United front

From Freepedia

In Leninist theory, a united front is a coalition of left-wing working class forces which put forward a common set of demands and share a common plan of action, but which do not subordinate themselves to the front, retaining their abilities for independent political action and continuing to hold different political programmes.

The related concept of a popular front refers to a broader coalition, which can even include bourgeois forces like liberals, and which puts forward a minimal set of moderate demands.

The ideas of the united front and popular front have been the subject of intense debate, especially between the official Communist Parties of the Third International under Josef Stalin (and after) and the rival Trotskyist tradition.

In general, Communist Parties create or join united fronts when they find common ground with other revolutionary left-wing groups, and when it appears to them that a united front stands a very good chance of winning national elections. Popular fronts, on the other hand, are typically a desperate measure that is adopted in times of crisis - such as when there is a real danger of a fascist party coming to power.

Communist Parties have claimed successes in particular situations (for example the fight against fascism in the 1930s). In other situations, united fronts have been regarded as failures (for example, the assassination of Salvador Allende).

The popular front, as practised by Communist Parties since the 1920s, has been criticised by, among others, Leon Trotsky, founder of the Trotskyist movement. Trotsky argued that the fight against fascism was compromised by the Communist Parties. These parties initially took the position that the social democratic parties were social fascists and no united action against the fascist groups in Italy, Germany and elsewhere was possible. By the mid-1930s the Communist Parties, shocked by the fascist victories in Spain and Germany, developed what Trotsky regarded as popular fronts, involving politicians across the political spectrum in the movement. This, Trotsky argued, involved the Communists making a series of concessions to their bourgeois allies and undercut the possibilities of a determined and united working class struggle against fascism.

For Trotsky the key characteristics of the united front were, firstly the ability of genuine revolutionary forces to act as an independent component in any struggle, and secondly the unity between revolutionary workers and those who still had illusions in reforming capitalism. This strategy also required revolutionaries to make an appeal for unity with reformist leaders of social democratic parties and trade unions - an offer that would either lead to the greatest possible unity, or would expose the reformist leaders as unwilling to engage in such a fight, pulling reformist workers towards the revolutionary camp. Although developed in its clearest form in Trotsky's writings on the fight against fascism, the theory was in fact a generalisation of what Trotsky saw as the practice of the Bolsheviks during the 1917 revolution. As such Trotsky's vision of potential united fronts was extremely broad and flexible - encompassing both the trade unions and the soviets of revolutionary Russia.

The general strategy of the united front, as outlined by Trotsky, has since been adopted by revolutionary groups as providing a method for building united working class action, while simultaneously strengthening the revolutionary section of the working class.

United States

On March 18, 1933, the executive committee of the Comintern declared the adoption of a United Front policy. Its initial aim was to discredit support for reformist leadership, but meeting with little success it soon turned to anti-facsism. In 1935, the Comintern called for unity among all anti-fascist forces. In keeping with this policy, the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA) openly embraced President Roosevelt and the New Deal, became vocal advocates of religious liberty and sought an alliance with the churches, the strategy being the creation of a network of front organizations which could win popular support and co-operation among the American electorate.

The Reverend Harry F. Ward, a Methodist minister and chairman of the American Civil Liberties Union, who also served on the faculty of the Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and was a key figure in the Methodist Federation for Social Service, stated publicly,

"The Soviet Union will bring to the world a new concept that is in reality a fulfillment of the ethics of Jesus. Communism will systematically crush the evil profit motive that spurs on the American economy and replace it with incentives of service and sacrifice. The United States should set for itself the same goal."