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129-728: Historical Historical Much of the story of the Johnson–Forest Tendency relates to disputes between various factions of the Trotskyist parties in the US. James and Dunayevskaya first met in the Socialist Workers Party . From 1939–1940, there was a bitter fight amongst the members of the Socialist Workers Party, and in 1940, James, Dunayevskaya, and Max Shachtman , among others, split to form

258-681: A workers' state would not be able to hold out against the pressures of a hostile capitalist world unless socialist revolutions quickly took hold in other countries as well. This theory was advanced in opposition to the view held by the Stalinists that " Socialism in One Country " could be built in the Soviet Union alone. Furthermore, Trotsky and his supporters harshly criticized the increasingly totalitarian nature of Joseph Stalin 's rule . They argued that socialism without democracy

387-458: A "signal contribution" to the discipline of international relations . They argued his theory presented "a specific understanding of capitalist development as "uneven", insofar as it systematically featured geographically divergent "advanced" and "backward" regions" across the world economy . Faith merely promises to move mountains; but technology , which takes nothing ‘on faith’, is actually able to cut down mountains and move them. Up to now this

516-630: A Leninist party model. Trotsky would also assume a central role in the 1905 revolution and serve as the Chairman of the Petersburg Soviet of Workers' Delegates in which he wrote several proclamations urging for improved economic conditions , political rights and the use of strike action against the Tsarist regime on behalf of workers. In 1917, he had proposed the election of a new Soviet presidium with other socialist parties on

645-705: A Spanish-born NKVD agent, and died the next day in a hospital. His murder is considered a political assassination. Almost all Trotskyists within the VKP(b) were executed in the Great Purges of 1937–1938, effectively removing all of Trotsky's internal influence in the USSR. Nikita Khrushchev had come to power as head of the Communist Party in Ukraine, signing lists of other Trotskyists to be executed. Trotsky and

774-763: A conference of the London Bureau of socialist parties outside both the Socialist International and the Comintern. Three of those parties joined the Left Opposition in signing a document written by Trotsky calling for a Fourth International, which became known as the "Declaration of Four". Of those, two soon distanced themselves from the agreement, but the Dutch Revolutionary Socialist Party worked with

903-418: A conscious expression of historical processes. Trotskyists are critical of Stalinism as they oppose Joseph Stalin 's theory of socialism in one country in favour of Trotsky's theory of permanent revolution . Trotskyists criticize the bureaucracy and anti-democratic current developed in the Soviet Union under Stalin . Despite their ideological disputes, Trotsky and Lenin were close personally prior to

1032-671: A founding conference, held in September 1938, in the home of Alfred Rosmer just outside Paris. Present at the meeting were delegates from all the major countries of Europe, and from North America (including three from the United States), although for reasons of cost and distance, few delegates attended from Asia or Latin America. An International Secretariat was established, with many of the day's leading Trotskyists and most countries in which Trotskyists were active represented. Among

1161-734: A fusion with the Revolutionary Socialist League , a union that had been requested by the Emergency Conference. In 1942, a debate on the national question in Europe opened up between the majority of the SWP and a movement led by Van Heijenoort, Albert Goldman and Felix Morrow . This minority anticipated that the Nazi dictatorship would be replaced with capitalism rather than by a socialist revolution, leading to

1290-483: A hostile capitalist world and the internal pressures of its backward economy. Trotsky argued that the revolution must quickly spread to capitalist countries, bringing about a socialist revolution that must spread worldwide. In this way, the revolution is "permanent", moving out of necessity first, from the bourgeois revolution to the workers' revolution and from there uninterruptedly to European and worldwide revolutions. An internationalist outlook of permanent revolution

1419-712: A left split from the Social Democratic Party of Germany founded in 1931, co-operated with the International Left Opposition briefly in 1933 but soon abandoned the call for a new International. In 1935, Trotsky wrote an Open Letter for the Fourth International , reaffirming the Declaration of Four , while documenting the recent course of the Comintern and the Socialist International. In the letter, he called for

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1548-620: A majority of the former International. Sri Lanka's Lanka Sama Samaja Party, then the country's leading workers' party, took a middle position during this dispute. It continued to participate in the ISFI but argued for a joint congress, for reunification with the ICFI. An excerpt from the Open Letter explains the split as follows: To sum up: The lines of cleavage between Pablo's revisionism and orthodox Trotskyism are so deep that no compromise

1677-518: A newly established body and called for the strengthening of its formal responsibilities to support a balanced level of economic reconstruction after the Civil War. Lenin and Politburo members had also proposed he served as deputy chairman with a focus on economic matters related to the either STO , Gosplan or the Council of National Economy. Trotsky had urged economic decentralisation between

1806-649: A newsletter based in Detroit of the same name. When Lee moved away from the group in the early 1960s, the continuity of the Johnsonite tradition was maintained by Martin Glaberman until Glaberman's death in 2001. Trotskyist Historical Historical Trotskyism ( Russian : Троцкизм , Trotskizm ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of

1935-465: A number of Old Bolsheviks who signed The Declaration of 46 raised concerns to the Poliburo concerning intra-party democracy which shared similarities with Lenin's proposed party reforms before his death. The signatories of the 46 letter expressed grievances related to the provincial conferences, party congresses and the election of committees. Separately, Trotsky would develop his views further with

2064-836: A public faction which initially included, in addition to the SWP, Gerry Healy 's British section The Club , the Internationalist Communist Party in France (then led by Lambert who had expelled Bleibtreu and his grouping), Nahuel Moreno 's party in Argentina and the Austrian and Chinese sections of the FI. The sections of the ICFI withdrew from the International Secretariat, which suspended their voting rights. Both sides claimed they constituted

2193-569: A range of prominent historians and political scientists such as E.H. Carr , Isaac Deutscher , Moshe Lewin , Ronald Suny , Richard B. Day and W. Bruce Lincoln was that Lenin’s desired “heir” would have been a collective responsibility in which Trotsky was placed in "an important role and within which Stalin would be dramatically demoted (if not removed)". Trotsky advocated for a decentralized form of economic planning , worker's control of production , elected representation of Soviet socialist parties , mass soviet democratization ,

2322-600: A regroupment which eventually led to the formation of the International Bureau for Revolutionary Socialist Unity . Trotsky considered those organisations to be centrist . Despite Trotsky, the Spanish section merged with the Spanish section of ICO, forming the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification ( POUM ). Trotsky claimed the merger was to be a capitulation to centrism. The Socialist Workers' Party of Germany ,

2451-414: A result, the global working class would come to Russia's aid, and socialism could develop worldwide. According to political scientist Baruch Knei-Paz, Trotsky’s theory of “permanent revolution” was grossly misrepresented by Stalin as defeatist and adventurist during the succession struggle when in fact Trotsky encouraged revolutions in Europe but was not at any time proposing “reckless confrontations” with

2580-497: A result, they are linked to and rely on the feudal landowners in many ways. Thus, Trotsky argues that because a majority of the branches of industry in Russia originated under the direct influence of government measures—sometimes with the help of government subsidies—the capitalist class was again tied to the ruling elite. The capitalist class was subservient to European capital. The theory of permanent revolution further considers that

2709-555: A revival of freedom of Soviet parties, beginning with the party of Bolsheviks, and a resurrection of the trade unions. The bringing of democracy into industry means a radical revision of plans in the interests of toilers. Trotsky, The Revolution Betrayed , 1936 In 1931, Trotsky wrote a pamphlet on the Spanish Revolution and called for the creation of worker’s juntas in emulation of elected soviets as an expression of working class organisation. Trotsky stipulated

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2838-538: A revolution in a European capitalist society would lead to a socialist one. According to this position, a socialist revolution could not occur in a backward, feudal country such as early 20th-century Russia when it had such a small and almost powerless capitalist class. In 1905, Trotsky formulated his theory of permanent revolution , which later became a defining characteristic of Trotskyism. The theory of permanent revolution addressed how such feudal regimes were to be overthrown and how socialism could establish itself, given

2967-414: A revolution in peasant-based countries such as Russia ultimately prepares the ground for capitalism's development since the liberated peasants become small owners, producers, and traders. This leads to the growth of commodity markets, from which a new capitalist class emerges. Trotsky agreed that a new socialist state and economy in a country like Russia would not be able to hold out against the pressures of

3096-507: A single transnational grouping. The response of Trotskyists to such a situation has been in the form of forming multiple Internationals across the world, with some divided over which particular organization represents the true legacy and political continuity of the historical Fourth International. Trotskyists regard themselves as working in opposition to both capitalism and Stalinism. Trotsky advocated proletarian revolution as set out in his theory of " permanent revolution ", and believed that

3225-595: A single, centralized cohesive Fourth International. Throughout most of its existence and history, the Fourth International was hunted by agents of the NKVD , subjected to political repression by countries such as France and the United States, and by supporters of the Soviet Union. The Fourth International struggled to maintain contact under these conditions of crackdowns and repression during World War II due to

3354-483: A spectrum from communism on the left to imperialist capitalism on the right. However, given that Stalinism is often labelled rightist within the communist spectrum and left communism leftist, anti-revisionists' idea of the left is very different from that of left communism. Despite being Bolshevik-Leninist comrades during the Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War , Trotsky and Stalin became enemies in

3483-542: A struggle in the U.S. Socialist Workers Party (SWP) between Trotsky's supporters and the tendency of Max Shachtman , Martin Abern and James Burnham . The secretariat was composed of those committee members who happened to be in the city, most of whom were co-thinkers of Shachtman. The disagreement centred on the Shachtmanites ' disagreements with the SWP's internal policy, and over the FI's unconditional defence of

3612-453: Is found in the works of Karl Marx . The term "permanent revolution" is taken from a remark of Marx in his March 1850 Address: "it is our task", Marx said: [...] to make the revolution permanent until all the more or less propertied classes have been driven from their ruling positions, until the proletariat has conquered state power and until the association of the proletarians has progressed sufficiently far—not only in one country but in all

3741-686: Is happening and raise objections. Over the following decade, the IC referred to the rest of the International as the "International Secretariat of the Fourth International", emphasising its view that the Secretariat did not speak for the International as a whole. The Secretariat continued to view itself as the leadership of the International. It held a Fourth World Congress in 1954 to regroup and to recognise reorganised sections in Britain, France and

3870-581: Is impossible. Thus, faced with the increasing lack of democracy in the Soviet Union, they concluded that it was no longer a socialist workers' state, but a degenerated workers' state . In the Transitional Program , which was drafted during the founding congress of the Fourth International, Trotsky called for the legalization of the Soviet parties and worker's control of production . Trotsky and his supporters had been organised since 1923 as

3999-405: Is lacking, yet the economy is largely in the hands of the state, are termed by orthodox Trotskyist theories as degenerated or deformed workers' states and not socialist states. Bureaucratic autocracy must give place to Soviet democracy. A restoration of the right of criticism, and a genuine freedom of elections, are necessary conditions for the further development of the country. This assumes

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4128-411: Is often suggested – but instead contains a summation of the conjunctural understanding of the movement at that date and a series of transitional policies designed to develop the struggle for workers' power. At the outbreak of World War II , in 1939, the International Secretariat was moved to New York City. The resident International Executive Committee failed to meet, largely because of

4257-505: Is possible either politically or organizationally. The Pablo faction has demonstrated that it will not permit democratic decisions truly reflecting majority opinion to be reached. They demand complete submission to their criminal policy. They are determined to drive all orthodox Trotskyists out of the Fourth International or to muzzle and handcuff them. Their scheme has been to inject their Stalinist conciliationism piecemeal and likewise in piecemeal fashion, get rid of those who come to see what

4386-540: The Bolsheviks ' international perspective had been guided by Trotsky's position. Trotsky argued that Stalin's theory represented the interests of bureaucratic elements in direct opposition to the working class. Eventually, Trotsky was sent into internal exile and his supporters were jailed. However, the Left Opposition continued to work in secret within the Soviet Union. Trotsky was exiled to Turkey in 1928. He moved from there to France, Norway and finally to Mexico. He

4515-534: The Left Opposition and the Fourth International . Trotsky described himself as an orthodox Marxist , a revolutionary Marxist , and a Bolshevik – Leninist as well as a follower of Karl Marx , Frederick Engels , Vladimir Lenin , Karl Liebknecht , and Rosa Luxemburg . His relations with Lenin have been a source of intense historical debate. However, on balance, scholarly opinion among

4644-435: The Left Opposition . They opposed the bureaucratization of the Soviet Union, which they analysed as being partly caused by the poverty and isolation of the Soviet economy . Stalin's theory of socialism in one country was developed in 1924 as an opposition to Trotsky's Theory of Permanent revolution , which argued that capitalism was a world system and required a world revolution to replace it with socialism. Prior to 1924,

4773-603: The London Congress of Social Democrats in 1903 and during the First World War . Lenin and Trotsky were close ideologically and personally during the Russian Revolution and its aftermath. Trotskyists and some others call Trotsky its "co-leader". This was also alluded to by Rosa Luxemburg. Lenin himself never mentioned the concept of "Trotskyism" after Trotsky became a member of the Bolshevik party. Trotsky

4902-539: The New York Intellectuals . Trotsky presented a critique of contemporary literary movements such as Futurism and emphasised a need of cultural autonomy for the development of a socialist culture. According to literary critic Terry Eagleton , Trotsky recognised "like Lenin on the need for a socialist culture to absorb the finest products of bourgeois art". Trotsky himself viewed the proletarian culture as "temporary and transitional" which would provide

5031-441: The Soviet bureaucracy as primary evidence that Lenin sought to remove Stalin from the position of General Secretary . Various historians have also cited Lenin's proposal to appoint Trotsky Vice-Chairman of the Soviet Union as further evidence that he intended Trotsky to be his successor as head of government . In 1927, Trotsky was purged from the Communist Party and Soviet politics. In October, by order of Stalin, Trotsky

5160-537: The Workers Party . James and Dunayevskaya set up a study group within the Workers Party to work on the idea of state capitalism , and were soon joined by Grace Lee Boggs. While this new group rapidly cohered around politics which were very similar to those of the Socialist Workers Party, there were certain differences which eventually led to the formation of the Johnson–Forest Tendency. The majority of

5289-494: The peasantry as a whole cannot take on the task of carrying through the revolution because it is dispersed in small holdings throughout the country and forms a heterogeneous grouping, including the rich peasants who employ rural workers and aspire to landlordism as well as the poor peasants who aspire to own more land. Trotsky argues: "All historical experience [...] shows that the peasantry are absolutely incapable of taking up an independent political role". Trotskyists differ on

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5418-413: The political spectrum of Marxism , Trotskyists are usually considered to be on the left. In the 1920s, they called themselves the Left Opposition , although today's left communism is distinct and usually non-Bolshevik. The terminological disagreement can be confusing because different versions of a left-right political spectrum are used. Anti-revisionists consider themselves the ultimate leftists on

5547-540: The war with Poland in 1920, proposed armistice with the Entente and temperance with staging anti-British revolts in the Middle East. Historian Robert Vincent Daniels believed that the practical differences, in the domain of international policy , between the Left Opposition and other factions had been exaggerated and he contended that Trotsky was no more prepared than other Bolshevik figures to risk war or for

5676-630: The 1920s and, after that, opposed the legitimacy of each other's forms of Leninism. Trotsky was highly critical of the Stalinist USSR for suppressing democracy and the lack of adequate economic planning. Overall, Trotsky and the Left-United Opposition factions advocated for rapid industrialization , voluntary collectivisation of agriculture, and the expansion of a worker's democracy . Until 1905, some revolutionaries claimed that Marx's theory of history posited that only

5805-462: The American "Negro question" (as it was then called), arguing for support for separate struggles of blacks as having the potential to ignite the entire U.S. political situation. His hypothesis prefigured the organized civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Finally leaving the Socialist Workers Party, Johnson–Forest founded their own organization for the first time called Correspondence which

5934-689: The Bolsheviks had already set up the Communist International (Comintern), which they regarded as the Third International. This was organised on a democratic centralist basis, with component parties required to fight for policies adopted by the body as a whole. By declaring themselves the Fourth International, the "World Party of Socialist Revolution", the Trotskyists were publicly asserting their continuity with

6063-406: The Comintern's destruction. The current incarnation of the Fourth International does not operate as a cohesive entity in the manner of its predecessors. The Fourth International suffered a major split in 1940 and an even more significant schism in 1953. A partial reunification of the schismatic factions occurred in 1963, but the organization never recovered sufficiently, and it failed to re-emerge as

6192-418: The Comintern, and with its predecessors. Their recognition of the importance of these earlier Internationals was coupled with a belief that they eventually degenerated. Although the Socialist International and Comintern were still in existence, the Trotskyists did not believe those organisations were capable of supporting revolutionary socialism and internationalism . The foundation of the Fourth International

6321-560: The FI's European affiliates were destroyed by the Nazis and several of its Asian affiliates were destroyed by the Empire of Japan . The survivors, in Europe, Asia and elsewhere, were largely cut off from each other and from the International Secretariat. The new secretary, Jean Van Heijenoort (also known as Gerland), was able to do little more than publish articles in the SWP's theoretical journal Fourth International . Despite this dislocation,

6450-710: The French section), and Murray Dowson (a leader of the Canadian group). The Secretariat organised a Fifth World Congress in October 1957. Mandel and Pierre Frank appraised the Algerian revolution and surmised that it was essential to reorient in the colonial states and neocolonies towards the emerging guerrilla -led revolutions. According to Robert Alexander, Ernest Mandel has written that an organisation in Indonesia,

6579-461: The International Left Opposition in 1930, which was intended to be a group of anti-Stalinist dissenters within the Third International. Stalin's supporters, who dominated the International, would no longer tolerate dissent. All Trotskyists, and those suspected of being influenced by Trotskyism, were expelled. Trotsky claimed that the Third Period policies of the Comintern had contributed to

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6708-756: The International Left Opposition to declare the International Communist League. This position was contested by Andrés Nin and some other members of the League who did not support the call for a new International. This group prioritised regroupment with other communist oppositions, principally the International Communist Opposition (ICO), linked to the Right Opposition in the Soviet Party,

6837-526: The International Secretariat of the Fourth International with Michel Raptis appointed Secretary and Ernest Mandel , a Belgian, taking a leading role. Pablo and Mandel aimed to counter the opposition of the majorities inside the British Revolutionary Communist Party and French Internationalist Communist Party. Initially, they encouraged party members to vote out their leaderships. They supported Gerry Healy 's opposition in

6966-609: The International Workingmen's Association disbanded in 1876, several attempts were made to revive the organisation, culminating in the formation of the Socialist International ( Second International ) in 1889. This was disbanded in 1916 following disagreements over World War I . Although the organisation reformed in 1923 as the Labour and Socialist International , supporters of the October Revolution and

7095-413: The International met at a secret location "somewhere in the Western Hemisphere". It adopted a manifesto drafted by Trotsky shortly before his murder and a range of policies on the work of the International, including one calling for the reunification of the then-divided Fourth Internationalist groups in Britain. Secretariat members who had supported Shachtman were expelled by the emergency conference, with

7224-428: The Leninist vanguard party was outmoded, but, in contrast to James, felt the need for some kind of revolutionary organization. In 1953, James was deported from the U.S. to Britain for the lack of a visa, and the polemic continued. The split was completed in 1955, when Dunayevskaya and her faction founded the group News and Letters Committees . Grace Lee remained with the Johnsonites who founded Facing Reality , as well as

7353-502: The RCP. In France, they backed elements, including Pierre Frank and Marcel Bleibtreu , opposed to the new leadership of the PCI – albeit for differing reasons. The Stalinist occupation of Eastern Europe was the issue of prime concern, and it raised many problems of interpretation. At first, the International held that, while the USSR was a degenerated workers' state , the post-World War II East European states were still bourgeois entities, because revolution from above

7482-489: The Russian Revolution with the Great French Revolution, the former can never be transformed into a repetition of the latter." In the French Revolution of 1789 , France experienced what Marxists called a " bourgeois-democratic revolution "—a regime was established wherein the bourgeoisie overthrew the existing French feudalistic system. The bourgeoisie then moved towards establishing a regime of democratic parliamentary institutions. However, while democratic rights were extended to

7611-412: The Russian revolution. Soviet scholar Robert Bird considered his work as the "first systematic treatment of art by a Communist leader" and a catalyst for later, Marxist cultural and critical theories. He had also defended intellectual autonomy in relation to the Russian literary movements and scientific theories such as Freudian psychoanalytic theory along with Einstein ’s theory of relativity during

7740-408: The Shachtmanite majority within the Workers Party led Johnson–Forest in 1947 to rejoin the Socialist Workers Party. It was during this time that the Johnson–Forest Tendency reached the conclusion that, as there was no true socialist society existing anywhere in the world, a return to the fundamentals of Marxism was in order. Their emphasis on Hegel 's philosophy as being the foundation of Marxism

7869-411: The U.S. Parts of the International Committee were divided over whether the split with "Pabloism" was permanent or temporary, and it was perhaps as a result of this that it did not declare itself to be the Fourth International. Those sections that considered the split permanent embarked on a discussion about the history of the split and its meanings. The sections of the International that recognised

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7998-399: The U.S. by Bert Cochran , to support entryism " sui generis " hinted that Pablo's support for their views indicated that the International might also demand Trotskyists in those countries adopt that tactic. In 1953, the SWP's national committee issued an Open Letter to Trotskyists Throughout the World and organised the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). This was

8127-420: The USSR. Trotsky opened a public debate with Shachtman and Burnham and developed his positions in a series of polemics written in 1939–1940 and later collected in In Defense of Marxism . Shachtman and Burnham's tendency resigned from the International in early 1940, alongside almost 40% of the SWP's members, many of whom became founder members of the Workers Party . In May 1940, an emergency conference of

8256-428: The West and controversies around party schisms. In the Transitional Program , which was drafted in 1938 during the founding congress of the Fourth International , Trotsky reiterated the need for the legalization of the Soviet parties and worker's control of production . The concept of uneven and combined development derived from the political theories of Trotsky. This concept was developed in combination with

8385-436: The Workers Party members believed, as did Shachtman , that the class nature of the Soviet Union was such that it should be designated a bureaucratic collectivist society. The minority opinion, held by James, Dunayevskaya, and Lee, held that it was state capitalist. Further, James was unhappy with the WP's lack of interest in Black activism. This resulted in their secession from the Workers Party. Their disgruntlement with

8514-412: The autocracy there stood a capitalist bourgeoisie, very small in numbers, isolated from the "people", half-foreign, without historical traditions, and inspired only by the greed for gain. For instance, the Putilov Factory numbered 12,000 workers in 1900 and, according to Trotsky, 36,000 in July 1917. Although only a tiny minority in Russian society, the proletariat would lead a revolution to emancipate

8643-438: The basis of proportional representation . On the other hand, he had accepted the ban on rival parties in Moscow during the Russian Civil War due to their opposition to the October Revolution . Yet, he also opposed the extension of the ban to the Mensheviks in Soviet Georgia . In 1922, Lenin allied with Leon Trotsky against the party's growing bureaucratisation and the influence of Joseph Stalin . In 1923, Trotsky and

8772-429: The bourgeoisie, they were not generally extended to a universal franchise. The freedom for workers to organize unions or to strike was not achieved without considerable struggle. Trotsky argues that countries like Russia had no "enlightened, active" revolutionary bourgeoisie which could play the same role, and the working class constituted a tiny minority. By the time of the European revolutions of 1848, "the bourgeoisie

8901-413: The capitalist world. Revolutions in Britain in the 17th century and in France in 1789 abolished feudalism and established the essential requisites for the development of capitalism. Trotsky argued that these revolutions would not be repeated in Russia. In Results and Prospects , written in 1906, Trotsky outlines his theory in detail, arguing: "History does not repeat itself. However much one may compare

9030-412: The economies of the East European states and their political regimes had come to resemble that of the USSR more and more. These states were then described as deformed workers states in an analogy with the degenerated workers state in Russia. The term deformed was used rather than degenerated , because no workers' revolution had led to the foundation of these states. The Third World Congress envisaged

9159-412: The essentially feudal landlords and, ultimately, the existing Czarist Russian state forces. This was to protect their ownership of their property—factories, banks, etc.—from expropriation by the revolutionary working class. Therefore, according to the theory of permanent revolution, the capitalist classes of economically backward countries are weak and incapable of carrying through revolutionary change. As

9288-416: The extent to which this is true today. However, even the most orthodox tend to recognise in the late twentieth century a new development in the revolts of the rural poor: the self-organising struggles of the landless, along with many other struggles that in some ways reflect the militant united, organised struggles of the working class, which to various degrees do not bear the marks of class divisions typical of

9417-542: The fact that subsequent proletarian uprisings were often under the influence of Soviet-aligned pro-Stalin parties and militant nationalist groups, leading to defeats for the Fourth International and the Trotskyists, who subsequently never managed to obtain meaningful influence. Despite this, many parts of the world, including Latin America, Europe and Asia, continue to have large Trotskyist groupings who are attracted to its anti-Stalinist positions and its defense of proletarian internationalism. Several of these groups carry

9546-435: The factories and workplaces; and that the collective consciousness it achieves as a result is an essential ingredient of the socialist reconstruction of society. Trotsky himself argued that only the proletariat or working class were capable of achieving the tasks of that bourgeois revolution. In 1905, the working class in Russia, a generation brought together in vast factories from the relative isolation of peasant life, saw

9675-400: The foundations for a culture above classes. He also argued that the pre-conditions for artistic creativity were economic well-being and emancipation from material constraints. Political scientist, Baruch Knei-Paz, characterised his view on the role of the party as transmitters of culture to the masses and raising the standards of education, as well as entry into the cultural sphere, but that

9804-526: The future viability and prospects of capitalism, not just among all Trotskyist groups, but also among leading economists. Paul Samuelson had envisaged in 1943 the probability of a "nightmarish combination of the worst features of inflation and deflation ", worrying that "there would be ushered in the greatest period of unemployment and industrial dislocation which any economy has ever faced". Joseph Schumpeter for his part claimed that "[t]he general opinion seems to be that capitalist methods will be unequal to

9933-433: The growing strength of Trotsky's supporters with a major political massacre of people within the Soviet Union, and the assassination of Trotsky's supporters and family abroad. He had agents go through historical documents and photos to attempt to erase Trotsky's memory from the history books. According to the historian Mario Keßler , Stalin's supporters turned to antisemitism to whip up sentiment against Trotsky (as Trotsky

10062-415: The heroic peasant struggles of previous epochs. However, orthodox Trotskyists today still argue that the town- and city-based working-class struggle is central to the task of a successful socialist revolution linked to these struggles of the rural poor. They argue that the working class learns of the necessity to conduct a collective struggle, for instance, in trade unions, arising from its social conditions in

10191-463: The implementation of the First five-year plan . He noted that several engineers and economists who had created the plan were themselves later put on trial as " conscious wreckers who had acted on the instructions of a foreign power". Polish historian and biographer, Isaac Deutscher , viewed his inner-party reforms in 1923–24 as arguably the first act in the restoration of free Soviet institutions which

10320-399: The label "Fourth Internationalist" either in their organization's name, important political position documents, or both. In line with Trotskyist theory and thought, the Fourth International tended to view the Comintern as a degenerated workers' state . However, although it regarded its own ideas as more advanced and thus superior to those of the Third International, it did not actively push for

10449-467: The lack of economic prerequisites. Trotsky argued that only the working class could overthrow feudalism and win the peasantry 's support in Russia. Furthermore, he argued that the Russian working class would not stop there. They would win their revolution against the weak capitalist class, establish a workers' state in Russia and appeal to the working class in the advanced capitalist countries worldwide. As

10578-428: The leadership of the International Secretariat remained optimistic about the possibilities for increasing the International's political influence and extended the entryism into social democratic parties which was already underway in Britain, Austria and elsewhere. The 1954 congress emphasised entryism into communist parties and nationalist parties in the colonies, pressing for democratic reforms, ostensibly to encourage

10707-404: The leading countries of the world—that competition between the proletarians of these countries ceases and at least the decisive forces of production are concentrated in the hands of the workers. His biographer, Isaac Deutscher, has explicitly contrasted his support for proletarian internationalism against his opposition to revolution by military conquest as seen with his documented opposition to

10836-526: The left-wing they perceived to exist in the communist parties to join with them in a revolution. Tensions developed between those who subscribed to the mainstream views of Pablo and a minority that argued unsuccessfully against open work. A number of these delegates walked out of the World Congress, and would eventually leave the International, including the leader of the new British section, John Lawrence , George Clarke , Michele Mestre (a leader of

10965-498: The line of the International. The International leadership had them replaced by a minority, leading to a permanent split in the French section. In the wake of the World Congress, the line of the International Leadership was generally accepted by groups around the world, including the U.S. SWP whose leader, James P. Cannon, corresponded with the French majority to support the tactic of entryism sui generis . At

11094-484: The loss of trade opportunities despite his support for world revolution . Prior to the October Revolution, Trotsky had been part of an old radical democracy which included both Left Mensheviks and Left Bolsheviks . His work, Our Political Tasks , published in 1904 reviewed issues related to party organisation, mass participation and the potential dangers of substitutionism which he foresaw in

11223-457: The need for building the Fourth International, and adhered rigidly to their interpretation of Trotsky's works. The wartime debate about post-war perspectives was accelerated by the resolution of the February 1944 European Conference of the Fourth International. The conference appointed a new European Secretariat and elected Michel Raptis , a Greek resident in France also known as Michel Pablo,

11352-423: The need for shared participation of the communist factions, anarcho-syndicalists and socialists . In 1936, Trotsky argued in his work, The Revolution Betrayed , for the restoration of the right of criticism in areas such as economic matters , the revitalization of trade unions and free elections of the Soviet parties . Trotsky also argued that the excessive authoritarianism under Stalin had undermined

11481-535: The organisational secretary of its European Bureau. Raptis and other bureau members re-established contact between the Trotskyist parties. The European conference extended the lessons of a revolution then unfolding in Italy, and concluded that a revolutionary wave would cross Europe as the war ended. The SWP had a similar perspective. The British Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) disagreed and held that capitalism

11610-423: The part of the population and for suppressing workers' self-management and democratic participation in the management of the economy. Because these authoritarian political measures were inconsistent with the organizational precepts of socialism, Trotsky characterized the Soviet Union as a deformed workers' state that would not be able to effectively transition to socialism. Ostensibly socialist states where democracy

11739-401: The party had sought to establish in 1917 and the return of worker's democracy which would correspond with a gradual dismantlement of the single-party system . At the same time, Deutscher noted that Trotsky's attitude towards democracy could be characterised as inconsistent and hesitant by opponents but this stemmed from a range of reasons such as the ill timing after the failed revolutions in

11868-647: The party of Trotskyists were still recognized as enemies of the USSR during Khrushchev's rule of the USSR after 1956. Trotsky's Fourth International was established in the French Third Republic in 1938 when Trotskyists argued that the Comintern or Third International had become irretrievably "lost to Stalinism" and thus incapable of leading the international working class to political power. According to Trotsky, his programme could be distinguished from other Marxist theories by five key elements: On

11997-408: The peasantry and thus "secure the support of the peasantry" as part of that revolution, on whose support it will rely. However, to improve their conditions, the working class must create a revolution of their own, which would accomplish the bourgeois revolution and establish a workers' state. Only fully developed capitalist conditions prepare the basis for socialism. According to classical Marxism ,

12126-417: The process of artistic creation in terms of language and presentation should be the domain of the practitioner. Knei-Paz also noted key distinctions between Trotsky's approach on cultural matters and Stalin's policy in the 1930s . Trotsky was an early proponent of economic planning since 1923 and favored an accelerated pace of industrialization. In 1921, he had also been a prominent supporter of Gosplan as

12255-649: The publication of the New Course in 1924. In 1927, Trotsky and the United Opposition had argued for the expansion of industrial democracy with their joint platform which demanded majority representation of workers in trade union congresses including the All-Union Congress and an increase of non-party workers to one-third of representation in these elected organs. They also supported legal protection for worker's right to criticise such as

12384-542: The real possibility of an "international civil war" in the near future. It argued that the mass Communist parties "may, under certain favourable conditions, go beyond the aims set for them by the Soviet bureaucracy and project a revolutionary orientation". Given the supposed closeness of war, the FI thought that the Communist Parties and social democratic parties would be the only significant force that could defend

12513-445: The related theory of permanent revolution to explain the historical context of Russia. He would later elaborate on this theory to explain the specific laws of uneven development in 1930 and the conditions for a possible revolutionary scenario. According to biographer Ian Thatcher, this theory would be later generalised to "the entire history of mankind". Political scientists Emanuele Saccarelli and Latha Varadarajan valued his theory as

12642-587: The resolutions adopted by the conference was the Transitional Programme . The Transitional Programme was the central programmatic statement of the congress, summarising its strategic and tactical conceptions for the revolutionary period that it saw opening up as a result of the war which Trotsky had been predicting for some years. It is not, however, the definitive programme of the Fourth International ;– as

12771-434: The result of its labour as a vast collective effort, also seeing the only means of struggling against its oppression in terms of a collective effort, forming workers councils ( soviets ) in the course of the revolution of that year. In 1906, Trotsky argued: The factory system brings the proletariat to the foreground [...] The proletariat immediately found itself concentrated in tremendous masses, while between these masses and

12900-427: The revival of Stalinism and social democracy . In December 1943, they criticised the SWP's view as underestimating the rising prestige of Stalinism and the opportunities for the capitalists to use democratic concessions. The SWP's central committee argued that democratic capitalism could not revive, resulting in either military dictatorship by the capitalists or a workers' revolution. It held that this would reinforce

13029-452: The right to make independent proposals. According to historian Vadim Rogovin , these proposals would have developed democracy in the sphere of production and facilitated the establishment of worker's control over economic management. Following Stalin's consolidation of power in the Soviet Union and static centralization of political power, Trotsky condemned the Soviet government's policies for lacking widespread democratic participation on

13158-532: The rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany, and that its turn to a popular front policy (aiming to unite all ostensibly anti-fascist forces) sowed illusions in reformism and pacifism and "clear[ed] the road for a fascist overturn". By 1935 he claimed that the Comintern had fallen irredeemably into the hands of the Stalinist bureaucracy. He and his supporters, expelled from the Third International, participated in

13287-484: The same time, however, Cannon, Healy and Mandel were deeply concerned by Pablo's political evolution. Cannon and Healy were also alarmed by Pablo's intervention into the French section, and by suggestions that Pablo might use the International's authority in this way in other sections of the Fourth International that felt entryism " sui generis " was not a suitable tactic in their own countries. In particular, minority tendencies, exemplified in Britain by John Lawrence and in

13416-400: The sections agreed with the perspective of an international civil war. The French section disagreed with the associated tactic of entryism sui generis , and held that Pablo was underestimating the independent role of the working class parties in the Fourth International. The leaders of the majority of the Trotskyist organisation in France, Marcel Bleibtreu and Pierre Lambert , refused to follow

13545-558: The short-term entry tactic employed before World War II. For example, it meant that the project of building an open and independent Trotskyist party was shelved in France, because it was regarded as not politically feasible alongside entry into the French Communist Party. This perspective was accepted within the Fourth International, yet sowed the seeds for the split in 1953. At the Third World Congress,

13674-480: The state, oblast regions and factories to counter structural inefficiency and the problem of bureaucracy. He had proposed the principles underlying the N.E.P. in 1920 to the Politburo to mitigate urgent economic matters arising from war communism. He would later reproach Lenin privately about the delayed government response in 1921-1922. However, his position also differed from the majority of Soviet leaders at

13803-483: The succession period. However, these theories were increasingly marginalised during the Stalin era. Trotsky would later co-author the 1938 Manifesto for an Independent Revolutionary Art with the endorsement of prominent artists Andre Breton and Diego Rivera . Trotsky's writings on literature such as his 1923 survey which advocated tolerance, limited censorship and respect for literary tradition had strong appeal to

13932-464: The support of Trotsky himself. While leader of the SWP James P. Cannon later said that he did not believe the split to be definitive and final, the two groups did not reunite. A new International Executive Committee was appointed, which came under the increasing influence of the Socialist Workers Party . The Fourth International was hit hard during World War II. Trotsky was assassinated, many of

14061-745: The supporters of Ho Chi Minh . After the Second World Congress in 1948, the International Secretariat attempted to open communications with Josip Broz Tito 's regime in Yugoslavia . In their analysis, it differed from the rest of the Eastern Bloc because it was established by the partisans of World War II who had fought against Nazi occupation, as opposed to by Stalin's invading armies. The British RCP, led by Jock Haston and supported by Ted Grant , were highly critical of this move. The Third World Congress in 1951 resolved that

14190-549: The tactic of a united front against far-right parties, cultural autonomy for artistic movements, voluntary collectivisation , a transitional program and socialist internationalism . He supported founding a vanguard party of the proletariat , and a dictatorship of the proletariat (as opposed to the " dictatorship of the bourgeoisie ", which Marxists argue is a major component of capitalism ) based on working-class self-emancipation and council democracy . Trotsky also adhered to scientific socialism and viewed this as

14319-528: The task of reconstruction". He regarded it as "not open to doubt that the decay of capitalist society is very far advanced". The Second World Congress in April 1948 was attended by delegates from 22 sections. It debated a range of resolutions on the Jewish Question , Stalinism, the colonial countries and the specific situations facing sections in certain countries. By this point the FI was united around

14448-542: The time who fully supported the New Economic policy . Fourth International Historical Historical The Fourth International ( FI ) was a political international established in France in 1938 by Leon Trotsky and his supporters, having been expelled from the Soviet Union and the Communist International (also known as Comintern or the Third International). There is no longer

14577-564: The urgent formation of a Fourth International. The "First International Conference for the Fourth International" was held in Paris in June 1936, reports giving its location as Geneva for security reasons. This meeting dissolved the International Communist League, founding in its place the Movement for the Fourth International on Trotsky's perspectives. The foundation of the Fourth International

14706-599: The various groups sought to maintain links and some connections were kept up throughout the early part of the war by sailors enlisted in the U.S. Navy who had cause to visit Marseilles . Contact was steady, if irregular, between the SWP and the British Trotskyists, with the result that the Americans exerted what influence they had to encourage the Workers' International League into the International through

14835-688: The view that the Eastern European " buffer states " were still capitalist countries. The Congress was especially notable for bringing the International into much closer contact with Trotskyist groups from across the globe. These included such significant groups as the Revolutionary Workers' Party of Bolivia and the Lanka Sama Samaja Party in what was then Ceylon , but the previously large Vietnamese Trotskyist groups had mostly been eliminated or absorbed by

14964-436: The workers of the world against the imperialist camp in those countries where there were mass forces. In line with this geopolitical perspective, Pablo argued that the only way the Trotskyists could avoid isolation was for various sections of the Fourth International to undertake long-term entryism in the mass Communist or Social Democratic parties. This tactic was known as entryism sui generis , to distinguish it from

15093-497: The working class into fighting for its revolutionary aspirations against their exploitation by capitalism. In Russia, the working class, although a small minority in a predominantly peasant-based society, was organised in vast factories owned by the capitalist class and into large working-class districts. During the Russian Revolution of 1905, the capitalist class found it necessary to ally with reactionary elements such as

15222-401: Was a Jew). Stalin's daughter later claimed that his fight with Trotsky laid the foundations for his later antisemitic campaigns. The International's rationale was to construct new mass revolutionary parties able to lead successful workers' revolutions. It saw these arising from a revolutionary wave which would develop alongside and as a result of the coming World War. Thirty delegates attended

15351-434: Was already unable to play a comparable role. It did not want and was not able to undertake the revolutionary liquidation of the social system that stood in its path to power." The theory of permanent revolution considers that in many countries that are thought under Trotskyism to have not yet completed a bourgeois-democratic revolution, the capitalist class opposes the creation of any revolutionary situation. They fear stirring

15480-612: Was assassinated on Stalin's orders in Mexico in August 1940. A political international is an organisation of political parties or activists with the aim of co-ordinating their activity for a common purpose. There had been a long tradition of socialists organising on an international basis, and Karl Marx had led the International Workingmen's Association , which later became known as the "first international". After

15609-464: Was done for industrial purposes (mines) or for railways (tunnels); in the future this will be done on an immeasurably larger scale, according to a general industrial and artistic plan. Man will occupy himself with re-registering mountains and rivers, and will earnestly and repeatedly make improvements in nature . —Trotsky, Literature and Revolution , 1924 In Literature and Revolution , Trotsky examined aesthetic issues in relation to class and

15738-409: Was largely due to Dunayevskaya, who was deeply immersed in both Marx's and Lenin 's writings. Johnson–Forest remained in the Socialist Workers Party until 1950, exiting the party once again with a book co-authored by James and Dunayevskaya, State Capitalism and World Revolution . In the three years Johnson–Forest remained in the Socialist Workers Party, James also participated in party discussions on

15867-581: Was not about to plunge into massive crisis but rather that an upturn in the economy was already underway. A group of leaders of the French Internationalist Communist Party (PCI) around Yvan Craipeau argued a similar position until they were expelled from the PCI in 1948. In April 1946 delegates from the principal European sections and a number of others attended a "Second International Congress". This set about rebuilding

15996-410: Was not possible, and capitalism persisted. Another issue that needed to be dealt with was the possibility that the economy would revive. This was initially denied by Mandel (who was quickly forced to revise his opinion, and later devoted his PhD dissertation to late capitalism , analysing the unexpected "third age" of capitalist development). Mandel's perspective mirrored uncertainty at that time about

16125-740: Was removed from power and, in November, expelled from the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) (aka: VKP(b)). He was exiled to Alma-Ata (now Almaty) in January 1928 and then expelled from the USSR in February 1929. As the head of the Fourth International , Trotsky continued in exile to oppose what he termed the degenerated workers' state in the USSR. On 20 August 1940, Trotsky was attacked in Mexico City by Ramón Mercader ,

16254-622: Was renamed the Correspondence Publishing Committee the next year. However, tensions that had surfaced earlier presaged a split, which took place in 1955. Through his theoretical and political work of the late 1940s, James had concluded that a vanguard party was no longer necessary, because its teachings had been absorbed in the masses. In 1956, James would see the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 as confirmation of this. Dunayevskaya had agreed that

16383-469: Was seen as more than just the simple renaming of an international tendency that was already in existence. It was argued that the Third International had now degenerated completely and was therefore to be seen as a counter-revolutionary organisation that would in time of crisis defend capitalism. Trotsky believed that the coming World War would produce a revolutionary wave of class and national struggles, rather as World War I had done. Stalin reacted to

16512-769: Was the Red Army 's paramount leader in the Revolutionary period's direct aftermath. Trotsky initially opposed some aspects of Leninism but eventually concluded that unity between the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks was impossible and joined the Bolsheviks. Trotsky played a leading role with Lenin in the October Revolution . Lenin and Trotsky were also both honorary presidents of the Third International . Trotskyists have traditionally drawn upon Lenin's testament and his alliance with Trotsky in 1922–23 against

16641-491: Was therefore spurred in part by a desire to form a stronger political current, rather than being seen as the communist opposition to the Comintern and the Soviet Union. Trotsky believed that its formation was all the more urgent for the role he saw it playing in the impending World War . In the early 1930s, Trotsky and his supporters believed that Stalin's influence over the Third International could still be fought from within and slowly rolled back. They organised themselves into

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