Eagle, I don't want to form an alliance anymore.

His proposal was to abandon democratic centralism, embrace other small left-wing parties, and cooperate to form a ruling coalition.

Why did the French Communist Party withdraw from the coalition government in 1984? It was because the French Communist Party was unwilling to compromise!

Traditionalists vehemently opposed this, quoting Slava's speech after the 28th Congress of the CPSU: "...the best way to eliminate the Communist Party is to peacefully form a coalition government, so that it will be corrupted through repeated compromises and eventually become a harmless cat."

Democratic centralism is the core of the Leninist party's organizational structure: discussions are allowed within the party, but once a decision is made, the entire party must implement it and cannot openly oppose it.

This principle gives the Communist Party extremely high efficiency and discipline in its operations, at the cost of suppressing dissenting voices. Robert argues that in today's pluralistic and individualistic society like France, democratic centralism makes the French Communist Party resemble a Stalinist totalitarian organization.

If the French Communist Party abandons this approach and chooses a more open organizational form that allows for diverse internal voices, it can attract voters who identify with communist ideals but dislike the "iron rules of the party"!

Whether it's the traditionalists within the French Communist Party or the Marxist-Leninist and Maoist factions on the French left, they all believe this is a revisionist path!

If this proposal is put forward and adopted at the 28th Congress of the French Communist Party next month, it will be the biggest organizational change in the history of the French Communist Party and a landmark success for the Western free world against the French left.

If the Communist Party, the “most unruly” party, can be successfully forced to lay down its weapons and use only the weapon of criticism, then the bourgeoisie, who have been on high alert, can sleep soundly.

PS: Historically, due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the dramatic changes in Eastern Europe, as well as the impact on ideology and many other reasons, the French Communist Party finally abandoned democratic centralism at its 28th Congress in 1994, referring to it as the "new communist theory".

Robert was not acting alone. Some social democratic parties in Western Europe, especially the Social Democratic Party of West Germany and the New Labour faction within the British Labour Party, expressed support and interest in the "reformists" of the French Communist Party. They hoped to see the French Communist Party transform from a revolutionary party into a reformist party, into a "normal left-wing party" that could cooperate in parliament and would not scare away centrist voters.

There are even rumors that the United States is monitoring the French Communist Party's reform movements. The CIA worked within Western European communist parties throughout the Cold War, and since the 1960s, the US has been seeking potential partners among the reformists of the European communist movement. The Italian Communist Party's "historic compromise," the Spanish Communist Party's "Eurocommunism"... these moves that distanced themselves from Moscow all bear the shadow of the United States.

What did the transformation of the French Communist Party from a Leninist party to a social democratic party mean for the Soviet Union?

This means that one of Moscow's most important political allies in Western Europe may be about to break away from the socialist camp.

France is the least likely NATO member to listen to the US. With the defeat of the left wing led by the Socialist Party, the rise of the right wing is almost a foregone conclusion. The new British government has completely sided with the US. France cannot continue like this!

So the news that Robert was preparing to propose abandoning democratic centralism at the 28th Congress of the French Communist Party in 1994 was quickly spread to Moscow by some people.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The Moscow Kremlin.

Slava received an intelligence briefing on the movements of the French Communist Party (CCP). The core conclusion of the briefing was that the reformists within the CCP, under the influence of Western forces, were pushing for substantial organizational changes and intended to propose abandoning democratic centralism at the upcoming 28th Party Congress.

The reformists are backed by the Social Democratic International and Western intelligence agencies. If the French Communist Party abandons democratic centralism, it will effectively break away from the ranks of Leninist parties and become a social democratic party, which will seriously weaken the Soviet Union's political influence in Western Europe.

At this time, the French Communist Party had a 13% approval rating, making it the second largest party on the left. A significant portion of the Soviet Union's influence on France was exerted through the French Communist Party.

But how should the French Communist Party resolve its predicament? In 1994, half a century into the Cold War, what should a communist party be like?

The Soviet Union's answer was stronger discipline, stricter systems, harder power, and broader democratic oversight to combat corruption and bureaucracy.

The French Communist Party's reformists' answer was less discipline, more openness, and a softer organization, which they used to win over voters and society.

The Soviet Communist Party dared to do this because it was always the ruling party, and the government, from top to bottom, was composed of communists. But what about France? France is essentially still a bourgeois democratic republic. Even if the French Communist Party were to seize power by force, would NATO allow it? Would the United States stand idly by?

Moscow must not allow the French Communist Party's reformists to succeed, nor can it allow them to split the French Communist Party!

We must grasp both the weapon of criticism and the criticism of weapons!

Chapter 149 Live Broadcast of Public Trial in Old Revolutionary Base Areas

He directly instructed the French Communist Party establishment to summon Robert to a meeting without his gun, then ambushed him. When he entered the hall and passed by the screen where no one could see him, the guards immediately arrested him, and then the establishment leader, Marchet, read out a list of charges.

I forgot the beginning, the middle, and the end, but anyway, Robert was secretly imprisoned after shouting, and then Marché announced that Robert had "requested retirement on the eve of the 28th Congress of the French Communist Party due to health reasons"?

This is too Slava-like; it's clearly the style of the General Secretary of the CPSU. It won't work.

The annual guidelines proposed another idea: ignore Robert for now, focus on suppressing his factional influence to prevent a split within the French Communist Party's reformist faction, and then, during the 28th Congress of the French Communist Party, send staff to remove Robert, who was sitting next to Marché, and announce that "Robert felt unwell during the meeting, and staff accompanied him to an off-site room for health reasons," and then make him disappear without a trace.

Slava thought Director Nian's idea was good, because the reformist faction of the French Communist Party was not strong, and the biggest source of the internal crisis of the French Communist Party in this timeline—the collapse of the Soviet Union and the dramatic changes in Eastern Europe—did not happen at all!

The reformists, who make up about 18% of the French Communist Party, were partly fostered by Western intelligence agencies, partly because the French Communist Party establishment was unwilling to compromise with other social democratic parties and the reformists believed that the French Communist Party would never have the opportunity to govern and participate in politics under such circumstances, and partly because they simply believed that what the Soviet Union did was totalitarian politics and did not conform to the principles of democratic socialism.

For the last group of people, we can try to help them get rid of their stereotypes and realize that Soviet democracy is not totalitarian politics;

For the middle group, it is necessary to emphasize that we should take a path that suits the French national conditions. The traditional base of the French Communist Party is the workers, but France has been deindustrializing since the late 70s. The proportion of the worker voters base has been declining year by year. The propaganda of the French Communist Party needs to take into account non-worker voters and try to win over the base of other parties, rather than thinking about compromising and forming a coalition government.

There's not much to say about the first category – Moscow. They were only responsible for mobilizing the KGB to provide the French Communist Party establishment with information about these people receiving money from foreign intelligence agencies, allowing the French Communist Party to decide internally whether to punish them or expel them from the party.

Anyway, the Kremlin General Secretary's original words were a strong suggestion to send these people to labor camps. He said that in the Soviet Union, such reactionaries would have been hanged by lampposts long ago. If France hadn't abolished the death penalty and entered the ranks of "civilized countries," the French Communist Party should have carried forward its revolutionary tradition and sent these people to the guillotine!

In the autobiography of Slava's private secretary, "My Fifteen Years with Ivanov," he wrote:

"...When I told the General Secretary why the French Communist Party probably couldn't hang the traitor from a lamppost, he was both amused and exasperated. He said he still thought France hadn't abolished the death penalty. He said this while eating the rice cakes the Foreign Minister had given him:"

"I think Robespierre has done a good job. The lingering poison of tyranny has been eradicated, the privileges of the nobility and clergy have been largely eliminated, civic virtue has flourished, and the public interest is paramount. If given more time to ensure the republic's long-term stability, France will be the virtuous republic of my dreams."

Clearly, from that moment on, Xiong Ge was determined to push for the reinstatement of the death penalty in France.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Paris, May 1994

The relationship between France and the Soviet Union was the most unique among all NATO countries. In the 1960s, de Gaulle withdrew from NATO's integrated military command structure, established direct dialogue channels with the Soviet Union, and advocated "Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals"—a Europe not completely separated by the US-Soviet bipolar system, in which France would play an independent role.

In fact, Slava also strongly agreed with de Gaulle on the concept of "Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals," believing that the Soviet Union should have directly turned the entire European continent red after defeating the United States and formed the European Communist Community, which would also be considered as moving from the Atlantic to the Urals.

What? An independent role? The Fifth French Republic has become the Sixth French People's Republic, what kind of historical legacy is this?

After de Gaulle's departure, Mitterrand continued this path—though he was a Socialist. During Mitterrand's twelve years in power, Franco-Soviet economic cooperation, cultural exchange, and intellectual interaction reached their highest levels since the Cold War. French universities had exchange programs with the Soviet Academy of Sciences, French companies had a presence in Soviet space cooperation and the GLONASS project, and French philosophers and sociologists regularly visited Moscow—seeking theoretical inspiration from the changes in the Soviet Union.

This means that French intellectuals are more likely to be aware of what is happening in the Soviet Union than citizens of other NATO countries.

The Soviet Union that the British and Americans saw was the Soviet Union as filtered through CNN and the BBC—the Iron Curtain, the Gulag, the Red Empire.

The French perspective on the Soviet Union was closer to reality. The success of Soviet economic reforms in recent years, such as the operation of information systems, improved supply of consumer goods, and the vitality of the Far Eastern Special Economic Zones, had generated a subtle interest among many French intellectuals.

The Soviet Union was achieving economic development and technological progress in a way completely different from the West, which was undoubtedly attractive to French intellectuals who were skeptical of the "free market theory."

After all, the failure of neoliberalism in the 80s and the Great Depression had shattered the free market theory. In the view of scholars from many countries, the Soviet Union, which stood firm in the storm and implemented a computerized planned economy, won almost without doing anything!

An Iranian scholar quoted a Chinese proverb to describe the Soviet Union’s success in the late 80s and early 90s: “The Soviet Union only needed to sit on the riverbank and do nothing, and watch the enemy’s corpses float downstream.”

For this purpose, the director even drew a political cartoon for TASS: a brown bear wearing a military cap sits on the riverbank fishing, a panda wearing black-rimmed glasses is fishing in the water with a rope tied to the bank around its waist, while a bald eagle, John Bull, and Japanese chicken are calling for help in the water.

Therefore, when Western media, especially British and American media, equated the Soviet Union's anti-corruption purges with Stalin, the French intellectual community did not simply accept it.

The most extreme demonizing rhetoric in British and American media was treated as a joke in French intellectual circles.

"Ivanov secretly executed the parents of opposition members and sold their children to Romania as sex slaves—evidence that there are many orphans in Romania!"

A history professor at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris quoted this statement in class, then said: "The large number of orphans in Romania is due to Ceaușescu's birth control policies. What does it have to do with Ivanov? It's completely irrelevant."

"Ivanov sent all the disobedient believers to Siberia! This is suppressing religious freedom!"

A French sociologist of religion wrote a column in Le Monde, pointing out that the Soviet Union actually relaxed its control over religion and national culture during Slava's rule—the number of Orthodox churches and Muslim mosques registered increased slightly: "To portray the Soviet Union as a repressive state requires ignoring all the evidence from the past five years."

West German media also reported: "Ivanov built gas chambers specifically to kill the opposition!"

This statement was not adopted by most serious British and American media outlets; it appeared in a few far-right tabloids and radio programs. French intellectuals simply ignored it.

In reality, many in French intellectual circles still have deep reservations about the Soviet system, but they refuse to accept the simplistic narrative that demonizes everything about the Soviet Union.

Those intellectuals with Jacobin traditions who believed that "corrupt elites must be purged with an iron fist" and who sought political inspiration from the historical memory of the French Revolution were completely fanatical about the Soviet Union's anti-corruption measures.

"The Soviet Union is doing what France did in 1793: it must use an iron fist to purge the corrupt elements who are parasitic on the fruits of the revolution!" a left-wing historian said in a public lecture. "Should we applaud or be afraid of this? Perhaps both, but at least someone is doing it."

Then Soviet legal channels began to gain popularity in France.

As part of its ideological export, all official Soviet international television broadcasts were transmitted globally free of charge via satellite. Subtitles in different languages ​​were embedded in the signals for different countries. French subtitles were standard—because France was the Soviet Union's most important soft target in Western Europe.

The Soviet Union's legal channels broadcast public trials live at fixed times every day.

Contrary to the expectations of many French viewers, the Soviet trial was not the stereotypical scene they had imagined: a judge sitting on a high platform reading a pre-written verdict, then the defendant being dragged out and shot on the spot, with the family members pulling a cart to collect the body for burial.

It would be a disservice to them not to have that stereotypical image of Slavic barbarians.

Soviet public trials—at least those broadcast on television—went through all the proper procedures. Judges, lay judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers...all were present. Both sides had the opportunity to speak, evidence was presented, and the defendant had the right to defend themselves.

This is very familiar to the French, because unlike the common law system of the UK and the US, France and the Soviet Union belong to the civil law system.

In the French legal community, some law professors play video clips of Soviet public trials in class as teaching materials for "comparative law".

"The Soviet trial process was, at least in form, closer to the standards of the civil law system than many people imagine," a law professor at Paris II University wrote in a paper.

Meanwhile, the French Communist Party, under instructions from Moscow, did something that many found both absurd and fascinating: it organized cadres and citizens in its local branches to watch the live broadcast of the Soviet public trial on a screen.

Slava knew that France, as a traditional revolutionary base, had no shortage of bloodthirsty spectators. In a "civilized country" that had abolished the death penalty, witnessing the execution of heinous enemies of the people could effectively stir the simple emotions within the hearts of the French people!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The activity center of a French Communist Party branch in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris.

The activity center is usually used for meetings and cultural activities—showing movies and holding lectures, etc. Today, hundreds of chairs have been moved into its square, a projection screen borrowed from the neighboring school is hung on the wall, and a projector is connected to a satellite receiver to receive signals from the Soviet legal channel.

French subtitles are displayed at the bottom of the screen.

The square was packed with people, not only Communist Party cadres and union activists, but also residents from nearby communities who had come home from get off work with their families to watch.

Some people were holding coffee, while others were eating sunflower seeds. The atmosphere was like watching a football match—lively, noisy, and filled with excited anticipation.

Many middle-aged people who participated in the 1968 French "May Storm" brought their families to see this explosive public trial. Jacobins even came to the French Communist Party's side for a team-building activity. They said that the last time the French people could collectively watch a public trial of a corrupt official was during the French Revolution!

"I'm not afraid of public trials. I'm happy to hear about public trials. What kind of trial is this in the Soviet Union? It's just a court hearing to go through the procedures before sentencing someone to death. The real trial was during the French Revolution, with tens of thousands of Parisians watching. There were guns and cannons, and I heard there was even a guillotine."

As everyone was discussing, the screen lit up.

The public trial was held in a large stadium, described by the caption as a multi-purpose stadium in the suburbs of Moscow, usually used for ice hockey, but today it was converted into a temporary courtroom.

The judge's bench was set up at a long table in the center of what used to be an ice hockey rink, covered with a deep red velvet cloth. The judge and two lay jurors sat behind the table, which was set with the national emblem and a gavel.

To the judge's left was the prosecutor—a prosecutor from the Soviet Prosecutor's Office—and to his right was the defendant's defense lawyer.

The defendant was a man in his fifties, wearing a wrinkled gray suit that looked like it came from a detention center. He sat in a chair directly opposite the judge's bench.

More than 10,000 people were in the stadium to watch the trial. Some brought their families to grab front-row tickets, and some women with children also wanted to watch.

The front row was occupied by the city's Party and government officials, district Party secretaries, construction bureau directors, planning bureau section chiefs... They were "invited" to sit in on the proceedings. The next few rows were worker representatives from the factory, and then ordinary citizens sat at the very back.

“My goodness…” a veteran member of the French Communist Party whispered, “Those Jacobins are quite right. The last time I saw a scene like this was back during the French Revolution!”

The trial has begun.

The defendant's name is Katirov, the Minister of Construction of a certain state.

Crimes—

The prosecutor stood up and began to read:

"During his tenure as Minister of Construction, the defendant Katirov embezzled a total of 8.12 million rubles of construction project funds by taking advantage of his position."

Six properties were seized under the defendant's name—one in central Moscow, three on the Black Sea coast, and two in the Caucasus Mountains. Five vehicles were also seized, registered under the names of the defendant and his relatives—including three imported luxury cars.

The defendant was found to have three unmarried partners abroad—in France, Austria, and Türkiye—and their living expenses were all paid for by the defendant using public funds.

A chorus of boos erupted from the audience in front of the screen at Saint-Denis.

"Holy crap! Eight million! Six houses! Three mistresses! That's way more impressive than our mayor!" "Don't be so sarcastic. The mayor doesn't have six houses, but he has more mistresses."

The French are indeed internationally leading when it comes to extramarital affairs. Even President Mitterrand had a mistress with whom he had a daughter, and after his death, he left a large portion of his estate to this illegitimate child. As a result, the illegitimate child and the mistress were sued by the wife, who argued that this was oppression and mistreatment of the widow and her daughter, and ultimately rejected the wife's demands.

"A residential building constructed under the supervision of the defendant collapsed in September 1993 due to quality problems, resulting in four deaths and thirty-seven injuries. The cause of the accident was determined to be substandard building materials."

The more than 10,000 people in the stadium fell silent when they heard this. Everyone thought this person should be sentenced to death, and then they began to complain.

In the Soviet Union, in addition to legal procedures, there was a process of public appeals and complaints from the masses during the public trials of officials.

Residents living near the collapsed building, families who lost loved ones in the accident, and ordinary citizens whose safety was threatened by substandard construction were allowed to speak in court.

An elderly woman's grandson was seriously injured in the collapse and is still in the hospital. She walked shakily to the microphone.

“My grandson is eight years old. He lives on the third floor of that building and he was sleeping when the building collapsed! He was trapped under the concrete slab for four hours before being rescued. Both of his legs were broken, and the doctor said he may never be able to walk normally again.”

She looked at Katirov sitting in the chair.

"He's only eight years old! You dare to steal from our house just to make a few million more rubles! How dare you! You damned reactionary!"

The more than 10,000 people in the stadium were quiet at first, then some people started cursing, and the cursing grew louder and louder.

"Shoot him!" someone shouted.

"Hang him!" "Send him to Siberia!"

The judge moved the microphone over and struck the gavel several times to maintain order. The defense attorney argued that the defendant "had a good attitude toward admitting guilt," "showed remorse," "the earthquake was an objective reality, and the building collapse should be attributed to design flaws," and "recommended a lenient sentence."

The judge and two lay assessors withdrew from the courtroom to deliberate. Twenty minutes later, the deliberation concluded, and the judge delivered the verdict.

"According to Article XX of the USSR Criminal Code and the relevant provisions of the Crime of Possessing Unexplained Wealth—the defendant, Katirov, embezzled far more than the statutory limit of three million rubles, and his actions directly resulted in the deaths of four people and injuries to thirty-seven others, making the circumstances particularly egregious—"

"Sentenced to death with a one-month reprieve."

Applause and cheers erupted in the stadium. In front of the screens in Saint-Denis, some French spectators clapped, some remained silent, and some frowned.

“They really dare to execute people? There are children in the audience! Won’t that have a bad influence?” a young member of the French Communist Party said.