Nick G.
In September 1963, the first edition of the
first volume of Vanguard announced
its appearance under the heading above.
“Its main task,” according to its inaugural
editorial, “will be to give a Marxist-Leninist analysis of the major events of
our time.”
At that time, Communists who had been
expelled from, or who had broken with, the former Communist Party of Australia
were still in the process of reconstituting revolutionary organisation.
On March 15, 1964, the Communist Party of
Australia (Marxist-Leninist) was born and Vanguard
took on the role of expressing the viewpoint of the new party.
(Above: E.F. Hill, founding Chair of the CPA (M-L) led the struggle against modern revisionism in Australia)
The split in the international communist
movement, with China on one side and the Soviet Union on the other, was the
major backdrop to the split in Australia.
However, it oversimplifies differences in
Australia on the application of revolutionary theory to this country to take
the backdrop for the reality.
The truth is that there were major
differences in this country over questions relating to the peace movement, to
the ALP and parliament, to the trade unions, to Party organisation, to
ideology.
The international schism provided the
conditions under which these internal divisions were played out, but they had a
life, an existence of their own.
The
break with revisionsim
In reconstituting the Communist approach to
politics, organisation and ideology in our country it was indeed necessary to
break with the view that the Labor Party, by virtue of its majority working
class membership and ties to the union movement, was a working class party or
even a “two class” party.
It needed to be said that it was a party of
capitalism that operated within the confines of the capitalist parliament and
within the limitations of policies that accepted the system of capitalism.
It was indeed necessary to break with the
view that trade unions were vehicles for fundamental social change, even for
revolution, and that winning positions of leadership within unions was a
contribution to bringing about revolutionary change.
It needed to be said that trade unions were
valued organisations for the defence of workers’ rights and conditions, but
that trade unionism as an ideology tied the workers to capitalism and held back
the political struggle by workers for the abolition of capitalism.
It needed to be said that the work of
Communists as members of unions needed to penetrate to the depths of the
workplace and that capturing positions of leadership created the danger of the
isolation of officials from the rank and file or of unjustifiably elevating
their importance within the Party compared to others working more directly with
workers at the point of production.
[Above: Tribute CD to John Cummins, construction workers' leader and a fine comrade of the CPA (M-L)]
It was indeed necessary to break with
pacifist illusions that rejected the role of revolutionary armed struggle
against imperialism, and with views that imperialism had come to its senses and
could be engaged in productive and genuine negotiations about ending its
oppressive practices.
It needed to be said that so long as
imperialism existed so did the danger of war and interference in others’
internal affairs. It needed to be said that the right to take up arms against
oppression was a fundamental human right.
It was indeed necessary to break with methods
of Party organisation that made Party members vulnerable to attack and
persecution, and which pointed Party members in the direction of participation
in local, state and federal elections.
It needed to be said that there was an
ever-present danger of fascist reaction against the Party, and that the bulk of
its members should be secretly organised in small workplace cells, and not
declare their membership, rather than being public members organised into
suburban or district branches.
It was indeed necessary to break with the
watering down of the revolutionary teachings of Marxism-Leninism, for the
revision of the ideology that guided the Party underlay all of the problems
identified above.
It needed to be said that there could be no
peaceful transition to socialism and no state arrangement to protect and
guarantee socialism other than the dictatorship of the proletariat.
It needed to be said that the approach
adopted by Mao Zedong in leading the Chinese revolution to victory, and in
continuing the revolution under the conditions of the dictatorship of the
proletariat, was a new development and enrichment of Marxism-Leninism, and that
his teachings on the danger of a restoration of capitalism were absolutely
pertinent and necessary.
It needed to be said that embedded within the
teachings of Mao Zedong was a consistent elaboration of the ethical standards
to which Communists had to adhere in order to win the trust of the workers and
the right to be taken as their leaders in struggle.
No mere
observerIt was not as a mere observer, therefore, that Vanguard set itself the task of giving a “Marxist-Leninist analysis of the major events of our times”.
It described itself in 1968 as “not just a paper to be sold. We do not want ‘sales’ so we can record higher circulation figures. Vanguard is an ideological weapon and in the conditions of today can be used to combat and defeat the ideology of capitalism.”
Combatting and defeating the ideology of
capitalism remains the major systematic task of this paper.
It does this in the absence of a staff of
“experts”, drawing on the collective talents of writers and contributors who
are embedded in their workplaces and their communities, active alongside the
very people for whom they write.
However imperfectly, it strives to express
the viewpoint of the Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist) and to
merge the Party with the struggles, aspirations and ideals of the working
class.
Vanguard will eventually
transition to an online format, enabling it to express the viewpoint of the
Party on a daily, rather than a monthly, basis.
This is a transition that must be
accomplished with the support of the whole organisation and with the engagement
of all of our readers so that we can provide a better service as we embark on
our second half-century of publication.
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