NEW PHASE OF THE ALGERIAN REVOLUTION
The decision taken by the GPRA during its last meeting at Tripoli, to make an appeal to foreign volunteers "without distinction of origin", marks a new phase in the uninterrupted development of the Algerian Revolut-
The revolt of the ultras in Algeria, their open opposition to de Gaulle's regime, the determination, the firmness - at least apparent - with which he was able to face this revolt, as well as his statements to the French population during his tour, which preceded the one to Algeria, had created the illusion of a possible and forthcoming compromise acceptable to the FLN, which natuld open the way for a cease-fire and "auto-determi-
On the Algerian revolution and the FLN - the organization which leads it - rests the weight at this moment of the combined pressures imposed by the imperialists and Moscow in favour of a "reasonable" policy, if not the "generous" policy of de Gaulle, promoting the "democratic procedure of auto-determination", as well as the pressure - no less negligible - from Bourguiba and the Sultan, and probably also that exercised by a whole wing of the FLN itself.
This wing which, by the way, has a changing composition of different elements, is susceptible to those pressures as well as to that of a section of the Algerian population, which has undoubtedly suffered from the length, the losses, sacrifices, the immense misery which the barbarous war of an exasperated imperialism has inflicted on them. It is not perhaps a numerically important wing, but divers elements who either by their social origin, their age, their role in the revolution, or through
FOURTH INTERNATIONAL lack of clear perspectives, become discouraged from time to time and are, more than others, inclined to envisage, with a sense of relief, the possibilities of an acceptable = 60000 compromise.
The Algerian people, it is true, have up to now taken upon themselves an immense task and have already paid an incredibly heavy price for the tenacious continuation of the revolution: more than 600,000 deaths, especially civilians, more than 1.000,000 displaced persons, put in concentration camps in Algeria, more than 250,000 refugees, children, women and old people, in Tunisia and Morocco, more than 25,000 prisoners and deportees in
For a people of 9,000,000, this is an immense draining of blood.
)n the other hand. we must never torget that th
Igerian people have in reality tought tor more than si: years already, and practically alone.
Neither the French proletariat nor the European proletariat have as yet provided sufficient aid.
As far as assistance from the Arab and African contries and various Workers States is concerned, it is important on the material level, but neither complete nor
When studying in detail the methods, the limitations of this aid, one cannot help thinking that as far as the aid is concerned, everything happens indeed as if the various forces who "help", want to exploit the Algerian affair for their own ends: either so that it lasts without being victorious, or for purposes of interior propaganda for their own people. And one is induced to think of Spain in the years 1936-1938.
The assertions of de Gaulle during his Algerian tour - the demand that the ALN should surrender, otherwise there would be the perspective of a long war, the rejection of genuine independence, the blackmail of "partition" in case of cessation - have provoked and inflamed a unanimous revival of spirit in the ranks of the FLN.
So it is that the ideas, plans, the most radical and revolutionary perspectives, which have ripened through the experience and the struggle in the ranks of FLNS numerous young cadre, are blossoming and will bear
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The decision concerning the formation of an International Brigade, without any distinction of origin, should be within the framework of this new stage of maturity of the Algerian Revolution.
This is a decisive choice which broadens the political horizon of the revolution, makes it more popular among the world revolutionary masses, and which will also abolish the last taboos which still lie so heavily on the heroic popular movement of the Algerian masses.
Their struggle becomes the struggle of all of Africa, the whole Arab nation, and of all revolutionary forces all over the world. • The partisans and the Algerian people will no longer feel solitary.
The spirit of active international solidarity on the exploited and oppressed will inspire even more, with its invincible force, the struggle of the Algerian people, and will purge its revolution of all backwardness.
It is now necessary to combine this very important step forward with a practical application of measures, such as the transformation of the FLN into a political party, with a more concrete social programme, a more clearly defined internal organization, more control from its popular base, with more direct liaison between the fighters of the interior and the masses of the country, the transfer of main power inside Algeria itself, and the control by the FLN, so transformed, and the masses, over the government.
The invincible power of the Algerian Revolution, despite the unequal battle being waged on a strictly material level, against a powerful imperialism, lies in the attachment of the Algerian masses to the national and social content of the revolution and in the unlimited resources of the international masses who are ready to help the revolution.
That is the reason why it is necessary to define more clearly the social aspect of the revolution and to place it inside the larger African, Arab and international context.
The Fourth International salutes the decision taken to establish the International Brigade, and appeals to the conscious proletarians all over the world to enlist in the struggle side by side with their brothers in the Colonial Revolution.