gain a clear idea of the state of affairs in the Party it is necessary to have various localities represented on the Central Committee whenever decisions are to be passed affecting the life of the entire Party. For the same reason differences of opinion regarding tactics should not be suppressed by the Central Committee if they are of a serious nature. On the contrary, these opinions should get representation upon the Central Committee. But the Smaller Bureau should be conducted along uniform lines, and in order to carry its own authority as well as upon a considerable majority of the Central Committee.

Carried on such a basis the Central Committee of the Party, especially in case of legal mass parties will be able in the shortest possible time to form a firm foundation foi a discipline requiring the unconditional confidence of the Party membership and at the same time manifesting the vacillations and deviations that make their appearance among the responsible workers which are to be recognized and done away with. Such abnormalities in the Party may be removed before reaching the stage where they should have to be brought up before a Party Congress for decision.

48) Every leading Party Committee must have its work among its members in order to achieve efficiency in the various branches of work. This may necessitate the formation of various special committees as for example committees for propaganda, for editorial work, for the trade union campaign, for communication, etc. Every special committee is subordinated either to the Central Committee or to the District Committee.

The control over the activity as well as over the composition of all committees should he in the hands of the given District Committee and in the last instance in the hand of the Party’s Central Committee. All the members attached to the Party for particular party work are directly responsible before the Party Committee. It may become advisable from time to time to change the occupations and the office of those people attached for various Party work such as editors, organizers, propagandists, etc., provided that this does not interfere too much with the Party work. The editors and propagandists must participate in the regular Party work in one of the Party groups.

49) The Central Committee of the Party, as also of the Communist International, is empowered at any time to demand complete reports from all Communist organizations, from their organs and from individual members. The representatives of the Central Committee and comrades authorized by it are to be admitted to all meetings and sessions with a deciding voice. The Central  Committee of the Party must always have at its disposal plenipotentiaries (Commissars) to instruct and inform the leading organs of the various districts and regions not only by means of their circulars and letters, but also by direct, verbal and responsible agencies on questions of politics and organization. Every organization and every branch of the party, as well as every individual member, has the right of communicating his respective wishes, suggestions, remarks or complaints directly to the Central Committee of the Party, or of the International, at any time.

50) The instructions and the decisions of the leading Part/ organs are obligatory for the subordinate organizations and for the individual members. The responsibility of the leading organs and the duty to prevent either delinquency or abuse of their leading position, can only partly be determined in a formal manner. The less their formal responsibility (as for instance, in illegal Parties), the greater the obligation upon them to study the opinion of the Party members, to obtain regular and solid information, and to form their own decisions only after mature and thorough deliberation.

51) The Party members are obliged to act always as disciplined members of a militant organization in all their public actions. Should differences of opinion occur as to the proper mode of action, this should be determined as far as possible by previous discussion inside the Party organization, and the action should be according to the decision thus arrived at. Even if the decision of the organization or of the Party Committee should appear faulty in the opinion of the rest of the members, these comrades in all their public activities must never lose sight of the fact, that it is the worst form of undisciplined conduct and the gravest military error, to hinder or to break entirely the unity of the common front.

It is the supreme duty of every Party member to defend the Communist Party and above all the Communist International, against all the enemies of Communism. He who forgets and, on the contrary, publicly assails the Party or the Communist International, is a bad Communist.

52) The statutes of the Party must be drawn in such a manner, as not to become a hindrance, but rather a helping force to the leading Party organs in the constant development of the general Party organization and in the continuous improvement of Party activity. The decisions of the Communist International must be promptly carried out by the affiliated Parties, even in the case when corresponding alterations in existing statutes and Party decisions can be adopted only at a later date.

VIII. Legal and Illegal Activity

53) The Party must be so organized that it shall always be in a position to adapt itself quickly to all the changes that may occur in the conditions of the struggle. The Communist Party must develop into a militant organization capable of avoiding a fight in the open against overwhelming forces of the enemy, concentrated upon a given point; but on the other hand, the very concentration of the enemy must be so utilized as to attack him in a spot where he least suspects it. It would be the greatest mistake for the Party organization to take everything upon a rebellion and street fighting, or only upon condition of severe oppression. Communists must perfect their preliminary revolutionary work in every situation on a basis of preparedness, for it is frequently next to impossible to foresee the changeable wave of stormy and calm periods; and even in cases where it might be possible, this foresight cannot, in many cases, be made use of for reorganization, because the change as a rule comes quickly, and frequently quite suddenly.

54) The legal Communist Parties of the capitalist countries usually fail to grasp the importance of the task before the Party to be properly prepared for the armed struggle, or for the illegal fight in general. Communist organizations often commit the error of depending on a permanent legal basis for their existence, and of conducting their work according to the needs of the legal tasks.

On the other hand, illegal parties often fail to make use of all the possibilities of legal activity towards the building up of a party organization which would have constant intercourse with the revolutionary masses. Underground organizations which Ignore these vital truths run the risk of becoming merely groups of conspirators, wasting their labors in futile Sysiphus tasks.

Both those tendencies are erroneous. Every legal communist organization must know how to insure for itself complete preparedness for an underground existence, and above all for revolutionary outbreaks. Every illegal communist organization must, on the other hand, make the fullest use of the possibilities offered by the legal labor movement, in order to become, by means of intensive party activity, the organizer and real leader of the great revolutionary masses.

55) Both among legal and underground Party circles there is a tendency for the illegal Communist organization activity to evolve into the establishment and maintenance of a purely military organization isolated from the rest of the Party organization and activity. This is absolutely erroneous. On the contrary, during the pre-revolutionary period the formation of our militant organizations must be mainly accomplished through the general work of the Communist Party. The entire Party must be developed into a militant organization for the Revolution.

Isolated revolutionary-military organizations, prematurely created in the pre-revolutionary periods, are apt to show tendencies towards dissolution, because of the lack of direct and useful party work.

56) It is of course imperative for an illegal party to protect its members and party organs from being found out by the authorities, and to avoid every possibility of facilitating such discovery by registration, careless collecting of contributions and injudicious distribution of revolutionary material. For these reasons, it cannot use frank organizational methods to the same extent as a legal party. It can, nevertheless, through practice, acquire more and more proficiency in this matter.

On the other hand, a legal mass party must be fully prepared for illegal work and periods of struggle. It must never relax its preparations for any eventualities (viz., it must have safe hiding places for duplicates of members’ files; must, in most cases, destroy correspondence, put important documents into safe keeping and must provide conspirative training for its messengers, etc.).

It is often assumed in the circles of the legal, as well as of the illegal parties, that the illegal organization must be in the nature of a rather exclusive, entirely military institution, occupying, within the party a position of splendid isolation. This assumption is quite erroneous. The formation of our fighting organization in the pre-revolutionary period must depend principally on the general communist arty work. The entire party must be made into a fighting organization for the revolution.

57) Therefore, our general party work must be apportioned in a manner which would ensure, even in the prerevolutionary period, the foundation and consolidation of a fighting organization commensurate with the needs of the revolution. It is of the greatest importance that the directing body of the Communist Party should be guided in its entire activity by the revolutionary requirements, and that it should endeavor as far as possible, to gain a clear idea of what these are likely to be. This is, naturally, not an easy matter, but that should not be a reason for leaving out of consideration this very important point of communist organizational leadership.

Even the best organized party would be faced with very difficult and complicated tasks, if it had to undergo great functional changes in a period of open revolutionary uprising. It is quite possible that our political Party will be called upon to mobilize in a few days its forces for the revolutionary struggle. Probably, it will have to mobilize, in addition to the party forces, their reserves, the sympathizing organizations, viz., the unorganized revolutionary masses. The formation of a regular red army is, as yet, out of the question. We must conquer without a previously organized army—through the masses under the leadership of the party. For this reason, even the most heroic effort would not succeed should our party not be well prepared and organized for such an eventuality.

58) One has probably observed that the revolutionary central directive bodies have proved unable to cope with revolutionary situations. The proletariat has generally been able to achieve great revolutionary organization as far as minor tasks are concerned, but there has nearly always been disorder, confusion and chaos at its headquarters. Sometime there has been a lack of even the most elementary apportioning of work. The intelligence department is often so badly organized that it does more harm than good. There is no reliance on postal and other communications. All secret postal and transport arrangements, secret quarters and printing works are generally at the mercy of lucky or unlucky circumstances, and afford fine opportunities for the “agents provocateurs” of the enemy forces.

These defects cannot be remedied unless the party organizes a special branch in its administration for this particular work. The military intelligence service requires practice and special training and knowledge. The same may be said of the secret service work directed against the political police. It is only through long practice that a satisfactory secret service department can be created. For all this specialized revolutionary work, every legal communist party must make secret preparations, no matter how small. In most cases such a secret apparatus may be created by means of perfectly legal activity.

For instance, it is quite possible to establish a secret postal and transport communications by a code system through the judicially arranged distribution of legal leaflets, and through correspondence in the Press.

59) The Communist Organizer must look upon every member of the party and every revolutionary worker as a prospective soldier in the future revolutionary army. For this reason he must allot him a place in the party which will fit him for his future role. His present activity must take the form of useful service, necessary for present party work, and not mere drilling which the practical worker of today rejects. One must also not forget that this kind of activity is for every Communist the best preparation for the exigencies of the final struggle.

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