Historical Events of the Revolutionary World Movement

The Chinese Revolution 1925 - 1927

Greeting message of the Comintern (SH) to the Chinese Section of the Young Communist International (Stalinist-Hoxhaists) on occasion of the 90th anniversary of the beginning of the Chinese Revolution on May 30, 1925

Dear comrades,
on occasion of the beginning of the Chinese Revolution, the Comintern (SH) sends militant greetings of proletarian internationalism to you, the brave protectors and standard bearers of the great historical battles of the armed Chinese working class.
On this day we will remember all Chinese comrades who sacrificed their life for the revolution. The blood-bath perpetrated by the counter-revolution will never be forgotten. The responsibility for their blood rests on the international gangs of murderers of the bourgeois-capitalist governments of all imperialist Powers. The disarming and shooting down of workers organized by the latest hangman of the Chinese revolution, the treacherous general Chiang Kai-shek are links in one chain, forged by the imperialists of all countries.
And in spite of all hardships and sacrifices, the Chinese workers established the armed dictatorship of the proletariat - at least locally for several hours. Although the Chinese Revolution ended with a defeat, the Chinese proletariat proved impressively that the worldwide triumphal march of the October Revolution is unstoppable.
The VI Congress of the Comintern stated:
"The theses on the national and colonial question drawn up by Lenin and adopted at the second congress of the Comintern still have full validity.
The last powerful onslaught of the revolutionary waves was the insurrection of the heroic Canton proletariat under the slogan of Soviets attempted to link up the agrarian revolution with the overthrow of the Kuomintang and the establishment of the dictatorship of the workers and peasants.
The establishment of a fighting front between the active forces of the socialist world revolution (the Soviet Union and the revolutionary labour movement in the capitalist countries) on the one side, and between the forces of imperialism on the other, is of decisive importance in the present epoch of world history. The labouring masses of the colonies, struggling against imperialist slavery, represent a most powerful auxiliary force of the socialist world revolution. The colonial countries are the most dangerous sector of the imperialist front. The revolutionary liberation movements of the colonies and semi-colonies are rallying to the banner of the Soviet Union, convinced by bitter experience that there is no salvation for them except in alliance with the revolutionary proletariat.
There is thus an objective possibility of a non-capitalist path of development for the backward colonies, the possibility that the bourgeois-democratic revolution in the more advanced colonies will be transformed, with the aid of the victorious proletarian dictatorship in other countries, into the proletarian socialist revolution. In favourable objective conditions, this possibility will be converted into a reality, and the path of development determined by struggle and by struggle alone". (VI Congress of the Comintern).
The armed insurrection in Kanton was highlight of the independent struggle of the Chinese proletariat, its hegemonial role of the leading revolutionary class against the bourgeoisie, against the feudal-militarist Cliques and the foreign imperialists. The working class took the lead for the seizure of Chinese Soviet power of the workers, peasants and soldiers – thus the power of hammer, sicle and rifle – for which the Comintern (SH) strives on a global scale.
The armed uprisings in Kanton and Shanghai will be forever a great model of the heroism of the Chinese workers in their "own" country, and a great model for the exploited and oppressed working class and toilers all over the world, in general. This is why we are proud to globally celebrate today's great historical event.
The world historical meaning of the revolutionary uprising of the proletariat in Kanton is concretely this:
Even though for a short period of 58 hours, the proletariat of a colonial country, for the first time in history, established decrees for the purpose of the nationalization of land, confication of large companies, means of transport and vehicles, the banks, proclamation of the 8-hour-day, the physical destruction and termination of the counter-revolution, the acknowlegement of trade unions as authorized organs of the working class, the decree for the abolishment of the mercenary army, and last not least, the ruthless struggle against the imperialist brute violence exploitation, oppression and wars.
The proletariat of the colonial and semi-colonial countries have practically proved that the dictatorship of the proletariat, also in the colonial and semi-colonial countries, is really an indispensable instrument of the revolutionary transition towards a classless society, and not – as until then – the continuation and maintenance of oppression and exploitation by ruling classes which were replaced by other ruling classes.
Kanton was the heart of the Chinese Revolution and became the "Asian Center" of the proletarian world revolution. Kanton was the "Paris Commune of the East".
More than that:
The Chinese Revolution became the spearhead of the socialist world revolution in the colonial and semi-colonial countries.
The Chinese proletariat was encouraged by the support and solidarity of the Soviet Union of Lenin and Stalin and the whole world proletariat. The Comintern called on all workers, and in the first place on all communists, to fulfil their duty of proletarian solidarity and aid for the heroic Chinese proletariat.
The Chinese Revolution was guided by the Comintern and its Chinese Section, the CP of China, which did not always consequently enough implement the directives of the Comintern. The CP of China took not enough attention of applying correctly to the principles of Marxism-Leninism.
The victorious finals of an armed surrection requires its careful planning (inclusively the well-organized retreat), avoiding of serious military-political errors, convincing the soldiers of the counter-revolutioanry army of turning the rifles, the organized participation of the broad proletarian masses, the integration of allied forces such as the poor peasantry and the progressive elements of the petty-bourgeoisie, the systematic embedding of local uprisings into a centralized, nationwide revolution, and last not least, Bolshevik leaders of the Communist Party who are able and enough experienced to master armed uprisings in accordance with the guiding principles of Marxism-Leninism: The crucial question is generally: At a certain point and to a certain time, the revolutionary forces must succeed in dominating over the counter-revolutionary forces, otherwise uprisings are doomed to the defeat.
In the light of the teachings of the 5 Classics of Marxism-Leninism, the world proletariat as a whole will draw lessons from the Chinese Revolution for the final victory of the socialist world revolution.
The dialectics of the proletarian revolution is such that it is permanently developing up to a higher stage, from where it will be strong enough to transform all the former defeats into future victories. And the metropolies in China will not form an exception from this irrefutable law of class struggle. One day, inspired by the everlasting heroism of the proletariat in Kanton and Shanghai, the world proletariat and its Chinese detachment will make an end of exploitation and oppression all over the world.
Until today, the Trotskyites and Maoists did not stop to blame Stalin, the CPSU (B) and the Comintern for the defeat of the Chinese Revolution. We fully agree with Stalin who rejected such accusations:
"As a matter of fact, the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.) and the Comintern upheld not the policy of supporting the national bourgeoisie, but a policy of utilising the national bourgeoisie so long as the revolution in China was the revolution of an all-national united front, and they later replaced that policy by a policy of armed struggle against the national bourgeoisie when the revolution in China became an agrarian revolution, and the national bourgeoisie began to desert the revolution.
We have two basic lines:
    a) the line of the Comintern, which takes into account the existence of feudal survivals in China, as the predominant form of oppression, the decisive importance of the powerful agrarian movement, the connection of the feudal survivals with imperialism, and the bourgeois-democratic character of the Chinese revolution with its struggle spearheaded against imperialism; the Communists must strengthen proletariat's role of hegemon in the Chinese bourgeois-democratic revolution, and to hasten the moment of transition to the proletarian revolution.
    b) the line of Trotsky, which denies the predominant importance of feudal-militarist oppression, fails to appreciate the decisive importance of the agrarian revolutionary movement in China, and attributes the anti-imperialist character of the Chinese revolution solely to the interests of Chinese capitalism, which is demanding customs independence for China.
It is necessary to enable the Chinese Communist Party to strengthen its influence among the peasantry and in the army - and only after this may Soviets of workers' and peasants' deputies be set up as organs of struggle for a new power, as elements of a dual power, as elements in the preparation for the transition from the bourgeois-democratic revolution to the proletarian revolution. The formation of Soviets and the transition to the proletarian revolution will be a matter of setting up the dictatorship of the proletariat, of setting up the power of the Soviets, and such a power can be prepared for and set up only under the leadership of one party, the Communist Party. " (Stalin, May 24, 1927)
Today, the Chinese Stalinist-Hoxhaists defend bravely comrade Stalin, the leader of the socialist world revolution, against growing attacks of the Maoists.
The Comintern (SH) supports this severe struggle of the Stalinist-Hoxhaists in China with all our might also in the defense of Enver Hoxha. Comrade Enver Hoxha stated:
"We can say that, in general, the Communist Party of China did not properly carry out this role in this situation which had been created in China in a studied and systematic manner, seen from the angle of scientific socialism. On this question, there were different tendencies in that small party which called itself the Communist Party of China, tendencies which have never permitted a correct Marxist-Leninist line to be established, or Marxist-Leninist thought and action to guide it. These initial tendencies which were displayed many times among the main leaders of the party, were frequently leftist, sometimes right-opportunist, sometimes centrist, going as far as anarchist, Trotskyite, bourgeois, and marked chauvinist and racist views. Even later, these tendencies remained as one of the distinctive characteristics of the Communist Party of China which Mao Tsetung and his group eventually led. For this new party to have carried on a systematic, organized, studied and mature struggle in those very complicated situations, on such a large continent, on which the ideas of Confucius and the feudal order had left deep, not to say, indelible impressions, it was necessary that the Chinese communists should have had absolute faith in scientific Marxism, in Lenin and the Comintern, should have reported to them realistically about the situations in China, with the aim that the decisions which were taken by the Comintern about China should be correct and applied correctly by the Chinese communists.
In my opinion, despite the good will of neophytes, these things were not achieved by the Communist Party of China; therefore I think that this is where all the vacillations to the left or to the right, from that time down to this day, have their source" ("Reflections on China", pages 768-769).
"Not only in its stand towards the Kuomintang, but also in its stand towards the working class and the peasantry, the CP of China has not known how to determine a clear Marxist-Leninist line. In the bourgeois-democratic revolution in China, the peasantry played a decisive role, but this does not mean to say that the Communist Party of China should have called it the leading force of the revolution. In the new conditions, this revolution should have been led by the working class." (page 771)