Gained many men who had fought in the wartime resistance. The PCF therefore remains a party which is quite used to the use of violence • usually, but not always, against the left - and it is extremely tightly organised. It is by far the most Stalinist party in Europe. The CPB comes somewhere between these two extremes in terms of politics.
THE CRISIS OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNIST PARTIES The tensions inherent in the social make up of the CPs began to come to the foreground after 1956 and the Kruschey revelations on Stalin. These gave a head to all the liberal elements to go further with their openly social democratic politics. Many of the working class cadre however saw these revelations as a "concession to the capitalist enemy. The Hungarian uprising of late 1956 and the Russian intervention therefore had a contradictory effect. Thousands of the liberal elements left the Communist Parties as the dream of the 'peace-loving' USSR was shattered. The working class. cadres however were not in the slightest attached to the USSR because it was "peaceloving". On the contrary. they were for violence, provided it was directed against capitalism. Most, reacting against the liberal bleating of the middle class, were therefore prepared to accept the Soviet line that the rising was a 'fascist" plot. Only the very finest of the CP militants left on a revolutionary and not on a liberal position. The exodus of these oppositionists did however remove the most critical of the working class membership and led to a more passive attitude towards reformism by the memberhip. (And of course for the really militant all the 'peaceloving" moves were quite frequently presented to the working class militants as a clever "manoeuvre", of the type that was frequently carried out in the trade unions. Thus for example one story that was put about in all seriousness by many CP militants was that the PCF had kept all the guns from the resistance days, and had stored them in the basoment of its headquarters in Francois Mitterand, leader of the French Socialist Party Paris ready for use at the right time. Some renewed discontent did occur at the time of the Sino-Soviet split. A few of those who were most violently anticapitalist joined the various Maoist groups. In general however this was not a significant movement.
By far the most important trend since the early 1960's has been that the crisis of European capitalism has created serious possibilities of left governments coming to power. This can be seen in the Labour government in Britain, the Social Democratic government in Germany and the "centreleft' coalitions in Italy. The ruling class is not unduly alarmed by this and indeed may welcome it provided that only social democratic parties are involved. A Commumist Party is however a very different kettle of fish altogether. As we have seen they are not primarily tied to the native ruling class. For this reason the ruling classes in the big European capitalist countries have not been prepared to see Communist Parties in government. This does not unduly worry the working class bases of the CP's, as they want to destroy capitalism and not govern it, but is of course not so good for the middle class followers. For this reason the crisis of the CP's has intensified enormously since the early 1960's. The line of the leadership and of the middle class elements is to break the tie with Moscow and thus make the CP acceptable to the ruling class as a governing party. The line of the old Stalinist base is to continue the anti-capitalist struggle and to maintain the link with Moscow. In every case this has produced great internal rows. In France, where the apparatus is still strong, it led to the explusion of Roger Garaudy and others. In Britain where the Stalinist core is not so strong, it led to the expulsion of oppositionistsfrom the YCL. In other countries, for example, Spain, the process has gone further and the party has split. The openly right wing line of the PCF in its agreement with the Socialist Party in France is only a sign, but one which will speed up the process, of the crisis of the European 'Communist moveJ Burns.
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he Communist Party and the Socialist Party in France is re we look at the general significance of this agreement as is 'marriage of convenience' and the meaning of its "joint