they were driven back. A new period began and new groupings of forces, marked by apathy in the working masses. The bourgeoisie began to advance against the working class, taking away its elementary gains. In connection with this period, a problem arose before the Comintern of adopting such a line of action as would unite the masses in resistance to the aggression of capital and to stop its advance, and later on, from this form of struggle to take the aggressive.
The situation of the world labor movement in 1921, was somewhat more difficult than in 1919, directly after the end of the war. The spontaneous movement began to slacken. The high waves of the revolution which frightened the bourgeoisie were not strong enough to crush this Colossus. A new period begins, and to this period we had to adapt our tactics, the tactics of the United Front, which has for its purpose under the changed conditions, to unite the wide masses and draw them into the way of revolutionary struggle against the capitalist system.
What is the essence of the United Front? We can explain it in the following way. The Communists are calling upon the non-party workers, the Catholic labor unions, the reformists, in short on all the workers without regard to their political or other affiliation. And we say: "We disagree with you on many fundamental questions. We are for the dictatorship of the proletariat; you are against it. We are for revolution; you are for class collaboration, etc. But we do agree with you that it is necessary to save the eight-hour day, that it is necessary to bring up wages to the increasing cost of living, that it is necessary to retain the social gains we have already obtained. Let us lead all the workers into the struggle according to your program, and not ours. Let us create together a United Front according to your own program. Our program does not end with merely economic demands and the demand of the fight against the danger of war. Our program is much wider than that. The crux of it is the overthrow of capitalism. You do not agree with that; let us lay aside all those points upon which we differ; let us leave only those which unite us and on these points let us wage a relentless struggle." These are the causes, character and essence of the United Front.
The first question arising is:—Is this a correct line of action for a revolutionary Communist party? And, also, for revolutionary trade unions? Can we, in order to gain a United Front, put aside all that which divides us from the reformists? Can we allow such a strategic maneuvre?
Firstly, a United Front is possible only if it is a purely labor front, and this it is that differentiates us fundamentally from the reformists, who are for a United Front of Labor with capital. Thus, the first distinction of our United Front is its purely labor character, independently
