The positions of the KKE are clear and based on the objective interests of the working class, the strategy which she proposes, the analyse she makes of the ACTUAL situation is CONCRETE, focussed on the final task: organisation and mobilisation and raising consciousness of the working class and everyone who can be united with the working class on taking the power, expropriate the (monopoly-)capitalists and begin to build communist production-relations by its first stage: socialism (I highlighted some parts of the text with “italic-fat”). The KKE is trying to make a clear distinction between revolutionary and reformist (and opportunist) positions.
The positions of the DKP are rather general, by which revolution and socialism is lying in a far future, so the “daily work” in the class struggle is based on proposing as radical as possible “reforms”, and so making of themselves the most left reformists and so NOT taking firm positions against opportunism and reformism.
The KKE
“The communist movement must lay solid revolutionary foundations and overcome its crisis, to become more capable in the struggle to organize the working class, to build the necessary socio-political alliance, to acquire a higher level in the effort to concentrate forces with the aim of escalating the conflict against the forces of capital, for the overthrow of capitalist barbarity, for socialism.
Unquestionably the liberal and social-democratic parties as well as the parties which have abandoned the principles of the Marxist-Leninist worldview and have slid down the path of class conciliation, and opportunism have taken a clear position. They have chosen the path of defending and managing capitalism regardless of the excuses and pretexts they use.
What we need are communist parties that believe in the principles of the class struggle, the historical necessity of the struggle for the overthrow of the regime of the exploitation of man by man, the construction of the new society, socialism-communism, to adapt their strategy and tactics to these goals which are the essence and raison d’etre of a communist party, the greatest possible contribution to the interests of the working class and popular strata. (...)
... (T)he needs of the concentration, education and organization of working class popular forces in the workplaces and neighbourhoods based on a non-negotiable goal.
The rupture with big capital and the imperialist unions for the overthrow of the power of the monopolies, the overthrow of the exploitative relations of production and their replacement by working class, people’s socialist power, socialist relations of production.(,,,,)
The KKE many years ago, in 1996 at its 15th congress adjusted its strategy and tactics to the new needs created by the development of capitalism, the dominance and strengthening of monopoly capital, the assimilation of Greece into the imperialist unions the European Union and NATO.
Through the study of the objective situation, assessing that capitalist relations of production have (further) developed in Greece and that capitalism is in its highest (monopoly) imperialist stage it came to the conclusion that the material pre-conditions for socialism have matured even further. The congress mentioned that in our era, the era of the passage from capitalism to socialism, the class struggle is directed towards the resolution of the basic contradiction between capital and labour. The revolutionary change in Greece will be socialist. The motor forces of the socialist revolution will be the working class as the leading force, the semi-proletarians, the poor farmers and the most oppressed sections of popular urban petty bourgeois strata.
On this basis the anti-monopoly anti-imperialist line of rallying was determined as an instrument, as a means to concentrate forces, a foundation for the alliance policy of the party and its activity in the labour and people’s movement with the aim of resolving the central problem of power, the winning of people’s power which will transform the economic base with its basic characteristic feature being the socialization of the concentrated means of production and central planning.
The necessary adjustments in the following 3 congresses were made in this direction, enriching the strategy and tactics of the party. And this feature is particularly apparent at the 18th Congress in 2009 where the strategy of the KKE was enriched with the utilisation of a special decision on the causes and factors which led to the overthrow of socialism, mainly based on the experience of the Soviet Union.
It is obvious that the KKE by adjusting its strategy to the new needs of the class struggle, escaped from the rationale of “stages” which was a characteristic feature of the strategy of the communist movement over the past decades and remains in the programmes of many communist parties.
The decision of the KKE is supported by the objective reality which highlights that there can be no intermediate socio-economic system (between capitalism and socialism-communism) and consequently there can be no intermediate form of power. (....)
We know very well the counter-argument and the arguments which are used against the strategic direction of the KKE and we table our arguments for discussion and for reflection in an attempt to highlight the objective elements which lead to this choice.
Capitalism is a historically outdated system which no form of management can give a human face.(,,,)
We focus our attention on the laws of the system themselves. On the basic law for the acquisition of surplus value, unpaid labour and profit for the monopolies which is the core of the exploitative nature of capitalism and is not altered by any form of management whatever it is called. Since the functioning of this law regardless of the policy formulas implemented determines the exploitative character of the economy.
We focus our attention on the sharpening of the basic contradiction between the social character of production and labour (on the one hand) which sets millions of worker in motion, workers who produce the wealth and the (on the other hand) the private capitalist appropriation of the results of this process which operates in our period at higher levels than before and is based on the power of capital and its ownership of the means of production.
It is precisely this contradiction which leads to capitalist crises, makes the system constantly more aggressive and more reactionary. And this has been demonstrated by the recent experience of the capitalist crisis which has affected Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Ireland and other EU member-states as well as the USA, Japan and other capitalist countries according to the phase of the cycle which each country finds itself in.
This contradiction cannot be overcome by any formula for the management of the system and the downgrading of the basic contradiction, in the name of “national specificities” which traps communist parties in mistaken positions. (...)
The position that capitalism is a historically outdated system does not only concern Greece or other capitalist states with an intermediate position in the imperialist system which have been intensely affected by the crisis. It concerns the system as a whole including the strongest developed capitalist states where the high level of the exploitation of the working class is a characteristic feature (due to the increase of labour productivity) and the high profitability of the monopolies. And in these states (e.g. USA, Germany, France, Britain, Japan etc) it is undeniable that there the people’s needs cannot be satisfied, the level of unemployment remains high, labour and social security rights are being abolished, social services are being commodified.
What is the response to this situation from the standpoint of the interests of the working class, the popular strata, from the standpoint of social progress? (,,,)
The response is the struggle for socialism. And this is not an academic issue. This is not simply just another issue. It is the basic and the dominant issue that determines all the others. The reference to the term socialism in the programme, or in the documents of a communist party or the acceptance of the necessity and timeliness of socialism are not enough. This is generally the case but it is of little value when the other programmatic choices overshadow the struggle for socialism and the tactics which are determined are fragmented and arise from an intermediate goal for the management of the system.
The basic issue is the struggle for socialism and the demands that it has. So that this struggle will determine in practice the orientation in the labour movement, the political framework in which the communists struggle against capitalist exploitation, the demands, the goals of struggle, the building of the class unity of the working class, the alliance policies, the elaborations of the party on the people’s problems.
So the exploitative system, the forces of capital and its political representatives must find themselves in the dock, the alternative solution must be promoted which is not general or vague like “development”, “democracy”, “social progress”, but development (socialist) with as its criterion the satisfaction of the people’s needs without capitalists and capitalist profit, with the passing of wealth produced by the workers into their control.
Only in this instance, in a very hostile environment, where the capitalists and the bourgeois state use the most modern methods of manipulation, intimidation, repression and opportunism is carrying out an organized attempt to corrupt the people’s consciousness can you assist the development of the consciousness of the working class and popular strata and prepare and mature the subjective factor so that it corresponds (as far as is possible) with the needs of the class struggle. And this must lend impetus to the workers’ struggle, so that they decide to take part in activity even in the most difficult conditions, to come into conflict at the side of the revolutionary party with their class opponents.
Otherwise (if this battle is not fought) the working class, the poor popular strata, the interests of which (objectively) are in direct contradiction with capitalism, will accept the exploitative system as the only solution and will be worn down in every version of bourgeois management, and will be disarmed. (,,,)
The classics of our worldview posed the necessity of overthrowing capitalism from the “Communist Manifesto” onwards.
They posed it later even more urgently, utilising the experience of the first proletarian revolution, in the “Paris Commune”.
The following extract from Engel’s’ 1888 prologue to Marx’s text On the Question of Free Trade is characteristic.
“misery of the great mass of the people, in consequence of overproduction. This overproduction engendering either periodical gluts and revulsions, accompanied by panic, or else a chronic stagnation of trade; division of society into a small class of large capitalist, and a large one of practically hereditary wage-slaves, proletarians, who, while their numbers increase constantly, are at the same time constantly being superseded by new labour-saving machinery; in short, society brought to a deadlock, out of which there is no escaping but by a complete remodelling of the economic structure which forms it basis”
The great October Socialist Revolution itself, its socialist character, at the beginning of the 20th century, in a backward capitalist country with a very numerous peasant and petty bourgeois elements answered in a practical way the quest of the revolutionaries in that period and refuted the supporters of opportunism.
The defeat of the revolution in 1905, the Tsarist offensive, and the repression were decisively resisted. The Bolshevik party under the guidance of Lenin regrouped, acquired the necessary strategy and tactics, continued its preparation for the revolutionary overthrow in unfavourable conditions not only of feudal autocracy but also of bourgeois power.
Lenin and the Bolsheviks did not choose the lesser evil, they did not lose themselves in the quest for management solutions, they did not treat as absolute the negative correlation of forces which a few months before the October Revolution were negative for the Bolsheviks and in favour of the opportunists in the Soviets and in the elections for the constituent assembly.1
They made it absolutely clear: “No support for the Provisional Government" ” as was stated by Lenin in the April Theses, 1917. “The passing of state power from one class to another is the first, the principal, the basic sign of a revolution, both in the strictly scientific and in the practical political meaning of that term.”
We mention these things, taking into account the discussion which is being held in the communist movement concerning this period reiterating that the crucial element is the change of the class which is in power and this can only happen via the revolutionary road. This has in any case been demonstrated by many years of experience which can protect us from parliamentary illusions. Taking into account that in no country at any time in history has an exploitative regime been overthrown through parliamentary processes.
The classic works referred to the overthrow of capitalism and the necessity of socialism at the end of 19th century, at the beginning of 20th century. Today, when the material preconditions have matured to an unprecedented degree we have no right to retreat from this position.
Some comrades say: “the conditions in each country are different”. Of course the law of uneven development leads to differences in the level of capitalist development; there can be differences in the social structure of each capitalist society, different levels in the maturity of the working class’ consciousness, differences in the correlation of forces. The communist parties do and should take into consideration these facts when they elaborate their strategy and tactics, their policy of alliances. Nevertheless, there are several general rules, fundamental principles which wherever violated led to deviations including the so called “Euro-communism” that in the name of national peculiarity violated and abolished every revolutionary principle. The development of capitalism, the global emergence of monopolies is the main issue that determines the fact that the system is in its last, in its imperialist stage and stresses that the material conditions for the construction of the new system, social-communism have matured.
The classic works of our worldview analysed many years ago the essence of the issue of national peculiarities. Therefore, the classic reference of Engels in the preface of the American edition of the “The Condition of the Working Class in England” in 1887 is very useful. Engels stresses that “The causes that brought into existence the abyss between the working class and the capitalist class are the same in America as in Europe; the means of filling up that abyss are equally the same everywhere. Consequently, the platform of the American proletariat will in the long run coincide, as to the ultimate end to be attained, with the one which, after sixty years of dissensions and discussions, has become the adopted platform of the great mass of the European militant proletariat. It will proclaim, as the ultimate end, the conquest of political supremacy by the working class, in order to effect the direct appropriation of all means of production ― land, railways, mines, machinery, etc. ― by society at large, to be worked in common by all for the account and benefit of all”.
The KKE studies and draws lessons from the international experience of the communist and labour movement but also from its own historical course. The most crucial mistakes that entail a high price are related to the abandonment of the ideological-political and organizational independence of the revolutionary party in favour of formations of cooperation, or coalitions. There plenty of examples in the communist movement, which led to a long-lasting setback to the assimilation or even to the dissolution of the Communist Parties.
The policy of alliances is a policy of strategic importance. It is determined by the basic, strategic line of the party and this is a very crucial element that requires revolutionary consistency. Every deviation from this duty in the name of maneuvers, temporary electoral gains sets the party back, cancels whatever the CP achieved in the previous period, puts at risk the very revolutionary existence of the party.(,,,)
The communists, the working people must examine the positions of each party and draw their own conclusions.
The CC of the KKE analysed with a high sense of responsibility the election result which was negative for our people and our party. It organized essential discussions both within the party as well as with friends and supporters. We discussed about the tactics in the elections, the deficiencies, the delays, the shortcomings. We gathered very useful remarks and elaborated a plan for the activity for the next period.
The CC, the leading bodies of the organizations, the members and the friends of the KKE confirmed that the position of the party that rejected the participation in a government of bourgeois management with SYRIZA or other forces was correct and necessary.
The forces of the party and the friends of the party support the position that stresses that a revolutionary party cannot have two faces, one in the every day activity and one for the elections; that It cannot struggle on a daily basis for the concentration of forces and the conquest of power and in the elections ruin this work and talk about a management-government in order to satisfy the expectations of the masses for an “easy” and dead-end solution. (,,,)
No government that manages capitalism, the power of the monopolies and the private ownership over the means of production, no government that implements a programme which is based on the profits of capitalists, on the competitiveness, the productivity and the profitability of the big business groups can follow a political line in favour of the working class and the popular strata.
There is no such government that can control the laws of the system and its contradictions or postpone the outbreak of the capitalist crisis. Sooner or later the promises about the “relief” of the people will unravel, they will prove to be hot air while the “wait and see” attitude, the expectations for something better will be followed by the disillusionment of the people, the retreat of the labour movement.
Consequently, it is of great significance that the KKE maintained a principled position rejecting the rationale of participating in a government of bourgeois management while at the same time continuing the class struggle against the difficulties, intensifying the struggle for all the problems of the people creating the conditions for the liberation from the bonds of exploitation.
Thus, we move forward placing more emphasis on the regroupement of the labour movement, on the strengthening of the class oriented movement, of PAME, on the improvement of the activity and on the class orientation of the trade unions. We place more emphasis on the policy of alliances which we elaborated at the 15th Congress and at the subsequent ones for the construction of the sociopolitical alliance, the construction of the anti-imperialist anti-monopoly front of struggle based on the alliance of the working class with the small and medium-sized farmers, the urban petty bourgeois strata with the participation of women and youth. We continue the effort for the formation of the sociopolitical conditions that will lead to the escalation of the struggle for the people’s power, the disengagement from the European Union and NATO, the unilateral cancellation of the debt, the socialization of the concentrated means of production, the development in favour of the people.
It has been scientifically confirmed both by our theory and practice that the utilization of the productive capacities of the country, the development of industry, agricultural production and the other sectors of economy according to the needs of the people requires the solution of two crucial problems that of economy and that of the ownership over the means of production, the development of economy on the basis of central planning.
Only in that case is it possible to solve the problem of the unemployment, to guarantee free upgraded social services, to ensure healthy nutrition for the people, the protection of the environment, to abolish the basis of the capitalist crises and the inter-imperialist rivalries. This is the position of the KKE and this position gives it strength for the every day struggle. 2“
1Boudewijn Deckers (WPB), in 2004 introduced the idea in the WPB, that the RESULTS in ELECTIONS define the STRATEGY of communist parties (an idea which is NOT shared with the KKE). One argument he used:"Just end of August 1917 the Soviet of Petrograd chose in majority for the Bolchevics followed on 5 september by the Soviet of Moskou. This lead to Lenin's conclusion that the massa's were ripe for revolution."
2http://inter.kke.gr/News/news2013/2013-01-02-arthro-marinoy, “Certain Issues Regarding the Communist Movement Emerging from the Experience of the KKE - Article of Giorgos Marinos, member of the PB of the CC of KKE. An abridged version of the article was published in the Journal of the German Communist Party “Marxistische Blätter” issue 5, 2012.”
The DKP
“Socialism can not be reached by mere reforms but only by far-reaching changes and the revolutionary overcoming of capitalist power and private ownership. Precondition for this is a fundamental change of the balance of forces in favor of the working class and its allies. Social balances of forces however do not change on their own but by class struggle. Counter-power must be built by strengthening the organization and the ability to fight of the trade unions, by labor action and by the activities of democratic and social movements. The more changes toward self-determination in work and in society, towards more democratic control, towards demilitarization and democratization of state and of society are achieved, the more influence the democratic and socialist forces gain wherever opinions are formed, the better the chances in the struggle will be to push back the power of monopoly capitalism and to open the road to socialism. (,,,) At present the protection of constitutional rights, the protection of those social and democratic achievements already achieved by the working class against the neo-liberal onslaught of state and capital power are on the agenda. We are also called to restore and protect our natural resources from being threatened by unbridled striving for profits, to shield peace against the war politics of US-mperialism and to combat the hegemonial strivings of both German and European Imperialism. Under present conditions, struggles of defense will be the focus of an entire phase of struggles. And even these struggles will only prove successful if a truly higher level in the mobilization of the labor forces both in productive and the administrative sectors, of the unemployed and pensioners, of all those suffering from the demolition of social and democratic achievements is reached and if a new and forceful momentum in the peace and progressive social movements can be achieved. At the same time in these struggles to defend what was achieved the forces for progressive reforms, for a change to democratic and social progress can and must be collected. Joint action and international networking has an increasingly higher level of importance in the framework of globalization. The DKP assumes that the scope for social and democratic reforms has been much reduced due to global economic networks and the power of transnational corporations as well as to immense state debts and the disappearance of pressure for progressive reforms due to the demise of the socialist states in Europe. This however does not mean communists are to give up the struggle for reforms. (...) No effective social resistance will develop without seemingly realistic alternatives; without resistance all progressive ideas are deemed illusionary. It is thus necessary to combine beginnings of resistance with perspectives of changes and reforms (...)... In the period ahead it will be necessary to bundle much broader social forces than just those on the left in the resistance against neo-liberal politics. Only the formation of broad alliances comprising different social forces capable of continuing their own recurring reconstruction over new and different issues and in which the working class plays the decisive role can bring forth the preconditions to stop society..s move to the right and the neo-liberal reconstruction of society. And only if these alliances develop into stable coalitions and become a solid social and political bloc against Neo-Liberalism will the balance of forces be changed to a position of offering a viable perspective to the struggle for social alternatives. Without anti-monopolistic encroachments it will be impossible to carry out reforms to achieve the required redistribution of wealth from above to below, from private super-profits to public cash-boxes, from the rich to the poor countries. The DKP presumes it feasible and necessary for the anti-monopolistic struggle to result in these and other anti-monopolistic structural changes that lead to a weakening of the omnipotence of monopoly capitalism, thus widening the scope of influence of the working class and its allies to open the road to the further struggle for socialism. The decisive step must be the conversion of the banks, insurance companies and corporations dominating production and markets in other strategically important sectors of economy into democratically controlled public property. (,,,) This struggle can lead to anti-monopolistic transition, the prerequisite being the formation of an anti-monopolistic bloc with such strong power and influence both in and out of parliament as to allow for the building of a government representing the common interests. With the support of strong forces out of parliament, of the organizations of the working class and with the formation of a new democratic power it will be possible to start deep political and economic changes resulting in the break of the power of monopoly capital. The DKP has always viewed anti-monopolistic and socialist revolution as interlacing stages of development in a unified revolutionary process of transition from capitalism to socialism. Anti-monopolistic upheaval means a period of revolutionary struggle in which elements of capitalism will still be existent and the seeds of socialism are already visible. (,,,) As a result of the economic and political processes in the developed capitalist countries, including Germany, an ever-increasing polarization of society has taken place. On the one side you have a small group of business tycoons, bank directors and multi-millionaires. On the other side stand the overwhelming majority of workers, white-collar employees, civil servants, agricultural laborers, intellectuals, freelancers, as well as small and middle-size entrepreneurs. (,,,) The existence of a large stratum of exploited and marginalized people makes it necessary and possible to bring all these disadvantaged people together in an alternative political and social project, to unite them in their totality, while maintaining their diversity and autonomy. The more these social blocs that evolve at the national level act and link up with each other internationally, the more power they will have to enforce socio-political alternatives. (,,,) The working class constitutes the decisive force in the struggle against the power of capital and for socialism. Within capitalist society it is the class which due to its position in the social system of production experiences capitalist exploitation in the most direct manner. Not being the owners of the means of production, workers and employees are forced to sell their capacity for work. Society couldn..t exist without their work. In our highly industrialized country they are the main producers of all value. The working class has no particular interests divergent from the interests of mankind at large. It is from this social status it derives the power to become the main force in resistance and in the changing of society. Workers and employees constitute the vast majority of the population of Germany. The millions of workers who have an immigrant background have been augmenting the ranks of the German working class.(,,,) The working class has undergone significant structural changes during the last couple of decades mainly under the influence of the scientific and technological revolution. Professional profiles and qualification characteristics have changed. (,,,) The working class in our country is quite heterogeneous in regard to its composition, to the work pursued, to labor conditions, to overall general conditions of life, to the cultural origins and traditions as well as to the experience gathered in labor struggle. (,,,) The working class has common class interests. It is confronted by big capital, a mighty class opponent that is highly organized, acting in unity, having at its disposal all means of power and manipulation of public opinion Social progress is conceivable only if the working class acts in unity and is prepared to enter alliances. (,,,) The international working class, which formed national departments according to the different production and living conditions, developed with capitalism. With increasing standardization of the conditions of production the preconditions grow for the global unification of the working class, even if the consciousness for this process has not yet matured. The material basis is the intensification of the international division of labor. (,,,). Communists counteract this by taking a determined internationalistic stance. This means that the working class movement has to organize itself in international networks along the lines of the global production networks in order to be capable of developing opposing power within the transnational corporations. The support of cooperation of the working class with is full strength, the stressing of common interests, the advancement of unified action, and the contributing to the development of class-consciousness .. that is the task and principle of the DKP. The DKP and the Labor Unions Labor unions play a key role in organizing the working class and in the distribution of power between the classes. The German Trade Union League (DGB) with its sub-trade unions is the most comprehensive class organization of workers, employees, and public servants, the organized expression of their common class interests. The principle of politically united unions, not seperated by different party affiliations, was an essential precondition for the working class in this country in enforcing and defending significant social and democratic achievements in the past. In the formation of these unions communists played a significant role after the liberation from Hitler-Fascism and they always contribute actively to them. As an ..invisible negotiation partner.. for West German workers the existence of the GDR (German Democratic Republic) used to be an important ally in the labor struggle. It is for this reason, too, that the defeat of socialism in Europe has deeply affected the organized labor movement, especially the labor unions in the German Federal Republic. The DKP is convinced that strong labor unions orientated on the needs of the working class and taking up the struggle on its behalf will continue to be indispensable in the future. It acts in order to strengthen labor unions. The Party defends bargaining rights and relating legislation ,,,(,,,) If unions want to have a future, they must put an end to their subordination under the SPD (Social Democratic Party), commit themselves to independent political representation and become, as a political force in their own right, part of a mass movement against unemployment and neo-liberal destruction. Labor unions are indispensable for the formation of a forceful political counterweight in enterprises and society. The DKP strives to help overcome contradictions and inconsistencies within the policies of the labor unions in order to improve their image and regain credibility and fighting power. (,,,,) The DKP wants shop stewards also representing the young adults in vocational training and labor councils to be strong and combatant. It supports labor union cooperation at the European and the international level to prevent national workforces being played off against each other and to enable them to act jointly in the class struggles. (...) The political landscape in Germany is undergoing key changes. The major parties and the political system, determining factors in Germany..s course for the past decades, are losing their integrative power. Right parties and rightist positions are gaining ground. Left-wing influence within the SPD (Social Democratic Party) and the Grünen (Green Party) has even more declined. The years of their coalition government were characterized by social cutbacks, the undermining of democratic rights, and the aim of establishing Germany as a world power. This context has made room for political movements picking up social reformist ideas jettisoned by the SPD, voicing opposition to the deployment of German military forces and attempting the defense of the social and democratic rights achieved in the past. Elected representatives of leftist parties and coalitions, especially the communists use their platforms in parliament to propagate anti-capitalist alternatives, inspiring out-of-parliamentary struggles. By the same measure leftist parliamentarians need the support and the pressure of these out-of-parliamentary groups to the end of their respective political efficacy. The activities of leftist forces, parties, and organizations have increased. The chances of bundling these diverse forces through cooperation of social and political movements launching joint demands and instigating common initiatives have improved. There are many jointly shared viewpoints and common interests in the struggle to defend social achievements and democratic rights and liberties, as well as in the struggle to preserve peace. Their criticism of the established order frequently makes visible a similarity in outlook. In many activities and also in elections they cooperate or act in parallel or supportive manners. At the same time the DKP differs from these other groupings in its ideological stance, in its self-understanding as a political party, in its program, and in its understanding of reform and revolution which thus partly leads to different practical policies. The DKP will continue to participate in the ongoing discussions between parties and organizations of the Left and other anti-capitalist Leftists. It strives to conduct discussions in ways that will promote united action rather than complicate it. Communists and Democratic Alliances Opposition is growing against social cut-backs, the undermining of democracy, militarization and politics of war, against racism and against neo-fascist perils in our country and in other centers of imperialism, against the consequences of imperialist globalization for the people of the poor countries. The members of the DKP participate actively in democratic movements, alliances and in local initiatives. The DKP is aware that all these movements determine the content and form of the struggle themselves. Members of the DKP will commit themselves with all determination for the goals worked out in common, while contributing to the debate on strategies and social alternatives their own ideological and political positions. (,,,) When they are participating in initiatives, the members of the DKP ask the fundamental question of the ownership of the means of production as the key question of each and every movement. (,,,) The DKP fights in and together with the peace movement for a world in which international relations are based on equal rights, non-intervention in domestic affairs, on the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states. The DKP calls for the strengthening of the UN and of international law. To this end it is mandatory to make the UN more democratic. Every kind of imperialist and interventionist power politics is to be banned. (,,,) Many initiatives, alliances, and movements are fighting against the cut-back of social and democratic achievements as well as against the privatization of public property. In doing so, they develop novel organizational forms and strategies. New in this development is the growing disposition of labor unions, social protest movements, as well as peace movements and movements for democracy to join forces in order to discuss alternatives and courses of action, to work out common strategies and to act in unity. (,,,) Members of the DKP are active in anti-fascist organizations and alliances.(,,,) The DKP defends the antifascist legacy .. including the legacy of the anti-fascist resistance between 1933 and 1945, the struggle of the anti-fascists after 1945 in the German Federal Republic, and the anti-fascist stance of the GDR. It defends the anti-fascist intentions of the German constitution. Together with other anti-fascists we demand that fascist parties and organizations are dissolved and banned. (,,,) The DKP wants working class youth to join forces with their elder colleagues in their struggle in enterprises and in the unions. It wants to convince students and young intellectuals that they can only reach their aims if they are united with the working class movement.(,,,) New organizations have emerged. The international character of these protests and their growing networks represent a new quality in the movements of protest. The DKP participates in this international network of counter forces, mainly by working within the social forum movement and by cooperating with other Communist parties and Left organizations. The efficency of the social and political movements of protest against neo-liberalism and the consequences of capitalist globalization will depend upon: § the re-enforcement and coordination of the resistance of workforces and labor unions at the domestic and the international level; § the degree of success in combining international class struggles with actions of the social movements against the consequences of imperialist globalization in addition to the degree of success in mobilizing against the common main adversary: the transnational corporations; § the degree of success in developing strategies, as for example international strike networks adequate for the achievement of proclaimed political aims; § the degree of success in strengthening the revolutionary part of the movement fighting for the changing of society. VI. The DKP .. Party of the working class The DKP is dedicated to the future and general interests of the workers and employees as a class, acting as a politically conscious and always constructive part of the movement. It is conceived as a revolutionary party § upholding the interests of the vast majority of the people in this country .. especially the working class and the other working people, the unemployed as well as those dependent on social welfare - against the power and profit-oriented politics of big capital § dedicated to the working class as the decisive power changing society as well as to the development of its class struggle and its class consciousness. § contributing towards strengthening and uniting the various social forces in their resistance to neo-liberal politics § continually developing its scientific foundation, the theory of Marx, Engels and Lenin, according to the conditions of todays.. struggles § aiming for the breach with the capitalist conditions of property and power and for socialism. The DKP is a party of resistance against the social-reactionary, anti-democratic and peacethreatening policies of the ruling circles and a anti-fascist...party of proletarian internationalism. The goal of the DKP is socialism/communism. To win a majority for this aim .. this is what the DKP stands for. The historic road of the communists The DKP stands in the traditions of the communist movement and has developed as result of the more than 150 years of struggles of the German and international working class movement against capitalist exploitation and oppression, against militarism and war. The DKP stands in the tradition of the ..League of Communists.., of revolutionary social democracy, the Spartacus League and the KPD, Communist Party of Germany. (,,,) The DKP fights in the spirit and tradition of August Bebel, Wilhelm Liebknecht, Franz Mehring, Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht, Clara Zetkin, Ernst Thälmann, Wilhelm Pieck and Max Reimann. From the beginnings of their movement, communists have fought against oppression and exploitation, against the privileges of the ruling circles at the cost of the impoverishment of the masses, against warfare, intellectual manipulation and being made stupid. They strive towards the emancipation of the people, for social progress, for a world of peace, for the rights of all to participate in the cultural wealth both of history and of the present. They are the keepers of the traditions of past progressive movements, continue the philosophical ideas of enlightenment and stand for the ideas of humanism, condensed by Karl Marx in the revolutionary claim to ..overthrow all conditions in which man becomes a humiliated, an enslaved, a forsaken, a despised being... It is our task as communists to gather the historical experiences of our movement and of the construction of socialism if we now aim for a socialist society under new conditions. We reject anti-communist falsifications. We defend the legitimacy of our movement which has inspired millions and millions of people to fight for their rights and for peace. We commemorate theses struggles but are at the same time conscious on the fact that mistakes, wrong and crimes flank our history. These must be prevented in future. (,,,) Today in Germany we can learn from the experiences of two systems of society. (,,,) It was due to its stance against remilitarisation and for German unity the FDJ (Free German Youth) and later on, in 1956, the KPD were prohibited in 1956. (,,,) The DKP (,,,) demands the lifting of the prohibition of the KPD. (,,,)Philosophical foundations The philosophy, the politics and the organisational principles of the DKP are based on scientific socialism as founded by Marx, Engels and Lenin, which must continually be advanced in order not to fall behind new realities. The DKP fights for the unhindered spreading of Marxism-Leninism. (,,,) The DKP propagates the socialist ideas. Communists introduce class positions into trade union and social movements. The DKP strives to reduce the influence of bourgeois ideology and reformist positions in the working class. It is determined to combat anti-communism and nationalism. This necessarily includes the arguing with racist and fascist positions as well as the reflection of their ideological and social causes. The DKP links the furthering of education and political information, of..the propagation of its goals as closely as possible to the purpose of active support and advancement of political action on this basis. (,,,)
Proletarian Internationalism Under the conditions of imperialist globalisation and the further formation of the European Union the internationalisation of class struggle increases. This puts the necessity of an international answer from communist parties and organisations as well as the need for an understanding within the world-wide anti-capitalist movement on the agenda. (,,,) The DKP is guided by the experience that the strengthening of the international revolutionary movement results in the strengthening of the revolutionary forces within the borders of the different countries. The DKP links the consistent work for the cause of working people in its own country with solidarity and support of the progressive forces all over the world. The DKP acts on the basis of the principle that each communist party develops its own policies independently and is responsible to the working class and society of its own country as well as to the working people in all countries. The DKP is bound in solidarity to those countries clinging to a path of socialist orientation, choosing such a path today or walking on it tomorrow. At the same time it supports progressive developments and anti-imperialist movements in other countries in solidarity. (,,,,) Social security and justice, democracy and freedom, peace and socialism .. these are the goals the German Communist Party is fighting for.... 1“
1Program of the DKP German Communist Party. Adopted on April 8th, 2006 by the 17th National – Congress of the DKP – German Communist Party.