wage worker serves the capitalist who buys labour power. Now the Communist Party had obviously to make all possible use of the services of the sympathetic minority. As regards the other minority, every means of repression had to be employed to render these reactionaries harmless. Finally, as far as the average officers were concerned, those whose political attitude in the civil war was neutral, the proletariat had to retain them in its service, and to ensure that they did their work conscientiously whether at the front or at the rear.
The utilisation of the old officers gave valuable results in the upbuilding of the Red Army. In this matter we were able to turn to useful account the technical experience in military affairs that had been acquired by the bourgeois and landlord regime. Their utilisation, however, entailed terrible dangers, for it occasionally involved widespread treachery on the part of the officers, and enormous sacrifices of the Red soldiers, who were betrayed and handed over in masses to the enemy.
The principal task of the Communist Party in this connexion is, in the first place, the effective training of our own commanders for the Red Army — the training of Red officers, of communists who shall be fitted for work on the general staff by a course of training at the Red Academy which has been established by the Soviet Power. Secondly we have to ensure a closer association between the communist commissars and all the other members of the party in the fighting forces, for the effective supervision and control of all the non-communist officers.
68. Should Army Officers be elected, or should they be appointed from above?
The army of the capitalist State, based upon universal military service, is mainly composed of peasants and workers, under the command of officers drawn from the nobility and the bourgeoisie. When in our old program we demanded the election of officers, our aim was to ensure