This year, the KKE completes a century of struggles and sacrifices, remaining the only truly new party in Greece society because it is the only one that struggles for the abolition of the exploitation of man by man. Founded in 1918, in an era when the flame of the October Socialist Revolution of 1917 lent impetus to the revolutionary workers' movement, the KKE has a rich history of struggles, sacrificies and internationalist activity.
Below, we present some important moments from the century-old internationalist activity of the Communist Party of Greece:
The Campaign in Crimea
From the very first moment of its foundation in 1918, the KKE stood
unwaveringly as an advocate and defender of the Soviet Union, it opposed
the Greek bourgeois class which along with others on an international
level, tried to supress the October revolution at its birth.
14 capitalist states participated in the imperialist intervention against
the Soviet Union, with capitalist Greece being among them. The KKE
called upon the Greek people to condemn and to not participate in
the imperialist intervention. From its founding Congress, it addressed
a protest resolution for the intervention of the imperialists against the
young soviet power. The Greek communists of Odessa distributed
proclamations to the population and the Greek troops, which called
upon the workers not to turn their guns against their class brothers but
against the real enemy, the imperialists.
The Asia Minor Campaign
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| Greeks cramned at the Port of Smyrna. The final act of Asia Minor Catastrophe |
The Asia Minor campaign (1919-1922) in Turkey is the result of the
participation of the ruling class of Greece in the imperialist plans in
the wider region of the Near East, in order to promote in practice the
theory of the “Megali Idea”(“Great Idea”) through this participation,
meaning the land annexation to Greece and thus, satisfy the interests
of the Greek capitalists, which were entangled with those of the imperialist
powers of that time, especially England. The campaign ended
with the crush of the Greek army and the displacement of 1,500,000
Greeks of Asia Minor who were forced to come as refugees in Greece,
leaving behind more than 600,000 dead, victims of the policy of the
capital.
The KKE, from the beginning of the Asia Minor campaign, with the
landing of the army in Smyrna, uncovered its character and was the
only party that opposed the unjust and adventurist war. It warned
the people for its consequences and fought, with all its strength, to
prevent it, defying the countless persecutions, which it suffered for its
persistent stance towards the working class and the people of Greece.
It developed a strong anti-war propaganda and activity in Greece as
well as at the fronts of the war conflicts.
International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War
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| Greek soldiers of the International Brigades,
during the Spanish Civil War |
The International Brigades were one of the brightest examples of
proletarian internationalism in the history of the communist-workers’
movement. Millions of workers mobilized from every corner of the
earth in favor of the struggle of the Spanish people, the fighters of the
International Brigades originated from 53 countries. The KKE, despite
the unprecedented conditions of illegality and repression of the time,
which it encountered with the imposition of Metaxa’s dictatorship, it
responded to its internationalist duty. In total, it is calculated that in
the international brigades, approximately 500 Greek volunteers-fighters
participated. The contribution of Greek shipping workers was exceptional,
who with great self-sacrifice and heroism manned Spanish
ships, transferring munitions, often with the gun at hand. Many dockers
lost their lives or ended up as prisoners. In many cases, with the
initiative of communist shipping workers, the crew of the ships which
had as a destination ports that were controlled by fascists, went on
strike or revolted transferring their cargoes to Democratic Spain.
Defending the USSR
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| The historical front page
of Rizospastis, during the days of the counter-revolution in the USSR: “The hope is in the struggle of the peoples” |
The KKE, throughout its course, defended the construction of socialism
in the USSR, the unprecedented achievements that it gave to the
peoples. It fights against anti-communism and the distortion of the
history of socialism, while at the same time it scientifically studies in
a Marxist- Leninist way, the mistakes and weaknesses of the socialist
construction that led to the counter-revolutionary overthrows. The KKE
defends the conquests and achievements of the Soviet Union against
all those who celebrate for the counter-revolutionary overthrows of the
years 1989-1991 and they have been exposed irreparably, they have
contributed to the erosion of the workers’ movement, the dominant
climate of fatalism and compromise. It is proud that at the critical
moment, the day which the Red flag was being brought down from
the Kremlin, it had the strength to address the communists through
Rizospastis with the call “Comrades, hold the flag high”.
Vanguard activity against imperialist wars
On the basis that was formed by the counter-revolutionary overthrows
of 1989-91, imperialism celebrated, and declared falsely about
a “peaceful world” and the “end of history”: In these conditions the
KKE spoke about the dangerous imperialist plans concerning the control
of the markets and natural resources, for the danger of new wars.
These assessments were quickly confirmed by the wars that the USA/
NATO/EU started in Yugoslavia (1999), Afghanistan (2001), Iraq (2003),
Libya and Syria
From the very first day of the bombings, the KKE noted that the only
way is the opposition to the imperialist plans and it called upon the
people to uprise, it dove into action in every way, so that the people
can put obstacles to the attack. The rallies which were organized by
the KKE and other vehicles of the anti-imperialist movement were daily,
during all the course of the barbaric bombings and highlighted the
greatness of the peoples’ self-action and initiative. Especially during
the period of the attack in Yugoslavia, the blockades of militants in
Thessaloniki and Northern Greece became well-known, because they
blocked with their bodies the road of the NATO convoys of death,
trains and truck phalanxes that reached the ships at the port of Thessaloniki.
The solidarity was also expressed by the sending of delegations
of the Party and PAME on the spot, at the warzones, at Nis and
Belgrade.
The contribution of the KKE to the international movement today
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| Front page of the International Communist Review. |
The KKE today, is at the forefront of the effort for the revolutionary
regroupment of the International Communist Movement, the effort of
creating a Marxist-Leninist pole in the international movement. The
KKE is aware that the communist movement internationally is at crisis
and retreat. In these conditions, the KKE took important initiatives
in order to rally the communist powers from all over the world, to
organize the International Meetings of Communist and Workers’ Parties
that began from Athens. In order to develop a joint action and to
strengthen the revolutionary struggle. Such important initiatives are
the “International Communist Review”, the formation of the “European
Communist Initiative”, the realization of regional meetings of
Communist and Workers’ Parties, the effort to maintain communist
characteristics at the International Meetings of the CPs etc.
Source: Odigitis International Edition, September 2018.
