Enquiries into Religion and Culture (The Works of Christopher Dawson)

II The Significance of Bolshevism

17 ii The Significance of Bolshevism the economic crisis of the last two years has proved a godsend to the Bolsheviks. the years of the new Economic Policy in russia and of the post-war boom in the West were a time of disappointment and trial for the leaders of the communist party. Fortunately for them the launching of the second communist offensive in russia—the Five-year Plan— has coincided with the apparent collapse of the capitalist system in the West and has revived the hopes of world revolution which for a time had been abandoned. above all, these hopes are concentrated on the approaching dissolution of the British Empire, which the Bolsheviks regard not without reason as the chief element of cohesion in the divided ranks of their enemies. to-day trotsky writes: “only a blind man could fail to see that great Britain is headed for gigantic revolutionary earthquake shocks in which the last fragments of her conservatism, her world domination, her present state machine, will go down without a trace.”1 these hopes are encouraged by the mood of fatalism and despair that is so common in Western countries. Professed communists may be few enough, but everywhere we find intellectuals who are fascinated by the grandiose projects of communist state planning and who feel that the social and economic system of Western Europe neither deserves nor is able to surmount its present crisis. What is the reason for the success—even though it be only a relative success—of Bolshevism; for the way in which it has maintained itself essentially unchanged through all the vicissitudes of the revolution and the Civil War, the new Economic Policy and the Five-year 1. The History of the Russian Revolution, Vol. i, p. 117, translated by Max Eastman. (gollancz 18s.) Plan; above all, for the attraction that it seems to exercise not only for the discontented and the disinherited proletarian, but also for the disinterested idealist? this is the question that a young german sociologist , dr. Waldemar gurian, has attempted to answer in an important book that has just been translated into English2 and he has succeeded better than any other writer that i know in getting to the root of the matter and revealing the essential nature of the Bolshevik régime. For Bolshevism is not a political movement that can be judged by its practical aims and achievements, nor is it an abstract theory that can be understood apart from its historical context. it differs from other contemporary movements above all by its organic unity, its fusion of theory and practice, and by the way in which its practical policy is bound up with its philosophy. in a world of relativity and scepticism it stands for absolute principles; for a creed that is incarnate in a social order and for an authority that demands the entire allegiance of the whole man. the Bolshevik ideology, writes dr. gurian, “has been transformed from a philosophy consciously learned and imposed on life from without into a concrete living force, a national outlook, which unconsciously, implicitly , and spontaneously determines and moulds all men’s judgments and opinions.” “these revolutionaries are not simply politicians satisfied with the possession of power. they regard themselves as bearers of a gospel which shall bring to humanity the true redemption from its sufferings, the imperfections of its earthly existence. “it is precisely in this respect that Bolshevism is superior to the sceptical , relativist and purely opportunist political and social attitude so common in the outside world. it claims to represent immutable principles . though it regards earthly existence, the economic and social organisation , as the final end of human life, it follows this belief with a zeal and a devotion that give it the appearance of a religion, in comparison with which the frequent panegyrics of man’s spiritual freedom and dignity which carry with them no practical obligation appear worthless and hollow. it is therefore impossible to combat Bolshevism with arguments of a purely opportunist kind.”3 and, in the same way, the communist party has little resemblance to 2. Bolshevism: Theory and Practice, translated by E. i. Watkin. (sheed & Ward) 3. Op.cit. p. 4. 18 Enquiries The Significance of Bolshevism 19 a political party in the ordinary sense of the word. it is a voluntary organisation only in the same sense as is a religious order. its members are bound by a rigid...