The Italian Communist Party,local government and the Cold War

The Italian national elections of 18 April 1948 handed power to the Christian Democratic Party. The Italian Communist Party had, however, gained significant municipal control in the local elections of 1946. For the Communists, the local level became the testing ground where administrative practices, political initiatives, social alliances and economic projects were developed. The leaders and the intellectuals worked to outline the cultural framework of a political project which could challenge national politics from town councils. Meanwhile, with a view to making gains in the local elections of 1951–1952, propaganda was used in an attempt to diffuse and proselytise municipal political programmes among different social classes in a divided socioeconomic environment.     

The French Communist Party within the Left and alternative movements

French Communism once dominated the Left of the Left and assimilated within itself most of the ‘alternative’ political movements. However, the decline of Communism has created a space on the extreme Left that has been exploited by a myriad of small movements. These have occupied a political territory that the Communists would like to claim for their own, but they are unable to reclaim their once hegemonic position and find themselves a junior partner in many of the transactions on the extreme Left. Communist decline and their inability to find a way out of their impasse are connected with the same thing–their rigidity. However, if Communism changes it will cease to be Communist and the indications are, given Communist history and politics, that it is not capable of making the changes.     

Prelude to the Popular Front: The Communist Party in California, 1931-35

The opening of some Russian archives to research by Western historians has permitted new understandings of local Communist parties during the 1920s and 1930s. At the same time, these new sources have intensified historiographical debates over the degree of autonomy within the Communist party of the United States (CPUSA). Historians have long pointed to California in the early 1930s as an example of local autonomy, but the new information permits a more detailed understanding both of the extent of that local autonomy and of relations among local CPUSA leaders, the national party office in New York City, and the Comintern in Moscow. This paper explores the CP's participation in events in California-primarily the coastwise maritime strike, the San Francisco general strike, and the state elections of 1934-along with the internal decision-making processes of the CP at various levels through the lens provided by the newly available Comintern archives as well as other collections.     

新视野下的中国共产主义运动起源研究——石川祯浩著《中国共产党成立史》评介

在中国共产党成立80周年前夕,东瀛日本出版了石川祯浩撰写的《中国共产党成立史》(岩波书店2001年版)。这部专著是治学严谨的石川教授十余年研究成果的结晶,其史料运用之丰富、史实考证之细密是以往同类专著中颇为罕见的;且其研究角度、写作框架均很独特,观点上亦有不少精到之处。今年2月,该书中译本出版。①相信中文版的问世不仅会引起中国广大读者的兴趣,更会推动中国学者对中共建党史有关课题的进一步探讨。该书特别值得称道的是非常重视原始资料的运用,在其参考与引用的日、汉、俄、韩、英、法、德等语种文献中,有不少是当时记录的档案…     

中国工业化与中国共产党

中国工业化是中国共产党始终不渝的奋斗目标,中国工业化的道路、战略、资源配置方式、资金与人才来源等工业化过程中的一系列重大问题也都是由中国共产党解决的。不仅如此,在中国共产党的领导下,中国工业化还取得了比资本主义国家更高的发展速度,为现代化的实现和中华民族的全面振兴奠定了坚实的基础。实践证明,中国共产党是中国工业化发展要求的必然产物和忠实代表;中国的工业化建设,过去、现在和将来都离不开中国共产党的领导。     

新中国成立初期的灾害救助工作

1949～1952年,为战胜严重的自然灾害,中国共产党和人民政府通过采取临灾救济、生产救灾、安置灾民等措施遏制了灾害的进一步恶化,巩固了新生的人民政权,提高了中国共产党的执政能力。新中国成立初期,党和政府积累了一定的灾害救助经验,即:加强对灾害救助工作的领导,实行抗灾工作总动员;制定切实的灾害救助方针;注意加强灾害管理;及时向灾区派出视察组、慰问团;发挥非政府救济组织的作用。     

中国共产党与中国电影文化运动

以成立中国电影文化协会为标志的中国电影文化运动,是20世纪30年代中国左翼文化运动的重要组成部分,这一运动从兴起到抗战全面爆发,始终得到中国共产党的积极支持和直接领导,无论是电影创作与生产,还是电影理论批评,都显示出中国电影发生了巨大转变.很多本身即为共产党人的左翼文艺工作者,通过与电影界的交往、合作,广泛吸纳电影界人士加入左翼阵营;而当时的电影演员也大多直接或间接参与了这一运动,他们通过发表电影评论,开展电影创作,使左翼电影深入社会各阶层,大大传播了中共的主张,发扬了进步电影艺术,推动了中国早期电影的发展,显示了中共夺取新的文化阵地的力量.     

从“容共”到“容国”1924—1927年国共党际关系再考察

1924—1927年间国共关系演变的复杂情形,实际远非过去人们认知中的“容共”或“联共”等语词所能简单概括。其时国共对相互关系的认知和表述既不尽一致,而且随着两党力量对比的变化,这种认知和表述亦发生相应的变化。无论“容共”还是“联共”,都难以单独完整表述该时期国共关系的动态变化过程。1925年后,加入国民党的中共党员只是其中一部分而非全部;与此同时,大批国民党青年转入共产党。国共关系的初始形式在发生改变,亦即由初期中共党员加入国民党的单向流动,发展为两党党员之间的双向互动。到后期,中共党员加入国民党渐少,而国民党青年转入中共日多。另一方面,中共意识形态的强势宣导,中共对国民党地方组织和民众运动的日趋“包办”,以及中共组织严密与国民党组织散漫的强烈反差,使国民党人感到共产党大有“反客为主”的态势,担心国民党“容共”,将转化为共产党“容国”。国民党人对共产党“容国”的危机意识,加速了第一次国共合作的破裂。     

共产国际与中国共产党早期苏维埃政权的执政实践

大革命失败后,中国共产党在共产国际的指导下确立了实行土地革命和武装起义的方针,也从此走上了建立苏维埃政权的革命道路。然而在这一时期,受共产国际"左"的教条主义和"城市中心论"思想的影响,中国苏维埃革命运动一开始就照搬苏俄革命的经验,致使各地城市暴动接连遭到失败。也正是在这一时期,经过多次城市武装起义失败教训的洗礼,越来越多的革命者开始认识到,到农村中去,到那些受过大革命风暴影响的农村中去,会有革命发展的广阔天地。这是以毛泽东为代表的中国共产党人勇敢突破共产国际的理论模式,开始探索适合中国实际的"农村包围城市、武装夺取全国政权"革命道路的实践基础和理论来源。"任何国家的革命道路问题,都要由本国的共产党人自己去思考和解决。"这段历史无疑是最鲜活的案例,折射了共产国际与中国共产党对中国苏维埃政权道路的认识歧异;同时也彰显了我们党为了救国救民,不怕任何艰难险阻,在革命斗争中坚持独立自主、一切从实际出发的伟大革命精神。     

中共、粤系、蒋介石:1934年秋的博弈

1934年中央苏区主力红军的长征是一场准备堪称周密的军事行动,共产国际、中共中央为此付出很多努力,其中中共对粤系的争取、利用尤为重要。粤系之所以会为中共所利用,当然和其本身利益密切相关,事实上,宁粤及中共多方面构成的赣南独特政治地理不仅对长征,而且对整个1930年代中共在此的生存、发展都有重要影响。循着这一途径透析,我们甚至会不无惊讶地窥测到,中共顺利突围背后,还隐约可以看到蒋介石的身影,这个身影是如此的诡异、飘忽、难以捉摸,但是更多历史资料的呈现,终究有可能使其难以遁形。     

党组织、党员与群众——华北土改期间的整党运动

在土地改革期间,中国共产党针对基层党员干部发动了广泛而深入的整党运动。整党运作的基本特征在于让党外群众介入其间,并对基层党员干部行使审查评议之权,即所谓"开门整党"。整党运动中党组织、党员与群众之间的关系,表征了乡村权力结构和共产党乡村治理模式的深刻变化。借助群众力量进行整党,不仅可以实现对基层政治精英的有效监控,也有助于将乡村民众整合到党和国家的权力体系中来,因而对乡村治理目标的实现具有重要意义。     

Herbert Vere Evatt and British Justice: The Communist Party Referendum of 1951

Abstract

Through his role in the early United Nations, Herbert Vere Evatt is often credited with having advanced the cause of international human rights. But in 1951, Evatt articulated an alternative understanding of the roots of liberty, one centred on the role of British justice in checking ‘tyranny’ and ‘totalitarianism’. This neo-Roman conception of freedom had long competed in Evatt's thought with a belief in the need for an unfettered executive to achieve desirable social and economic goals. Although inconsistent in defence of liberty across his career, Evatt succeeded in this campaign because his case harmonised with contemporary understandings of freedom and its enemies in a post-war British-Australian community.