Page - 203 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

the ‘thirdway’ to socialism 203 fromdifferentobjectiveandsubjective livingconditionsof theworkingclass, couldbeovercomebasedonsocialisttheory.86AccordingtoBauer,thisdidnot excludeaco-operationofbothcurrentsatapolitical level.Asacondition for suchco-operation, theSocialDemocrats’pessimisticassessmentof theSoviet Unionwouldhavetobereaddressed. In1936,heformulatedthesecondcondi- tion:SocialDemocracyhadtoadopthisprogrammeof ‘integralsocialism’.87 Bauer assumed that the struggle against fascist dictatorships and author- itarian regimes was amatter concerning not just the working class, but all progressiveanddemocraticsocial forces.Hewasconvincedthatonly theuni- fication of different classes and social layers could save democracy, and this goalremainedapriorityforhim.Bauerdidnotwanttoworkoutaprogramme formergingboth sides.Hedesired co-operation, butnot in aunited front as advocated by the Communists. He expressed his tense relationship to their unitedfront ideathus: ‘It is importantforthefutureoftheworldproletariatto bridgethegapthatdividesthesocialistpartiesofwestandcentralEuropefrom theRussianRevolution. But it is equally important not to sever the ties that linkthesocialistpartiesofwestandcentralEurope’(ourtranslation).88Rather, Bauerwas concernedwith establishing aplatform for co-operationbetween theSocial-DemocraticandCommunistmovementsthatmightgainstrongsup- port fromthetradeunions,co-operatives,andcultural institutions. Itwasnot his intention toproposeplatformsof communicationbetweenSocialDemo- cratsandCommunistswhichcouldhaveforcedeithersidetogiveupits ideo- logy.Instead,hesoughtasynthesisofvalues; forthispurpose, itwouldbesuffi- cienttorecognisethatthecapitalistsystemhadtobereconstructedinthespirit of socialistaimsandideals.TheSocial-Democraticmovementwouldcontrib- uteitstraditionoffightingforfreedomanddemocracy,respectingthefreedom andrightsoftheindividual,andtakingresponsibilityforculturalheritage.The Communists,meanwhile,wouldcontributetheirradicalismandrevolutionism ofaction, i.e. thebelief thattheworkingclasscouldonlyachievecompletelib- erationwith the introductionofaproletariandictatorshipanddestructionof thecapitalistorder. 86 SeeBauer1976p,p.302. 87 DetlevAlbersoutlinesthisconcept inAlbers1979,pp.90–6. 88 ‘EsistfürdieganzeZukunftdesWeltproletariatswichtig,dassdieKluftüberbrücktwerde, diedie sozialistischenParteienWest- undMitteleuropas vonder russischenRevolution scheidet.Aberes ist ebensowichtig,daßdieBandenichtzerrissenwerden,diedie sozi- alistischenParteienWest- undMitteleuropasuntereinander verbinden’ –Bauer 1980bb, p.589.