History and Anti History

I have always considered any attack upon the Soviet Union, now the former Soviet union, as an attack upon the socialist system itself – in essence, anti soviet-ism was, and, still is anti communism. Such was, and still is my passion and firm belief, in the correctness and humanness of the socialist system of government, where no man or woman is judged by the size of their bank account, but by the contribution they make to society.

It is quite easy to imagine the amount of ridicule that was heaped on Marx and Engels, after the publication of the Communist Manifesto. Its critics maintained that communism was a delusion, and its ideas untenable – wishful thinking no doubt. And then, like a thunderbolt, but certainly not unexpected, the Great October Revolution of 1917 which toppled the despotic tzarist autocracy, that had foolishly taken Russia into the Imperialist First World War. Here we had the 1917 revolution that ushered in the worlds first workers state, and, it was at this point, that the critics of socialism really bared their teeth in a very big way. The capitalist countries showed in no uncertain terms, their contempt and hatred for the new workers state.

It is on record, that the first international statement made by the Bolshevik Government, on the day following the taking of power, was a call for peace sent to all the nations engaged in the the Imperialist World War One. However, the only reply comimg from the capitalist powers, was a deafening silence. Such was the fury and mind set of the capitalists. This was to set the tone for all the ridicule and lies, that were to be told about the Soviet Union in the decades to follow. If peace had ensured, many thousands of lives would have been saved. In the face of opposition from international capitalism and counter revolutionary forces at home, and eventually foreign invasion, the new workers government faced enormous hurdles. For anyone that has read John Reeds ” Ten Days That Shook the World “ it easy to see the difficulties that faced the Bolsheviks.

The anti Communists have used but two colours, (black and white) in their denigration of the Soviet Union. They have argued that every thing in the USSR was bad, and everything in the capitalist countries good. Many people in the capitalist countries, completely infatuated and addicted to the values and myths propagated by the capitalist class, viewed the USSR as the opposite of everything they had been taught to esteem. The Communists are despotic, we are democratic; they are collectivist, we are individualistic; they have a controlled economy, we have free enterprise; they are extreme, we are moderate; they are Godless, we are Gods children, they are evil, we are virtuous. This has been the extreme slander that has taken place and still does of socialism, and, at the other end of the scale a crude apology of capitalism.

One would have thought, that after the dismantling of the Soviet Union, the bombardment of anti soviet-ism would have ceased – but not so. The assault continues with an endless stream of documentaries, media articles, books, and even movies that depict the former USSR in the worst possible way. Is it my imagination or not, that it seems that the former Soviet Union continues to be the target, and that, the Peoples Republic of China is pretty much left alone? Could it be, that the captains of big business have issued instructions: don’t pick on our good trading and business partner? That aside, the anti soviet-ism (socialism) continues unabated. That being, the lying and the slander. And… just  who were the chief perpetrators of historical falsification?

Throughout the capitalist world there was never any shortage of people prepared to slander the USSR…but, who were the major players in all of this? Behind the fabrications were the Western intelligence sevices, mainly the CIA, and MI5, aided and abetted by the mass media that was to have a temendous impact on public opinion, regarding the terrible things that are credited to the USSR, and are still believed, even today by large sections of the population in Western countries.

Two of the very major players in the campaign of lying and disinformation, were the Nazi supporter William Hearst, of the Hearst press, a gigantic US media outlet with agencies all over the world, and a former British secret agent, come author, come historian, Robert Conquest. Conquests stock in trade was manipulating information and turning black into white, which the CIA found very useful by publishing his books and articles. They even provided him with a disguise – a research post at Stanford University. In fact, whole schools were set up in American Univerities devoted to Soviet studies – in real speak, slander factories. There were of course other players, which were of the Russian home grown variety. Those dispicable characters that betrayed their own country, such as the fascist Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Andrei Sarkarov and Roy Medvedev.  Right here in Australia, there has been no shortage of such low life working in our mass media, who fall over themselves to do the bidding of the Imperialists. Several that come to mind, are Gerard Henderson, who it is reported had close links to the reactionary National Civic Council, and that great red baiter Bob Santamaria. Henderson supported Australian involvement in Vietnam, and, even supported the illegal and criminal invasion of Iraq. I might add, that there are other very conservative journalists, such as Piers Akerman and Andrew Bolt, of the Bolt report, that do thier trade no credit, by sending it to the level of the gutter.

What has exposed all the slander and lying, was the opening of the Soviet archives. When the archives were opened up, and research reports based on actual documents began to be made public, a very strange thing happened. Suddenly, Gorbachev’s free press, and all the speculators on the number of people who were supposed to have died, or were incacerated in the Soviet system, suddenly lost interst in the archives. The problem that arose after the archives were opened, was that many of the reports were given very low exposure in low circulation scientific journals, which were mostly unknown to the general public, so, the lying continues to this very day, and has even gained support, by some sectors of the former Soviet Unions population – those people falling prey, to those that have plundered, and continue to plunder the former USSR. There is an opinion, that if Communists had not made mistakes, then there would be no anti- communism. This of course is a great lie in itself, for what we have here are the class roots of anti communism, where there is an attemtp to put the blame onto the communists, for all the difficulties that they encountered.

Today, in the 21st century, the lying about the former USSR continiues, and the reason it continues is to blacken socialism, and, to deter the working class from looking at the alternative, in a world where class stuggle has intensified. I have spoken these words, because I believe that it is important, that anyone with a socialist world outlook, takes the time to search for, and present the truth.