Workers of all countries, unite!
The principles of the
Commune are eternal
and cannot be
destroyed
The Paris
Commune of 1871, the first known experiment in history in the establishment of
the dictatorship of the proletariat. The revolutionary government of the
working class formed by the proletarian revolution in Paris. It existed for 72
days, from March 18 to May 28, 1871.
In 1960, on
the eve of the 90th anniversary of the birth of the great Lenin, the Communist
Party of China, under the leadership of Chairman Mao, published LONG LIVE
LENINISM!, a document of great historical importance in the struggle against
Khrushchev's revisionism. It reaffirms the historical significance of the Paris
Commune in the following terms:
“April 22
of this year marks the 90th anniversary of the birth of V. I. Lenin.
One year
after Lenin's birth, that is, in 1871, the heroic uprising of the Paris Commune
erupted. The Paris Commune was a great revolution that opened a new era; it was
the first attempt of global significance by the proletariat to overthrow the
capitalist regime. When the Paris Commune, as a consequence of the
counterrevolutionary attack from Versailles, was close to defeat, Karl Marx
said:
"If the Commune is defeated, it will only postpone the struggle. The principles of the Commune are eternal and cannot be destroyed; they will manifest themselves again and again until the working class achieves liberation." [* Speech by Karl Marx on the Paris Commune.]
What are the most
important principles of the Commune?
According
to Marx, these are the following: the working class cannot simply seize the
existing state machinery and use it for its own purposes. In other words, the
proletariat must resort to revolutionary means to seize power, destroy the
military and bureaucratic apparatus of the bourgeoisie, and establish the
dictatorship of the proletariat in place of the dictatorship of the
bourgeoisie.
All those
familiar with the history of the proletariat's struggle know that this very
fundamental question marks the dividing line between Marxists and opportunists
and revisionists.
After the
deaths of Karl Marx and Wilhelm Engels, it was V.I. Lenin who, defending the
principles of the Commune, waged a completely irreconcilable struggle against
the opportunists and revisionists.
The cause
in which the Paris Commune had failed was finally crowned with victory 46 years
later as a result of the great October Revolution under Lenin's immediate
leadership. The experience of the Russian Soviets was the continuation and
development of the experience of the Paris Commune. The principles of the
Commune, expounded more than once by Karl Marx and Wilhelm Engels and enriched
by Lenin with the new experience of the revolution in Russia, became a reality
for the first time in one-sixth of the globe. Marx pointed out with absolute
accuracy: The principles of the Commune are eternal and cannot be destroyed.”
THE LAW OF
RESTORATION-COUNTER-RESTORATION, AN INCONTROVERTIBLE HISTORICAL COURSE TO
COMMUNISM
Chairman
Gonzalo, starting from the great truth established by Marx about the historical
significance of the Commune, draws lessons and sees the path of how the class
advances:
What we
have to see is how the power of the dictatorship of the proletariat is
established and advances, and these are undeniable advances: 1871, the Commune,
ephemeral, but a Commune, a new power, the dictatorship of the proletariat
realized for the first time on Earth; 1905, the Soviets; 1917, 1949, 1966.
These are steps in the development of the power of the proletariat toward the
establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat, an establishment that
cannot be called definitive. Why? Because, as has been established since Marx,
reiterated by Lenin, by Chairman Mao, the establishment of the dictatorship of
the proletariat is the beginning of extinction; if we don't think about that,
we are not communists, that's why we can't say definitive establishment, its
establishment for a long historical stretch until the definitive leap to
communism occurs, then it will extinguish itself as masterfully established by
Engels, that term is extraordinary, it extinguishes itself! This word is
irreplaceable, no other can be used.
So we must
learn lessons and instead see the path of how the class advances toward its
establishment, how the dictatorship of the proletariat advances toward its
establishment, how the vanguard of the proletariat advances in leading the
revolution throughout the world—that's what we must think about. So much for
jeremiads! The law of restoration-counter-restoration, that's what it is, is
not visible, and we don't see the steps taken or the advance of the class. What
do these jeremiads express? Historical pessimism! Where is the firmness of the
class, where is the incontrovertible historical course toward communism? Who is
going to stop it? No one! We see, it's extraordinary.
Just as no
class in the world was able to seize power all at once, but rather through a
process of restorations and counter-restorations, when the proletariat seizes
power and establishes its dictatorship, the bourgeoisie's efforts to restore
capitalism are intensified, and a historical process of struggle begins between
the proletariat seeking to maintain and defend its dictatorship and ward off
capitalist restoration and the bourgeoisie seeking to regain power. This
struggle between restoration and counter-restoration is an undeniable
historical law until the dictatorship of the proletariat is definitively
established.
In world
history, when the feudal class was advanced in China, it took years to
definitively crush the restoration of slavery; when the bourgeoisie in the West
fought against feudalism to crush attempts at restoration or the restoration of
feudalism, it took 300 years to definitively establish itself in power; And,
since this is a revolution in which the proletariat is definitively established
in power, the struggle between restoration and counter-restoration is extremely
sharp and bitter and will take approximately 200 years, beginning with the
Paris Commune in 1871.
The
experiences of the restoration in the USSR and China leave us with great
lessons, both positive and negative; especially, we should highlight the
gigantic steps forward in the creation of the new state and how the Great
Proletarian Cultural Revolution is the solution to stave off the restoration.
Long live
the 154th Anniversary of the Paris Commune!
Peru People’s Movement
March, 2025