The Trotskyite 4th International officially calls on Yugoslav leadership to pursue a Greater Yugoslav Empire (‘Danubian Federation’) as embraced by Churchill
The History of the USSR & the Peoples’ Democracies
Chapter 12, Section 5 (C12S5)
Saed Teymuri
While the Americans were actively preparing for World War III against the USSR and countries of People’s Democracy, such a costly war was not their preferred avenue for liquidating Soviet power. Instead, the American imperialists aimed to (1) wage a shadow or covert war via proxy terror groups such as the UPA, OUN, AK, etc., (2) utilize the network of American imperialist agents within the governments of the USSR and the Peoples’ Democracies for combat against the socialist forces. The Titoist infiltrators and the fascist guerrillas would benefit each other, for the fascist guerrillas would provide the Titoists with the leverage and military backbone they need for a factional conflict against the communist factions in the USSR and the Peoples’ Democracies, whereas the Titoists would serve as the high-ranking officials that would stab the USSR and the Peoples’ Democracies in the back from above, opening the ‘gates’ for the CIA-backed terrorists to carry out their operations.
CIA support for Titoism was discussed in bodies as high-level as the US National Security Council (NSC) of the US President and top American intelligence, military, and State Department officials. A document titled NSC 58 was written, an excerpt of which follows:
COURSES OPEN TO US
29. In seeking to bring about the elimination of Soviet power from the satellite states, two principal courses of action are conceivable. One is war; the other is measures short of war.
30. Resort to war as a course of action is raised in this paper solely for the purpose of making clear that it should be rejected as a practical alternative. This course is rejected, if for no other reason, because it is organically not feasible for this Government to initiate a policy of creating a war. It therefore follows that this paper is necessarily addressed to measures short of war. However, if war in Eastern Europe is forced upon us, that is a different matter and one which would create a wholly new situation beyond the compass of this paper. It scarcely need be added that we should always be prepared for such a contingency.
31. There remains then the category of measures short of war. Before discussing them, we should at the outset have clearly in mind another set of alternatives between which we must make a conscious choice. In attempting to cause an elimination of Soviet power in these countries, we obviously cannot expect a vacuum to result. The type of government which might succeed to power is intimately related to the removal of Kremlin influence and control. Therefore, should it be our aim to replace, as a first step, Kremlin authority with (a) governments immediately friendly to us or (b) any governments free of Moscow domination, even though they be Communist regimes?
32. Our ultimate aim must, of course, be the appearance in Eastern Europe of nontotalitarian administrations willing to accommodate themselves to, and participate in, the free world community. Strong tactical considerations, however, argue against setting up this goal as an immediate objective. None of the Eastern European countries, except Czechoslovakia, has ever known any but authoritarian government. Democracy in the western sense is alien to their culture and tradition. Moreover, the non-totalitarian leadership, such as it is, in the satellite states has been thoroughly fragmented and crushed. It has little chance of coming to power save through armed intervention from the west. Were we to set as our immediate goal the replacement of totalitarianism by democracy, an overwhelming portion of the task would fall on us, and we would find ourselves directly engaging the Kremlin’s prestige and provoking strong Soviet reaction, possibly in the form of war or at least in vigorous indirect aggression. At best, we would find ourselves deeply enmeshed in the eastern European situation and saddled with an indefinitely continuing burden of political, economic and military responsibility for the survival of the uncertain regimes which we had placed in power.
33. If, however, we are willing that, as a first step, schismatic Communist regimes supplant the present Stalinist governments, we stand a much better chance of success. Admittedly, it would be a difficult task to attempt to bring about a severance of satellite ties with the Kremlin. But it would not be nearly so difficult as challenging at the outset, not only the whole complex of Communist ideology and method, but also the long heritage of authoritarianism.
34. The more feasible immediate course, then, is to foster a heretical drifting-away process on the part of the satellite states. However weak they may now appear, grounds do exist for heretical schisms. We can contribute to the widening of these rifts without assuming responsibility. And when the final breaks occur, we would not be directly involved in engaging Soviet prestige; the quarrel would be between the Kremlin and the Communist Reformation.
(United States Policy Toward the Soviet Satellite States in Eastern Europe, Report to the President by the National Security Council, S/S-NSC Files, Lot 63 D 351, NSC 58 Series, NSC 58/2, Washington, National Security Council (NSC) December 8, 1949. In: Foreign Relations of the United States, US Department of State, 1949 Vol. 5, pp. 50-51) (IMG)
As the above document clearly shows, Washington’s goal in the Eastern bloc was to increase the leverage of the existing Titoist fifth column as means of reducing the influence of the proletariat in these states and paving the way towards the Titoization. The Cominform resolution of 1949 too confirmed:
The Yugoslav traitors, obeying the will of the imperialists, undertook to form in the People’s Democracies political gangs consisting of reactionaries, nationalists, clerical and fascist elements and, relying on these gangs, to bring about counter-revolutionary coups in these countries, wrest them from the Soviet Union and the entire socialist camp and subordinate them to the forces of imperialism. (Communist Party of Yugoslavia in the Power of Murderers and Spies, Cominform, November 1949. MIA. The same document can be found in the ‘Revolutionary Democracy Organization of India’ archives section) (IMG)
In supplementing the above, another document, NSC 5607, reaffirmed that Washington will continue:
To stimulate nationalism within the satellite countries by reviving the historic traditions of these peoples and by suggesting the great benefits which can be derived from a courageous policy of defiance of Moscow such as Tito exhibited. (104. National Security Council Report, Washington, June 29, 1956., NSC 5607, STATEMENT OF POLICY ON EAST-WEST EXCHANGES) ( IMG{Titoist Coup})
The Cominform also stated:
In this way the imperialists seek to undermine the Parties from within and subordinate them to themselves. They have succeeded in realizing this aim in Yugoslavia. (Communist Party of Yugoslavia in the Power of Murderers and Spies, Cominform, November 1949. MIA. The same document can be found in the ‘Revolutionary Democracy Organization of India’ archives section) (IMG)
The NSC 58 file made several other important points, worthy of highlight. Acutely aware of the scientific nature of communism and the danger which such science posed to imperial interests, American leaders sought to foster left- and right-deviationist tendencies so to subvert the communist labour movement from within. NSC 58 specified that “heretical communism” should be encouraged; it is no surprise, after so much revelations, that revisionism was to be fostered as American imperialism’s tool against the socialist bloc:
A course of encouraging schisms within the Communist world cannot be pursued without reserve because such a course is a tactical expediency which, however necessary, must never be permitted to obscure our basic long-term objectives a non-totalitarian system in Eastern Europe. The problem is to facilitate the development of heretical Communism without at the same time seriously impairing our chances for ultimately replacing this intermediate totalitarianism with tolerant regimes congenial to the Western World. (United States Policy Toward the Soviet Satellite States in Eastern Europe, Report to the President by the National Security Council, S/S-NSC Files, Lot 63 D 351, NSC 58 Series, NSC 58/2, Washington, National Security Council (NSC) December 8, 1949. In: Foreign Relations of the United States, US Department of State, 1949 Vol. 5, pp. 53-54) (IMG)
Labelled as ‘dogmatic’, communism (‘Stalinism’) was an object of attack by Washington’s revisionist proxies in the Eastern bloc:
This course is intimately related to and partly dependent upon the third course of action open to us an attack on the ideological front, specifically directed at the Stalinist dogma of satellite dependence upon and subservience to the U.S.S.R. This key doctrine should be unremittingly attacked all across the board in its political, economic and cultural applications. On the positive side, the reverse of the Stalinist dogma nationalism should be encouraged. The offensive should be maintained not only on the overt but also the covert plane. (United States Policy Toward the Soviet Satellite States in Eastern Europe, Report to the President by the National Security Council, S/S-NSC Files, Lot 63 D 351, NSC 58 Series, NSC 58/2, Washington, National Security Council (NSC) December 8, 1949. In: Foreign Relations of the United States, US Department of State, 1949 Vol. 5, p. 52) (IMG)
Akin to revisionism was the corruption of the bureaucrats, an ally of the United States and a phenomenon capable of liquidating the dictatorship of the proletariat and democracy. Corrupt officials, far from forming a national bourgeoisie who would for their own interests expand industrial production, actually represented (and represent) a parasitic class of money-capitalists fed off of sabotaging economic expansion. As such they would be hostile to popular advancement and socialism. In this regard, NSC 58 stated:
The Stalinist dogma undoubtedly had validity in the minds of satellite leaders when they were revolutionaries seeking power. At that time, there was little conflict between their interests and those of the Kremlin; they were wholly dependent upon Moscow and could hope to realize their revolutionary aims and personal ambitions only through subserving the interests of the U.S.S.R. But now that they have the appearance and considerable of the substance of power, subtle new forces come into play. Power, even the taste of it, is as likely to corrupt Communist as bourgeois leaders. Considerations of national as well as personal interest materialize and come into conflict with the colonial policy pursued by the Soviet interests. When this happens, satellite officials may still remain, by force of other factors, Kremlin captives; but at least they are not entirely willing ones. (United States Policy Toward the Soviet Satellite States in Eastern Europe, Report to the President by the National Security Council, S/S-NSC Files, Lot 63 D 351, NSC 58 Series, NSC 58/2, Washington, National Security Council (NSC) December 8, 1949. In: Foreign Relations of the United States, US Department of State, 1949 Vol. 5, pp. 48-49. Bold added.) (IMG)
The above excerpt did not explicitly endorse corruption but by claiming that the corruption of ‘satellite leaders’ would cause them to confront Moscow, it was de facto implying that corruption should be promoted. Corruption, as the invisible hand of sabotage, yields chaos and inefficiency, separates the Party and state from the masses, and creates room for bribery and blackmail thus allowing foreign intelligence infiltration. Imperialist fifth columns grow well in corrupt countries, for the corrupt bureaucratic oligarchs serve as a comprador bourgeois counter-weight against the influence of the proletariat in the socialistic state. The corrupt bureaucrats then, by fighting the proletarian enemies of finance capital, facilitate the penetration of the intelligence agents of finance capital into the socialist or socialist-leaning countries. Precisely for these reasons did American leaders embrace potential corruption in the People’s Democracies and the fostering of a red bourgeoisie, comprador capitalists cloaked as ‘communists’, who would destroy socialism.
To conclude, the course of action called for in the NSC was:
46. Our over-all aim with respect to the satellite states should be the gradual reduction and eventual elimination of preponderant Soviet power from Eastern Europe without resort to war.
47. We should, as the only practical immediate expedient, seek to achieve this objective through fostering Communist heresy among the satellite states, encouraging the emergence of non-Stalinist regimes….
48. It must, however, be our fixed aim that eventually these regimes must be replaced by non-totalitarian governments desirous of participating with good faith in the free world community.
49. More specifically, bearing in mind all of the qualifications set forth in the analysis of this paper, we should:
a. Seek to bring about retraction of Soviet military forces behind the borders of the U.S.S.R.;
b. Endeavor to cause an increasing isolation of the confirmed Stalinists from the nationalist elements of the party and from popular support in the satellite states toward the end that their power be reduced;
c. Attack the Stalinist dogma of satellite subservience to the U.S.S.R. and encourage nationalism;
d. Bring fully to bear on the Soviet-satellite relationship the economic forces which we control or influence.
(U.S. Policy Toward the Soviet Satellite States in Eastern Europe, PPS Files, Lot 64 D 563, PPS Documents, Washington, Top Secret, Policy Planning Staff Paper, August 25, 1949. In: GENERAL POLICIES AND PROBLEMS. In: Foreign Relations of the United States, US Department of State, 1949 Vol. 5, pp. 25-26) (IMG)
And to be sure, all of these policies and plans were implemented upon US President Truman’s personal order:
As of December 13 President Truman approved the Conclusions of this Report and directed that they be implemented by all appropriate executive departments and agencies of the government under the coordination of the Secretary of State. (Footnote section of: United States Policy Toward the Soviet Satellite States in Eastern Europe, Report to the President by the National Security Council, S/S-NSC Files, Lot 63 D 351, NSC 58 Series, NSC 58/2, Washington, National Security Council (NSC) December 8, 1949. In: Foreign Relations of the United States, US Department of State, 1949 Vol. 5, pp. 48-49) (IMG)
For the victory of Titoism in the Peoples’ Democracies to bear fruition, the Americans had decided to assassinate communists. Hence the Americans hatched a plot called ‘Project X’ which, according to the U.S. News stated:
“strong-arm quads would be formed under American guidance [and] assassination of key communists would be encouraged.” (I Choose Peace, Konni Zilliacus, p. 212, citing: U.S. News) ( IMG{Titoist Coup})
Under this plan, strong-arm squads would be formed under American guidance. Assassination of key Communists would be encouraged. American agents, parachuted into Eastern Europe, would be used to coordinate anti-Communist action. (From Trotsky To Tito, James Klugmann, 1951, citing: U.S. News)
To summarize, the American imperialist objective was the promotion of the corrupt bureaucrat, as the class allies of Anglo-American finance capital and as the basis for the Titoist mafia, in the Soviet-led camp. The rise of the corrupt bureaucrats would liquidate socialism and allow room for a massive network of fifth columnists to be established, paving the way towards the division and collapse of the Eastern camp. America’s sponsorship of revisionism, particularly Titoism, was not exclusive to Eastern Europe; Titoism were and continue to be globally sponsored so to weaken the communist labour movement and advance the banners of the US-led bloc of imperialists. Titoists rose to power in the USSR, and they too liquidated socialism. Traitors as they were, they assisted other Titoists in the Eastern bloc to rise to power, liquidate socialism, roll back the influence of the proletariat in the state apparatus, and isolate the USSR as the US-led camp’s top strategic foe. This topic, however, will be explored in detail in later chapters.
Anyways, for the Anglo-Americans, a major strategic gain from the rise of Titoism in the Peoples’ Democracies was that a camp of closely allied Anglo-American-backed Titoist-fascist regimes hostile to Soviet power could be established. In particular, the founding of a Greater Yugoslavia was the explicit purpose of the American regime. In the words of the NSC document, the US-sponsored rise of Titoism:
could conceivably grow to the point where there would be two opposing blocs in the Communist world a Stalinist group and a non-conformist faction, either loosely allied or federated under Tito’s leadership. A situation of this description might eventually provide us with an opportunity to operate on the basis of a balance of forces in the Communist world and to foster the tendencies toward accommodation with the West implicit in such a state of affairs. (United States Policy Toward the Soviet Satellite States in Eastern Europe, Report to the President by the National Security Council, S/S-NSC Files, Lot 63 D 351, NSC 58 Series, NSC 58/2, Washington, National Security Council (NSC) December 8, 1949. In: Foreign Relations of the United States, US Department of State, 1949 Vol. 5, p. 51) (IMG)
In line with Anglo-American objectives, the Trotskyite Fourth International instructed to Tito on July 1948 the following:
You would have to develop and sharpen your propaganda in favor of the Danubian Federation by giving it its classical communist form and by launching the slogan for the Balkan Federation of Soviet Socialist Republics among the workers and poor peasants of neighboring countries, who would take it up with enthusiasm. (An Open Letter to Congress, Central Committee and Members of the Yugoslav Communist Party, International Secretariat of the Fourth International, July 13, 1948. From Marxists Internet Archive) (IMG)
The Danubian Federation – named after the Danube River which crossed through Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania, and Bulgaria – was envisioned to revive the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a bulwark against Soviet power. “[T]he idea of Vienna’s becoming the capital of a large Danubian federation,” Churchill wrote to Roosevelt,:
has always been attractive to me, though I should prefer to add Hungary, to which Stalin is strongly opposed. (Dismemberment of Germany, Memorandum by the Assistant to the President’s Naval Aide (Elsey), Top Secret, Truman Papers, 1945. In: Foreign Relations of the United States, Diplomatic Papers, The Conference of Berlin, Vol. 1, 1945, p. 454)
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Fuentes:
https://sovinform.net/NSC-58-support-Titoism.htm