Chapter 30 Chapter 5 Defend against powerful enemies together 4

4 However, the future force that would defeat the fascist forces within a few years of Franco's victory was somewhat in its infancy due to the Spanish Civil War.In it we also foresee the political configuration of the Second World War: a united front of nations, from patriotic conservatives to social revolutionaries, fighting together to defeat the common enemy of the country and at the same time to promote the regeneration of society.For the victors of World War II—even the United Kingdom and the United States—the war was not only about military victory, but also about building a better society for mankind.After the First World War, everyone eagerly wanted to return to the world in 1913; but no one in World War II dreamed of returning to 1939—or even the era of 1928 and 1918.During the war, the British government under the leadership of Churchill, although in an emergency situation, also made every effort to promote social welfare and full employment policies.The Beveridge Report (Editor's note: "Social Insurance and United Services Report", a social security system "from the cradle to the grave") that advocated this policy came out when Britain was still in the dark days of the Great War. In 1942, it was no accident.In the policy drafted by the United States after the war, how to prevent the recurrence of Hitler-like figures was only incidentally mentioned.The American personnel who are committed to the post-war plan mainly focus on how to learn lessons from the Great Depression and the 1930s so that such tragedies will not repeat themselves.As for the countries occupied by the Axis powers, among the underground resistance movement, liberation and social revolution are even more inseparable, at least there should be major changes.What's more, from east to west, all the European countries occupied by Germany during the war, the new governments after the victory belong to the same nature: they do not have any special ideological tendencies, but belong to national associations that gather various anti-fascist forces. .For the first time in the history of European politics, Communist Party members, conservatives, liberals, and social democrats have formed a cabinet to govern side by side.But this situation is naturally difficult to last.

Roosevelt and Stalin, Churchill and the British Socialists, de Gaulle and the French Communist Party, of course these men joined forces because they faced a common threat.However, if the mutual hostility and suspicion between the supporters of the October Revolution and their mortal enemies were not reduced, it is bound to be impossible to achieve this commendable level of cooperation.The Spanish Civil War paved the way for future cooperation.The Spanish government under the leadership of the liberal president and prime minister had to ask for help in the face of the general's rebellion, but constitutionally and morally, it is the legitimate government of Spain after all.Even the counter-revolutionary government could not deny this; and even the democrats who betrayed the Spanish government to save themselves could not help being ashamed.The Spanish government insists—even in its increasingly influential Communist Party—that social revolution is not its goal.And the republican government will indeed try its best to control and reverse the results of the revolution within its capabilities-this is beyond the expectations of revolutionary fanatics.Both the Republican government and the Communist Party insisted that the crux of the civil war was not revolution, but how to protect people's livelihood.

Interestingly, this stance is not merely opportunistic, nor is it a betrayal of the revolution, as the far left charges.It reflects a subtle shift in mentality, from rioting to gradualism; from confrontation and conflict to negotiation and mediation; and even through congressional elections to the road to power.Looking at the reaction of the Spanish people to the coup - apparently more in favor of revolution - the Communist Party discovered a new strategy of defense.This tactic, which had been an emergency response to the communist movement after Hitler came to power, thus created a new approach to the revolutionary cause.That is to say, under the special circumstances of wartime politics and economy, it led to the emergence of a "new type of democracy".Landlords and capitalists who supported the rebels lost their estates in the war, not because of their status, but because of their treason.As the structure of the economy changed, the government had to plan for it and accommodate it when necessary—not for ideological reasons, but because of wartime economic imperatives.If it continues to develop like this, if it wins in the end, such a "new type of democracy will inevitably become the deadly enemy of the conservative spirit... It will provide a great guarantee for the Spanish workers to seize power in the future political and economic power" (ibid, p. 176).

Therefore, in the pamphlet issued by the Comintern in October 1936, there was a fairly correct description of the political landscape in the anti-fascist war from 1939 to 1945.This will be a European war, jointly launched by the "people" from all walks of life, the "National Front" government, the underground anti-enemy alliance, and will be conducted under the state-led economic activities.At the end of the war, with the capitalists' properties expropriated—not because they were capitalists, but because they were German or collaborating with the enemy—the mass power of the occupied territories would be extremely powerful. Big progress.The facts develop, as expected.In several countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the road to war is indeed from anti-fascism to the road of "new democracy", and the Communist Party is the master of the new democracy.However, in fact, until the outbreak of the Cold War, these new post-war regimes did not immediately make a big turn towards a socialist system, or aim at the complete elimination of political pluralism and private ownership.In Western countries, years of war and eventual victory have similar social and economic impacts, but the political climate is quite different.Western countries carried out social and economic reforms after World War II not because of popular pressure (this is different from the previous war), but because the governments themselves believed that reforms should be carried out in principle-these governments were partly motivated by the original reforms. Factions are in charge, such as the Democratic Party in the United States and the Labor Party in the United Kingdom.Part of it is formed by the reformist faction developed from various factions of anti-fascist underground anti-enemy movements, and the national revival party.In short, the war against fascism ultimately turns to the left.