苏共二十大与英国共产党历史学家小组的嬗变

1956年苏共二十大在英国共产党内产生强烈反响,英国共产党历史学家小组要求英国共产党领导层以苏为鉴,在党内讨论苏共二十大揭露出来的问题,进行党内民主改革。但是,英国共产党领导层极力压制党内的讨论,不愿进行改革。英共领导的立场最终迫使史学家小组中部分成员退党。这一事件之后,这些历史学家摆脱了教条式的对待马克思主义做法的束缚,把马克思主义的历史理论与实证主义的历史研究相结合,形成了英国马克思主义史学派(或称新社会史学派)。     

Stalinist political spectacle and the defeat of the opposition: The Fifteenth Congress of the Soviet Communist Party in 1927

The Fifteenth Party Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) took place in December 1927. It brought to an end the inner-Party struggle of the Soviet Communist Party by confirming the expulsion of Leon Trotsky, Gregorii Zinoviev and other oppositionists from Party and government posts. The Fifteenth Party Congress marked the domination of Iosif Stalin and his allies over the whole Party and the beginning of Stalinist politics which flourished in the following decades. Despite extensive scholarly interest in this crucial Party congress in the history of the early Soviet Union and the Soviet Communist Party, little has been studied on the organisational aspect of the Fifteenth Congress. This article examines the process of establishing the organisational and institutional mechanisms ahead of the Fifteenth Congress, which enabled Stalin and the Central Committee to unanimously affirm the correctness of the Party line. It also explores how Stalin attained legitimacy as the Party leader during the pre-Fifteenth Congress discussion and how it was presented at the Fifteenth Congress. Furthermore, this article demonstrates how the ‘memory’ of the Fifteenth Congress was constructed and how the Party leaders institutionalised the meaning of the Fifteenth Congress. Through these examinations, this article will shed fresh light on the Fifteenth Congress of the Soviet Communist Party and will contribute to the study of the rise of Stalinism.     

Covering up spying in the ‘Buster’ Crabb Affair: A note

Abstract

F EWER COLD WAR myths are more enduring in the United Kingdom than that of ‘Buster’ Crabb. In April 1956, Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) coaxed Commander Lionel ‘Buster’ Crabb, a naval frogman from the Second World War, out of retirement to dive under the Soviet cruiser Ordzhonikidze, while it was docked in Portsmouth. It had brought the Soviet Premier Nikolai Bulganin and the First Secretary of the Communist Party, Nikita S. Khrushchev, to the United Kingdom on a state visit. The operation, routine by all accounts, ended in both personal and diplomatic failure. Fourteen months later, the decomposed body of a frogman washed up in Chichester harbour. Despite the British government’s hope that the discovery might be the end of the affair, it fired up the conspiracy theorists, who alleged that the body could not be Crabb’s; that, in fact, he had been kidnapped, taken to the Soviet Union, and renamed Korablev.¹ The government did little to dispel such myths. A few days after Crabb’s disappearance, The Times succinctly summed up the situation: ‘official reticence about the activities which led to the death of Commander Crabb has caused much speculation.’² Curiosity was further piqued a few days later when the prime minister, Sir Anthony Eden, stated m the house of commons on 9 May that ‘it would not be in the public interest to disclose the circumstances in which Commander Crabb is presumed to have met his death.’³     

‘As imperialistic as our masters’? Relations between British and Irish communists, 1920–1941

ABSTRACT

Soon after its formation, the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was tasked by the Communist International with assisting their Irish comrades to develop their organisation. This article outlines the relations between British and Irish communists from 1920 to 1941 and argues that, notwithstanding the selfless work of some British communists, the CPGB on the whole exhibited a patronising and paternalistic demeanour towards the Irish that failed to consider the latter’s perspective on an equal footing to its own, even in their own affairs. This attitude, combined with its position within the heart of the British Empire, is indicative of ‘cultural imperialism’.     

The Royal Indian Navy Mutiny of 1946: Nationalist Competition and Civil-Military Relations in Postwar India

This article argues for the importance of the Royal Indian Navy mutiny of 1946 in two key aspects of the transition towards Indian independence: civilian control over the Indian military, and a competition for power between Congress and communists that undermined Indian workers and their student allies. The article begins with an investigation of the mutiny drawing on three sources: a first-person account from a lead mutineer, a communist history of the mutiny, and the papers published in the Towards Freedom collection. In 1946 a handful of low-ranking sailors sparked a naval mutiny that ultimately involved upwards of 20,000 sailors, and then crashed into the streets of Bombay with revolutionary fervour. The Communist Party in Bombay seized upon the mutiny as an opportunity to rally the working class against the British raj, with the hope of ending British rule through revolution rather than negotiation. Yet the mutiny proved less of a harbinger of what was ending and more of a bellwether for what was to come. Congress, sensing the danger of the moment, snuffed out support for the mutiny, and insisted on a negotiated transfer of power. Congress’s action thereby set a precedent for civilian dominance over the military in post-independence India. At the same time, however, Congress betrayed the effectiveness of some of organised labour’s strongest advocates, namely the Communist Party, Bombay students and Bombay labour, thereby undermining their costly mass protest, and hobbling them in future conflicts against Indian capitalists.     

The 13th national congress of the Chinese communist party and the agenda of Chinese politics

The 13th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), held in Beijing 25 October‐1 November 1987, continued the general re‐orientation of Chinese politics evident during the last decade. This paper discusses some of the main preparations for and proceedings of the Congress. It then focuses on two key aspects of the Congress: authoritative expression of the Party's overall orientation or ‘line'; and treatment of ‘reform of the political structure’. These themes are consistent with the reformist programme dominant within the Party and are central to the Chinese political agenda established by the Congress.     

The Linguistic and Rhetorical Legacy of the Prague Spring: Reading the Czechoslovak Communist Party Daily,Rudé právo,from the Late 1980s

This study uses a corpus-informed lexicological approach to analyse texts published in the Czechoslovak Communist Party daily Rudé právo during the final years of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. The analysis aims to uncover how far such texts represented a departure from or a reaffirmation of the norms of the pre-Gorbachev era and, in particular, the role that they played in the Party’s attempt to control interpretations of the 1968 Prague Spring. The investigation also considers ways in which the texts sought to construct a ‘new’ reality in the light of the changes in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries. The article maintains that the ‘authoritative discourse’ model represents an especially useful analytical framework for evaluating the impact of ideological language in the context of the Communist system. The model both helps to explain the relative acquiescence of most of the population, and also to track the extent to which the ‘coded’ message of the approved discourse was successful in slowing the demise of the regime.     

The PCI,reforms and welfare between the 1960s and 1970s

This article deals with the question of the relationship between the Italian Communist Party (PCI), the strategy of ‘riforme di struttura’ and reforms in Italy between the 1960s and 1970s, with particular reference to the construction of a modern welfare system. The goal of a universal social security system was set by the PCI from at least 1956. Later, the dialectic with the centre-left governments induced the Communists to strengthen and articulate their proposals on welfare, linking them to the overall design of an advanced democratization of the state and society. In the 1970s, and in particular during the ‘solidarietà democratica’, various proposals made by the Communist Party and the CGIL (Italian General Confederation of Labour) in previous years finally became law, beginning with the establishment of the National Health Service organized into local health units. The Communist Party insisted on performance quality rather than quantity. However, the welfare state is now suffering difficulties throughout the Western world.     

The “Ideological Offensive” in Education: the Portrayal of the United States in Secondary Curricula and Textbooks in Poland during the Stalinist Period (1948–1956)

During the period of the People’s Republic of Poland (1952–1989), schools played a decisive role in transmitting the official ideology of the ruling Communist regime and cultivating young supporters. One of the most important aspects of indoctrination was constructing in students’ hearts and minds a particular image and disposition towards the United States. While existing research has examined the high level of political propaganda in the content of textbooks and curricula during the Communist period in Poland, no one has specifically analysed how these materials depicted the United States during the critical Stalinist years (1948–1956). Analysis of official curricula and textbooks for civics and history courses in secondary schools indicates that over this period, school materials increasingly depicted the United States as ‘predatory,’ ‘imperialist,’ and ‘exploitative.’ This study illustrates how curricular materials aligned with the foreign policy objectives of the Polish United Workers’ Party and the Soviet Union.     

States of Insecurity

Under Communism, Albania and North Korea rejected de-Stalinisation, clung to leader cults, and, after the acrimonious break between Moscow and Beijing, championed ‘self-reliance’. Often mentioned in passing, the Albanian–North Korean parallel has seldom been analysed. This article highlights three aspects that shaped the Communist regimes' insecurity: the social dynamics of war and early threats; the challenge presented by de-Stalinisation in 1956; and the momentous Sino–Soviet split in the early 1960s. Like the boisterous language of Marxism-Leninism and the drive to engineer a non-capitalist society, insecurity was also built into the Communist international system. Clinging to Stalinist methods, then, was also a reflection of the self-destructive potential of calls for reforming the Communist system, which threatened to tear the Eastern bloc apart. Tirana and Pyongyang pursued different paths to ‘self-reliance’, yet they could not help speaking a similar language and facing similar problems. North Korea ultimately joined the Non-Aligned Movement but achieved little success in the Third World. The irony is that tiny, isolated Albania, which shunned the Movement, ultimately ended up non-aligned: violently critical of Moscow, Beijing, and Washington, and distrustful of practically everyone else.     

从俄藏档案看周达文生平事迹研究中的几个问题

周达文是贵州镇远出生的中共早期重要人物。先后在莫斯科东方大学、中山大学、列宁学院学习和工作,受到中共中央和共产国际的器重,《斯大林全集》中的《给丘贡诺夫的信》就是写给他的。由于他的后半生是在苏联度过,为研究他的生平事迹带来很大困难。俄罗斯新解密的档案材料,可以帮助我们考察清楚他的生卒年月、他在北京的革命活动、在留苏中共党员中的作用和地位、他坚持反对王明的宗派主义和左倾冒险主义并因此而被陷害致死,以及后来苏联最高法院为他平反等重要问题。     

朝鲜民族共产主义者在中国东北抗日斗争中的地位和贡献

自1910年朝鲜被日本强制"合并"以来,朝鲜爱国志士纷纷来到中国东北地区,继续坚持抗日民族革命斗争。1930年以来,朝鲜民族共产主义者根据共产国际"一国一党"的组织原则,大多加入中国共产党,在我党的统一领导下,肩负着"双重革命使命",与各族人民紧密团结在一起,进行了英勇顽强的抗日武装斗争。朝鲜民族共产主义者以其特殊的身份和地位,在中国东北抗日武装斗争中作出了突出的贡献,并逐步形成了以金日成为首的朝鲜共产主义运动的领导核心力量。这段历史是中国东北抗日革命史的一部分,是朝鲜抗日民族解放斗争史的主要内容,而且是现代中朝友谊史的光辉篇章。     

Stalin's Sausage Machine. British Students at the International Lenin School, 1926-37

Between 1926 and 1937 at least 160 British communists attendedthe Communist International's International Lenin School (ILS)in Moscow. The aims of the school were to produce a new stratumof leading communist party cadres, young, proletarian, disciplined,and free of the taint of reformism. Using materials from theComintem archives in Moscow, this article assesses the degreeto which the school was successful in meeting these objectives.It shows that among the difficulties it encountered were thereluctance of the British Communist Party (CPGB) to lose theservices of large numbers of its best activists and the uncertainapplication of the lessons inculcated by the school when studentsreturned to Britain. In the short term, ILS alumni played acrucial role in the leadership of the CPGB at both nationaland district levels, and some were also drawn into work forthe Comintern or Soviet state organs. However, by the late 1930sattendance at the school played a reduced role in appointmentsto key party positions, and as early as 1943 there was onlyone former student on the CPGB's executive committee. Set ina comparative context, it is argued that the school's significancein Britain was largely confined to the ‘long’ ThirdPeriod of 1927–35 and rapidly diminished thereafter.     

The Chinese developmental state during the Cold War: the making of the 1956 twelve-year science and technology plan

Abstract

In 1956, the government of the People’s Republic of China made a 12-year plan for scientific and technological developments (‘The Long-term Plan for the Development of Science and Technology for 1956–1967’), often credited as a visionary blueprint for its nuclear weapons programs and industrialization. Yet, this study suggests that the plan was not the logical manifestation of a unified national leadership, but rather the result of political contestations and compromises among the Communist party-state leaders, especially between Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, and between the state and the scientific–technological elite. It further indicates that the making of Chinese science and technology policy was shaped by the cold war geopolitics, national developmental aspirations and transnational influences, especially from the Soviet Union and the USA.     

苏区时期的"赤白对立"--阶级革命中的非阶级现象

赤白对立是指苏维埃区域与非苏维埃区域之间的对立,出现于苏区周边地区,它不是由土地革命加剧的阶级间的对立,而是一种非阶级的由多种因素引发的以地域为中心的冲突。赤白对立的出现,既有中共自身的原因,也有国民党方面的推波助澜,还缘于社会革命与社会组织间的内在冲突。就中共方面看,前期和后期造成这一现象的原由也不尽相同。赤白对立给中共开展革命造成很大不利影响,某种程度上成为苏维埃时代的一个痼疾。     

The communist party of Australia and the eighty‐one parties conference

In November 1960 a conference of eighty‐one communist parties convened in Moscow to try to resolve serious differences which had arisen between the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and the Communist Party of China (CPC or CCP). It was ‘probably the most important gathering of its kind in the entire history of Communism’ (Zagoria 1962:343).

Several years later the position adopted at that conference by the Communist Party of Australia (CPA) became the subject of an acrimonious and inconclusive controversy between pro‐Soviet and pro‐Chinese elements in the Australian party.

Of various scholars who commented on the CPA's stance, almost all ([Rigby] 1964:37; Mayo‐Wren 1981:87; Turner 1961:7; Turner 1965:154) claimed categorically that the CPA's delegates, Sharkey and Dixon, backed China. However in one exhaustive account of the conference (Griffith 1962) the CPA did not appear among the CPC's partisans. Most observers outside Australia relied heavily on Kremlinologist Edward Crankshaw. Crankshaw originally omitted the CPA from his list of pro‐Chinese parties (1962:10) but later revised his account (1963:61; 1965:120, 134).¹

In the standard historical work on the CPA Davidson (1969:160,152) qualified the notion that the CPA had supported China. ‘After a careful study of various views’ he concluded:

At the conference of eighty‐one communist parties in Moscow in 1960 the Communist Party of Australia (CPA) supported the Chinese interpretation of Marxist‐Leninist doctrine in preference to that of the Soviet party. Previous emphasis on the CPA's commitment to international communist unity has tended to obscure and even deny this.     

新中国成立前夕苏联对华政策剖析--以苏联将使馆由南京撤至广州事件为中心

1949年1～2月间,在中国革命即将取得全面胜利之际,苏联驻华使馆却令人吃惊地追随正在逃亡的国民党政府由南京迁至广州.有关苏联驻华使馆撤离南京的真正用意,是史学界长期以来关注的焦点,同时也是部分研究成果论证苏联、斯大林本人怀疑中国革命说法的基础.实际上,苏联驻华使馆撤离事件是苏联方面采取历史上惯用的双重对华政策的必然结果,既不是苏联方面对中国革命的进程判断失误,也不是苏联方面坚持了不干涉中国内政的原则.相反,在意识形态(革命利益)和国家利益之间发生冲突的时候,苏联方面首先选择的是自身国家利益.苏联驻华使馆在新中国成立前的撤退,符合苏联的国家利益,最大限度地保护了苏联在华的政治和经济利益.客观地看,苏联驻华使馆由南京撤至广州作为外交手段捍卫国家利益本无可厚非,但从联共(布)和中共共同的革命利益出发,上述做法显然欠妥.     

Israeli Intelligence and the leakage of Khrushchev's “Secret Speech”

Khrushchev's “Secret Speech” of 1956 not only marked a major radical change in the USSR, but when it was published outside the USSR it brought upheaval all over the world. According to conventional knowledge the text of the speech was obtained by the Mossad (the Israeli foreign-intelligence organization) and transmitted to the CIA. A critical examination of the published evidence and accounts contradicts this version and suggests a number of points: the Secret Speech was not secret; Israel was not the single and perhaps not the first source for the text to reach the West; the speech was intended by Khrushchev and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to be disseminated to all communist parties around the world; and it was covertly brought to the knowledge of Western intelligence organizations and the world press by Soviet political and intelligence agencies.     

联共(布)中央委员会国际情报部述论(1943年6月—1945年12月)

共产国际解散后,苏联共产党创建了国际情报部,其主要职责是领导欧洲各国共产党从事反法西斯斗争,具体包括支援东欧各国的游击战、在各国战俘中开展工作、通过报纸和广播进行反法西斯宣传、在德占区进行情报搜集工作等等.此外,国际情报部还协助联共(布)中央领导各国共产党,在解决各国共产党重大问题中发挥信息沟通和决策咨询作用,同时会同各国共产党处理一般性事务.     

Red Brigades (1969–1974): An Italian Phenomenon and a Product of the Cold War

With the removal of Khrushchev in 1964 the Soviet Union adopted—at the level of the secret service—a more aggressive policy towards western countries, with a more intensive recourse to so-called ‘covert operations’. These operations regarded even western communist parties, such as the Italian Communist Party (PCI), which were close to being viewed as ‘orthodox’ by the Soviet leadership. The so-called ‘active measures’ which resulted were realised through the infiltration of agents, the training of (usually young) extremists, and (through them) the sending of warnings to the PCI leadership about its divergence from the Soviet line. This context helps us to understand better than before three key events of the years 1968–1973: the emergence of the first terrorist groups in Italy (the Partisans Action Groups and the Red Brigades); the bombing of the electric mains line where Giangiacomo Feltrinelli lost his life; and the car crash in which Enrico Berlinguer was involved in 1973 during an official visit to Bulgaria. An analysis of the Cold War context in which Italian terrorism (and specifically the Red Brigades) developed reveals origins and patterns that are different to those usually identified in the literature.