NOVEMBER,1946 341 Anti-Capitalist"Revolution" in France byGeloandAndrea THROUGHOUTEurope,wartimePlannedEconomyis I changingintopostwarPlannedEconomy.Thetrendis pronouncedinEngland,inFrance,inPoland,Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia,andHungary.ThenewPlannedEconomiesnow comnigintobeingaredistinguishedfromtheirwartimepred- ecesorsbythefactthatnationalizationalmostalwaysaccompaneidbyexpropriationofprivatecapitalplaysamajor rolTeh. esenationalizationsare,ofcourse,nottheresultofrevolutionarymasactionaimingatradicalsocialchange.Onthe otherhand,neitheraretheymeretechnicalmeasuresinherent inanyStatisteconomiccontrols,comparabletosuchmeasures asthecreationofcentralplanningboards.Thewareconomies ofboththeNazisandthedemocratic-capitalistpowershave shownthattheStatecaneficientlydirecttheeconomywithoutresortingtonationalizations. Butwhythenarenationalizationsapartofthepost-war ControledEconomy?And,sincetheyareneithermeansof socialliberationnormeasureswhichwouldleaveintactthe fundamentalstructureofcapitalistsociety,whatistheirsig- nificWanecseh?allimitourselvestothestudyofFrance,thecountry inwhichwelive.OnlyaftersimilarstudiesonotherEuropean countrieshavebeenundertakenwillitbepossibletoascertain whetherourconclusionsaregeneralyvalid. THESTRUGGLEFORPOWER ThedominantpoliticalforcesinFrance—DeGauleandthe MRP,theCommunists,andtheSocialistsfollowpolicies whichmustleadtofailureiftheyarenotbackedbypowerful industrialandmilitaryforces.Noneofthesepartiesintends tostepoutofthegeneralframeworkofaworlddominated bynationalrivalries.Thereforetheymustorientallenergies towardthebuildingofanationalpower-reserveandtothis effecttheymustworktowardaPlannedEconomyintune withthisgoal.Eachoneofthem,however,wishesthatthe powerreservethuscreatedbeputattheserviceofitspar- ticularinterests.FortheGauliststhismeansthatFrance shouldbecomeoneoftheBigPowers;fortheCommunists, thatFrancebeabridgeheadofRussiainWesternEurope;for theSocialists,thattheindependenceofFrancefromtheBig Powersbemaintainedwithintheframeworkofanaliance withothernations(EuropeanFederation). ThehistoryoftheThirdRepublichastaughttheCommunistandSocialistleadersthatagovernmentoftheLeft,re- sultingfromanelectoralvictory,iscondemnedtopowerlessnesaslongastherealleversofpowerintheState--and,a fortiori, intheeconomyremaininthehandsoftherepresentativesofclassesthatwillalwaysremaintheirireconcilable enemeis.Buttheconclusionthattheoldapparatusofdominationanditssocialbasismustbeabolishedbyrevolutionary masaction,canneverbedrawnbytheCPortheSP.While itistruethatavictoriousrevolutionarymassactionwould radicalyeliminatetheruleoftheformerlydominatingclasses, itisequalytruethatitwouldpreventforalongtime,ifnot hilegiétrableilS t e e l ' Y orientedtowardpower policies.Suchactionwouldalsosweepawaythose"working- classorganizations"whoseexistenceisincompatiblewiththe spontaneityofthemasses.Thereforethesedegeneratedwork- ing-classpartiescannotandwillnottaketherevolutionary roadtopowerandareforced,despitetheteachingsofhistory, tochoosetheparliamentaryroad.Theytrytoclimbtopower throughelectoralvictoriesandparliamentarymajorities,but hopeatthesametimetoconquer,alsobyparliamentarymeans, therealcommandingheightsoftheStateandoftheeconomy. Suchtaskwouldbeimpossibleifthebourgeoisiewerestill strong,beitonlyasstrongasitwasin1936.Evenatthat time,theleversofpowercouldhavebeenwrestedfromitby revolutionaryanddirectmassaction.ButtheFrenchbour- geoisietodayisonlyashadowofitsformerself;itnolonger hasthepowertoimposeuponsocietyitswayofthinkingand acting.Therootofthisimpotenceliesinitsinabilitytoinsure anylongerbyitsownforcesthefunctioningoftheeconomy. Itsgeneralweaknessisemphasizedbythefactthataconsiderable.partofthebourgeoisieand.ofthehighstatebureaucracy iscompromisedbytheVichyadventureandthatthebourgeoispoliticalpartieswereincompletedecompositionimme- diatelyaftertheliberation. UnderthesecircumstancestheGaulistsweremuchbeter placedtoleadthefightagainsttheworking-classparties,becausetheyweretheincarnationofnationalismandtheprota- gonistsofasocietyinwhichcapitalwouldnolongerusethe Stateforitsownends,butwheretheState,inthenameofthe generalinterest,"woulddominatethewholeofsociety.But theMRPcannotanddoesnotwishtouseviolence.Itisnot abletobecauseitistooweak,anddoesnotwanttobecauseit wsihestoinsuresocialpeaceintheinterestofarapiddevelop- mentofthepower-politicalpotential.TheGaulistshopethat aseriesofcircumstancestherivalriesbetweentheSPand theCP;theCPpolicywhichdoesnotwanttocompromise thebuildingofapowerpotentialbysocialupheaval;thedeci- sionoftheAnglo-Saxonpowersnottotoleratea"bolshevik" France--willpreventthetotalandirevocablecomingto poweroftheworking-classpartiesandespecialyoftheCP. Theyhopethatthesepartieswillbeweakenedeventuallyand willosetheirsocialbasisbecausetheirpoliciescanonlymean newsacrificesforthemases.ForalthesereasonstheGaulists havebeenledtoconductthestruggleagainsttheworkingclasspartiesontheparliamentaryplaneandhavebeenforced toadoptpoliciesinvolvingconcessionsontheirpart. THE"LEFT"BIDSFORPOWER Giventheseconditions,itisnotimpossiblethattheworking-classpartieswillmoveintocontroloftheeconomyandof thenewStateapparatus.(Asanindicationofthegrowthof theStateapparatusletusjustquotethefiguresfortheMinis- tryoftheInterioralone:thisministrynowemploys96,000 civilservantsasagainst14,160in1938).Thelegalwayto powerismarkedbystructuralreformsthroughparliamentary t t *WerefertotheSPandtheCPas"working-classorganizations"al- thoughtheyrealyarenosuchthing.Butthereisnootherterminologyin commonuse.
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