The political and social context of the 1920s was favorable to theemergence of multiple bulletins, magazines and other union newspapers,on a national, local or even professional scale, such as Droit ouvrier,the first legal monthly emanating from the General Confederation of work(CGT). Four years after the birth of Le Peuple, the daily newspaper ofthe CGT, a "communist unionist" monthly, entitled La Révolutionprolétarienne, saw the light of day. Here is the origin of its creationIn January 1925, the first issue of La Révolution prolétarienneappeared, subtitled "monthly communist syndicalist review"[1]. Twomonths earlier, on November 22, 1924, Pierre Monatte, Alfred Rosmer andVictor Delagarde[2]published their Letters to Members of the CommunistParty.Excerpt: "There is a lot of talk about homogeneity, alignment,discipline. From the top to the bottom of the Party, a cascade ofslogans is established which must be obeyed without understanding andabove all without murmuring anything other than the sacramental:Captain, you are right[3]!A barracks mentality is created and the morals of NCOs take hold. It isonly a question of the device to operate, of permanence to establish.Soon the bureaucracy will take over from that of the French state. It issaid that the party must be an iron cohort. In reality, anyone who showscharacter must be broken.[...]We must bow, not before ideas or decisionstaken by the organization, but before men.By this means, it is not solid cadres that we are preparing, it is notan iron cohort that we are forming, but a regiment of slugs.[...]The importance of the upcoming congress cannot escape all party members.What is important is not that we may be excluded, it is that, under thelabel of Bolshevization, current autocratic methods are beingaggravated, which are indeed the most flagrant disavowal of Bolshevismand of communism".Delagarde, Monatte and Rosmer are fighting against the "Bolshevization"of the PCF. The publication of this open letter in 1924 resulted in itsauthors being excluded from the party.These letters form a thirty-page brochure. The tone is harsh but thepositions documented.Delagarde, Monatte and Rosmer place their contributions in theperspective of the "next January congress": however, a few days later,they are thrown out of the party; on December 5, an extraordinarynational conference accused these "enemies of the proletariat, the Partyand the International" of "crass "Frossardism,"[4]anarchizingindividualism, poorly refined Trotskyism."Pierre Monatte (1881-1960), ex-anarchist, ex-leader of the CGT wanted tokeep the flame of revolutionary unionism alive by founding the RP.Looking back on this period, Colette Chambelland explains[5]:"The adhesion of these revolutionary trade unionists to the PC wassometimes immediate - this is the case of Alfred Rosmer who from 1920was a member of the small office of the Communist International,sometimes slow - this is the case of Pierre Monatte who will not issueits first stamp until May 1923.[...]Revolutionary syndicalism rejects parties - even socialist parties - tothe extent that they have no working base, where they take pleasure inparliamentary action, where they play the game of the bourgeoisie andclass collaboration, where they see in trade unionism not an autonomousforce but a sort of mass of maneuver that they govern. The Guesdistexperience, the anarchist experiences have only strengthened thesyndicalists in this opinion, well defined by the Charter of Amiens.[...]But revolutionary trade unionists do not refuse this "worker party" thatEmile Pouget thought of and which would be the workers' organization inall its strength, in all its breadth, in all its desire to transform theorganization of society. The Communist Party - purged from 1920 to 1923of its non-worker elements - will then appear to them as an authenticworkers' party, completely freed from social-democratic dross and ableto work on an equal footing with the unions.[...]The war and the success of the Russian Revolution were two great shocksfor them. The war aroused them with horror, the Sacred Union arousedthem with disgust. It is through their struggle - that of a handful -that they become closer to the Bolsheviks.[...]It is quite natural thatthe "Committee for the Resumption of International Relations" istransformed into the "Committee for Accession to the ThirdInternational".[...]The victorious, but violently attacked, Russianrevolution is an example - and not a model.[...]In 1923, all theserevolutionary trade unionists joined the Party and while active in theirtrade union organizations, they wrote in L'Humanité.[...]But the crisisbroke out in the spring of 1924. It was decisive.The International, the Russian party, takes on a new face. In France therepercussions are immediate; with Treint, the French party evenanticipates Moscow's decisions. On April 18, Treint, in the CommunistBulletin, criticized Monatte, Rosmer and Souvarine for being linked withthe Russian opposition and for favoring Trotsky's theses in the Frenchparty.On April 22, Monatte resigned from his responsibilities and concludedhis letter thus: "as a simple member of the Party, I will have morefreedom to defend my point of view". On April 23, in a collective letterA. Rosmer, F. Charbit, D. Antonini, V. Godonnèche, M. Chambelland,affirmed that "Party members from revolutionary unionism are treatedlike plague victims". They too[resign their responsibilities].[...]Themembers of the group of revolutionary trade unionists are graduallyleaving the "so-called communist party", as Maurice Chambelland writesin his resignation letter of September 24, immediately followed byexclusion. On October 5, Monatte, Rosmer and Delagarde sent a letter tothe Steering Committee; failing to obtain publication in the partypress, they published a letter to the members of the Communist Party onNovember 22 in a brochure (using the format of letters to subscribers ofLa Vie Travailleur de la Guerre).»This is the context which precedes the publication of the new journal.The small group of excluded resignations meets almost daily, even ifeveryone has returned to "ordinary" work: Chambelland is an accountant,Monatte a proofreader. The creation of a magazine appears to be anecessity: "The memory of La Vie Ouvrière of 1909 is vivid; quitenaturally they thought of founding a magazine.On December 26, 1924 Monatte submitted the title L'Action Ouvrière tothe periodical services of the Seine court. But the other members of the"core" (the term is taken from La Vie Ouvrière) refuse this too neutraltitle. Chamberbelland suggests October. This was the subject of fiercediscussions and Victor Godonnèche rallied the core to La Révolutionprolétarienne with the subtitle "syndicalist-communist review".» [6]The ambitions are explained in number 2: "What do we plan to do? Givethe French revolutionary movement the workers' magazine it lacks. Thedaily and the weekly have their task. A review has its own, which is notnegligible. It consists of studying the major theoretical and practicalquestions, drawing lessons from the events that occur, and collectingthe information and documents that activists need.[...]For some, we are too unionist. For others, we are too communist. Thosewho only need a catechism, whatever it may be, will probably not findwhat they are looking for here. But anyone who makes an effort to informthemselves honestly, to form an informed opinion, will not waste theirtime reading us.»Alfred Rosmer (1877-1964), trade unionist opposing the Great War,participated in the launch of the Third International, before breakingwith the PCF. He is one of the animators of the RP.In October 1925, Trotsky asked Monatte and Rosmer "although beingformally outside the Party, to act as soldiers of the Party", thereforeto cease the publication of The Proletarian Revolution and to appealtheir exclusions to the Inter ¬national communist.The refusal is clear and motivated: "We did not appeal because we areconvinced that it is in the policy and methods practiced by theleadership of the Communist International itself that lies the cause ofthe serious errors committed by its sections over the last two years;that this policy and these methods mark a break with previous policiesand methods, call into question the very principles on which theCommunist International was founded.[...]The normal consequence is thattoday there is room for a revolutionary outside the CommunistInternational. And another consequence is that a magazine like LaRévolution prolétarienne is a necessary organ.»Until 1939, publication ceased when war was declared. It resumed in 1945and, after a few twists and turns, continues today, quarterly. No. 835was published in December 2023., the magazine will welcome those whofight both against "the so-called communists" who corporalize the unionsand against the "reformists" who deny the class struggle. It was only in1930 that it changed its subtitle: from "communist syndicalist review",it became "revolutionary syndicalist review". But we will have theopportunity to talk about this again on the occasion of the magazine'shundredth anniversary, in January 2025.Christian Mahieux, member of the current editorial committee of LaRévolution prolétarienneChronologyDecember 1900 La Voix du peuple, official weekly of the CGT until 1914then monthly until 1946.October 5, 1909 La Vie Ouvrière, bimonthly trade unionist magazinecreated by Pierre Monatte. The magazine became the official organ of theGeneral Confederation of Unitary Labor (CGTU) after the split in 1921.April 27, 1911 La Bataille syndicaliste, revolutionary trade unionnewspaper of the CGT, daily.November 3, 1915 La Bataille, daily unionist organ until 1919 thenweekly until 1920, the year in which publication ceased.1920 Le Droit ouvrier, legal monthly of the CGT. It is the first Frenchjournal in the field of social law, labor and social security. It ceasedpublication in 1940, under the Vichy regime which banned all unions. Shereappeared in April 1948.January 4, 1921 The PeopleNovember 1, 1922 La Vie syndicale, monthly bulletin of the CGTU.January 1925 The Proletarian RevolutionTo validate[1]The review will become bimonthly from January 1927.[2]About the activists cited in the article, see the BiographicalDictionary of the Labor Movement: www.maitron.fr.[3]This is an allusion to Albert Treint who was then general secretaryof the Communist Party (PC): mobilized during the 1914-1918 war, he wasappointed captain in 1917.[4]First secretary of the French Section of the Communist International(SFIC, the PC) from January 1921 to January 1, 1923, Frossard returnedto the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO, the SocialistParty) in June 1924.[5]Colette Chambelland, "The birth of The Proletarian Revolution",Communisme, no 5, 1984.[6]Ibid.https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Presse-syndicale-dans-les-annees-1920-L-aube-de-La-Revolution-proletarienne_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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