Page:Resolutions and Theses of the Fourth Congress of the Communist International (1922).djvu/62

 the religio-political watchwords of pan-Islamism are substituted by concrete political demands. The struggle for the separation of the temporal power from the Khaliphad, which took place in Turkey recently is evidence of this.

The main task common to all national revolutionary movements is to bring about national unity and achieve political independence. The real and consistent solution of this depends on the extent to which the national movement in any particular country is capable of attracting to itself the toiling masses and break off all connection with the reactionary feudal elements, and include in its programme the social demands of the masses.

While being completely aware that the will of a nation for political independence in varying historical conditions can be expressed by the most diverse classes, the Communist International supports all national revolutionary movements against imperialism. At the same time it does not lose sight of the fact that only a consistent revolutionary line of_policy based on the active support of the masses, and the unreserved break with all advocates of compromise with imperialism in the interests of maintaining class domination, can lead the oppressed masses to victory. The connection between the native bourgeoisie and the feudal reactionary elements enables the imperialists to make wide use of feudal anarchy, the rivalry between various leaders and tribes, the antagonism between town and country, the struggle between castes and national religious sects, etc., for the purpose of disorganising the popular movement (China, Persia, Kurdistan, Mesopotamia).

'''III. Agrarian Question.'''

In the majority of countries in the East (India, Persia, Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia) the agrarian question is of first-class importance in the struggle for emancipation from the domination of the despotism of the Great Powers. Exploiting and ruining the peasant majorities in the backward nations, imperialism deprives them of the elementary means of existence while the low development of industry scattered among a few junctional points in the country renders it impossible for it to absorb the superfluous agrarian population which at the same time has not means of emigrating. The peasants remaining on the land are pauperised and converted into serfs. While in the advanced countries prior to the war, industrial crises served as regulators of social production, this function in the colonies 1s performed by famine. Vitally interested in securing the greatest profits with the least expenditure of capital, imperialism strives all it can to maintain in the backward countries the feudal usurer form of exploiting labour power. In some countries like India, it assumes the monopoly rights of the native feudal State to the land, and converts the land tribute into feudal dues and the Zemindars and Talukdars into its agents. In other countries it extracts ground rent