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Is Stalin's Russia Weakening?
our conclusions may be wrong;
(3) use any special experience we
may claim to try to bring the swiftly
changing reality into focus.
Using, in this way, what little experience I lay claim to, I get a picture
rather different from that of many-
others whom I respect, and some of
whom have much greater claims to
expert knowledge. I see it this way.
Stalin and Stalinism were morally outrageous. But that does not explain
why thev ciime to [lower. Nor is there
space here to explain why I believe
they came to power. Here I can only
say: a specific set of historical factors
made them possible because, to com-
'iiiiiiisni. they were useful. I can
only add: in my opinion, a different set of historical factors now makes
them unfeasible because they have
Become an impediment to the advance
"f communism. In short, Stalin and
Stalinism have outlived their useful-
Jess to communism. That is why tbe
Kremlin is dumping them. But since
Stalinism was morally outrageous, its
(■Continued from page 7)
liquidation has on communism (and
on millions who are not Communist)
the buoyant effect of a successful surgical operation. That is not the only
effect of the operation. Its purpose, if
I see it rightly, is to convince that
same "enlightened" opinion of the
West that communism is now something that any decent soul can coexist
with, trade with, make friends with.
It may take a little time, but the harvest, judging by the past, may be a
fat one. It may soon follow that those
who do not believe that communism
has changed will find that they are the
"indecent souls." Communism, in tbe
name of decency and reason, will be
rallying "enlightened" opinion in the
West precisely against those "indecent
souls," The action will take the form
of popular fronts and a much vaster
climate of good will. Need I point out
that the "unenlightened," the "indecent," the men of "ill will" vvill then be
those who distrust communism, fight
it, insist that, while it often changes
its masks, it has never been known to
change its inherent character?
In brief, communism's great change,
dating from the 20th Congress, is a
change of tactics, not of intentions.
Communism is cleaning house in
order to make its personnel, its formations, its tactics, more acceptable, efficient, up to date, and thus to hasten
its project of dividing, wooing, and
winning the West, preparatory to overrunning the West. That Communist
purpose never changes. No doubt, thc
swing in the Communist line is much
complicated by inner-Communist and
inner-Soviet factors which I have not
touched on. No doubt, the Communist
leaders are playing with forces that
might, conceivably, get out of hand.
Therefore, the question of the moment
is: Will the surgical operation on Stalinism be successful? I believe it will.
But nobody knows. Everybody is waiting to see. If it is successful communism will be a greater threat to the
West than ever. end
The Lure of Peaceful Coexistence
(Continued from page 9)
'"'-! with their dictators, they tend to
'°se hope.
With reference to the United States,
^he Soviet objective is to smear lead-
'nK anti-Communists, discredit tbe loy-
alty-seeuritv program, dismantle the
framework of anti-Communist legisla-
"on, and demand an end to further
nnclear weapons tests. In many in-
■titnces, the "spirit of Geneva" i.s being
■ttilized as the basis for these campaigns. At the end of January, 1956,
"Eugene Dennis, executive secretary of
"*e Communist Party of the United
*tates, delivered an important address
ln Carnegie Hall in New York which
'"ay easily have been inspired by advance notice of what was going to
';'I>l>i'ii al the 20th Congress of the
^SSR. I„ this address Mr. Dennis
^al|ed for a united front between
pommunists and "liberals" to fight for
Peace" end "fear and hysteria," and
"^store "civil liberties."
. Actually the Geneva "summit" con-
'"■"■'iice of luly. 1955, seems to have
i"'-1 the groundwork for the 20th Con-
",('ss meeting. A number of examples
A<"is Forum News, September, 1956
come to mind of how the American
Communists have succeeded in encouraging prominent non-Communists
to join them or to promote their objectives since Geneva. At the end of 1955
several hundred prominent Americans
signed a Communist-inspired petition
to the Supreme Court urging that it
declare unconstitutional the Internal
Security Act of 1950. The Christmas
amnesty appeal for jailed Communists
was signed by many well-known non-
Communists. A United States senator,
a governor, and a prominent writer
were among a score of distinguished
Americans who sent greetings to the
recent convention of the National
Lawyers' Guild in Detroit. The NLG
has been cited as a Communist-controlled organization.
Prominent scientists have signed
Communist-inspired petitions demanding that nuclear weapons tests
be ended; several leading intellectuals
have praised a book by John Wexley
defending the Rosenberg atomic spies.
This book was published by Cameron
& Kahn who also published the Matusow book. Well-known intellectuals
have subscribed to the Communist
thesis that the FBI should be deprived
of its informants within the Communist Party and that fear and hysteria
have characterized the loyalty-security
program. Many of these intellectuals
wish to abolish the entire program.
The willingness of several prominent
universities to invite Communist
speakers such as Joseph Clark and
Herbert Aptheker to speak on the
campus is, according to the Daily
Worker, another example of how the
"forces of peace" and the "forces for
civil liberties" are gaining ground in
the new era since Geneva.
One of the most interesting aspects
of the 20th Congress meeting was
Dictator Khrushchev's criticism of
Stalin. It appears that the new "soft"
Soviet line would be facilitated by this
attack on Stalin and Stalin's policies.
Already many Americans are concluding that with the advent of Khrushchev and the departure of Stalin, terror has ended in the Soviet Union and
dictatorship is being modified. Actually there has been no basic change inside the Soviet Union. The slave-labor
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