down to their complete political elimination , a policy of concentrating the entire power in the country in the hands of the revolutionary Kuomintang , the Kuomintang without its Right-wing elements and the Kuomintang as a bloc of the Left-wing Kuomintang elements and the Communists .
From this it follows further that the policy of close co-operation of the Left-wing elements and the Communists within the Kuomintang assumes a special force and a special importance at the present stage , that this cooperation reflects the alliance of the workers and peasants formed outside the Kuomintang , and that without such a co-operation , the victory of the revolution is impossible . From this it follows further that the main source of the force of the revolutionary Kuomintang is the further unfolding of the revolutionary movement of the workers and peasants and the consolidation of their mass organisations — the revolutionary peasant committees , trade unions of workers and other mass revolutionary organisations as preparatory elements of the Soviets in the future , that the main guarantee of the victory of the revolution is the growth of the revolutionary activity of the millions of toiling masses and the main antidote against counter-revolution — the arming of workers and peasants .
Finally , from this follows that while fighting shoulder to shoulder with the revolutionary Kuomintang elements , the Communist Party must more than ever before retain its independence , as a condition necessary for ensuring the hegemony of the proletariat in the bourgeois-democratic revolution .
IV
THE MISTAKES OF THE OPPOSITION
The fundamental mistake of the Opposition and Co .) consists in not understanding the character of the revolution in China , in not understanding which is the stage that the revolution is passing through at the present time , and in not understanding its present international set up .
June - 2023
The Opposition demands that the Chinese Revolution should develop at approximately the same speed as the October Revolution did . The Opposition is dissatisfied that the Shanghai workers did not take up a resolute fight against the imperialists and their myrmidons .
But it does not understand that the revolution in China cannot develop with a rapid speed because among other things , the international situation at present is less favourable than in 1917 ( there is no war between the imperialists ).
It does not understand that one must not wage a decisive battle under unfavourable conditions , when the reserves are still not drawn in , just as the Bolsheviks , for instance , did not take up decisive battles either in April or in July 1917 .
The Opposition does not understand that not to avoid a decisive battle under unfavourable conditions ( when it can be avoided ) means facilitating the cause of the enemies of the revolution . The Opposition demands the immediate formation of Soviets of Workers ’ and Peasants ’ and Soldiers ’ Deputies in China .
The opposition demands the immediate formation of Soviets of Workers ’ and Peasants ’ and Soldiers ’ Deputies in China . But what does the formation of Soviets now signify ? In the first place , Soviets cannot be formed at any moment ; they are formed only in the period of a special upsurge of the revolutionary wave .
Secondly , Soviets are not formed for babble , they are primarily formed as organs of struggle against the existing power , as organs of struggle for power . It was so in 1905 . It was also so in 1917 .
But what does the formation of Soviets at the present moment in the region of the activities , for example of the Wuhan Government , mean ? It means giving the slogan of struggle against the existing power in this region . It means giving a slogan for the creation of new organs of power , giving a slogan of struggle against the power of the revolutionary Kuomintang , which the Communists who have formed a bloc with the Kuomintang Lefts have joined and since there is no other power now in this region apart from the power of the revolutionary Kuomintang .
This means further to confuse the task of forming and strengthening the mass organisations of workers and peasants in the form of strike committees , peasant unions and committees , trade union councils , factory and mill committees , etc . on which the revolutionary Kuomintang is now already relying , with the task of the creation of a Soviet system as a new type of State power substituting the power of the revolutionary Kuomintang .
This means , finally , not to understand which is the stage of the revolution that is taking place in China at the present moment . This means giving the enemies of the Chinese people a new weapon for struggle against the revolution , for creating new legends that it is not a national revolution which is taking place in China but an artificial implantation of “ Moscow Sovietisation ”.
Thus the Opposition by advancing the slogan of the formation of Soviets at the present moment is playing into the hands of the enemies of the Chinese Revolution .
The Opposition considers it inexpedient for the Communists to participate in the Kuomintang . Opposition therefore considers it expedient for the Communist Party to leave the Kuomintang . But what does withdrawal by the Communist Party from the Kuomintang signify now when the whole pack of imperialists with all their hangers-on are demanding the expulsion of the Communists from the Kuomintang ? This means to abandon the field of battle and to throw our allies in the Kuomintang at the mercy of the enemies of the revolution . This means weakening the Communist Party , undermining the revolutionary Kuomintang , facilitating the task of the Shanghai Cavaignacs andgiving away the banner of �
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