Maoism in the Developed World

The Communist Workers Party

On November 20, 1976, the KF (ML) converted itself into the Communist Workers Party (KAP).[392] The transformation of the KFML into a formal political party signified both a change in strategy and the beginning of a change in ideological orientation.

The change in strategy was evident in 1979, when the KAP participated in parliamentary elections for the first time. Their slogans in that campaign were “Alternative for the Left,” and “Socialism in Danish,” and among their demands in that campaign were an “alliance-free Denmark,” and that the country be “atom-free.”

In that campaign, the KAP ran thirty-one candidates, and their list was headed by Benito Scocozza. Almost all of the party’s nominees were young people in their twenties and thirties, and few of them were women.[393] Eric S. Einhorn noted that the KAP “received meager support in this election.[394] This did not discourage them from competing in further elections in the 1980s.”[395]

However, the change was not immediately evident. On the occasion of the 11th Congress of the Chinese Party in 1977, the KAP sent its greetings and congratulations. The message said that “Today the People’s Republic of China is the reliable base area of the world revolution and stands in the forefront of the struggle against the two hegemonic powers, the Soviet Union and the United States, especially Soviet social-imperialism. We are convinced that by following the decisions of the 1 lth party congress, the socialist construction in China will be further strengthened and that China by the end of the century will stand as a strong modern socialist state. Long live the Communist Party of China under the leadership of Comrade Hua Kuo-feng! Long live the fraternal relations between the Communist Party of China and the Communist Workers Party of Denmark!"[396]

The KAP also endorsed the Three Worlds Theory and sent delegations to China in July-August 1977 and July 1978.[397] However, the allegiance to the Chinese Party and state on the part of the KAP soon weakened. It is notable that in their principal 1979 electoral pamphlet there is no mention of China, “MaoTse-tung Thought” or any other indication of the party’s Maoist origins. Emphasis was totally on adopting Socialism to the Danish milieu.[398]

By 1979, there had begun a substantial shift away from Maoist ideology. Mads Bruun Pedersen has written that “Already in 1979, the party chairman, Benito Scocozza, began a discussion of Chinese socialism. It started with an article in the theoretical magazine Kommunistisk Tidsskrift 6/79 with the title ‘Den van-skelige socialism’ (The difficult socialism). … Here he discusses the lessons of the development in China in the light of the death of Mao, the party crisis and the trial of The Gang of Four.”[399]

The change in the basic orientation of the KAP was strongly reflected in the program adopted by the party in 1979, entitled “Det Vil Kap.” It raised the question, “Is the KAP the Chinese lackey in Denmark?“ It said that the Danish Communist Party was the “Soviet arm in Denmark, “ and then asked, “Is the same true of the KAP with regard to China?”

The document went on to explain that the KAP regarded China as a socialist country and one which was standing up to the “superpowers"; that although the KAP was in solidarity with China, it disagreed with the Chinese on several issues, such as NATO, the European Economic Community and Yugoslavia.[400] The Chinese, of course, supported NATO and the EEC and condemned the Yugoslavs, whereas the KAP was against NATO and EEC and was friendlily disposed toward the Yugoslav party and regime.

This was the start of the KAP’s break with Maoism. Subsequently, the party declined drastically. In 1988, Eric S. Einhorn referred to it as “the nearly defunct Communist Workers party … a Maoist relic that has not run candidates in the past three parliamentary elections.”[401]

Other Danish Maoist Groups

There were at least two other smaller Maoist groups in Denmark. One was the Kommunistisk Arbejder Forbund-Marxister-Leninister (Communist Labor League/Marxist-Leninist). The East German Communists labeled it as being “radical Left Maoist,” and noted that it had been established in December 1973 under the leadership of Jorgen Larsen and Paul Villaume. The other was the Danish Communist Party/Marxist-Leninist, which was established in December 1978 by a merger of two smaller groups and aligned itself with the Albanians.[402] Eric S. Einhorn noted that this group “infuriated the regular Communist Party (which never wavered from the Moscow line).”[403] Einhorn also noted in 1988 “the Marxist-Leninist Party, whose pro-Albania line attracted fewer than 1,000 votes in September.”[404]