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Bolshevik Revolution Centennial Series: The Epic Black Sea Revolt
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- 24 November 2017 151 hits
This is the part of an extensive series about the Bolshevik Revolution and the triumphs, as well as the defeats, of the world communist movement of the 20th century. We welcome your comments and criticisms, and encourage all readers to discuss this period of history with their friends, classmates, co-workers, family, and comrades.
In the pamphlet, The Epic of the Black Sea Revolt (1932), the French Communist André Marty reveals that the “war to end all wars” did not cease after 1917. (André Marty was one of the leaders of the revolt of the French sailors in 1919 and was arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Pardoned in 1923, he became a member of the Communist International, and at his suggestion the Soviet Union supported the Spanish Republic against the fascist forces in the Spanish Civil War 1936-9.)
Capitalist nations around the world and white armies continued to besiege the U.S.S.R. The revolts of French sailors represented one aspect of an immense world-wide movement against the aspirations of many imperialist countries.
Contrary to a popular legend, the “Black Sea Revolt” was not confined to mutinies of the crews on the French warships sent to the Black Sea in 1919. These included rebellions of the French troops stationed in the Southern Ukraine and the Crimea, as well as mutinies of French sailors on ships outside the Black Sea and in French ports.
To every soldier, the armistice of November, 1918, had meant that at last the imperialist war was over! But towards the end of I918, the Allied troops, by virtue of a special clause in the Armistice of November 11, had virtually replaced the German occupation troops in the Ukraine and in the Crimea. On December 18, 1918, the 156th Division dispatched from Salonika disembarked at Odessa. French soldiers there were engaged in severe fighting at the side of Russian White officers against Ukrainian soldiers. The shooting and the cannonade were distinctly heard on board the warships lying in the roadstead ready for battle. The continual skirmishes that followed the landing, and then the departure for a new front opened the eyes of the soldiers, “In France the war has ended, but here we are starting it all over again against a people’s republic!”
At the same time news filtered through to the soldiers and sailors about the powerful rebellions in France from men who had been on leave, from letters and from the new recruits about the workers’ problems there: unemployment and high cost of living, a rising wave of strikes for bread and progress, demonstrations against French PM Clemenceau’s military dictatorship and against the military intervention in Russia.
The French soldiers and sailors saw before them the very soldiers of the Bolshevik Revolution, whose inspiring revolution was rousing the masses of the people in France.
Russian and French Soldiers Unite
On their front, the Russian soldiers were committed to the practice of convincing enemy troops that they had become counter-revolutionaries. They concentrated their efforts on the most decisive factor, the French Army and Navy. These soldiers and sailors learned from the Bolshevik pamphlets—published in French—a remarkable knowledge of the everyday needs and demands of the French on the ships and in their trenches. The men came to realize that the Bolsheviks were actually defending their interests. The Bolsheviks explained what the October Socialist Revolution was, what it stood for, and what it meant for the workers of the whole world. Soon, French soldiers in Odessa protested vehemently when Russian workers were being led to prison.
The occupied zone extended from Tiraspol, in the Ukraine, and skirted the entire coast of the Black Sea. Protests began with the soldiers refusing to march. On January 30, a battalion of the 58th Infantry was marched with the object of seizing Tiraspol. The 58th abandoned the battle and turned protests into action by taking the artillery with them and cutting its telephone communications.
On April 5, Odessa was evacuated. Whole units left the city singing the lnternationale. It became necessary to send the entire French army it back to France.
Marty was arrested on April 16 at Galatz (Rumania), together with three other sailors who had worked out a plan for seizing the ship. That plan was sabotaged later.
Soldiers, Sailors Rebel
A revolt broke out on board the dreadnought (type of battleship) France. The next day, the crews of the sister ships, the France and the Jean-Bart—the latter the flagship of the Admiral—gathered on deck singing the Internationale, and hoisted the red flag on the bowsprit. Almost at the moment when the red flag was hoisted on the main mast of the France, the troops which had been landed from the ships left the forts and made their way to the shore. When they arrived at the quay, the sailors singing “Down with the tyrants and the war!” flung their ammunition boxes into the sea. In the days that followed they forced the squadron to depart from Sevastopol.
Demonstrations of sailors and soldiers took place in the city of Toulon. The crew of the dreadnought Provence, the flagship of the First Admiral, refused to set sail for the Black Sea. The demands were: “Liberation of all the mutineers of the Black Sea, cessation, of the war of intervention in Russia, immediate demobilization.” The government could not stem this fast movement except by a mass demobilization, by hastening to disarm many warships, and by recalling from Russia all the ships and the forces of intervention.
One fact is beyond dispute. As a result of the Black Sea Revolt, French imperialism was compelled to relinquish its stranglehold on the October Revolution. Then the masses of sailors, soldiers and workers rose in France—not only against the criminal designs of the French imperialists, but also against the official Social-Democratic leaders who had prostituted themselves to the bourgeoisie since 1914: the “ Right” Socialists, the “ Centre “, and the “Lefts” of the type of Paul Faure, as well as the trade union traitors.
For the international working class the Black Sea Revolt remains an example of what can be done by the power of the working class to demolish an imperialist state machine.
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APHA Hotbed of Struggle Against Racist Police Terror
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- 24 November 2017 151 hits
ATLANTA, November 8—The annual American Public Health Association (APHA) convention in Atlanta, which drew 12,000 attendees, was again a hotbed of struggle over racism. Led by members of Progressive Labor Party (PLP) and many young public health students and workers, the fight to pass two anti-racist resolutions became headline news.
Five Fightbacks and Counting
One resolution, proposed for the fifth time, called upon the United Nations to take responsibility for causing the massive cholera epidemic in Haiti, and also to take action and pay for public health and sanitation measures to stop it. This resolution had been passed in 2016 by a 94 percent margin, but it was for one year and the goal this year was to fight for it to be a permanent policy.
Despite the overwhelming support by workers last year, the policy board again gave it a negative rating this year. Every year these policy arbiters make new and often contradictory demands for changes to the resolution, but ultimately could never be satisfied because their disagreements are actually political. The racist reality is that they don’t care about workers’ lives in Haiti, and the APHA leadership doesn’t want to ruffle the UN.
Last year another resolution, to declare racist police violence a public health problem, was also passed temporarily, despite a negative review from the APHA leaders. They were forced to suspend their own rules to avoid a floor fight. The arbiters made suggestions for changes, all of which were answered by the ten young authors of the resolution, but they still rejected the end product.
Exposing Racist Hypocrisy
At a well-attended hearing open to all, 95 percent were strongly in favor of the resolution. Still, members of the Medical Care section who had endorsed both resolutions still raised certain objections to the resolution. One member agreed with the statement that “police are agents of social control” but said “you can’t say that.” The PLP member said it was the truth and we should say what is true.
Before the final vote about 75 members demonstrated loudly in front of the convention center, with chants such as “No APHA silence in the face of police violence.” Many then entered the hearing room as the debate proceeded. But this chance to call out the police and seriously attack racism was too much for the timid APHA leaders, who like to maintain cozy relations with Democratic politicians and law enforcement. They cut off debate and engineered a defeat by conservative delegates and many “liberals” who were afraid to take a stand against the police.
Young Anti-Racists Undaunted
Ten young public health students who co-authored the resolutions also presented sessions on police violence, racism, and on the conditions in Haiti. They attended other sessions where they leafleted and raised questions. The defeat did not discourage them because they realized that they had raised the issue of racism with thousands and exposed the cowardice and hypocrisy of the APHA leadership.
PLP members participated actively in writing these resolutions and building the struggle around them. In addition, we distributed 1,000 fliers which supported the resolutions but also explained that equitable and excellent health care is impossible under capitalism, because of the constant drive for profit in this system. We gave out CHALLENGE and held our annual breakfast to discuss our politics, our history of activity in APHA for decades past, and discuss the focus for next year. In many sessions we spoke from the floor about racism and capitalism. In so doing we cemented relationships with our young co-authors and made several new contacts.
Capitalist Healthcare Will Always Fail Working class
The APHA is a typical liberal organization, that claims to represent the interests of its members and be genuinely concerned about the public good. However, the leadership is really most concerned about maintaining its status and funding within the capitalist structure of the U.S. Thus they do not speak up in public for even such reformist measures as single payer health care, which is the official policy, and refuse to deal with such touchy issues as racism. PLP, on the other hand, understands that capitalism only cares about working people as a means to make profits. Maximizing the health and health care of workers cannot be a reality under capitalism, because that cost comes out of profits. Capitalist healthcare is set up to give the minimum needed to keep workers working, if that. What capitalism does do is build racism in order to super-exploit black, Latin and immigrant workers and keep us divided against one another, instead of fighting back against this murderous system. Join PLP and smash the divisions of capitalism.
HAMMOND, IN, November 21— “If issues like racist police killings and the deportations bother you, we need you to stand up and join this rally!” Over 20 members of various student groups at Purdue University Northwest rallied against racist police terror and deportations. The goal was to show multi-racial unity in the face of injustices faced by students and their families. Progressive Labor Party (PLP) comrades in attendance took an active role in planning and sharpening the event’s multi-racial politics.
Anti-Racist Students Take Initiative
The Black Student Union, the Spanish Club, and the Social Justice Club represent the bulk of anti-racist, anti-sexist fightback at the university. The organizations came together to build unity on campus and fight racism at the time of rising fascism under President Donald Trump and growing global instability. They coordinated their efforts more collectively to draw more students, faculty, and campus workers into the struggle.
The female leaders of the groups kicked off the rally with a megaphone, shouting, “Black Lives Matter!” and “Together, United, We’ll Never Be Defeated!” The protesters grabbed the attention of students socializing nearby. The students made a quick but spirited march across campus before returning indoors to give speeches.
One leader of the Spanish Club gave an impassioned speech about the termination of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and the deadly increase in racist mass deportations in recent years. She stressed that no human being is illegal. DACA is not enough; we must fight for our working-class brothers and sisters and smash the racist borders that divide us.
A leader from the Social Justice Club connected the racist deportations to racist police murders, calling out the capitalist system as their source and multi-racial, pro-working-class unity as the alternative.
Another leader, from the Black Student Union, called on all those in the rally to link arms as a sign of solidarity against racist and sexist attacks. He noticed that some students in the student area did not link arms and said that those who cannot turn to their neighbor and link together with them in solidarity must examine their position in the fightback.
By the end of the rally, at least twice as many people had joined in to lock arms in support of the action.
More Fightback Needed
During a potluck/open mic that took place at the university dorms after the rally, a PL’er pushed future struggle. “So, how are we going to use the momentum of this event to continue being a thorn in the side of this racist, sexist, elitist university administration?”
Although Purdue Northwest is located in a majority working-class region, an area long punished by de-industrialization and environmental racism, the university can hardly claim to serve working-class students. Administrators and trustees have annually increased tuition costs and pushed outrageous fees, while using the increased cash flow to give the campus a cosmetic overhaul and pay themselves handsome salaries.
All the while, this same racist administration marginalizes non-traditional and international students by gutting support services that might otherwise help them integrate academically and socially.
The PL’er brought up previous multi-racial student struggles at Purdue in 2012 against racist and sexist professor Maurice Eisenstein, a despicable Zionist who the “pro-free speech” administration continues to defend. Eisenstein has spewed racism against Muslim students and students with disabilities. Then, as now, the only way that the university will be forced to take action against Eisenstein is if a significant portion of the campus students, faculty, and workers organize a protracted and militant struggle against the racist, sexist, and imperialist ideas promoted by both Eisenstein and all universities under capitalism in general.
The university bosses are quick to promote and defend racist and sexist speech because their capitalist masters use these ideas to divide working people. A revolutionary communist educational system will smash all the bosses’ non-scientific and divisive misinformation, and instead promote lifelong learning as a liberating weapon to advance the needs of the working masses.
Fight On
In the Party, we like to say “Fight to learn, learn to fight.” The fight against capitalism and for communist revolution is one that the university bosses will never teach, but remains the most important lesson that the international working-class can learn. PLP salutes these anti-racist, anti-sexist fighters at Purdue for their efforts to organize multi-racial unity in the face of fascist attacks. Obreros unidos, ¡jamás serán vencidos!
BAY AREA, November 15—Over 300 students at Stanford protested anti-Muslim racist Robert Spencer. Spencer didn’t learn his lesson from the first three times he was protested at college campuses this year. He founded the uber-racist journal Jihad Watch and founded the equally anti-Muslim racist and Zionist organization Stop Islamization of America. He is also a two-time bestseller at the liberal imperialist mouthpiece the New York Times.
Students lined up early to pack the room, and the antiracists filled all the seats except the ones reserved for the Stanford college Republicans and their friends.
Part way through the talk, we all stood up and walked out. Spencer and his cronies taunted the antiracists, calling them “fragile leftwing fascists.” After the walkout, students who participated and more antiracists who couldn’t get into the event rallied outside.
One member and one friend of PLP encouraged students to overcome fear of administrative retaliation. The antiracist actions revealed the university bosses’ racist nature by supporting the Stanford Republicans and bullying antiracist students. See full analysis next issue.
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Annual Dinner Feeds Working-Class Unity, Counters Anti-Muslim Racism
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- 24 November 2017 173 hits
NEW YORK CITY, November 22—Following the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, Muslim workers around the country were targets of racist violence. Thousands were rounded up, jailed, and tortured by the government. In response, a local church began a yearly tradition of holding a “Children of Abraham dinner” in which Muslims, Christians, Jews, atheists, and others share dinner and vow to unite across religious lines. Every year, the dinner seems to get larger and we greet each other as old friends. As people entered the hall this year, they were welcomed, as they are every year, with delicious medjool dates, cheese and crackers and hummus on every table. The meal was halal in honor of our Muslim sisters and brothers.
Racist Violence in Yemen
One speaker was a member of the communist Progressive Labor Party (PLP) who works for an immigrant rights organization. She described the racist situation in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia and its allies have conducted daily bombing raids and imposed a blockade of ports that prevent food and medicine from reaching people who desperately need both. Tens of thousands of the working class have died, millions face famine, and over 900,000 suffer from cholera.
And none of this would be happening were it not for the billions of dollars of weapons sold by the U.S. government to Saudi Arabia. Both the Obama and Trump administrations are responsible for this anti-worker catastrophe. The speaker said her Yemeni friends had told her about the desperate conditions in their country. The room was silent. Then, money was collected to help relief efforts in Yemen and tentative plans made to have a rally at the Saudi consulate.
Working-Class Unity
The evening began with blessings, one from the sheikh of the local mosque and the other from a church minister. Dinner was served and working people from different faiths sat, ate, and talked together. After dinner a popular folk singer regaled us with two wonderful songs of unity and caring. Then a number of people spoke about different aspects of the struggle for unity in country whose political leadership pushes division and suspicion.
A speaker from a sister church in California talked about their efforts to offer sanctuary to undocumented immigrants. A leader of a local mosque spoke of how these dinners gave his community the courage to begin inviting people from other faith traditions to a yearly Iftar at the mosque. An Iftar is the evening meal to break the fast of the month of Ramadan. Many people from local synagogues and churches have attended this Iftar, including several of our church members. Another speaker talked of his joy at having his grandson at the dinner, and how he taught his grandson how important it is to give leadership and continuity to the struggle for multiracial unity.
The speeches were a mix of religious and political. Both emphasized the need for solidarity in a world where people often feel alone and helpless, dealing with the many problems that capitalism creates. And we’re not alone. In addition to the woman who talked about Yemen, another speaker told of how the entire Middle East is being turned upside down—with civil wars, aerial bombings, homelessness, hunger and disease—because the masters of wealth only care about controlling oil supplies, and couldn’t care less about the people there.
Our dinner demonstrated the opposite: solidarity among people and organizing for a better world. We distribute CHALLENGE to a number of the people who attended the dinner and helped organize church events opposing racism, mass incarceration and attacks on immigrants.
