MOSCOW'S ATTITUDE 167
writes: "What would have become of the party if it had pursued
the path of our alleged democracy and left the selection of
leaders to electoral caprice without the firm hand of the Central
Committee?" What, he asks, would nationalists in the Ukraine
and the Northern Caucasus,, and the Pan-Islamite movement
in Asia, have done in such a case?
These observations admirably characterize the present
position. Stalin is at the head of the pyramid, waging a relentless
wax against all opponents of his person and his regime. To
subdue all resistance within and without the Communist state,
a firm and, above all, a single will is required, employing all
other forces and factors as merely executive organs; in other
words, as simple tools—whether high or low is immaterial.
With the help of these tools—Litvinov, Kaganovitch, Ordjoni-
kidze and the rest—a single and consistent line of action is
maintained, even if it is necessary to have recourse to foreign
capital to complete the work of reconstruction.
Stalin now worked with all his power to preserve the Soviet
Union as a Communist "cell" for the rest of the world,
This meant the preservation of the Communist structure
of the country without admitting any bourgeois elements
whatsoever. It is only if we remember this that we shall
understand how Stalin could come to take the desperate
step of suddenly collectivizing the entire agriculture of the
Union.1 fcNep" had led to a temporary improvement of the
position, or at any rate to a breathing space; it had strength-
2ned the position of private enterprise, thus threatening the
structure and the supporters of the Communist order. If "Nep"
had retained the supremacy, private enterprise would in the
long run have remained victorious over Communism. This
Stalin clearly perceived, and in order to preserve Communism in
Russia he was willing to risk Russia's very existence—to allow
the State to perish rather than permit non-Communist elements
1 Stalin was interested not so much in the agricultural as in the socio-
logical and political aspects of the problem.