Page - 235 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

the ‘thirdway’ to socialism 235 libertiesbe restored.152Hisassessmentofdespotic socialismbore, in fact, the anticipationof the imminentendofBolshevikdictatorship.Bauer fell victim toidealismthathadmoretodowithhisemotionalrelationshiptotheRussian Revolution than it didwith a rational assessment of reality. In his text,Der ‘neueKurs’ inSowjetrußland (SovietRussia’s ‘NewPolicy’, 1921),hecitedthetwo most likelyscenarios forthedemiseof thedictatorship: fromabove(aprocess ofdemocratisation initiatedanddirectedby theCommunistParty) and from below(forcedbytherevolutionaryresistanceoftheworkingmasses).153Incase bothprognosesturnedouttobewrong,heoutlinedthefollowingscenario: Outofthechaosthatwillbetheharvestofdictatorship,abloodycounter- revolutionwill arise, robbing theRussianworkersnotonlyofall revolu- tionarygains,butgiving internationalcounter-revolutionastrongboost andservingitasapowerfulpillar.154 ourtranslation Onlyoneposition thatBauer tenaciouslyuphelduntil theendofhis lifewas accurate, although it only came to fruition after a long historical period, i.e. the undoing of the dictatorship by the oppressed masses. However, Bauer was not alone amongWestern European Social Democrats, who generally underestimated theBolsheviks’ ability to remain inpower.Many theorists of EuropeanSocialDemocracy,suchasRosaLuxemburg,concurredwithBauer’s positions, includinghisbelief thatthedictatorshipwasdiggingitsowngrave. 4.2 ADoctrinaire-PragmaticPerspective:TheNewEconomicPolicy At the 1925 congress of the Labour and Socialist International inMarseille, Bauerproclaimed, ‘Handsoff SovietRussia’ – a succinct reflectionofhis atti- tudetowardthepoliciesoftheBolsheviksaftertheOctoberRevolution.Theslo- ganwasprecededbyaradicalchangeinBauer’sconvictionsabouttheprocess ofsocialtransformationoccurringintheSovietrepublic.Amajorconsideration washisfascinationwiththeNewEconomicPolicyintroducedbyLeninin1921. 152 According toHanisch,Bauer’shope fordemocratisationof theCommunistdictatorship wasthekeyelementofhisambivalentattitudetowardstheSovietUnion,oftenleadingto alarmingerrorsof judgement.SeeHanisch2011,p.346. 153 SeeBauer1976e,p.456. 154 ‘AusdemChaos,dasderDiktaturErbeseinwird,wirddanndieblutigeKonterrevolution hervorgehen,dienichtnurdierussischenArbeiterallerrevolutionärenErrungenschaften berauben, sondernauchder internationalenKonterrevolutionstarkenAntriebundeine mächtigeStützegebenkann’–ibid.