THE TECHNIQUE OF COMMUNISM
Snt,—Mr. C. M. Woodhouse, in his analysis. of Communist technique, appears to exaggerate the extent to which the Eastern European revolu- tions have been " internal." He certainly goes too far when he suggests that the Western Powers have been helpless because they lacked " creative ideas out of which to generate counter-revolutions." The contention itself might be true. but the implied proposition that Communism has swept the countries concerned as a result of its creative ideas is surely false. Each European country in turn has had to submit to Communist rule for the simple reason that effective police force was in the hands either of local Communists or of the Red Army. The fact that no Soviet troops crossed the Czech border in 1948 is surely less significant than the fact that the Communists were given the Premiership and the Ministry of the Interior in 1945 when Red Army "liberators " were still on Czech soil. In any case, no one could maintain that the Hungarian coup was carried out without the intervention of the Russian military authorities.
It is surely quite wrong to represent the West as losing the battle 1 creative ideas. The Italian election campaign shows how the ideas of the Communists are exhausted by their attempt to convince every individual that his particular economic and social grievances will be redressed if he votes Communist. Their true strength lies in their power to intimidate certain sections of the trade unions—a power which is closely analogous to their control of the Czech police.—Yours faithfully,
64 Fairacres, Roehampton Lane, S.W. rs. P. H. A. KENYON
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