The Party’s membership in this country reached a low in 1930 when it had 7500 members, and a peak of 80,000 in 1944; its membership at five-year intervals since 1930 has been as follows: 1935—30,000; 1940—55,000 (a drop of 15,000 from 1939); 1945—64,600 (a drop of 15,400 from 1944); 1950—43,200; 1955—22,600; and by the summer of 1957 membership had further declined. However, over the years it has been estimated by the communist leaders themselves that for every Party member ten others are ready, willing, and able to do the Party’s work. Fluctuations in the American Party parallel those in foreign countries. The record clearly establishes that Communist Parties have the power of swift and solid growth when the opportunity arises. The following figures reflect how Party membership can dwindle and then spurt: In Italy, Party membership went from 6000 in 1943 to 2,500,000 in 1951; in France, from 20,000 in 1929 to 400,000 in 1956; in Syria, from 250 in 1931 to 10,000 in 1956; in Brazil, from 25,000 in late 1947 to 100,000 in 1956; and in Indonesia, from 30,000 in 1953 to 500,000 in 1956. _When the Communist Party was at its peak in the United States it was stronger in numbers than the Soviet Party was at the time it seized power in Russia._ The size of the Party in the various Soviet satellites at the time each came under Soviet control discloses how a well-organized band of revolutionaries can impose its rule over the majority population: _Date of Communist _CP Membership _Population Take-over_ on That Date_ on That Date_ BULGARIA September, 1945 20,000 7,020,000 ROUMANIA March, 1945 800,000 16,409,000 POLAND January, 1949 1,000,000 25,225,000 CZECHOSLOVAKIA May, 1948 1,329,000 12,338,000 HUNGARY August, 1947 750,000 9,383,000 ALBANIA December, 1945 12,000 1,120,000 YUGOSLAVIA Mid-1945 141,000 14,500,000 Under communism, a tiny minority, perhaps ten to twenty men, would rule the United States. An open dictatorship called the “dictatorship of the proletariat” would be established. (For a definition of “dictatorship of the proletariat,” see the Glossary, page 323.) Communists, in all their teachings, make this point clear. The capital city, as one communist leader pointed out, would be moved from Washington, D.C., to a large industrial center, probably Chicago. National as well as state and local governments would be eliminated. “Soviets” (meaning councils) would be formed throughout the nation. These would consist of local Communist Party henchmen who would depose and probably liquidate your mayor, chief of police, clergymen, and leading citizens.