To Moscow #5 – Dual Power
“Hmm…”
Comrade Trotsky and Comrade Stalin read through the documents I had compiled—summarizing everything we had done—with meticulous care. I felt as if I had been summoned to an examination hall.
“The Worker’s Factory… the People’s Front. It appears you’ve formed an alliance with the Social Democrats as well. Is that accurate?”
“Yes, that’s correct. The Social Democratic Party has agreed to turn toward the revolutionary faction.”
It had taken considerable effort to persuade them.
“Interesting… Destroying capitalism by using capitalism against itself. Inverting the wage and distribution structures… competitiveness.”
While Comrade Trotsky focused intently on each sentence, reading the papers line by line, Comrade Stalin had already finished. He set the documents down.
“Very impressive, Comrade Heinz.”
He read incredibly fast. Then again, he had mentioned that paperwork was his responsibility. It made sense—he had held the position of the Party’s General Secretary for years. Without needing to see more, he passed the papers to Comrade Molotov beside him.
“The numbers are truly remarkable. If they have not been manipulated or distorted, then the ‘Worker’s Factory’ project you attempted in Germany must be considered a resounding success. What the Russian people achieved in four years after the revolution, you accomplished in Germany in merely four months.”
Stalin, whom I had heard spoke German only haltingly outside of Georgian and Russian, expressed himself with surprising fluency—though still less natural than my native tongue.
“Even within a capitalist system driven by wages and profits, I have never encountered a method that proves the success of socialism in quite this way. Simply by having workers share ownership and distribute income without capitalists or managers, profits increased by at least sixteen times in modest cases, and up to thirty-three times in the most successful ones. It is difficult to measure precisely because most participating workers were previously unemployed rather than experienced laborers. The 15.7 percent average reduction in raw material and electricity waste was also fascinating, as was your comparison of efficiency against capitalist-owned factories. In every respect, well done.”
He read all of that so quickly and remembers every detail? It’s astonishing.
“Truly fascinating…”
In contrast, Comrade Trotsky was still absorbed in the documents.
“How did you arrive at the idea of destroying capitalism using its own logic?”
If Stalin focused on results and statistics, Trotsky seemed more drawn to the underlying theory.
“Well… it didn’t begin with that intention. We called a general strike in January and demanded reforms from the cabinet. When they kept delaying and refused to listen, we realized we had to do something. That’s how the project started.”
“All three parties together?”
“Precisely three parties. I handled planning, the Communist Party comrades managed execution, and the Social Democrats took charge of media and publicity.”
“So the cooperation with the Social Democrats was not a lie after all.”
Trotsky nodded, then cast a subtle glance toward Stalin. Stalin cleared his throat and looked away.
“Why are you looking at me?”
“You were the one who popularized the term ‘social fascism.’”
“How could I have known? Who could have predicted that the Social Democrats would show any remorse over the split in the Second International? Until then, the reformists had been too busy denouncing us and obstructing our every move. I judged their actions as opposition to the liberation of the working class. Frankly, Comrade Trotsky, your defense of them seems far more unusual.”
“I simply believed in the Marxist essence of the Second International. I have always maintained that the possibility of a united left remains open, have I not?”
Trotsky set the documents down and continued.
“Though imperfect, Comrade Heinz is attempting to raise the child called socialism within the barbed wire of capital. It is like a red oasis in the desert. Let me ask you one thing—have you considered what will happen if this experiment fails?”
He stared directly into my eyes.
“Wouldn’t it instead teach the proletariat that true equality and liberation within capitalism is nothing but a dream?”
“In November 1917, Comrade Lenin finally overthrew the Provisional Government that could not abandon its attachment to the war and handed real power to the Soviets. But do you know what happened in the Constituent Assembly elections that followed?”
“What happened?”
“While soldiers dying in the war and starving citizens voted for us Bolsheviks, the peasants and small farmers in the countryside were lured by the Social Revolutionaries’ empty promise to ‘give them land’ and voted for that party instead. The SRs became the majority through that deception.”
“But… a vote is still a vote, isn’t it?”
This was an area where my knowledge was shaky.
“Tell me, Deputy Heinz. You walk the path of communism, even if your methods differ from ours. Why do you believe that the multi-party democracy adopted by capitalist nations—including Germany—is not true democracy and must be overthrown?”
“Because the power of capital can easily silence the voices of workers, and that system—which claims to reflect the will of all people—actually serves to legitimize the exploiting propertied class and grant them authority.”
“Exactly. That is precisely it.”
Trotsky nodded in agreement.
“The Social Revolutionaries promised the people they would ‘distribute land.’ Yet even as they said this, they relied on the land policies of the already-dissolved Provisional Government. The same party officials from before the revolution remained candidates in every district, so proper distribution never occurred. The land had already been equally divided among the people by the Bolsheviks, whose candidates had not even reached many rural areas yet.”
“They tried to carry the pre-revolutionary system into the post-revolutionary era.”
“Yes! Exactly. Yet despite the left wing of their own party splitting off to join us, the SR leaders stubbornly insisted on preserving the Constituent Assembly.”
“So you dissolved it?”
“It was dissolved. But we were not the ones who dissolved it.”
“Then…?”
“The Constituent Assembly fell into the trap of dual power and could never exercise the authority it had been granted.”
Dual power referred to the situation in which the authority of the Soviets—councils organized by the masses—did not align with that of the Constituent Assembly.
“No decision made by the Constituent Assembly could override the power of the Soviets. Whatever it said was irrelevant. The real assemblies that decided policy for every city and village would be the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, and those decisions would be protected by the Red Guards who safeguarded the people’s will. There was no need to listen. Afterward, the Soviets adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the People—which you surely know—and since the Constituent Assembly refused to recognize it, there was no longer any reason to pretend it held any power.”
The Declaration of the Rights of the People—or more precisely, the Declaration of the Rights of the Exploited People. It represented one of the greatest advances in human rights since the French Revolution of 1789. Of course I knew of it from my studies of socialism, but I had not understood the details so clearly until now.
“The power was simply erased.”
“Precisely. The reason Comrade Lenin could transfer all power to the Congress of Soviets without firing a single shot at those obstructing the revolution was that real power already resided in the Soviets. The councils, born from resistance to the Tsar’s tyranny and hidden for half a year beneath the shadow of parliamentarians, had finally reclaimed their true authority.”
Trotsky spoke of the revolution like an old grandfather telling ancient tales.
“Why do you think I have told you this story?”
“Um…”
Why, indeed?
“So that I would understand…?”
“That is part of it, Comrade Heinz. You are young. But what I wanted to tell you is that revolutions often—very often—move in directions beyond our control, and radical measures are frequently required to bring them to fruition. That is why Comrade Lenin made such active use of the Red Guards and the revolutionary army.”
I was beginning to understand. As a senior revolutionary, he was evaluating the practicality of my strategy.
“Let me ask you this, Comrade Heinz. You are trying to destroy capitalism from within capitalism itself. If, at the end of it all, the proletariat—moved by your experiment—chooses not to support genuine revolution but instead moves only for its own immediate interests, will you be able to persuade them and ignite the flames of revolution?”
Sharp. I had not thought deeply about that aspect.
Rosa Luxemburg had said the same: revolution begins with the awakening of the exploited proletariat. But what if the ‘exploited proletariat’ became content with the current situation? It aligned with the Comintern’s longstanding skepticism toward social democracy, which centered on expanding welfare and social safety nets.
“First of all, I did not launch the Worker’s Factory project simply to fill workers’ bellies,” I countered, organizing my own theory as I spoke. “While fury toward the bourgeois and landlord classes might carry the revolution to completion in its initial moment, I believe the crucial element is the managerial experience workers gain by operating the factories themselves. After the Russian Revolution, the world was pouring all its resources into the Great War, so few reactionary forces intervened. That allowed the Party to peacefully, over time, educate workers and peasants and collectivize industry under its leadership.”
I was looking farther ahead.
“Germany is different. In Germany, industrial workers already vastly outnumber those in agriculture. These people have endured long-term oppression and the despair of the Great Depression; they are utterly exhausted from losing their jobs. The means to achieve revolution are abundant. However, the Western capitalist powers—led by Britain and America—may not have interfered in Russia, but if revolution breaks out in Germany and communism takes root, they will certainly intervene. Germany may face attack from the very moment the revolution begins.”
I looked into the eyes of both Trotsky and Stalin as I explained slowly.
“Therefore, what matters is instilling in the workers—who are the true owners of the socialist economy—the conviction that ‘you are the masters of the factories and the land under any circumstances; never forget this.’ That way, even if we temporarily nationalize the economy to fight the Western capitalist powers and appear to sacrifice communism, the people will not forget. If they eventually reclaim what belongs to them, only then will the revolution be complete.”
“You are already thinking about what comes after the revolution.”
“Yes. Socialism—communism—must mean we all live well together. Even if it is dangerous, we must constantly remind workers that they are the masters of their own labor. This mass consciousness must serve not only as the driving force of revolution but as the guiding star that sustains society afterward and leads us to a classless communist society.”
“Hmm…”
It might seem arrogant to prepare for the period after the revolution when we had not even achieved it yet… but this was the conclusion I had reached on my own.
“I quite like your realism, Comrade Heinz,” Stalin said, sounding satisfied.
“However, I have a question as well. The Worker’s Factory is operating with considerable efficiency. But if a revolution occurs and this management system must spread beyond Germany across all of Europe, do you have a method to control the resulting administrative inefficiencies and various obstacles? After our revolution, we overcame inefficiency by collectivizing and systematizing the previously chaotic agrarian and industrial systems of the Tsarist empire. Germany is a highly industrialized nation. I am curious whether you can destroy that vast capitalist order while transferring its shell entirely into the hands of the workers.”
Is that truly the issue?