21 JANUARY 1938, Page 23

THE NEW COMMUNISM

Au. the usual Communist clichés are to be found in this book by M. Thorez, Secretary General of the French Communist Party, and all the old stuff about Marx and Lenin. But there is more in it than that. Wedged in between the routine patter is the story of the superb political strategy that led to the formation of the Front Populaire and gave France the strongest Left Government since the War.

Why did the Communists agree to give their support to a political bloc whose constituents included such incorrigible bourgeois as the Radicals and Socialist Radicals ? Because of the " Fascist danger." And the Right and Centre played their cards so badly and, in their attempts to prevent the Left from coalescing, sought the help of so many suspect elements, that they convinced a large part of the electorate that only the Front Populaire could save French democratic institutions. The riots of February 6th, 1934, as M. Thorez makes abundantly clear in his autobiography, finally brought the Left together and made it possible for the leaders of the Communist Party to join with bourgeois groups in defence of " capitalist democracy."

French Communists today sing the Marseillaise and shout " Vive l'Artnie " as fervently as any nationalist, and they even seek the help of the Catholic Church in their efforts to better the conditions of the masses : " The appeal of the Communist Party (M. Thorez writes) was heard by many Catholics. In many places we had begun to work with them. The time for religious quarrels has gone. On behalf of the Communist Party' I told 'the Catholic workers this : ' Nothing divides us, but everything unites us. Your enemies are ours. Those who exploit you, exploit us. We stretch out to you the hand of fellowship. In matters of philosophy we Communists are materialists, and we do not practise any religion. You are Catholics and go to Mass. Do not ask us to become Catholics. We do not ask you to become atheists. But let us join together in the common struggle for the well-being of our country and its people.' Since then priests have appeared on our platforms."

, The Catholic Church in France is poor and its social conscience has not been dulled by wealth. Moreover, anti- clericalism has ceased to be a political shibboleth, and the present Left Government prides itself on its cordial relations with the Vatican. Yet the attitude of the French Communist

Party contrasts strangely with the intolerance of the Soviet

Government. And M. Thorez is careful to point out that the.; future of the French people will not be determined in Rothe or in Berlin, and " not even in Moscow." What then becomes of Party orthodoxy ? And where does Stalin come in and the Comintern ?

M. Thorez admits that there are people who scoff at his Party's " neo-patriotism," at their sudden faith in the virtues of democracy and their regard for middle-class susceptibilities. Is it all opportunism ? Is it all to be written off as a sort of reaction to the February riots ? There seems to be more in it than that. Das Kapital, to be sure, still stands where it did, at the very centre of all Communist thought. It is still the aim of the Communist to change the structure of society, by force if necessary. He still differs from the moderate Socialist in his willingness to use the strike weapon for purely political, as distinct from industrial, ends. But in Mein Kampf the infidel, too, has his Bible and its effects on current political thought and action have been overwhelming. M. Thorez quotes at length from Herr Hitler's book, and refers particularly to all he says about France. The conclusion is obvious : Nazism today is the strongest enemy of Marxism ; Nazism, according to Mein Kampf, wants to destroy France, which is still a free coun- try enjoying political liberties unknown in most other Conti- nental States ; therefore, the first duty of the Marxist is to support France until, at all events, the Nazi danger has passed. And in the effort to make France strong, even social reform may have to wait. It is an open secret in France that the Communists would welcome the inclusion of one or two Conservative politicians in the Front Populaire Cabinet, with a mandate to ginger up the country's foreign policy, even if this meant perpetuating M. Blum's fafnous " pause."

No book since Das Kapital has had so great an influence on Left-Wing thought as Mein Kampf. M. Thorez makes this quite evident. His autobiography ought to be read by all who want to understand something of the forces which now determine the current of French political life.

T. G. BARMAN.