Section 13. International Communist Movement
1. General situation
Despite a strong appeal for the solidarity of anti-imperialist forces made by the international communist forces led by the Soviet Union at the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties in June 1969, their activities have remained on a low level ever since. In the present situation, it seems difficult even to find the greatest common denominator of ideology in the international communist movement in view of such factors as the Sino-Soviet confrontation, which shows no prospect of improvement in ideological or party relationships, the rise of nationalism in various socialist countries and the inclination of communist parties in the countries of the free camp to attach importance to elections as a means of coming into power.
2. Characteristics of international communist movement in 1971
(1) Importance attached to domestic polities
The first feature of the international communist movement in 1971 was that no international event similar to the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties in 1969 and the celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lenin in 1970 was held in 1971. The year 1971 was, so to speak, "a year of party conventions" in that the Soviet Communist Party held its 24th congress from late March through April, and the parties in such East European countries as Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Albania and Poland and those in some free countries also held their conventions. The communist parties in power showed a conspicuous trend toward attaching importance to domestic administration. For instance, the Soviet Communist Party decided to adopt a ninth five-year plan at its party congress and those in other East European countries also discussed and adopted new five-year plans. However, among the communist parties out of power, there was a trend to try to solidify their structure and improve their image in the eyes of the people from the standpoint of attaching importance to elections.
(2) Strengthening of solidarity among parties with independent policy line
Romanian General Secretary Ceausescu visited the People's Republic of China, North Korea, North Vietnam, and Mongolia in June. The Chairman of the Presidium of the Japan Communist Party Kenji Miyamoto visited Romania, Italy, North Vietnam and the Soviet Union in August through September. The interchange between such communist parties with an independent policy line can be regarded as a manifestation of their effort to maintain the balance between themselves and the two major parties of China and the Soviet Union by strengthening their solidarity.
(3) Effects of Sino-American rapprochement
Moves for a Sino-American rapprochement, such as the so-called "ping pong diplomacy" in April and Nixon's announcement in July of his plan to visit China, caused a change in the international situation and it also exerted a great influence on the international communist movement. The Sino-Soviet confrontation in the international communist movement was severe throughout the year, and the Soviet Union's criticism of China was particularly intense. After Nixon's announcement of his plan to visit China, the Soviet Union intensified further its efforts to increase its influence over the parties of North Vietnam and North Korea, which border on China, by taking advantage of the disturbed state of these parties.
The Sino-American rapprochement greatly shocked the countries in the communist camp in addition to the Soviet Union, and considerable restlessness developed in these countries. One such example is moves critical of China made by North Vietnam and North Korea, which usually tend to take a pro-Chinese posture for geographical reasons.
(4) Activities of international front on a low level
Activities of international front organizations, which were inactive in 1970, continued to remain on a low level in 1971. Forces affiliated with the People's Republic of China have been driven out of front organizations in the past few years, and meetings of various organizations were also dominated by forces affiliated with the Soviet Union. The general meeting of the World Peace Council (held in Budapest in mid-May), the 21st Conference of the World Federation of Trade Unions (held in East Berlin in mid-December) and the second meeting of the International Federation of Democratic Lawyers (held in Algiers in late November) in 1972 adopted resolutions calling for support for the people of Indochina, revealing a trend to hint at a criticism of the People's Republic of China which had "compromised with U.S. imperialism."
(5) Trend toward giving priority to national interests
Both the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union, which are the opposing poles in the international communist movement, gave priority to national interests over ideology, and there was a tendency to use ideology to put the party or the people under strict discipline, and signs of ideological confusion deepened further. Such inconsistency between ideology and national interests was clearly shown by the stand of the People's Republic of China in the Indo-Pakistani conflict. The trend of the Chinese and Soviet parties also affected the parties in other countries, and some parties maintain a critical attitude toward that trend.
(6) Trends of communist parties in advanced countries
The communist parties in such advanced countries as Italy, France and Japan were searching for a new road to socialism and ways to come into power which are appropriate to the conditions of each country. In particular, there was a tendency to put emphasis on election activities under existing democratic parliamentary systems, and this succeeded to some extent and the number of communists elected continued to increase in each election.