SUBCOMMITTEE NO. 5 NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENTS HON. FRANCES P. BOLTON, Chairman WITH SUPPLEMENT I ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF COMMUNISM, 1848-1948 AND SUPPLEMENT II OFFICIAL PROTESTS OF THE UNITED STATES Bernan 4-24-53 traucher to Stacks 1-14-66 PREFACE No subject has been of deeper concern to the Government and the people of the United States for the last few years than that of communism. The question "What does Communist Russia want?" has been asked and asked again, and has received many answers. During the war we had accepted, perforce, that Russia was fighting on our side, and was even bearing the brunt of the fight. We had gone beyond this and believed that the Soviet state was allied to us in objectives beyond the defeat of Hitler; that it was altogether friendly. Promptly after the war a transition began, as Soviet and Communist actions contrary to our ideals or expectations began to disturb us. Since the war Communist tactics in the countries of eastern Europe have appeared to us to violate agreements made concerning freedom and democracy in those countries. Revelations in Canada and Britain as well as in the United States have illustrated the Communist practice of espionage in a scarcely friendly fashion. Labor troubles under Communist stimulation have increased the difficulties of many countries in facing postwar problems of economic recovery. The Soviet has used its veto in the Security Council of the United Nations to block all action by the Council which might prejudice the cause of communism. The Soviet has used its position in Germany under Potsdam to interfere with any method of rehabilitation that we can understand. Both the Soviet and the Communist Parties have formally announced their opposition to the project for European recovery, and have given notice that they will resort to all means to interfere with its success. And Communist propaganda, both from Soviet sources such as the Moscow radio and from Communist sources in all countries, has resorted to a standard line of attack upon the objectives of the United States, of contempt for American culture, and of uninhibited abuse. All this has meant that the foreign policy of the United States has increasingly found that communism is a factor in every problem or situation. Communism, in its objectives, its strategy, and its practical working methods or tactics thereby assumes top priority for the attention of all concerned with the foreign affairs of the United States. Subcommittee No. 5 of the Committee on Foreign Affairs was established in May 1947, with the assignment, among other matters, of studying such political movements as communism, fascism, and nationalism. Its first major study project was naturally concerned with the international impacts of Communist activities. This report is the first result of this study. In preparing this report, and the supplements that accompany it the resources and aid of the Legislative Reference Service have been heavily drawn upon and generously given. Other agencies of the Government have also contributed information and materials requested by the subcommittee. Other reports prepared under the auspices of the Congress have both lightened the task and have been of great value in the study. Among these, particular mention should be made of House Document No. 754 of the Seventy-ninth Congress, Communism in Action, which offers a documented study of communism within the Soviet Union, and of the study of Trends in Russian Foreign Policy Since World War I, issued as a committee print by the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate. Both of these documents were prepared by the Legislative Reference Service. The report of Subcommittee No. 5 is issued in several parts, including a summary report and several supplements. Those parts now ready, or in an advanced stage of preparation are listed below: Report: The Strategy and Tactics of World Communism. Supplement I. One Hundred Years of Communism (basic documents on Communist theory and practice). Supplement II. Official Protests of the United States Government against Communist Policies or Actions. Supplement III. Country and Regional Studies (to be issued as separate studies for a number of regions or countries where Communist activity is important). |