Revolt Among Friends

By Henry Muller

For Eurocommunists, anguish and disarray

"A phase has come to an end. The driving force, which had its origin in the October Revolution, has exhausted itself."

"An absolute aberration of history, in blatant contradiction of the very essence of Socialism, Marxism and Leninism."

These harsh condemnations of General Wojciech Jaruzelski's declaration of martial law in Poland came not from the Reagan White House nor from staunch anti-Communists abroad. Instead, they were issued, respectively, by the leaders of two of the largest Communist parties in Western Europe: Enrico Berlinguer, the angular, scholarly looking theoretician who heads the 1.7 million member Italian Communist Party (P.C.I.), and his Spanish counterpart, the amiable, grandfatherly Santiago Carrillo, who heads an organization of 140,000 members. Their reactions went further than any previous disavowals of Soviet-style Communism by Western European comrades. "They have crossed a threshold," says Pierre Hassner of Paris' Institut d'Etudes Politiques. "What they have been doing is irreversible."

The Eurocommunists, moreover, have been keeping up the pressure. "How many workers, how many Italian laborers aspire to the type of society, and economic and political order, that exists in the Soviet Union and in the other Eastern European countries?" Berlinguer asked during a three-day meeting of the P.C.I.'s Central Committee. "I believe that if we held a referendum, they would turn out to be only a tiny minority." Said Carrillo at a meeting of his party's Central Committee: "The total failure of the [Communist] party of Poland is a demonstration of the total failure of the Soviet Union to export its system to other countries."

The accusations hit home--hard. After maintaining a stony silence, the Soviet Union bitterly denounced Italy's P.C.I. on Sunday for slander. "Something monstrous has happened," charged Pravda, the party paper, claiming that the positions taken by the P.C.I, on Soviet foreign policy were "truly sacrilegious."

The complaints of the Italian and Spanish parties reflected the anguish and disunity that Jaruzelski's move has sown among, and sometimes within, Western Europe's Communist parties. The denouncements by Berlinguer and Carrillo of the crackdown were even stronger than some of the statements made by NATO governments. Britain's tiny Communist Party (20,600 members) has called for the restoration of all democratic rights and a return to civilian rule in Poland. The French Communist Party, the only one in Western Europe to enjoy a share of government power, is experiencing internal divisions over its refusal to denounce the martial law in Poland. Still, Portuguese Party Leader Alvaro Cunhal remained faithful to his Stalinist reputation by calling the pro-Solidarity demonstrations in Lisbon "ridiculous monkeyshines in support of counterrevolution in Poland." Similarly, Greece's Communist Party, which won 11% of the votes in last fall's elections, described criticism of Polish martial law as "coldblooded hysteria."

The disaffection and disarray mark an important new phase for the Eurocommunist parties. In the mid-'70s, European Communists caused considerable concern in the Western Alliance by increasing their strength. Their tactic: backing social and economic reform while espousing democracy. But in recent years they began to lose some of their appeal. In 1979, Italy's P.C.I, won only 30.4% of the vote, down from its alltime peak of 34.4% in 1976. France's Communists saw their support drop from 20.6% in 1978 to 16.2% last year. Events in Poland have now created a crisis of conscience. Says Heinz Timmermann of the Federal Institute for East European and International Studies in Cologne: "Eurocommunists might well be presented with a bitter choice--whether to go completely with the East or completely with the West."

Italy's P.C.I, last month approved a policy paper that totally rejects Soviet-style Communism. Blaming the sad state of Eastern European regimes on the absence of genuine democracy, the document states heretically that orthodox Communism "ends up not only by killing liberty and creative energy but slows down the very economic, technological and cultural dynamism of society." Says Gianfranco Pasquino, professor of political science at the University of Bologna: "The Communist Party is now so far away from the Soviet Union that one can no longer speak of a possible break--the break has already taken place." That view may go too far, but even some of the Communists' opponents agree. Said Flaminio Piccoli, secretary-general of Italy's Christian Democrats: "The Communist Party has the courage of truth and has rendered a great service to democracy."

France's Communist Party faces perhaps the biggest problem in the months ahead because its foreign policy is closely aligned with the Soviet Union's. Yet four Communists hold posts in the 44-member Cabinet of President Franc,ois Mitterrand, an outspoken foe of Soviet imperialism who wasted no time in denouncing the declaration of martial law in Poland. While Communist Boss Georges Marchais parroted Moscow and Warsaw, blaming Solidarity for "overbidding," the Communist ministers had little choice but to endorse Mitterrand's strong criticism of the Polish move if they wanted to stay in the government. Grudgingly, they agreed.

The French Socialists took advantage of the Communists' contradictory positions to try to discredit their junior partners, who lost almost half of their parliamentary seats in last year's elections. "Arrest Marchais--not Walesa," one Socialist loudspeaker trumpeted during a pro-Solidarity demonstration. Nor has the Communist Party's pro-Soviet attitude gone down well with the rank and file in France. A number of town and city councils, either dominated by or including Communist members, have passed resolutions backing Solidarity. In the giant 2.3 million strong Communist-led Confederation Generale du Travail (C.G.T.), at least twelve of 40 member unions defied instructions to boycott pro-Solidarity demonstrations.

Administration officials believe the future of the Eurocommunists will be decided by what happens in Poland. If the situation there does not deteriorate markedly, says a senior State Department analyst, "they would not have to go into the agonizing posture of deciding whether they ought to break from Moscow."

Some skeptics still wonder how far the Eurocommunists are prepared to go. "The crux of the matter is that in no case did the numerous parties tell the Russians to cut it out or they would stop having relations," points out Adam Ulam, director of Harvard's Russian Research Center. What is more, the Communist parties have a good reason to try new tactics: the need to increase their popularity at the polls. In Spain, Carrillo's ulterior motive may be that he is trying to broaden support for a party riven by factionalism and in serious danger of losing some of its 22 (out of 350) Cortes seats next year.

As dramatic as the Eurocommunists' latest statements may be, they do not signify a clean break with traditional Communist ideology. "When we talk about a new phase in the struggle for socialism, we in no way renounce the defense of the working class or the struggle against imperialism," Berlinguer says. He describes the Soviet Union as "the counterbalance to the force and aggressiveness of American imperialism."

Whatever their future course, the widening gap with Moscow has forced Eurocommunists to search for new ideological ground that will distinguish them from Western Europe's myriad Socialist and Social Democratic parties. Berlinguer's answer is a terza via (third way) that rejects Soviet-bloc Communism while "overcoming" the flaws of social democracy. So far his idea remains vague, serving as little more than a rallying slogan.

The Eurocommunists may well try to increase their links with left-wing socialists. On such key issues as the deployment of the neutron bomb and U.S. intermediate-range missiles, the Eurocommunist position is already closely allied with those of Northern European pacifists. A more explicit alliance, says French Political Scientist Hassner, could give a boost to what he calls "Euroneutralism." Says Hassner: "It is true that the Eurocommunists are not on the Soviet side, but they are not on the NATO side either." By any other name, and in any other form, the Eurocommunists would still cause concern in the capitals of the West.

--By Henry Muller. Reported by Jordan Bonafante/Paris and Barry Kalb/Rome with other bureaus

With reporting by Jordan Bonfante, Barry Kalb

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