The Guardian June 23, 2004
Communist Party of Australia
Socialism Betrayed:
Behind the collapse of the Soviet Union
by Roger Keeran and Thomas Kenny
This is yet another analysis of what will undoubtedly continue
to be a topic of discussion for many years to come. The authors
hope their book will contribute to the discussion of the
"reckless ways" that wrecked the world's first socialist
state.
They quote Fidel Castro: "Socialism did not die from natural
causes: it was a suicide". But was it suicide or was it murder?
Before coming to this question again something about the book.
Socialism Betrayed traces the many circumstances and
deviations that undoubtedly contributed to the final overthrow of
socialism and the dismemberment of the Soviet Union into many
supposedly independent republics.
It identifies many contributors to this "greatest tragedy of the
20th century" from Stalin, Krushchev, Brezhnev, through to
Chernenko and Gorbachev. This is not to suggest equal blame by
any means. No-one can suggest that those that preceded Gorbachev
had a mission to destroy socialism although they also contributed
by numerous and various errors to the final outcome.
The only General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet
Union to come through with good marks in the period since the
death of Stalin is Yuri Andropov. He unfortunately only lived for
about 15 months after his election to the top position before
dying of a kidney complaint. He did not have time to put the
Soviet Union on a path that would have corrected many of the
errors made by his predecessors but his program gave great
promise that the party and government would return to the task of
building an improved socialism.
Declared support
Gorbachev was elected General Secretary of the Communist Party of
the Soviet Union in 1985. At first he declared his support for
the policies that had been outlined by Andropov but by the end of
two years there was a sharp turn towards the mistaken polices of
Krushchev and those put forward by Bukharin in the early years of
the Soviet Union.
The authors say that Krushchev's ideas "consistently leaned
toward social democracy, sowed the seeds of later problems, and
created a precedent for Gorbachev's even more extreme views and
policies".
The book traces the many economic, social and political policies
initiated by Gorbachev that finally led to the victory of
counter-revolution, the dismantling of socialism and the
restoration of a crude, savage and brutal criminal capitalism on
most of the territory of what made up the Soviet Union.
Socialism Betrayed gives many references and policy
statements that are invaluable in tracing the pattern of
betrayal.
We are again introduced to "perestroika" and what it really
meant, to Gorbachev's supposed "new thinking", his promotion of a
bourgeois form of democracy, his actual promotion of national
conflicts within the Soviet Union and the dishonest promotion of
cooperative ownership which in practice was a hidden form by
which capitalist ownership was consolidated.
In foreign policy Gorbachev advanced a policy of unprincipled
compromise with US imperialism and systematically brought an end
to the assistance that the Soviet Union had given for many years
to other socialist countries and to the national liberation
movements of third world countries.
Soviet troops were withdrawn by Gorbachev from Afghanistan to
appease the US. We all know now what tragedies have overtaken
that country following this act of betrayal. An unprincipled deal
was made with US president Reagan over the question of nuclear
weapons and the Soviet army was seriously weakened while the US
imperialists gave nothing in exchange.
By your side
At the time of the first Gulf War Gorbachev is reported to have
remarked to James Baker the Secretary of State at the time: "I
want to emphasise that we would like to be by your side in any
situation".
Of course, Gorbachev did not act alone. During the period in
which he stated his adherence to the policies of Andropov,
Gorbachev brought his own men into the leadership of the CPSU
Shevardnadze, Yeltsin, Aganbegyan (an economist), Yakovlev (an
ideologist) and many others. All played considerable parts in the
Gorbachev betrayal.
While there are numerous references to ideology in the book,
there is little explanation of how the policies implemented by
Gorbachev deviated from the fundamental principles of Marxism-
Leninism and this I think is a weakness of the analysis. The
policies adopted are well set-out and reflect the deviations from
dialectical and historical materialism the philosophy of
Marxism.
Different interpretations
The authors set out a number of different interpretations about
the events that led to the break-up of the Soviet Union some
by writers who are pro-Soviet and others who are anti-Soviet.
The authors write: "in some writers, a stress on Gorbachev leads
to seeing in his actions a longstanding, preconceived plan. The
weight of evidence, however, seems to point more toward a shallow
leader who acted rashly, impulsively, and contradictorily."
"Gorbachev's policies may not have been inevitable but they were
no accident either." But is it correct to also say that "possibly
Gorbachev himself lacked an awareness of the full implications of
what he was doing"?
This returns us to the question � was it suicide or was it
murder?
There are a number of remarks in the book that call for a
comprehensive follow-up:
* What are we to make of an assessment made by one of Gorbachev's
closest supporters that "Gorbachev had only contempt for the
CPSU" and, when it was suggested by supporters that he should
resign his position as General Secretary he remarked: "they try
to persuade me to abandon the general secretary post. But
remember: that mangy dog can't be let off the leash. If I do
that, the whole enormous thing will be against me."
* Gorbachev had kept in touch with leading figures of the Czech
counter-revolution from his student days.
* Yakovlev, Gorbachev's principle ideologist who was put in
charge of the Soviet media by Gorbachev had spent a number of
years in the West, "more than any other Politburo official". In
1983, Gorbachev visited Canada and spent a week with Yakovlev
before he became General Secretary. Was it to lay the plans of
what subsequently happened?
Can do business
Although it is not mentioned in this book it is timely to recall
the remark of Margaret Thatcher when Gorbachev visited London
(before becoming General Secretary). He had a meeting with the
then Prime Minister of England and Thatcher said publicly that
"he (Gorbachev) is a man we can do business with". Did Margaret
Thatcher know something that others did not, even at that time?
It should also be recalled that the counter-revolutions in
eastern European socialist countries coincided with visits to
those countries by Gorbachev. He was also in China at the time of
the Tienanmen Square uprising.
Were Gorbachev's visits the signal for these counter-
revolutionary events which were undoubtedly helped by the
intelligence organisations of the imperialist countries?
Let it be recalled that Shevardnadze made the remark that his
greatest achievement was the dismantling of the German Democratic
Republic and east Germany's incorporation into capitalist west
Germany.
A final question
And a final question that the book raised in my mind,
remembering that the long-term objective of imperialism was
always to defeat the Soviet Union and strangle socialism.
This could not be done militarily because the Soviet Union had
become too strong militarily. It could not be done economically
because the socialist system had become deeply entrenched in the
life of the Soviet people and the country was also endowed with
rich resources. It could not be done merely by propaganda
although millions of dollars were spent by Radio Free Europe and
other agencies to subvert the thinking of the Soviet people. None
of these options were feasible.
But if people were found who could work their way into the top
leadership of the CPSU and proceed to sabotage socialism from
that position, even while proclaiming that their aim was to build
a "better socialism", the job could perhaps be done from this
vantage point.
If the scenario that Gorbachev had become an arch-enemy of
socialism even in his youth is made the starting point, many of
the policies and the personal behaviour of Gorbachev fall into
place.
Given the experience and capacity of Western intelligence
agencies in bringing down governments it would stretch credulity
to breaking point to think that they would not have been advising
Gorbachev (and others) on a regular basis throughout his years as
General Secretary. His and their actions were played out using
the many objective circumstances, the policy weaknesses and
growing dissident forces that previous regimes had unleashed.
In these circumstances Gorbachev becomes not a misguided,
confused and weak personality that he is sometimes painted but
the most successful Machiavelli of all time.
The people of the former Soviet Union assessed him well. From
initial enthusiastic support they quickly came to reject and then
condemn his leadership. When he stood for election to the
position of president in 2000 he received a less than one percent
vote.
In recent times, Gorbachev has been paraded at public forums
throughout the Western world appearing at some with Norman
Swarzkoff the commanding general of the US forces who invaded
Iraq during the first Gulf War. More recently he attended the
funeral of Ronald Reagan. Nice company to keep, indeed! Gorbachev
had returned to his spiritual home.
* * *
Socialism Betrayed, International Publishers, New York,
pp 230, available from SPA Books, $18 plus $2.50 p&p.
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