COMMUNIST INTENTIONS
235
attitude on the part of the Russians
is
undeniable: how otherwise can
we account for the scandalization of the Chinese "Old Believers?"
In any event it
is
clear that, for whatever reasons, the dogma of
the inevitability of further world war has been dropped by the Russian
government. This is a major event. The old dogma did not indeed
necessarily involve any immediate Russian aggression, for it was
al–
ways modified by the caveat that the inevitable must be postponed
as long as possible. Still, the dogma of the inevitability of a further
world war was a profoundly vicious influence on Russian thinking,
making any approach towards more genuine co-existence almost im–
possible.
If
we ask
why
the dogma has been abandoned we can only
guess at an answer. Perhaps the realization of the impartiality of
nuclear weapons was only the last straw which broke the back of
the old dogmatists.
It
is forty-three years since the volcano of the
October Revolution erupted. The lava has cooled.*
*
Mr. Gomulka, the head of the Polish Government, speaking at Katowice on
July 6th, 1960 and reprinted in full in
Polish Perspectives
for August-September,
1960 gave an indication of the various factors at work. (As often, the Polish
communists prove to
be
the most articulate).
"The policy of peaceful co-existence pursued by the Socialist states now
has greater chances of victory than ever before. In the military domain such
highly destructive weapons have been created that their use in the event of
war would produce catastrophic results. The total destructive power of
modern warfare constitutes a factor mobilizing the masses for the struggle
against imperialism and intensifying the struggle of the peoples for peaceful
co-existence. The generally known military superiority of the defensive
power of the Soviet Union, demonstrated by the weight of its Sputniks and
the precise functioning of its interplanetary and ballistic rockets, has caused
even part of the imperialist bourgeoisie to reject war, although it realizes
the growing possibilities of the triumph of Socialism in peaceful competition
with capitalism. They see that the victory of Socialism in the future is a
lesser evil for them than war, that war puts them and the entire capitalist
system in danger of annihilation and all mankind in danger of incalculable
consequences. The revolution in the realm of military weapons has created a
new historical factor which must not be omitted in any evaluation of present
day reality and the possibility of the triumph of the idea of peaceful co–
existence."
But, lest this should sound too complacent, Mr. Gomulka hastens to make
it clear that he considers that war can only be avoided by, first, agitation against
it in the non-communist world and second by continually strengthening the
communist world.
"Peace cannot be obtained by pleading with the imperialists. Peace
and peaceful co-existence can only be fought out. . . .
If
the Socialist
