On the slogan for a United Front to fight Fascism in Greece

 
Greek immigrants protest racist attacks
Fighting Fascism in Greece - More than a United Front
11 Sept, 2012 by Stephen Morgan

The shocking news of the rise in support for the fascist Golden Dawn in Greece, now at 12%, has been a wake up call for the left and the workers' movement worldwide. It is not “only” the fate of the Greek people which is involved here, but that of mankind generally. We all know what happened when the Nazis reached a similar size.

The Golden Dawn (GD) isn't a Greek issue, it is an international issue. The entire international left and the labour movement must throw its weight behind the defense of democracy in Greece. We cannot afford to see a repeat of the victories of fascism in Germany, Italy and Spain in the 1920s and 30s. It will not spell the “Dawn” but the black dusk of mankind.

Therefore, by drawing upon the international experiences of the struggle against fascism, I hope that those fighting fascism in Greece will accept some reflections from abroad and whatever practical aid we can give them in comradely solidarity. Hopefully, their struggle will also help to build a genuine International United Front against Fascism.

What I'd like to do here, is to briefly discuss what a United Front is and how it can be built and what practical steps can be taken right now.

The United Front Slogan

A number of left groups in Greece and internationally have raised the call for a United Front against fascism. This is absolutely correct. It was precisely the disunity of the workers’ movement in Germany, which led to the victory of the Nazis. Unfortunately in Greece, the leaders of the Social Democrats and the Greek Communist Party are repeating many of the same policies which betrayed the working class and laid the basis for Hitler success. This not only includes theoretical mistakes, but a failure to take the appropriate practical steps needed to defeat the fascists.

The call for a United Front (UF) has already been raised by SYRIZA and some other groups in an effort to unite the Greek left and the workers' movement against the vicious attacks on the working class. Unfortunately, this has been ignored by the Greek Communist Party, (KKE) and a smaller coalition of left groups around ANTARSYA. If they now refuse to join a UF against fascism, this will not be a tactic “to defend the working class” or further “the cause of the revolution”, it will simply be betrayal.

The situation in Greece demands urgent action not just slogans. A UF must be built immediately as a fighting organization from the grassroots up. Immigrants, national minorities, left groups and workers' meeting are already facing violent attacks by the GD thugs. There is no time to wait around for the formation of a UF at a national level. Measure must be taken right away at the street level. We cannot afford to see if negotiations and political wranglings between parties will be overcome quickly or not. Right now, inaction resulting from complacency, theorizing and politicking is suicidal. 

Indeed, a vague call for a UF in this situation can even lead to passivity rather than action. There is a danger that some people will be led to thinking that the priority is to create some sort of “General Staff of the Anti-fascist United Front” when, in fact, what is needed is local action everywhere. A National alliance of left groups and workers' organizations would be fine, so long as it organizes seriously and doesn't just posture. Unfortunately, the fascists aren't impressed by fist waving, they only understand a punch on the nose.

A UF is essentially a tactical and a practical union. Above all else, it is both a street fighting organization and a defensive barricade against fascist attacks. For this reason, simply sloganizing about the need for a UF doesn't help us. We need activists, who want to get out there and build it from the base up and with a sense of urgency.

When Leon Trotsky raised the slogan of the United Front against the fascists, he explicitly emphasized, time and time again, that it was for the creation of fighting organizations. Moreover, he stressed that a it should be built from the bottom up and not from the top down. He characterized a UF as a “common front of direct struggle against fascism,” for which “a particularly precise program of action is necessary.”

Trotsky stressed that the orientation for building a UF should begin by focusing on the creation of fighting groups in the factories and not in the political board rooms. He pointed out that “in the struggle against fascism, the factory councils occupy a tremendously important position.... Every factory must become an anti-fascist bulwark, with its own commandants and its own battalions.”

As for the different groups and parties involved, he suggested that they should themselves immediately begin creating their own fighting groups, but with the aim of cooperation on the ground. This involved united front action to defend themselves and the labour movement from fascist attacks. It did not at all mean the giving up of one's political positions It meant that they could “March separately, but strike together! Agree only how to strike, whom to strike, and when to strike!”

Unifying the Forces on the Left.

The KKE

To the credit of the SYRIZA leaders, they have approached the KKE for a united front in the past, but have been rebuffed. The sectarianism of the KKE in face of the horrendous attacks on the working class has been staggering. They denounced the offers for a United Front already made by SYRIZA as “the blind alley of the so-called 'unity of the Left'” and said that “Instead of an alliance with opportunist and social-democratic parties in the name of 'unity of the Left'... today the main task for the CP is the liberation of the working class” which they then go on to explain is unity between their own front organizations. The position of the KKE has eerie similarities to that dictated to the German Communist Party by Stalin before the victory of Hitler. In 1931, the approach of the German Communist Party to the menace of fascism was that, it was impossible to defeat the Nazis without first defeating the Social Democracy!

Consequently, they decided to field their own candidates against SYRIZA and split the left vote in the elections. As a result of this sectarianism, their support collapsed. Their votes were halved from just over 8% to 4.5% this year. That is a drop from 536,000 votes in May, to 277,000 in June.

Nevertheless, they claim that, at the same time, as suffering such a catastrophic loss in votes, they have doubled the membership of their trade union PAME from 415,000 to 850,000. Of course, with the radicalization and struggles which have taken place, there is no reason not to imagine that their union membership has risen, but there is no way to verify their specific claims. However, even if we give them the benefit of the doubt on union membership, it would suggest that an embarrassing 2/3rds of their PAME union members are not voting for them, but are instead mostly voting for SYRIZA. It is an embarrassing fact that most KKE supporters now vote for SYRIZA.

Having said that, PAME remains an extremely important union, where the majority of the most radical workers are organized. There can be no effective United Front, unless it involves the mass of PAME's union members. Even if their electoral vote has collapsed, there are clearly thousands of class fighters in its ranks, with whom united front action must be organized.

Furthermore, regardless of the mistakes of its leadership, the KKE party it also has some of the best militants in Greece, as well as in its youth wing. It is absolutely vital that a way is found to involve these rank and file members in a United Front in the fight against fascism. The best way is to build a united front from below, by workers in other unions and left activists approaching rank and file KKE and PAME members to form anti-fascist action groups, either of their own or jointly with other workers and left activists.

The Other Unions

There are two main other union federation, the general GSEE union with 450,000 members and ADEDY, the civil servants union with 280,000. Of course, the leadership of these unions have traditionally been more conservative than PAME and PAME may have a stronger base in the factories, but the membership of these unions has been radicalized by the attacks and are now far more militant than their own leaders. They make up more than half of the organized working class, especially in key sectors like the public services. An effective UF against fascism is impossible without the involvement of their rank and file.

Whether or not their leaders would join a UF at a national level, the workers in GSEE and  ADEDY should be called upon to organize their own antifascist action groups in their workplaces and union branches and to link up with unionists and the left on a local basis. Where there are different unions in the same workplace, the best form of a grass roots UF would be the formation of joint antifascist groups made up PAME, ADEDY and GSEE members together and/or in a UF front between their respective union branches.

The Left outside of the SYRIZA

The main grouping outside SYRIZA is called the ANTARSYA, “The Front of the Greek Anticapitalist Left.” They are made up of an alliance of about 10 small groups. They have stood candidates against SYRIZA in the elections and refused to join a front with SYRIZA, because they consider it to be a social democratic movement. Like the KKE they have suffered a sharp decline in popular support. According to one report it lost 75% of its votes from May to the June election. picking up just over 1% of the vote.

Although, they are correct to be wary of the leaders of SYRIZA and to point out that the leaders of its groups are Social Democrats and not revolutionaries, they have unfortunately cut themselves off from SYRIZA followers, because of their tactics. The ultra left position of these groups has led them around from another direction to meet up at the same point with the Stalinists, which so far has been to attack the “Social Democrats” and refuse to fight in a United Front.

Some of the groups in ANTARSYA consider themselves to be Trotsykists. It would well worth them going back to what Trotsky himself wrote on the relationship between revolutionaries and Social Democrat supporters in the fight against fascism. In his article, “For a Workers” United Front Against Fascism (December 1931) Trotsky makes his position quite clear. He said that, while there could not be a common political platform with the Social Democratic leaders, at the same time “It is necessary to show by deeds a complete readiness to make a bloc with the Social Democrats against the fascists” He continued, “It is necessary, without any delay, finally to elaborate a practical system of measures “not with the aim of merely ‘exposing’ the Social Democracy (before the Communists), but with the aim of actual struggle against fascism. On this basis, an agreement with the Social Democratic and trade-union organizations is not only permissible, but a duty. To reject this for reasons of ‘principle’ (in reality because of bureaucratic stupidity, or what is still worse, because of cowardice) is to give direct and immediate aid to fascism.”

Among them there are undoubtedly many dedicated revolutionaries. Again, whether their leaders agree or refuse to join any national UF, an appeal must be made for them to create or join local antifascist groups and co-operate with other lefts in united front actions at a local level. The same goes for the anarchists, who have a strong following in Greece. There are heroic fighters among them, even if some of us would disagree with many of their tactics. The possibilities for united action with them was shown in a BBC report on the Greek left, which stated that in the last election, the position of the anarchist was ìno vote or a vote for SYRIZA.î  It went on to say that a section of them agreed that street fighting was insufficient and joined SYRIZA to help in its campaigns and activities.

PASOK and Popular Fronts

The traditional Social Democratic party, PASOK has been humiliatingly punished by the workers because of their betrayals. From 44% of the vote, they have fallen to only 8%.  Nevertheless, this is still double the vote of the KKE. Some reports indicate that there are still some workers in the public services, who remain loyal to them, because of the improvements and advantages they received from PASOK during the boom years. These are undoubtedly the less politically conscious sections of the workers, who still have illusions that PASOK will do their best to protect them while in government. Even do, it would be totally wrong to ignore them.

However, any participation in a United Front by PASOK would be impossible to consider so long as it remained in a "united front with the capitalists" attacking the working class. The only way that it could be involved in a United Front, would be if it resigned from the government first. The purpose of this would not be to create illusions in the PASOK leaders, but to win their supporters over to the fight against fascism.

This is also an important tactic because the PASOK leaders are likely at some point to put forward the idea of a “Popular Front” instead, which is an alliance of the left with the capitalist parties against the fascists. Such an idea could even be supported by some on the left, panicked by the rise in support for the Golden Dawn. Even quite possibly, at some stage, by the KKE or some on the ultra left.. As Trotsky once observed "The ones who are most prone to lose their identity in the opportunistic milieu are yesterday's ultimatists”

The attitude of the capitalists to the Golden Dawn is pragmatic. They will use them as much as it is safe to do so and instruct their police chiefs to ignore their activities, so long as they are not excessive enough to create a public outcry. They are its dark forces. In public the Greek ruling class uses its riot police to attack workers protests and in private encourages the Golden Dawn to attack workers meetings. In the future, they would use them as paramilitary auxiliaries to the armed forces in a coup d'etat.

But the capitalists also fear giving up power to these rabid maniacs, as they had to in Germany. The Nazis protected capitalism, but at a tremendous cost. The capitalist would not want to repeat this if they could avoid doing so. It is a last option and if they turned to reaction they would much prefer a military coup. If they feared that the fascists could provoke a workers' uprising, then they could at certain times attempt to rein in these brainless pit bulls. In doing so, they might lean on the left and the workers' movement. Such an alliance, however, would also serve as smokescreen to deepen the attacks on workers' living standards by using notions of “national solidarity in difficult times.”

Any Popular Front against fascism in Greece would be used to throw dust in the eyes of the workers and undermine the fight against the Golden Dawn. It would no more fight fascism than the current “Popular Front” between PASOK and the New Democracy protects workers living standards. In the Spanish Civil War, the Communist Party leaders and other left groups entered into an alliance with the pro-capitalist parties. Within months Franco had seized power.

The best way to undermine illusions in a Popular Front is to create a united front with PASOK supporters at a grass root level, involving them in antifascist groups and circumventing the influence of the PASOK leadership. The same goes for those who are not on the left politically, and even New Democracy supporters, who sincerely wished to stop a movement towards fascism. “Non-party” anti-fascist groups could be set up to involve them without having to make any formal political alliances between parties. This would also attract them to left wing ideas through the experience of common struggle shoulder to shoulder with left-wing activists.

SYRIZA

Although it is true, that it has been the KKE and its union, which has had the strongest base of the left in the working class districts and factories in the past, support for SYRIZA has now rocketed past them. The highest votes from the KKE before now in any working class district was 14.5%. On the other hand, in the last elections the vote for SYRIZA in working class areas was much higher. In Peristeri they gained 24.0% of the vote, Nea Ionia 24.62%, Perama 22.03%, Keratsini-Drapetsona 24.41%. In the port city of Piraeus 23.85% and even in strongholds of the KKE in Thessaloniki 17.46%. In one of the key working class districts of Nikaia-Renti in Athens, SYRIZA scored 38%!

There is no question that the main focus for mobilizing against fascism must be through SYRIZA. It may not have its own strong branch structure, as a result of its short existence and the fact that it is a rather unusual coalition of left groups, but it has shown at elections that it can mobilize thousand of enthusiastic supporters. While the KKE is a very important force given its union size and the fact that it still gains 200,000 votes, it is SYRIZA which has the power to mobilize more masses of people and youth. With an estimated 30% of the vote, it now has the support of 2 million people in Greece. If the SYRIZA leadership explained the severity of the fascist threat and made an appeal for the creation of anti-fascist groups, tens of thousands of workers and youth would respond.

Whether or not the SYRIZA leaders issues such a call, all the left activists should not hesitate to immediately take the initiatives themselves and build the movement from the grass roots up. They should produce leaflets, posters, T-Shirts, badges, bandanas, etc etc. They should go to the factories, the ports, the workplaces the KKE, GSEE and ADEDY union branches with flyers calling on the workers to set up their own antifascist groups. Get to the Young Communist Youth and the anarchists.

Likewise, they should go to the estates and mobilize families, women, youth and especially unemployed youth. Go to the national minorities and immigrants and involve them in united local action. Distribute leaflets at the clubs, the cafes, the cinemas and at concerts. Go to the schools and the universities and colleges and call on them to form antifascist groups and mobilize the protesting pensioners as well.

Very soon a movement would appear involving hundreds of thousands of people with a presence everywhere, which would intimidate the fascist thugs and drive them off the streets. It would break their will and demoralize them. They would hardly dare show their faces in public again.

“Organize Anti-fascist Action Groups!”

A Greek Anti-fascist United Front, in what ever name or form it takes, (which is really immaterial) should be built upwards by its rank and file fighters and not by left group leaders. It should be a bottom-up, fighting organization on the streets and in the factories, defending meetings, helping immigrants, confronting the fascists when they campaign in public, picketing their meetings and also being involved in general anti-fascist propaganda work.

Therefore, while supporting the call for a United Front, I suggest that it would be better to emphasize  an appeal for the creation of  “Anti-Fascist Action Groups,” or something with a similar name, built at the local level first. Its aim would be to unite the grass root members of the different organizations with the emphasis on building the new forces needed to defeat the fascists, which means involving thousands of new youth and workers currently outside active politics.

*Organize anti-fascist action groups in the work places and in the estates!

*Organize an anti-fascist action groups in your union branch!

*Organize your party or group anti-fascist action groups!

*Organize unemployed youth into anti-fascist action groups!

*Organize women's anti-fascist action groups!

*Organize immigrants' anti-fascist action groups!

*Organize LGBT anti-fascist action groups!

Then

*Set up an emergency antifascist cell phone network and social media network to call for help

*Call aggregate or local committees with delegates from the different types of local bodies, which can meet to plan local united actions

*Call aggregate meetings or send delegates to a district or city wide meeting for collective action in the area

* Then call a mass national conference of elected delegates and visitors from the grass root branches in order to establish a National Anti-fascist Action Group.

In my opinion, that would be a much more effective way to fight fascism. Moreover, an organization built from below, by people fighting together shoulder to shoulder, and not fighting with each other table to table, will cut across sectarianism and build a far more genuinely “united” front.

Stephen Morgan 11th Sept, 2012 
Member of WIN: Workers International Network:

The article is written in a personal capacity and is not the agreed position of WIN

***************** 

I consider Stephen's position on the united front on Greece very correct. On the question of Pasok it does not seem to me to be so complicated. The Pasok leadership are cooperating in the cuts. This must stop and we must call for this, the united front must call for this. And a condition of being  part of any united front Pasok would have to formally withdraw from any participation in any government implementing the "Trioka solution." I feel we would have to be unyielding on this.

At the same time we want to win to the united front the working class base of Pasok, any that it still has. So while being unyielding on Pasok withdrawing from any troika solution and government  we hold out our hand to the base of Pasok and ask them to take up this position of ours and at the same time to join the anti fascist committees in the base, build them from the bottom up as Stephen puts forward. I feel that Stephen's emphasis on building these from the bottom up and physically taking on the fascists is excellent, is the very very correct emphasis. It is the difference in putting forward an abstract slog and putting forward a fighting action strategy which can thrown back the right and their attacks. 

Sean O'Torrain

Stephen Morgan
I agree with you absolutely that PASOK participation in any United Front would be impossible to consider so long as PASOK remains in a "united front with the bourgeoisie" attacking the working class. But, I also really like this idea of simultaneously orientating to any rank and file workers which PASOK still has. Regardless of whether there are any big gains to be made in the end, it establishes a way of working, which is crucial to unity in fighting the fascists.

I think Sean's approach is a litmus test of how Marxists orientate in a complex situation maintaining principals and yet using the most flexible tactics. It's an exciting idea which helps in a number of ways,

The rigid positions which could arise out of categorically defining PASOK as a workers' party or a bourgeois party becomes concretely irrelevant. Furthermore, this non-sectarian approach to PASOK supporters, which Sean is suggesting, helps cut across possible sectarian differences, which could arise on the issue and which could at the least waste time fighting the fascists and at worse even split a UF.

Moreover, I believe that Sean's approach of an open arms, non-sectarian appeal to rank and file PASOK workers to join or form anti-fascist action groups, could actually also be the basis of the same approach to attract people, who don't yet align themselves with the left, but want to stop fascism. It would draw people toward socialist ideas through fighting together on this issue.

Why not also call on members of the public generally to set up grass root "non-party" anti-fascist groups or for the Left to set them up as well. Of course, the different left parties and groups can create their own anti-fascist fighting groups, as Trotsky said, but we demand that they act with others in united front activities. The KKE would probably be a good example of how this would have to be approached.

Sean's approach to PASOK supporters could in fact, also help us to oppose and undercut any tendencies towards Popular Front, class collaboration. This type of approach helps us to be flexible, but at the same time implacably opposed to any moves towards creating a Popular Front, which we should expect to arise as a demand from some on the left, probably even from the leadership of SYRIZA itself.

By suggesting that grass root, non-party antifascist groups are welcome in any UF, including those which involve people who vote for bourgeois parties, it allows to put forward a concrete alternative to Popular Frontism. In fact, it gives us a much stronger position with which to oppose Popular Frontism, rather than just putting forward “theoretical” objections. New Democracy supporters are welcome to participate non-party anti-fascist groups, we encourage it, but at the same time there cannot be any question of alliances or Popular Fronts with the New Democracy Party or other right wing and center parties at a national level. It shows that we will always attempt to reach even the most backward of workers and also win the middle classes to our side, which is a crucial strategy in defeating fascism.

Finally, it could also be necessary to have a similar approach towards the KKE. Its vote has also collapsed to about 4% (PASOK has 8%) as a result of its sectarian attitude and also in the main working class areas where they have a base. But in and around them are excellent working class fighters led astray by the leaders ultra-sectarian position or disappointed and looking for a fighting alternative. Should the KKE refuse to participate in any UF, then an appeal should be made to their rank and file to form their own anti-fascist groups or, for those which the KKE might establish itself, to demand that they unite in joint activities at a local level with other anti-fascist groups. Here also, the creation of union and workplace anti-fascist action groups would be an ideal forum to involve KKE members or former supporters to fight in a united way.

But above all it is the strategy of a non-sectarian bottom up approach to building a united front which is crucial. It is quite probable that SYRIZA will not use its huge authority effectively as the largest party in the country to mobilize the attack on fascism in any practical way. There will be confusion among the left in general. But the key thing is turn out to the youth and workers at a rank and file level and concentrate on the youth in the estates, the workers in the factories as the base to defeat fascism.

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