Chapter 20 Resolution of the Ninth Congress of the Fourth Army of the Communist Party of China[1]

(December 1929) On Correcting Wrong Thoughts in the Party Various non-proletarian ideas exist in the Communist Party of the Fourth Army of the Red Army, which greatly hinders the implementation of the correct line of the party.If it is not thoroughly rectified, the tasks assigned to the Fourth Army of the Red Army by China's great revolutionary struggle will inevitably be unable to shoulder them.The source of all kinds of incorrect ideas in the Party of the Fourth Army is, of course, that the party's organizational base is largely composed of peasants and other elements of petty bourgeois origin; Resolute struggle and lack of education of party members on the correct line are also important reasons for the existence and development of these incorrect ideas.According to the spirit of the September letter from the Central Committee[2], the conference pointed out the manifestations, sources and methods of correction of various non-proletarian ideologies in the Fourth Army Party, and called on comrades to rise up and eliminate them thoroughly.

On the purely military point of view A purely military point of view is well developed among some comrades in the Red Army.It behaves like: (1) Thinking that the military and politics are opposites, and not recognizing that the military is only one of the tools for accomplishing political tasks.There are even those who say, "If the military is good, politics will naturally be good, and if the military is bad, politics will not be good." They go a step further and think that the military leads politics. (2) Thinking that the tasks of the Red Army are similar to those of the White Army, that they simply fight.They do not know that the Chinese Red Army is an armed group carrying out revolutionary political tasks.Especially now, the Red Army is by no means simply fighting. In addition to fighting to destroy the enemy's military power, it also has to undertake such important tasks as propagating the masses, organizing the masses, arming the masses, helping the masses to establish a revolutionary regime, and even establishing a Communist Party organization. .The Red Army's wars are not fought simply for the sake of fighting, but for the purpose of propagating the masses, organizing the masses, arming the masses, and helping the masses build a revolutionary regime. The goal is to lose the meaning of fighting, that is, to lose the meaning of the existence of the Red Army.

(3) Therefore, in terms of organization, the political work organs of the Red Army were subordinated to the military work organs, and the slogan of "headquarters external" was put forward.If this kind of thinking continues to develop, there is a danger of becoming divorced from the masses, using the army to control the political power, and leaving the leadership of the proletariat, just like the road of warlordism taken by the Kuomintang army. (4) At the same time, in the propaganda work, the importance of the propaganda team is ignored.In terms of mass organization, the organization of the army soldier's association [3] and the organization of the local workers and peasants are neglected.As a result, propaganda and organizational work have all been cancelled.

(5) Be proud when you win a battle, and be negative when you lose a battle. (6) Self-righteousness. All they know is that they are planning for the Fourth Army, but they don't know that arming the local masses is one of the important tasks of the Red Army.This is a magnified small groupism. (7) A small number of comrades are confined to the local environment of the Fourth Army, thinking that there are no other revolutionary forces.Therefore, the idea of ​​preserving strength and avoiding struggle is very strong.This is a remnant of opportunism. (8) Disregarding subjective and objective conditions, committing a revolutionary acute disease, unwilling to do small and rigorous mass work, only wanting to do big things, full of illusions.This is a remnant of putschism [4].

Sources for a purely military view: (1) The political level is low.Therefore, ignorance of the role of political leadership in the army, ignorance of the fundamental difference between the Red Army and the White Army. (2) The idea of ​​mercenary troops.Because many soldiers were captured in previous battles, such elements joined the Red Army, bringing with them a strong idea of ​​mercenary troops, which gave a lower foundation for purely military views. (3) Due to the above two reasons, the third reason arises, that is, too much trust in military power and distrust in the power of the masses of the people.

(4) The Party's lack of active attention and discussion on military work is also the reason why some comrades have purely military views. Correction method: (1) Improve the political level within the party through education, eliminate the theoretical roots of purely military views, and recognize the fundamental difference between the Red Army and the White Army.At the same time, we must eliminate the remnants of opportunism and putschism, and break the egoism of the Fourth Army. (2) Intensify the political training of officers and soldiers, especially the education of captives.At the same time, as much as possible, the local government organs should send workers and peasants who have struggle experience to join the Red Army, so as to weaken or even remove the root of the purely military viewpoint from the organization.

(3) Mobilize local parties to criticize the Red Army Party and mass political organs to influence the Red Army Party and Red Army officers and soldiers. (4) The Party must actively pay attention to and discuss military work.All tasks are carried out by the masses after the party's discussions and resolutions. (5) Formulate the Red Army regulations, clearly stipulating the tasks of the Red Army, the relationship between the military work system and the political work system, the relationship between the Red Army and the masses, the powers and functions of the Soldiers Association and its relationship with military and political organs.

About extreme democratization After the Fourth Army of the Red Army accepted the instructions of the central government, the phenomenon of extreme democratization decreased a lot.For example, the party's resolutions can be relatively implemented; no one has raised such erroneous ideas as calling for the implementation of the so-called "democratic centralization from the bottom up" and "discussing with lower levels first, and then making decisions at higher levels" in the Red Army.But in fact, this reduction is only a temporary and superficial phenomenon, and it is not yet the elimination of extreme democratization ideas.That is to say, the roots of extreme democratization are still deeply planted in the minds of many comrades.For example, with regard to the implementation of resolutions, all kinds of reluctant attitudes are evidence.

Correction method: (1) Theoretically eradicate the roots of extreme democratization.First of all, it should be pointed out that the danger of extreme democratization lies in the damage or even complete destruction of the party's organization, the weakening or even complete destruction of the party's combat effectiveness, making the party unable to bear the responsibility of struggle, resulting in the failure of the revolution.Secondly, it is necessary to point out that the source of extreme democratization lies in the free and undisciplined nature of the petty bourgeoisie.Bringing this kind of freedom and laxity into the party has become an idea of ​​extreme democratization in politics and organization.Such thinking is fundamentally incompatible with the struggle tasks of the proletariat.

(2) In terms of organization, practice democratic life under centralized guidance.Its route is: 1. The leading organs of the party must have a correct guiding line, and they must come up with solutions in case of problems, so as to establish the center of leadership. 2. Higher-level organizations must understand the situation of lower-level organizations and the conditions of people's lives, which will become the objective basis for correct guidance. 3 Party organs at all levels should not be too casual in solving problems.Once a resolution is reached, it must be resolutely implemented.

4 The resolutions of the higher-level organs, if they are important, must be quickly communicated to the lower-level organs and the party members.The method is to hold a meeting of activists, or a meeting of party members from the expenditure department or even the column (depending on the circumstances and possibilities), and send people to attend and make reports. 5. The lower-level organs of the party and the party members and the masses must go through detailed discussions on the instructions of the higher-level organs in order to thoroughly understand the meaning of the instructions and decide on their implementation methods. About Non-organizational Perspectives The non-organizational point of view that exists within the Four Armies Party manifests itself as follows: A minority does not obey the majority.For example, if the proposal of a few people is rejected, they will not implement the party's resolution in good faith. Correction method: (1) When a meeting is held, the people attending the meeting should express their opinions as much as possible.When there is a dispute, it is necessary to clarify right and wrong, and not to mediate and perfunctory.If it cannot be resolved once, it will be discussed again (on the condition that it does not hinder the work), in order to get a clear conclusion. (2) One of the party disciplines is that the minority must obey the majority.The minority must support the resolutions passed by the majority after their opinions have been rejected.There shall be no objection to any action except that it may be discussed at the next meeting if necessary. B non-organized criticism: (1) Inner-party criticism is a weapon to strengthen the party organization and increase the party's combat effectiveness.However, some of the criticisms within the Red Army Party were not like this, and turned into attacks on individuals.As a result, not only the individual but also the party organization was destroyed.This is a manifestation of petty-bourgeois individualism.The method of correction is to make party members understand that the purpose of criticism is to increase the party's combat effectiveness to achieve victory in the class struggle, and that criticism should not be used as a tool to attack individuals. (2) Many Party members do not criticize within the Party but outside the Party.This is because the average party member does not understand the importance of party organizations (meetings, etc.), and thinks that there is no difference between criticism inside or outside the organization.The method of correction is to educate Party members to understand the importance of Party organization, and to criticize Party committees or comrades should be raised at Party meetings. About absolute egalitarianism Absolute egalitarianism in the Red Army developed strongly at one time.For example: pay for wounded soldiers, oppose dividing the wounded into light and heavy, and demand equal payment.Officials riding horses are not considered to be necessary for work, but considered to be an unequal system.The distribution of items requires extreme evenness, and the part that does not want to have a special situation should be given a little more.Reciting rice does not matter whether adults or children are physically strong or weak, and should be recited evenly.The housing must be divided equally, and the headquarters will be scolded for living in a larger house.The assignments should be evenly distributed, and they will not be willing to do a little more.Even in the case of two wounded soldiers on a stretcher, it would be better for everyone not to be able to carry it than to carry one person.All these prove that the absolute egalitarianism among the officers and soldiers of the Red Army is still very serious. The source of absolute egalitarianism, like the extreme democratization in politics, is the product of handicrafts and small peasant economy, but one is found in political life and the other in material life. Corrective method: It should be pointed out that absolute egalitarianism is not only a fantasy of peasant petty bourgeoisie in the period when capitalism has not been eliminated; There is no absolute average in terms of principles and work needs.The material distribution of Red Army personnel should be generally equal, such as equal pay for officers and soldiers, because this is what the current struggle environment requires.But absolute egalitarianism that does not ask for any reason must be opposed, because this is not what the struggle requires, it is counterproductive and hinders the struggle. about subjectivism Subjectivism exists strongly among some party members, which is very unfavorable for analyzing the political situation and guiding work.Because the inevitable result of subjectivist analysis of the political situation and subjectivist guidance of work is either opportunism or putschism.As for subjectivist criticism within the Party, nonsense without evidence or mutual suspicion often lead to unprincipled disputes within the Party and damage the Party organization. With regard to inner-Party criticism, there is one more thing to mention, that is, some comrades pay no attention to major aspects in their criticism, but only pay attention to minor aspects.They do not understand that the main task of criticism is to point out political and organizational mistakes.As for personal shortcomings, if they are not related to political and organizational mistakes, there is no need to criticize them too much and make comrades at a loss.Moreover, as soon as this kind of criticism develops, the spirit of the party will be completely concentrated on minor shortcomings, and everyone will become a cautious gentleman, and will forget the party's political tasks. This is a great danger. The method of correction: the main thing is to educate the party members so that the thoughts of party members and the life of the party are politicized and scientific.To achieve this goal, we must: (1) Educate Party members to use the Marxist-Leninist method to analyze the political situation and assess class forces, instead of subjectivist analysis and assessment. (2) Make party members pay attention to social and economic investigations and studies, and use them to determine strategies for struggle and methods of work, so that comrades know that if they depart from the investigation of actual conditions, they will fall into the abyss of fantasy and recklessness. (3) Criticism within the party must prevent subjective arbitrariness and vulgarization of criticism, words must have evidence, and criticism must pay attention to politics. about individualism The tendency towards individualism within the Red Army Party manifests itself in the following ways: (1) Retaliatoryism.When he was criticized by comrades in the party, he went outside the party to find an opportunity to retaliate against him. Beating and scolding was a means of revenge.You also seek revenge in the party; you said something about me at this meeting, and I will find trouble to revenge you at the next meeting.This kind of retaliatoryism proceeds entirely from a personal point of view, ignoring the interests of the class and the party as a whole.Its target is not the hostile class, but other individuals within its own ranks.It is a caustic that weakens organizations and weakens combat effectiveness. (2) Small groupism.Only pay attention to the interests of your own small group, not the interests of the whole. On the surface, it is not for the individual, but in fact it contains extremely narrow individualism, which also has a great destructive and centrifugal effect.Small cliques have always been very popular in the Red Army, and now they are better after criticism, but remnants of them still exist, and efforts must be made to overcome them. (3) Employment thinking.I don't know that the party and the Red Army are tools for carrying out revolutionary tasks, and I am one of them.They don't realize that they are the main body of the revolution, thinking that they are only responsible to the officers themselves, not to the revolution.This negative idea of ​​employment revolution is also a manifestation of individualism.This idea of ​​a revolution for wages is the reason why there aren't many activists who work unconditionally.If the idea of ​​employment is not eliminated, there will be no way to increase the number of activists, and the burden of revolution will always be placed on the shoulders of a few people, which is extremely detrimental to the struggle. (4) Hedonism.Individualism is seen in the aspect of pleasure, and there are quite a few people in the Red Army.They always want the team to go to a big city.They come to the big cities not to work, but to have fun.The last thing they would like is to work in the red zone where life is hard. (5) Passive sabotage.If you feel a little unsatisfactory, you become negative and don't do your work.The reason for this is mainly lack of education, but it can also be that the leader handles the problem, distributes the work or enforces the discipline improperly. (6) Thoughts of leaving the team.The number of people working in the Red Army who want to leave the ranks and transfer to other places is increasing day by day.The reasons are not entirely personal. First, the material life of the Red Army is too poor; second, the long-term struggle and fatigue; The method of correction: mainly to strengthen education and correct individualism ideologically.Furthermore, handling problems, assigning work, and enforcing discipline must be appropriate.And we must try to improve the material life of the Red Army, and use every possible opportunity to rest and tidy up to improve material conditions.The social source of individualism is the reflection of petty bourgeois and bourgeois ideology in the party, and this must be explained when teaching. About Rogue Thought Due to the large number of vagrants in the Red Army and the existence of a large number of vagrants throughout the country, especially in the southern provinces, the political ideology of banditism emerged in the Red Army.This kind of thinking is manifested in: First, they are unwilling to do hard work to establish base areas, establish the political power of the people, and thereby expand political influence, but only want to use mobile guerrilla methods to expand political influence.Second, to expand the Red Army, we should not follow the route of expanding the local Red Guards[5] and local Red Army to expand the main force of the Red Army, but follow the route of "recruiting troops and buying horses" and "recruiting surrender and accepting rebels".Third, I am impatient to fight hard with the masses, and I only hope to go to big cities to eat and drink.All these manifestations of rogue thoughts have greatly hindered the Red Army from performing correct tasks. Therefore, eliminating rogue thoughts is actually an important goal of the Red Army's inner-party ideological struggle.It should be recognized that Huang Chao and Li Chuang's [6] style of banditism in history is no longer allowed by today's environment. Correction method: (1) Intensify education, criticize incorrect thinking, and eliminate banditism. (2) To intensify the education of anti-hooligan awareness for the existing basic Red Army troops and newly arrived captive soldiers. (3) Enlist active workers and peasants who have struggle experience to join the ranks of the Red Army and change the composition of the Red Army. (4) Create new Red Army units from among the struggling workers and peasants. About the Leftovers of Putschism The struggle against putschism in the Red Army Party has already been carried out, but not sufficiently.Therefore, there are still remnants of putschist ideology in the Red Army.Its manifestations are as follows: 1. Blind work regardless of subjective and objective conditions.Second, the implementation of urban policies is insufficient and not firm.Third, military discipline is lax, especially when a battle is lost.Fourth, there are some troops who burn houses.Fifth, the system of shooting deserters and the system of corporal punishment also have the nature of putschism.The social origin of putschism is the synthesis of the ideas of the lumpenproletarians and the petty bourgeoisie. Correction method: (1) Eliminate putschism ideologically. (2) Correct reckless behavior from the system and policy.