Trotskyism or Leninism By Harpal Brar Preface One of the myths perpetrated by Trotskyites, with not inconsiderable help from the imperialist bourgeoisie, is that Leninism and Trotskyism are synonymous; that Trotsky was, after Lenin, the most brilliant and greatest Bolshevik some even implying that Lenin was a great Trotskyist!; that Trotsky was the true inheritor of Leninism, and a worthy successor to Lenin, but was, alas, deprived of his rightful place by the cunning manoeuvres of a third"class mediocrity and oriental despot to boot, i#e#, $oseph %talin# This anti"communist myth, repeated ad nauseam decade after decade in truly &oebbels fashion, not only in Trotskyite publications but also in classrooms by petty"bourgeois professors and teachers of history and sociology, not to mention the imperialist press and electronic media, this myth has ac'uired the force of a public pre(udice# This pre(udice is the product of deliberate distortion and falsification by Trotskyism and its bourgeois allies, of )ar*ism"Leninism, of deliberate inventions, deceptions, innuendoes, omissions and their tendentious interpretations of the history of the &reat October +evolution and the revolutionary practice and role of the %%+, on the one hand, and the ignorance of those on whom these deceptions, distortions and downright falsifications are practised, on the other hand# -nyone who has made some study, let alone a deep study, of the sub(ect cannot but be aware of the total falsity of this myth# .t is the aim of this book to e*pose this myth and lay bare the truly reactionary, counter"revolutionary, essence of the petty"bourgeois ideology of Trotskyism, which is as irreconcilably hostile to )ar*ism"Leninism as is the bourgeoisie to the proletariat / notwithstanding its pseudo")ar*ist, ultra"0left0 and ultra"0revolutionary0 terminology# The task . set myself in this book is to show that Leninism and Trotskyism are mutually e*clusive; that Trotskyism is irreconcilably opposed to Leninism; that those claiming to be )ar*ist"Leninists are duty bound, in the interests of the proletariat, to wage a ruthless and uncompromising struggle against Trotskyism; that they have to bury Trotskyism, as an ideological trend in the working"class movement# 1urther, . seek to demonstrate that after the death of Lenin in $anuary 2345, as Leninism was upheld by the Bolshevik Party, now under the leadership of %talin, Trotskyism continued its ceaseless onslaught on Leninism, with some tactical ad(ustments to the form of its attack# .t now attacked Leninism and the Party0s Leninist policy under the guise of attacking 0%talinism0 in the name of Leninism# 1or all that, Trotskyism continued its counter"revolutionary struggle against revolutionary Leninism, albeit without overtly and specifically naming Lenin as its target# Be it"said to the honour of the Bolshevik Party and to its leader, %talin, Trotskyism was dealt blows e'ually as shattering as those delivered against it during Lenin0s lifetime, causing it to suffer ignominious defeat# .n particular . seek to emphasise three specific features of Trotskyism / features which bring it into irreconcilable contradiction with Leninism# Three specific features of Trotskyism 2# 0Permanent revolution0 Trotskyism stands for the theory of 0permanent0 revolution, failing to take into account the vast mass of the poor peasantry as a revolutionary force and reliable ally of the proletariat# -s Lenin rightly pointed out, Trotsky0s 0Permanent0 revolution is tantamount to 0skipping0 the peasant movement and 6playing at the sei7ure of power#6 -ny attempt at such a revolution as was advocated by Trotsky would have ended in certain failure, for it would have denied the +ussian proletariat the support of its most dependable ally, the poor peasantry# Only this e*plains Leninism0s unrelenting struggle against Trotskyism from 2389 onwards#
1or its part Trotskyism regarded Leninism as a theory possessing 6antirevolutionary features6 for no better reason that at the proper time Leninism correctly advocated and upheld the idea of the dictatorship of the proletariat and peasantry# &oing far beyond this indignant opinion, Trotskyism asserts: 6The entire edifice of Leninism at the present time is built on lies and falsification and bears within itself the poisonous elements of its own decay#6 Trotsky0s letter to hkeid7e, 232ol# 48 p# 55?, 2325!# 4# @istrust of Leninism in matters of organisation Trotskyism stands for the distrust of Leninism, of Bolshevism, in matters of organisation# =hereas Bolshevism stands for the principle of a revolutionary proletarian party of a new type, a disciplined and monolithic Party, hostile to opportunist elements, Trotskyism stands for the co"e*istence of revolutionaries and opportunists and for the formation of groups, factions and coteries within a single Party# -nyone who is at all aware of the history of Trotsky0s notorious -ugust Bloc, in which the )artovites and Ot7ovists,2! the Li'uidators4! and Trotskyites happily co"operated in their struggle against Bolshevism, cannot have failed to notice this li'uidationist feature of Trotskyism# Thus, during this crucial historical period, whereas Leninism regarded the destruction of the -ugust Bloc as a precondition for the development of the proletarian party, Trotskyism regarded the li'uidationist -ugust Bloc as the basis for building a 0real0 party# Throughout this entire period / from 238< to 232A / Lenin again and again denounced Trotsky for his 6careerism6, 6)enshevism6, 6conciliationism6 and 6li'uidationism#6 Here are a few samples chosen at random from scores of Lenin0s writings in the same vein: .n a letter to inoviev dated 45 -ugust 2383, Lenin writes: Trotsky behaves like a despicable careerist and factionalist of the +ya7anov"and"co type# Cither e'uality on the editorial board, subordination to the central committee and no one0s transfer to Paris e*cept Trotsky0s the scoundrel, he wants to 0fi* up0 the whole rascally crew of 0Pravda0 at our e*penseD! / or a break with this swindler and an e*posure of him in the O# He pays lip"service to the Party and behaves worse than any other of the factionalists#6 ollected =orks, >ol# <5, p# 588!# =hen Lenin was waging a life and death struggle to purge the Party of li'uidators and ot7ovists, Trotsky, assuming the role of a conciliator, tried his worst to reconcile the Party with these two bourgeois trends# This caused Lenin to denounce Trotsky in these terms: 6.n the very first words of his resolution Trotsky e*pressed the full spirit of the worst kind of conciliation, 0conciliation0 in inverted commas, of a sectarian and philistine conciliation, which deals with 0given persons0 and not the given line of policy, the given spirit the given ideological and political content of Party work#
6.t is in this that the enormous difference lies between real partyism; which consists in purging the Party of li'uidationism and ot7ovism, and the 0conciliation0 of Trotsky and o#, which actually +CE@C+% THC )O%T 1-.TH1L %C+>.C TO THC L.F.@-TO+% -E@ OTO>.%T%, -E@ .% THC+C1O+C -E C>.L TH-T .% -LL THC )O+C @-E&C+O% TO THC P-+TG THC )O+C EE.E&LG, EE.E&LG, -+T1LLG -+T1LLG -E@ +HCTO+.-LLG +H CTO+.-LLG .T LO-% LO- % .T%CL1 . T%CL1 =.TH = .TH P+O1C%%C@LG P+O"P-+TG P+O"P-+TG,, P+O1C%%C@LG P+O 1C%%C@LG -ET."1-T.OE-L @CL-)@C L-)-T.OE%#6 T.OE%#6 Eotes of o f a Publicist, ollected =orks, >ol# 2I, $une 2328, p 422 / emphasis added!# .n Eovember 2328, accusing Trotsky of following 6in the wake of the )ensheviks, taking cover behind particularly; sonorous phrases, 6 of 6putting before the &erman comrades liberal views with a )ar*ist coating#6 of being a master of 6resonant but empty phrases, 6 of failing to understand and ignoring the 6economic content of the +ussian revolution, 6 and thereby depriving himself 6of the possibility of understanding the historical meaning of the inner"Party struggle in +ussia,6 Lenin goes on to state: 6The struggle between Bolshevism and )enshevism is### a struggle over the 'uestion whether to support the liberals or to overthrow the hegemony of the liberals over the peasantry# Therefore to attribute Jas did TrotskyK our splits to the influence of the intelligentsia, to the immaturity of the proletariat, etc, is a childishly naive repetition of liberal fairy"tales#6 -dding: 6Trotsky distorts Bolshevism, because he has never been able to form any definite views on the role of the proletariat in the +ussian bourgeois revolution#6 ountering Trotsky0s lies and falsifications in the &erman %ocial"@emocratic press and accusing Trotsky of following a policy of 6advertisement6 of 6shamelessness in belittling the Party and e*alting himself before the &ermans, 6 Lenin concludes: 6Therefore, when Trotsky tells the &erman comrades that he represents the 0general Party tendency6 . am obliged to declare that Trotsky represents only his own faction and en(oys a certain amount of confidence e*clusively among the ot7ovists and the li'uidators#6 The Historical )eaning of the .nner" Party %truggle in +ussia, ollected =orks, >ol# 2I pp#
ienna lub, stepping up its activities, passed a resolution in Eovember 2328 to organise a 0general Party fund for the purpose of preparing and convening a conference of the +%@LP6, Lenin characterised this as a 6direct step towards a split### a clear violation of Party legality and the start of an adventure in which Trotsky will come to grief#6 ontinues Lenin: 6.t is an adventure in the ideological sense# Trotsky groups all the enemies of )ar*ism, he unites Potresov and )a*imov, who detest the 0Lenin"Plekhanov0 bloc, as they like to call it# T+OT%G E.TC% -LL THO%C TO =HO) .@COLO&.-L @C-G .% @C-+; -LL =HO -+C EOT OEC+EC@ =.TH THC @C1CEC O1 )-+.%), all philistines who do not understand the reasons for the struggle and who do not wish to learn, think and discover the ideological roots of the divergence of views# -t this time of confusion, disintegration, and wavering it is easy for Trotsky to become the 0hero of the hour0 and gather all the shabby elements around himself# The more openly this attempt is made, the more spectacular will be the defeat#6 Cmphasis added!#
Lenin ends this letter by calling, inter alia, for 6struggle against the splitting tactics and the unprincipled adventurism of Trotsky#6 Letter to the +ussian ollegium of the entral ommittee of the +%@LP, ollected =orks, >ol# 2A, pp# 2A"44 / @ecember 2328!# .n @ecember 2322, being sick and tired of Trotsky0s dirty work as an attorney and diplomat for the li'uidators and ot7ovists, Lenin, e*posing Trotsky0s factionalism, wrote: 6.t is impossible to argue with Trotsky on the merits of the issue, because Trotsky holds no views whatever# =e can and should argue with confirmed li'uidators and ot7ovists, but it is no use arguing with a man whose game is to hide the errors of both these trends; in his case the thing to do is to e*pose him as a diplomat of the smallest calibre#6 Trotsky0s @iplomacy and a ertain Party Platform, ollected =orks, >ol# 2A pp# ol# <9, pp# 58"52!# .n The Break"up of the 0-ugust0 Bloc )arch 2325!, Lenin writes: 6Trotsky, however, has never had any 0physiognomy0 at all; the only thing he does have is a habit of changing sides, of skipping from the liberals to the )ar*ists and back again, of mouthing scraps of catchwords and bombastic parrot phrases#6 -nd: 6-ctually under the cover of high"sounding, empty and obscure phrases that confuse the non" class"conscious workers, Trotsky is defending the li'uidators by passing over in silence the 'uestion of the 0underground0 by asserting that there is no liberal labour policy in +ussia, and the like# 6### nity means rallying the ma(ority of the workers in +ussia about decisions which have long been known, and which condemn li'uidationism### 6But the li'uidators and Trotsky,### who tore up their own -ugust bloc, who flouted all the decisions of the Party and dissociated themselves from the 0underground0 as well as from the organised workers, are the worst splitters# 1ortunately, the workers have already realised this, and all class"conscious workers are creating their own real unity against the li'uidator disrupters of unity#6 ollected =orks, >ol# 48 pp# 29?"2I2!# .n his article @isruption of unity under cover of outcries for unity, written in $une 2325, Lenin denounces Trotsky for his factionalism and li'uidationism and e*poses the utter falsity of the charge of splittism hurled by Trotsky and the li'uidators at the Bolsheviks# =riting in his allegedly nonfactional (ournal, Borba, Borba, Trotsky Trotsky,, having accused accused the Bolsheviks Bolsheviks of of splittism for for the sole reason reason that they e*posed and opposed li'uidationism, goes on to admit that the Bolshevik 6splittist tactics are winning one suicidal victory after another#6 This said, Trotsky adds: 6Eumerous advanced workers, in a state of utter political bewilderment themselves often become active agents of a split#6
Here is Lenin0s retort to this accusation and 0e*planation0: 6Eeedless to say, this e*planation is highly flattering, to Trotsky### and to the li'uidatorsM Trotsky is very fond of using with the learned air of the e*pert pompous and high"sounding phrases to e*plain historical phenomena in a way that is flattering to Trotsky# %ince 0numerous advanced workers0 become 0active agents0 of apolitical and Party line JBolshevik Party lineK which does not conform to Trotsky0s line, Trotsky settles the 'uestion unhesitatingly, out of hand these advanced workers are 0in a state of utter political bewilderment0, whereas he, Trotsky, is evidently 0in a state0 of political firmness and clarity, and keeps to the right lineD### -nd this very same Trotsky, beating his breast, fulminates against factionalism parochialism, and the efforts of the intellectuals to impose their will on the workersD 6+eading things like these, one cannot help asking oneself# / is it from a lunatic asylum that such voices comeN6 ollected =orks, >ol# 48 pp# <4A"<5A!# ontinues Lenin: 6The reason why Trotsky avoids facts and concrete references is because they relentlessly refute all his angry outcries and pompous phrases# .t is very easy, of course, to strike an attitude and say: 0a crude and sectarian travesty#0 Or to add a still more stinging and pompous catchphrase, such as 0emancipation from conservative factionalism#0 6But is this not very cheapN .s not this weapon borrowed from the arsenal of the period when Trotsky posed in all his splendour before audiences of high"school boysN6 ibid#! Lenin concludes his article with a brilliant description of Trotsky0s wavering and vacillation between the Party and the li'uidators, calling him a 6Tushino turncoat6 appearing before the Party with incredibly pretentious claims, unwilling absolutely to reckon with either the Party decisions, which since 238? have defined and established our attitude towards li'uidationism, or with the e*perience of the present"day movement in +ussia, which has actually brought about the unity of the ma(ority on the basis of full recognition of the aforesaid decisions#6 ibid#! This brilliant description appears in the main body of this work and is, therefore, e*cluded from the preface# -bout the same time / early 2325 / Trotsky, writing in issue no# 4 of his (ournal Borba falsely attributed to the 6Polish )ar*ists6 / not (ust +osa Lu*emburg / the position according to which the right to national self"determination 6is entirely devoid of political content and should be deleted from the programme#6 This falsehood drew from Lenin the following observation: 6The obliging Trotsky is more dangerous than an enemyD Trotsky could produce no proof e*cept 0private conversations0 i#e#, simply gossip, on which Trotsky always subsists!, classifying the 0Polish )ar*ists0 in general as supporters of every article by +osa Lu*emburg### 6Trotsky has never yet held a firm opinion on any important 'uestion of )ar*ism# He always contrives to worm his way into the cracks of any given difference of opinion, and desert one side for the other# -t the present moment he is in the company of the Bundists and the li'uidators# -nd thee gentlemen do not stand on ceremony where the Party is concerned#6 The +ight of Eations to %elf"@etermination, ollected =orks, >ol# 48 p# 55A"?!# .n his letter to Henriette +oland"Hoist, dated ? )arch 232I, Lenin asks:
6=hat are our differences with TrotskyN6 To this 'uestion he gives the following answer: 6.n brief / he is a autskyite, that is, he stands for unity with the autskyites in the .nternational and with hkheid7e0s parliamentary group in +ussia# =e are absolutely against such unity ### 6 ollected =orks, >ol# >ol# 5<, 5< , pp# 929"92I!# =riting to -le*andra ollontai on 2A 1ebruary, 232A, Lenin says: 6###=hat a swine this Trotsky is / Left, phrases, and a bloc with the +ight against the immerwald LeftDD He ought to be e*posed by you! if only in a brief letter to %otsial"@emokratD6 ollected =orks, >ol# <9, p# 4?9!# 1inally, in this letter of 23 1eb, 232A, to .nessa -rmand, Lenin writes, inter alia: 6There is also a letter from ollontai who### has returned to Eorway from -merica# E# .v# and Pavlov### had won Eovy )ir, she says,### but ### Trotsky arrived, and this scoundrel at once ganged up with the +ight wing of Eovy )ir against the Left immerwaldistsDD That0s itDD That0s Trotsky for youDD -lways true to himself, twists, swindles, poses as a Left, helps the +ight, so long as he can### 6ollected =orks, >ol# >ol# <9, <9 , p# 4??!# .n the light of the foregoing historic evidence, of the most impeccable and irrefutable kind, it can safely be asserted that Trotsky was during this long period / between 238< and 232A / a )enshevik and a li'uidator who waged a most dirty and factional campaign against the Bolsheviks0 attempts to build a revolutionary Party of the proletariat# -lthough people with knowledge about the history of the Bolshevik Party know only too well that from 238< to -ugust 232A Trotsky was a )enshevik and a li'uidator, Trotskyites generally maintain a studied silence over this 'uestion or, worse still, they try and e*cuse him on this account# .t is, therefore, very refreshing to discover some ardent Trotskyites who condemn Trotsky0s )enshevism, centrism, conciliationism and factionalism# .n this category fall the Trotskyites of the .nternational ommunist League .L! of the so"called 1ourth .nternational the official 1ourth .nternational, of course, since each of the milliard Trotskyist organisations claims to be the official 1ourth .nternational and describes every other Trotskyist organisation as a fake / a hilarious phenomenon reminiscent of the Life of Brian!# The .L publish the theoretical (ournal %partacist# The occasion for their frank admission and condemnation of Trotsky0s )enshevism was the review, in %partacist numbers 59 and 5I, =inter 2338"32, Cnglish edition, by a certain .L member, @aniel @auget, of a biography of Leon Trotsky published in 23?? by Pierre Brou# Pierre Brou was a Professor at the .nstitute of Political %tudies of &renoble niversity who had been for 58 years a member of 6the ostensibly Trotskyist Lambertist tendency in 1rance6 .L0s description in the said review!, i#e#, of the Parti ommuniste .nternationale P.!# Brou praises Trotsky for being a 6freelancer6 / praise winch rouses the .L to indignation and downright outrage# %o as not to lose the full force of .L0s fluent prose, the full burning anger and shame, and the thrust of their argument, and so as not to be accused of 'uoting them out of conte*t, we reproduce here almost the entire section of the review that was concerned with Trotsky0s factionalism and )enshevism between 238< and 232A
Trotsky as 61reelancer6 6Brou0s treatment of Trotsky0s political activity between the decisive 238< Bolshevik")enshevik split and the October +evolution is at the core of his interpretation; because it is here that he deals with the debates within +ussian %ocial @emocracy over the nature, form and structure a revolutionary party must have if it is to take state power, as well as with the role of political and programmatic debate in forging such a party# -fter the 238< split between the Bolsheviks and )ensheviks, Trotsky became a sort of freelancer in the party# 6Brou praises Trotsky for this, seeing in it the cause for Trotsky0s leading role in the 2389 +evolution as chairman of the %t Petersburg %oviet and his brilliant propagandist use of his trial following the 2389 defeat: 60.n fact, effectively fired from any factional obligations, at a good distance from the up and downs of the conflicts between the two main factions, satisfied in this respect with his unitary0 position whose victory seemed to him assured in the future, Trotsky had his hands completely free to devote his attention and activity to the events that were unfolding in +ussia###0 / Brou, p# 3A# 6To read this, one would conclude that Lenin0s factional struggle against )enshevism was irrelevant / if not outright counterposed / to intervening in and leading the revolutionary struggle# .ndeed, Brou views Trotsky0s role as the leading 0conciliator0 between the Bolsheviks and )ensheviks as e*emplary# 6Carlier, as Brou notes, 0Trotsky, partisan of centrali7ation and of the authority of the entral ommittee ever since he bad been deported to %iberia, was seen in the migr circles as Lenin0s 0hatchet man0,0 -t the 238< ongress Trotsky began a programmatic struggle against Lenin on the 'uestion of the party# 1or e*ample Trotsky opposed the sovereignty of the party congress: 0The ongress is a register, a controller, but not a creator0 +eport of the %iberian @elegation, 238
confirmed the correctness of those policies! / my 0conciliationism0 led me at many sharp turns in the road into hostile clashes with Bolshevism#0 / Trotsky, 0Our @ifferences0 Eov# 2345!# 6The traditional 0center0 and right wing of the %ocial @emocracy were only too happy to use Trotsky0s name and (ournalistic brilliance as a left cover for their own positions and as a weapon against Lenin# Thus Brou reports that 0Trotsky was on good terms with autsky and the 0center of the &erman %ocial @emocracy until at least 2324### .t was autsky during this period who, to Lenin0s great anger, opened the pages of 0@ie Eeue eit0 and 0>orwarts0 to Trotsky, Brou also details Trotsky0s warm relations with the -ustro")ar*ists of >ienna, noting that he rapidly became 0the uncontested head of the %ocial @emocratic colony in >ienna0 from 2383 to 2324 #He passes rapidly over the fact that during the same period +osa Lu*emburg viewed Trotsky with 0systematic suspicion0 and as a 0dubious individual0, no doubt due to his ties to her right"wing opponents in the &erman %ocial @emocracy# 6Brou0s attitude toward Trotsky during these years is e*emplified by his treatment of the infamous -ugust bloc# The >ienna 0Pravda0 edited by Trotsky attempted to 0conciliate0 the Bolshevik and )enshevik factions" / Brou approvingly 'uotes the professional anti"communist Leonard %chapiro0s praise of the >ienna 0Pravda0 for not being as polemical as the Bolshevik press# - 2328 agreement between the factions provided for Bolshevik financial support to the >ienna 0Pravda0, with amenev who was close to Lenin and was Trotsky0s brother"in"law! responsible for administering the Bolshevik funds The agreement stipulated that the )ensheviks would get rid of their right wing, and the Bolsheviks of their left wing# =hile the Bolsheviks respected the agreement, the )ensheviks did not, and in the subse'uent polemics, Trotsky sided with the )ensheviks and got rid of amenev# Trotsky0s articles, aimed at militants inside +ussia who were unfamiliar with the details of the dispute, denounced the Bolsheviks as a 0conspiracy of the migr cli'ue#0 autsky solicited and published several articles by Trotsky attacking the Bolsheviks, which provoked angry re(oinders not (ust from Lenin, but also from Plekhanov and +osa Lu*emburg# =hen the Bolshevik Prague ongress in 2324 proclaimed that it represented the party as a whole, Trotsky organised a unity0 counter"conference in >ienna in -ugust# 6.n Trotsky0s mind Jthe conferenceK was to have been the general unification, the reunification of the party# .n fact, the Bolsheviks0 re(ection of it reduced the participants to a bloc against them, which they bapti7ed the 0-ugust bloc0# The Polish %ocial @emocrats and Plekhanov also chose not to appear ### .n fact, Trotsky0s return to the factional arena proved particularly unfortunate# .ndependent of his intentions, and even of his precautions, the positions he took after the Prague conference and his role in forming the -ugust bloc made him appear, despite himself, as the soul of a general coalition against the Bolsheviks and an indirect supporter of the 0li'uidators0#0 / Brou, pp# 2<3"258# 6Cvery 'ualifier in Brou0s description of Trotsky0s role in the -ugust bloc is wrong or misleading# -s is clear from Trotsky0s denunciation of the Bolsheviks as an 0migr cli'ue0, he was well aware that what Brou so delicately terms 0general unification0, was a polemical cudgel with which to attack Lenin# Trotsky did not (ust 0appear0 to be the soul of the anti"Bolshevik coalition, he was in fact that soul in that he was the most left"wing, most respected force outside the Bolsheviks# Trotsky0s actions were not misconstrued 0despite himself,0 but were an accurate reflection of the role he played vis""vis the Bolsheviks in the entire period from 238< to at least 2329#6 6The outbreak of ==. and the betrayal by the parties of the %econd .nternational most of whose leaders supported their own0 governments in the bloody inter"imperialist war, shifted the grounds of dispute within the world socialist movement, forcing realignments and regroupments# Lenin and
Trotsky both fought against the imperialist war, and both attended the gathering of antiwar socialists held in immerwald %wit7erland in %eptember 2329#6 pp# <<"<5!# Be it noted in passing that the last sentence is either born out of dishonesty or simple ignorance / most likely the former / for everyone with the least knowledge about this matter knows that the Bolshevik slogan of working for the defeat of one0s own government in the imperialist war then raging was countered by Trotsky with his chauvinist slogan demanding 0Eeither victory nor defeat0# 1urther, we have provided, 'uotations above from Lenin to the effect that during this period Trotsky was a autskyite and fought against the immerwald left headed by Lenin0s Bolsheviks# But that does not concern us here# .L continue: 6Brou argues that after immerwald despite 0real disagreements0 between Lenin and Trotsky, there was 0a reasonable prospect for a gradual rapprochement between the two men who in reality were divided only JsicK by the 238< split, which had long since been outdated#0 =hat Brou slides over is the fact that Lenin never repudiated the 238< split / instead he generali7ed from it to a fully"formed theoretical position on the necessity for revolutionary cadres to organi7e a vanguard party, separate from reformist and centrist tendencies# Trotsky was ultimately won to Lenin0s side on this 'uestion in 232A# 6There is something anachronistic and evocative of the worst aspects of 1rench political traditions in Brou0s repeated presentation of Trotsky as a simple star, freelancer, too busy being 0a leader of men0 and giving brilliant speeches before and after the +evolution to have been a 0party man0 or to have had the time to familiari7e himself with JtheK faction fights in the corridors0# Trotsky was a factionalist before 232A / on the wrong side# But his program of conciliationism could never have built the sort of hard faction that could win leadership in the party, nor the kind of Party that could take state power#6 p# <5!# =ell said, )essrs the Trotskyites of the .LD =e think any comment on ibis would be superfluousD -ll this does not, however, prevent the Trotskyites of the .L from asserting, without as much as a blush, that Trotsky, after the death of Lenin, was best placed 6to carry forward the authentic Bolshevik programme against %talin0s usurpers#6 >ery strange logic indeed, according to which Trotsky, the )enshevik li'uidator, who, spent two decades in a mortal struggle against every aspect of Leninism, was better suited to, carrying out the 0authentic0 Bolshevik programme than someone like %talin who, had spent two and a half decades faithfully supporting and actually carrying out the Bolshevik programme# Here is how .L put it: 6.n his admiration for Trotsky the left")enshevik, Brou also never considers the potential authority that Trotsky would have gained and retained among stalwart Bolsheviks had he come over to Lenin0s side as a hard party man in 238< / an authority that would have served him well in the subse'uent period when he fought to carry forward the authentic Bolshevik programme against %talin0s usurpers#6 .bid# p# <9!# Pigs might flyD The above statement of .L amounts, if it amounts to anything at all, to a meaningless tautology, namely, had Trotsky been a staunch supporter of Leninism in the period 238<"2A, he would have been well placed to carry out the authentic Bolshevik programme after Lenin0s death# The problem, however, is that he was not during this long period, nor was he in the subse'uent period, a staunch supporter of Leninism# The one who was a staunch Leninist, namely $oseph %talin, was 'uite correctly chosen by the Bolshevik Party to lead it in carrying forward the authentic Bolshevik programme against the would"be usurper, to wit, Trotsky#
There is method in .L0s madness# They admit Trotsky0s pre"232A )enshevism in order to present gullible, readers with a sanitised version of Trotsky who, it is claimed, suddenly saw the light and after 232A became a better Bolshevik than anyone else# 6The fact is,6 write the .., 6that Brou### agrees with Trotsky0s conciliationism before 232A, and much prefers Trotsky the anti"Leninist to Trotsky the Bolshevik#6 nlike Brou, in a vain attempt to gain credibility for Trotskyism, the .L would rather make a clean admission of Trotsky0s pre"232A )enshevism and anti"Leninism in order to be able all the more 7ealously to fasten the label of staunch Leninist on Trotsky0s lapel# This trick will not work, however, for apart from the short period during October when he hid his anti"Leninist stock"in"trade in the cupboard, Trotsky continued to practise his anti"Leninism, his anti"Bolshevism, with a 7eal worthy of a better cause# .t is not only the case that Brou, as is (ustly claimed by the .., 6subtly puts Lenin under the gun6 in order to gain the appreciation of the 6anti" Leninist %oviet intelligentsia6 these words were written in the winter of 2338"32!, but also the fact that the Trotskyites of the .., in common with all other Trotskyites, are attempting to substitute Trotskyism for Leninism, albeit by denouncing pre"232A Trotskyism# Eo subterfuges, no tricks, no artful dodging, no deception, can detract from this fact / not even the pretence of praising Leninism# <# @istrust of Bolshevik leadership Trotsky stands for the distrust of the leaders of Bolshevism, for discrediting and defaming them# -s %talin correctly observed: 6. do not know of a single trend in the party that could compare with Trotskyism in the matter of discrediting the leaders of Leninism or the central institutions of the Party#6 ollected =orks, >ol# I, p#
6The same misadventure 0happened0 to the theory of permanent revolution, for not a single Bolshevik contemplated the immediate sei7ure of power on the morrow of the 1ebruary +evolution, and Trotsky could not help knowing that the Bolsheviks would not allow him, in the words of Lenin, 0to play at the sei7ure of power#0 Trotsky had no alternative but recognise the Bolsheviks0 policy of fighting for influence in the %oviets, of fighting to win over the peasantry -s regards the third specific feature of Trotskyism distrust of he Bolshevik leaders!, it had naturally to retire into the background owing to the obvious failure of the first two features# 6nder the circumstances, could Trotsky do anything else but hide his stock"in"trade in the cupboard and follow the Bolshevik; considering that he had no group of his own of any significance, and that he came to the Bolsheviks as a political individual without an armyN Of course, he could notD 6=hat is the lesson to be learnt from thisN Only one: that prolonged collaboration between the Leninists and Trotsky is possible only if the latter completely abandons his old stock"in"trade, only if he completely accepts Leninism# Trotsky writes about the lessons of October, but he forgets ### the one . have (ust mentioned, which prime importance for Trotskyism# Trotskyism ought to learn that lesson of October too#6 ollected =orks, >ol# I, pp#
gaining a much"needed respite for the e*hausted population# -t a crucial moment in these negotiations, Trotsky, as the head of the %oviet delegation to the peace talks, in violation of the instructions of the Party central committee and the %oviet government, declared the unilateral withdrawal of the %oviet +epublic from the war, demobilisation of the +ussian -rmy, and he then left Brest"Litovsk on the spurious ground that 6we can only be saved in the true meaning of the word by a Curopean +evolution6 C*traordinary %eventh ongress of the +PB!!# This gave the &erman ommand the prete*t it needed for ending the armistice, mounting an offensive and obliging the %oviet government to sign 6a much more humiliating peace, and the blame for this rests on those who refused to accept the former peace#6 Lenin, Political +eport of the to the C*traordinary %eventh ongress of the +P B!, A )arch 232?, ollected =orks, >ol# 4A!# -propos the failure of the Curopean revolution to come to maturity thus leaving the Bolshevik +evolution to solve its problems on its own, and forcing the Bolsheviks to face reality as it was rather than as they would wish it to be, Lenin admonished Trotsky and his ilk in the Party in the following terms: 6.f you are unable to adapt yourself, if you are not inclined to crawl on your belly in the mud you are not a revolutionary but a chatterbo*; and . propose this, not because . like it, but because we have no other road, because history has not been kind enough to bring the revolution to maturity everywhere simultaneously#6 .bid#! Thus the young %oviet +epublic paid a very heavy price for Trotsky0s adventurism and phrase" mongering defeatism, which is the chief characteristic of his rotten theory of permanent revolution, according to which nothing good can ever come of any revolution unless it is accompanied by a world revolution# Trade union debate =ith the victorious conclusion of the ivil =ar of 232?"2348, as the %oviet +epublic under Lenin0s guidance, switched from war communism to the Eew Cconomic Policy ECP! and embarked on a programme of economic revival and re(uvenation / of restoration of industry through an upsurge in agriculture and by drawing the workers and trade unions into active socialist construction through planned organisation and persuasion and not coercion!, Trotsky and his supporters forced on the Party a discussion on the 'uestion of trade unions a lu*ury and a diversion from the work of economic construction, from the fight against famine and economic dislocation that the Party could ill afford at the time!# Trotsky, the patriarch of bureaucrats, as %talin rightly called him insisted on 6tightening up the screws6 and 6shaking up6 the trade unions, and turning the latter into state agencies, and on replacing persuasion by coercion# The Party discussion on the trade unions resulted in the total rout of Trotsky and his supporters# =hen the entral ommittee of the Party re(ected Trotsky0s Prussian sergeant0s proposal, Trotsky went outside and gathered a group of his supporters with the aim of fighting against the entral ommittee# %o alarmed was Lenin by Trotsky0s factionalism and flouting of Party discipline that he caused the 28th Party ongress )arch 2342! to pass a resolution forbidding the formation of factions and disbanding e*isting factions forthwith# .t was further stated that the 6non"fulfilment of this decision of the ongress shall be followed by unconditional and immediate e*pulsion from the Party#6 Trotsky0s return to fully"fledged factionalism
This resolution was to arouse Trotsky0s bitter hatred and opposition, for whenever he could not get his own way on any 'uestion, he rushed to form a Trotskyist faction within the Party, even if that meant threatening a split# @uring 2342 Lenin0s health began to decline# erebral arteriosclerosis was already blocking his blood circulation and taking its toll, with the result that this man of ine*haustible energy and drive was tiring easily, and spent most of the summer resting in the village of &orki, not far from )oscow# The 22th Party ongress, meeting at the end of )arch 2344, created the new office of &eneral %ecretary, to which, one day after the conclusion of that ongress i#e#, on < -pril 2344!, on Lenin0s initiation and sponsorship, %talin was appointed# On 4I )ay 2344, while resting in &orki, Lenin suffered a severe stroke, which caused a partial paralysis of the right side of his body and loss of speech# He recovered from this stroke remarkably 'uickly and was back at his desk in early October 2344# -fter two further minor strokes on @ecember 2< and 2I, 2344, he suffered on )arch 28, 234<, a massive stroke, from which he never recovered and after which he took no further part in politics# 1ollowing the latest stroke suffered by Lenin, Trotsky, with an eye on the leadership, stepped up his factional activity and intensified his vile and slanderous attacks on the Party leadership, its central institutions and its policy# On ? October 234< he sent a letter to the entral ommittee, in which he asserted that the country was being ine*orably led by the Party leadership to a catastrophe, to prevent which he demanded greater inner"Party democracy# %tripped of its Trotskyite verbiage, this meant the right to form factional groupings# - group of 5I followers of Trotsky also issued a manifesto / known as the %tatement of 5I / to the same effect# Trotsky0s letter and the %tatement of 5I were discussed and condemned at a (oint plenary meeting of the and the with representatives of ten of the largest Party organisations in October 234<# Trotsky followed his letter with a pamphlet entitled Eew ourse, in which in addition to the demand for more Party democracy, he accused the old Bolsheviks / the Party leadership / of degeneration# He counterposed young people, especially students, to veteran Bolsheviks, declaring the former to be the barometer of the Party# .n talking about the degeneration of the 0old guard0, Trotsky had used the e*pression 6we, the old Bolsheviks,6 which provoked %talin to make this observation, full of biting sarcasm: 61irst, . must dispel a possible misunderstanding# -s is evident###, Trotsky includes himself among the Bolshevik old guard, thereby showing readiness to take upon himself the charges that may be hurled at the old guard if it does indeed take the path of degeneration# .t must be admitted that his readiness for self"sacrifice is undoubtedly a noble trait# But . must protect Trotsky from Trotsky, because, for obvious reasons, he cannot and should not bear responsibility for the possible degeneration of the principal cadres of the Bolshevik old guard###6 =ith more than a covert reference to Trotsky0s long )enshevik past, %talin, while admitting the possibility of degeneration of the Bolshevik old guard, goes on to add: 6Eevertheless, there are a number of elements within our Party who are capable of giving rise to a real danger of degeneration of certain ranks of our Party# . have in mind that section of the )ensheviks who (oined our Party unwillingly unwillingly and and who have not not yet got rid rid of their opportunist opportunist habits#6 habits#6 ollected ollected =orks, >ol# 9 p# <39!#
The Thirteenth onference of the +PB!, held on 2I"2? $anuary 2345, strongly condemned the factionalism of Trotsky and his followers, stating that 6the present opposition is not only an attempt to revise Bolshevism not only a flagrant departure from Leninism but patently a petty"bourgeois deviation #There is no doubt whatever that this opposition mirrors the pressure of the petty"bourgeoisie on the position of the proletarian party and its policy#6 +esolution On the +esults of the @iscussion and on the Petty"Bourgeois @eviation in the Party / P% in +esolutions, etc# >ol# 4!# Lenin0s death and Trotsky0s attempt to substitute Trotskyism for Leninism Lenin, after a further stroke on the morning of 42 $anuary, 2345, died in the evening# Trotsky, although a newcomer to the Party, had convinced himself that he had a better claim to succeed Lenin than old, trusted and tried Bolsheviks such as %talin# %o in October 2345 Trotsky published an introduction to his collected works entitled Lessons of October, which purported to deal with the reasons for the Bolshevik victory in the October +evolution# Having made general ritual references in it to the necessity of a revolutionary party for the success of a revolution, Trotsky went on to belittle the role of the Bolshevik Party, e*tol his, own part in the revolution, hinting that Lenin had suddenly changed his previous position for that of Trotsky, to which fact alone was to be attributed the success of the October +evolution# He also dragged out of the cupboard his old and much"discredited theory of 0permanent revolutionD, arguing that hostile collisions between the proletarian vanguard and the broad masses of the peasantry were inevitable# One gets the impression from reading his Lessons of October that it was Trotsky who organised the October victory# .n other words, the man who had fought against Bolshevism and Leninism for 25 long years, who had sided with the )ensheviks and li'uidators to oppose the building by Lenin0s Bolsheviks of the proletarian revolutionary party capable of leading the proletariat and the broad masses in sei7ing political power, who had spent his life opposing Lenin0s theory of proletarian revolution with his absurd theory of 0permanent revolution0, who had opposed the Bolshevik slogan of defeat of one0s own government in the imperialist war the first world war! with his chauvinistic slogan demanding Eeither victory nor defeat, suddenly and providentially descended on the scene in Petersburg to rescue the revolution from the frightened and useless lot that constituted the entral ommittee of the Bolshevik Party, the ma(ority of whom, according to this fairy tale worthy of the -rabian Eights, were opposed to the October uprisingDD Eothing could be further from the truth# Trotsky0s special role in October originated with $ohn +eed, the author of Ten @ays that %hook the =orld, who, being remote from the Bolshevik Party, had no knowledge of the secret meeting of its central committee on 4< October, 232A, and was therefore taken in by the gossip spread by people such as %ukhanov# These fairy tales about Trotsky0s special role in October were later passed round and repeated in several pamphlets written by Trotskyites, including %yrkin0s pamphlet on October# -fter Lenin0s death Trotsky strongly supported these rumours in his literary pronouncements# %ince a systematic attempt was being made by Trotskyites to re" write the history of October and bring up %oviet youth on such legends, %talin, in a speech delivered at the Plenum of the ommunist &roup of the -T,
to vote against the resolution on the uprising# This was possible in spite of the political disagreements between them because there was at that time a unity of views between these two inoviev and amenev! and the rest of the entral ommittee on such fundamental 'uestions 6as the character of the +ussian revolution, the driving forces of the revolution, the role of the peasantry, the principles of Party leadership, and so forth#6 %talin, ollected =orks, >ol# I, p# <52!# Thus the decision on the uprising was taken by the entral ommittee and the entral ommittee alone# Hence the political direction of the uprising was firmly in the hands of the entral ommittee# -s to the legend that Trotsky played a 0special0 role in that he 0inspired0, and was the 0sole leader0 of the October uprising / this legend was spread by Lentsner, and %talin dealt with it as follows: 6The Trotskyites are vigorously spreading rumours that Trotsky inspired and was the sole leader of the October uprising# These rumours are being spread with e*ceptional 7eal by the so" called editor of Trotsky0s works, Lentsner# Trotsky himself, by consistently avoiding mention of the Party, the entral ommittee and the Petrograd ommittee of the Party, by saying nothing about the leading role of these organisations in the uprising and vigorously pushing himself forward as the central figure in the October uprising, voluntarily or involuntarily helps to spread the rumours about the special role he is supposed to have played in the uprising, . am far from denying Trotsky0s undoubtedly important role in the uprising# . must say, however, that Trotsky did not play any special role in the October uprising, nor could he do so; being chairman of the Petrograd %oviet he merely carried out the will of the appropriate Party bodies, which directed every step that Trotsky took #To philistines like %ukhanov, all this may seem strange, but the facts, the true facts, wholly and fully confirm what . say#6 .bid, pp# <52" <54!# %talin then passes on to an e*amination of the minutes of the ne*t entral ommittee meeting held on 43 October, 232A# -part from the members of the entral ommittee, there were present at this meeting representatives of the Petrograd ommittee as well as representatives of military organisations, factory committees, trade unions and the railwaymen# -t this meeting Lenin0s resolution on the uprising was adopted by a ma(ority of 48 against 4, with three abstentions# -t this meeting too a practical centre was elected for the organisational leadership of the uprising# To this practical centre were elected the following five: %verdlov, %talin, @7er7hinksy, Bubnov and ritsky# Let %talin speak: 6The functions of the practical centre: to direct all the practical organs of the uprising in conformity with the directives of the entral ommittee# Thus, as you see, something terrible happened at this meeting of the entral ommittee, i#e#, 0strange to relate0, the .nspirer, the 0chief figure0, the 0sole leader0 of the uprising, Trotsky, was not elected to the practical centre, which was called upon to direct the uprising# How is this to be reconciled with the current opinion about Trotsky0s special roleN .s not all this somewhat 0strange0, as %ukhanov, or the Trotskyites, would sayN -nd yet strictly speaking there is nothing strange about it for neither in the Party, nor in the October uprising did Trotsky play any special role, nor could he do so, for he was a relatively new man in our Party in the period of October# He, like all the responsible workers, merely carried out the will of the entral ommittee and of its organs# =ho"ever is familiar with the mechanics of Bolshevik Party leadership will have no difficulty in understanding that it could not be otherwise; it would have been enough for Trotsky to go against the will of the entral ommittee to have been deprived of all influence on the course of events# This talk about Trotsky0s special role is a legend that is being spread by obliging 0Party0 gossips#5! 6This, of course, does not mean that the October uprising did not have its inspirer# it did have its inspirer and leader, but this was Lenin, and none other than Lenin, that same Lenin whose resolution the entral ommittee adopted when deciding the 'uestion of the uprising, that same Lenin who, in spite of what Trotsky says, was not prevented by being in hiding from being the actual inspirer of the
uprising# .t is foolish and ridiculous to attempt now, by gossip about Lenin having been in hiding to obscure the indubitable fact that the inspirer of the uprising was the leader of the Party, >#.# Lenin# 6%uch are the facts#6 ollected =orks, >ol# I, pp <54"<55#! ontinues %talin: 6&ranted, we are told but it cannot be denied that Trotsky fought well in the period of October# Ges, that is true, Trotsky did, indeed, fight well in October, but Trotsky was not the only one who fought well in the period of October# Cven people like the Left %ocialist"+evolutionaries, who then stood side by side with the Bolsheviks, also fought well, .n general . 6must say that in the period of a victorious uprising when the enemy is isolated and the uprising is growing; it is not difficult to fight well# -t such moments even backward people become heroes# 6The proletarian struggle is not however, an uninterrupted advance, an unbroken chain of victories# The proletarian struggle also has its trials, its defeats# The genuine revolutionary is not one who displays courage in the period of a victorious uprising; but one who, while fighting well during the victorious advance of the revolution, also displays courage when the revolution is in retreat when the proletariat suffers defeat, who does not lose his head and does not funk when the revolution suffers reverses, when the enemy 6achieves success; who does not become panic"stricken or give way to despair when the revolution is in a period of retreat The Left %ocialist" +evolutionaries did not fight badly in the period of October, and they supported the Bolsheviks# But who does not know that those 0brave0 fighters became panic"stricken in the period of Brest when the advance of &erman imperialism drove them to despair and hysteria# .t is a very sad but indubitable fact that Trotsky, who fought well in the period of October, did not in the period of Brest in the period when the revolution suffered temporary reverses, possess the courage to display sufficient staunchness at that difficult moment and to refrain from following in the footsteps of the Left %ocialist"+evolutionaries# Beyond 'uestion; that moment was a difficult one; one had to display e*ceptional courage and imperturbable coolness not to be dismayed, to retreat in good time, to accept peace in good time, to withdraw the proletarian army out of range of the blows of &erman imperialism; to preserve the peasant reserves and, after obtaining a respite in this way, to strike at the enemy with renewed force# nfortunately, Trotsky was found to lack this courage and revolutionary staunchness at that difficult moment# 6.n Trotsky0s opinion, the principal lesson of the proletarian revolution is 0not to funk0 during October# That is wrong; for Trotsky0s assertion contains only a particle of the truth about the lessons of the revolution# The whole truth about the lessons of the proletarian revolution is not to funk, not only when the revolution is advancing but also when it is retreat when the enemy is gaining the upper hand and the revolution is suffering reverses# The revolution did not end with October# October was only the beginning of the proletarian revolution# .t is bad to funk when the tide of insurrection is rising but it is worse to funk when the revolution is passing through severe trials after power has been captured# To retain power on the morrow of the revolution is no less important that to capture power#6 .bid# pp# <55" <59!# %talin asked the 'uestion: 61or what purpose did Trotsky need all these legends about October and the preparation for October, about Lenin and the Party of LeninN =hat is the purpose of Trotsky0s new literary pronouncements against the PartyN###6 .bid# p#
6Trotsky asserts that all this is needed for the purpose of 0studying0 October# But is it not possible to study October without giving another kick at the Party and its leader LeninN =hat sort of a 0history0 of October is it that begins and ends with attempts to discredit the chief leader of the October uprising to discredit the Party, which organised and carried through the uprisingN### That is not the way to study October# That is not the way to write the history of October# Obviously, there is a different 0design0 here, and everything goes to show that this 0design0 is that Trotsky by his literary pronouncements is making another yet anotherD! attempt to create the conditions for substituting Trotskyism for Leninism# Trotsky needs 0desperately0 to discredit the Party, and its cadres who carried through the uprising in order, after discrediting the Party, to proceed to discredit Leninism# -nd it is necessary for him to discredit Leninism in order to drag in Trotskyism as the 0sole0 0proletarian0 don0t laughD! ideology# -ll this, of course oh, of courseD! under the flag of Leninism, so that the dragging operation may be performed 0as painlessly as possible0# 6That is the essence of Trotsky0s latest literary pronouncements#6 .bid# pp#
-fter the above meeting pronounced against Trotsky and warned that his splittist activity and anti Leninist propaganda was incompatible with Party membership, Trotsky retreated for a while, awaiting his chance This chance came when inoviev and amenev / two old Bolsheviks / frightened by difficulties and overcome by defeatism, went into opposition after the 25th Party onference -pril 2349! affirmed the possibility of building socialism, in the %%+# Being incorrigible defeatists and sceptics, inoviev and amenev denied the possibility of building socialism in the %oviet nion, and in this way found common ground with pessimism, scepticism and defeatism personified, namely, Trotsky, the author of the theory of 0permanent revolution0, the epitome of hopelessness# The Eew Opposition as it was called!, led by inoviev and amenev, launched 0vicious attacks on the Party0s Leninist line on the possibility of building socialism! at the 25th ongress of the Party, winch opened in @ecember 2349# -fter suffering a crushing defeat at that ongress, the Eew Opposition, headed by inoviev and amenev who had until only recently been "seeking to remove Trotsky from the leadership and whom Trotsky, in turn, had been seeking to eliminate from the leadership of the Party! openly embraced Trotskyism# Thus emerged an anti"Party opposition bloc, to which flocked the remnants of the various opposition groups previously s'uashed by the Party / all motivated by their hatred of, and opposition to, the Party0s policy of strengthening the proletarian dictatorship and building socialism in the %%+# The leaders of this opposition, Trotsky, inoviev and amenev, 6granting each other mutual amnesty,6 as %talin put it, and using as an occasion and a prete*t the collapse of the British &eneral %trike that they blamed on the leadership of the Bolshevik Party for having allegedly failed to give leadership and guidance to the British workers!, produced their platform, written by Trotsky, which was presented in part to the Plenum of the entral ommittee on I"3 -pril 234I, and in full to the meeting of $uly 25"4< 234I# .n flagrant breach of Party discipline, the opposition organised demonstrations in factories, demanding full discussion of their platform# The communist workers vehemently denounced the opposition leaders and made them leave these meetings# 1aced with this humiliating defeat, the opposition leaders beat a retreat and sent a statement, on 2I October 234I, in which they confessed their errors and promised to desist in future from their factional activity against the Party# .n the words of .an &rey: 6-ppalled by their own temerity and recklessness, the si* leaders / Trotsky, inoviev, amenev, Pyatakov, %okolnikov and Cvdakimov / confessed their guilt in a public declaration and swore not to pursue factional activity in future# They also denounced their own left"wing supporters in the omintern and the =orkers0 Opposition group#6 .an &rey, %talin / )an of History, -bacus, 23?4, pp# 42<"425!# 1ormation of an illegal party The opposition0s statement of October, 234I, turned out to be totally insincere and thoroughly hypocritical# -s a matter of fact the opposition had formed an illegal party of its own, with a separate system of membership, district committees, and a centre# The illegal party, with a secret illegal printing press, held secret meetings at which the opposition0s factional platform, and the tactics to be adopted against the Bolshevik Party, were discussed / all this in violation of the decisions of the 28th Party ongress banning the formation and continuation of separate factions within the Party# .n October 234I, the Plenum of the entral ommittee, sitting (ointly with the entral ontrol ommission, issued a severe warning to the leaders of the opposition, removing Trotsky from the
Politburo and amenev from his candidate membership of this body# inoviev was removed from the omintern# The 1ifteenth -ll"nion Party onference Oct"Eov 234I! characterised the Trotsky"inoviev opposition as a )enshevik deviation in the Party, issuing the warning that further development in the direction of )enshevism would lead to the opposition0s e*pulsion from the Party# -t the beginning of 234A the opposition renewed its attack on the policy of the omintern vis""vis the hinese revolution, blaming the omintern and the P% for the reverses of the hinese revolution# Taking advantage of the internal difficulties, as well as of the deterioration in the international position of the %%+, the opposition yet again came out with the so"called 0platform of ?<0# +enewing their slander against the Party, the opposition claimed in this platform that the %oviet government was intending to abolish the monopoly of foreign trade and grant political fights to the kulaks# %uch slanders could not but encourage the kulaks and imperialism alike in putting pressure on the %oviet government in an attempt to wrest precisely such concessions from the %oviet government# .n addition, the opposition demagogically demanded greater freedom in the Party, which it understood to mean the freedom to form factions and to 6indulge in unparalleled abuse and impermissible vilification of the entral ommittee, P%B! and the C.# They complain of the 0regime0 within the omintern and the P%B!# Cssentially, what they want is freedom to disorganise the omintern and the P%B!###6 %talin, ollected =orks, >ol# 3, p# <2A!# Trotskyism0s struggle against 0%talinism0 / a continuation of the struggle against Leninism =hat the Trotskyite opposition was fighting against was the regime established by the 28th congress under the guidance of Lenin / a regime designed to strengthen the dictatorship of the proletariat through unity and iron discipline within the Bolshevik Party by outlawing factionalism# The underlying principles of the regime established by the 28th ongress were that 6while inner"Party democracy is operated and businesslike criticism of the Party0s defects and mistakes is permitted no factionalism whatsoever is permitted, and all factionalism must be abandoned on pain of e*pulsion from the party#,6 %talin, The Political ompletion of the +ussian Opposition, ollected =orks, >ol# 28, p# 2II!# 6. assert6, said %talin, 6that the Trotskyites had already started their fight against the Leninist regime in the Party in Lenin0s time, and that the fight the Trotskyites are now Ji#e#, %eptember 234A2 waging is a continuation of the fight against the regime in the Party which they were already waging in Lenin0s time#6 .bid#! -s the opposition0s platform drew no support from the workers, it retreated again and handed another declaration to the entral ommittee, on ? -ugust 234A, in which they promised yet again to cease their factional activity, only to violate it a month later# -s the preparations got under way in %eptember 234A for the 1ifteenth Party ongress, the opposition drew up the third statement of its aims and policies# -n end had to be put to the opposition0s factionalism, its disorganising activity and the charade of repeated violations of its hypocritical declaration of admission of guilt and promises to cease factional activity# %o, at the end of October 234A, the entral ommittee in a (oint meeting with the entral ontrol ommission, e*pelled Trotsky and inoviev from the entral ommittee, deciding further to submit all the documents relating to the factional activity of the Trotskyite opposition to the 1ifteenth ongress for consideration by the latter#
.t is worth recalling that during the Party discussion preceding the 1ifteenth Party ongress, A45,888 members voted for the Leninist policy of the entral ommittee, while a derisory 5,888 votes were cast for the platform of the Trotskyite"inovievite opposition bloc, that is, half of one per cent of the membership that took part in this debate# =hy did the opposition failN The opposition failed to get any support in the Party organisations, for its line was that of utter bankruptcy the line of wanting to supplant Leninism by Trotskyism, while the Party wished faithfully to pursue the line of Leninism / that of revolutionary Bolshevism# 6How, then,6 asked %talin, 6are we to e*plain the fact that notwithstanding his oratorical skill, notwithstanding his will to lead, notwithstanding his abilities, Trotsky was thrown out of the leadership of the great Party which is called the P%B!N6 He went on to answer: 6The reason is that the opposition intended to replace Leninism with Trotskyism, to 0improve0 Leninism by means Of Trotskyism# But the Party want to remain faithful to Leninism in spite of all the various artifices of the down"at"heel aristocrats in the Party# That is the root cause why the Party, which has made three revolutions, found it necessary to turn its back on Trotsky and on the opposition as a whole#6 ollected =orks, >ol# >ol# 28, 28 , p# 2I9!# %peaking at the 1ifteenth ongress of the Party, %talin returned to this 'uestion again# 6How could it happen that the Party as a whole, and after it the working class as well so thoroughly isolated the oppositionN -fter a2l the opposition is headed by well"known people with well"known names, people who know how to advertise themselves###, people who are not afflicted with modesty and who are able to blow their own trumpets, to make the most of their wares# 6.t happened because the leading group of the opposition proved to be a group of petty"bourgeois intellectuals divorced from life, divorced from the revolution, divorced from the Party, from the working class#6 %talin, ibid# p# <59!# 1rom factionalism within the Party to counter"revolutionary struggle against the %oviet regime 1aced with utter defeat within the Party, bankrupt politically and isolated from the Party membership, the Trotskyite"inovievite bloc switched over from factional activity within the Party to anti"%oviet and counter"revolutionary struggle against the Bolshevik regime, attracting in the process all the anti"%oviet elements to their camp# On A Eovember, 234A, the tenth anniversary of the October +evolution, Trotsky and inoviev organised anti"Party demonstrations in )oscow and Leningrad# Poorly attended, these counter" revolutionary demonstrations were easily dispersed by the demonstrators of the working class under the leadership of the P%# By its Eovember A actions the opposition had given full proof of its conversion into a counter" revolutionary force openly hostile to the proletarian dictatorship in the %%+# Having infringed all the norms and rules of Party life, the Trotskyites now embarked upon a career of violating state laws which in due course led them to murder, sabotage, wrecking and, finally, to an alliance with fascism#
On 25 Eovember, 234A, the entral ommittee e*pelled Trotsky and inoviev from the Party, while other members of their group were removed from the entral ommittee and the entral ontrol ommission# The 1ifteenth ongress of the Party @ecember 234A!, noting that the opposition had ideologically broken with Leninism, had degenerated into )enshevism, had adopted the path of capitulation to international imperialism and the internal bourgeoisie and had become an instrument of struggle against the dictatorship of the proletariat, enthusiastically endorsed these e*pulsions# )oreover it e*pelled in addition a further A9 members of the Trotsky"inoviev bloc, as well as 29 @emocratic entralists# 1urther, the ongress instructed Party organisations to purge their ranks of incorrigible Trotskyites and take steps to re"educate the rank"and"file members of the opposition in the spirit of Leninism# -fter the ongress many ordinary members of the opposition recognised their errors, broke with Trotskyism and were restored to Party membership# .n $anuary 234? Trotsky was e*iled to -lma"-ta in entral -sia a7akhstan!# Cven there he continued clandestinely to indulge in his anti"Party, anti" %oviet activity# onse'uently, in $anuary 2343 he was e*pelled from the %oviet nion# %ince the opposition intended little by little to switch the Bolshevik Party from the Leninist path to that of Trotskyism, and since the Party wanted to remain a Leninist Party, it was only natural that the Party turned its back on the opposition and raised ever higher the banner of Leninism# This alone e*plains why, as %talin put it, 6yesterday0s leaders of the Party have now become renegades#6 ollected =orks, >ol# 28, p# 233!# Eot personal factors but departure from Leninism is the cause of Trotskyism0s failure .nstead of grasping this truth, the Trotskyite opposition in its day, and the Trotskyites ever since then, have e*plained the opposition0s defeat by personal factors# This is how %talin described the far"reaching historical roots of Trotsky0s fight against Bolshevism and the reasons for the failure and bankruptcy of the opposition0s line: 6The opposition thinks that its defeat can be 0e*plained0 by the personal factor, by %talin0s rudeness### That is too cheap an e*planation# .t is an incantation, not an e*planation# Trotsky has been fighting Leninism since 2385# 1rom 2385 until the 1ebruary revolution in 232A he hung around the )ensheviks desperately fighting Lenin0s Party all the time# @uring that period Trotsky suffered a number of defeats at the hand of Lenin0s Party" =hyN Perhaps %talin0s rudeness was to blameN But %talin was not yet the secretary of the entral ommittee at that time; he was not abroad, but in +ussia, fighting tsarism underground, whereas the struggle between Trotsky and Lenin raged abroad# %o what has %talin0s rudeness got to do with itN 6@uring the period from the October +evolution to 2344, Trotsky, already a member of the Bolshevik Party, managed to make two 0grand0 sorties against Lenin and his Party: in 232? / on the 'uestion of the Brest Peace; and in 2342 / on the trade"union 'uestion# Both those sorties ended in Trotsky being defeated# =hyN Perhaps %talin0s rudeness was to blame hereN But at that time %talin was not yet the secretary of the entral ommittee# The secretarial posts were then occupied by notorious Trotskyists# %o what has %talin0s rudeness got to do with itN 6Later, Trotsky made a number of fresh sorties against the Party 234<, 2345, 234I, 234A! and each sortie ended in Trotsky suffering a fresh defeat#
6.s it not obvious from all this that Trotsky0s fight against the Leninist Party has deep, far"reaching historical rootsN .s it not obvious from this that the struggle the Party is now waging against Trotskyism is a continuation of the struggle that the Party, headed by Lenin, waged from 2385 onwardsN 6.s it not obvious from all this that the attempts of the Trotskyists to replace Leninism by Trotskyism are the chief cause of the failure and bankruptcy of the entire line of the oppositionN 6Our Party was born and grew up in the storm of revolutionary battles# .t is not a party that grew up in a period of peaceful development# 1or that very reason it is rich in revolutionary traditions and does not make a fetish of its leaders# -t one time Plekhanov was the most popular man in the Party# )ore than that he was the founder of the Party, and his popularity was incomparably greater than that of Trotsky or inoviev# Eevertheless, in spite of that the Party turned away from Plekhanov as soon as he began to depart from )ar*ism and go over to opportunism# .s it surprising, then, that people who are not so 0great, people like Trotsky and inoviev, found themselves at the tail of the Party after they began to depart from LeninismN6 ollected =orks, >ol# 28, pp 233"482!# $ust as the struggle waged against Trotskyism by the Bolshevik Party headed by %talin from 2345 onwards was a continuation of the struggle that the Party headed by Lenin had waged from 238< onwards, e'ually Trotsky0s fight against the Bolshevik Party headed by %talin was a continuation of the struggle that Trotskyism waged against the Bolshevik Party when it was headed by Lenin# Lenin had been the chief target of Trotsky0s vilifications from 238< to 232A# -fter the death of Lenin, %talin came to occupy this honourable position, became the chief target of the opposition0s attack# This was because %talin, by faithfully defending and carrying forward the Leninist fine, became the most representative spokesman of the Bolshevik Party and in that capacity drew the wrath of the opposition in its repeated, if unsuccessful, attempts to substitute Trotskyism for Leninism# .t was not a case of the allegedly Leninist Trotsky fighting against an allegedly outside usurper, %talin, as is put out in Trotskyite fairy tales; on the contrary, it was the staunch and indefatigable Leninist %talin! who brilliantly continued the successful Leninist assault on the anti"Bolshevik and petty"bourgeois ideology of Trotskyism# This alone e*plains Trotskyism0s hatred of $oseph %t6 the very mention of whose name causes Trotskyite gentry to foam at the mouth" This is how %talin described the opposition0s hatred for him: 61irst of all about the personal factor# Gou have heard here how assiduously the oppositionists hurl abuse at %talin, abuse him with all their might# The reason why the main attacks were directed against %talin is because %talin knows all the opposition0s tricks better, perhaps, than some of our comrades do, and it is not easy, . dare say, to fool him# %o they strike their blows primarily at %talin# =ell, let them hurt abuse to their hearts0 content# 6-nd what is %talinN %talin is only a minor figure# Take Lenin# =ho does not know that at the time of the -ugust bloc the opposition, headed by Trotsky, waged an even more scurrilous campaign of slander against LeninN Listen to Trotsky, for e*ample# 60The wretched s'uabbling systematically provoked by Lenin, that old hand at the game, that professional e*ploiter of all that is backward in the +ussian labour movement, seems like a senseless obsession0 %ee Trotsky0s 0Letter to hkeid7e0, -pril 232
6.s it surprising, then, that Trotsky, who wrote in such an ill"mannered way about the great Lenin, whose shoe"laces he was not worthy of tying, should now hurl abuse at one of Lenin0s numerous pupils / omrade %talinN %talinN 6)ore than that# . think the opposition does me honour by venting all its hatred against %talin# That is as it should be# . think it would be strange and offensive if the opposition, which is trying to wreck the Party, were to praise %talin, who is defending the fundamentals of the Leninist Party principle#6 ollected =orks, >ol# 28, pp# 2AA"2A?!# Trotsky0s regular predictions of doom Proceeding from the unscientific and pessimistic, not to say anti"Leninist, theory of 0permanent revolution0, which was refuted by the e*perience of the three +ussian revolutions and by all further social development in the %%+ and elsewhere, Trotsky could, and did, predict nothing but doom# The underlying theme and purpose of all his statements between 234< and 2358 was to deny all possibility of building socialism in the %%+ and thus to undermine the confidence of the %oviet proletariat in building a new society by its own efforts if the world revolution failed to come to its rescue# This was accompanied by vicious attacks on the only guarantee for the successes of the %%+ during this epoch" making period of particular difficulty and particular achievement, namely the Leninist leadership of the Party and state of the proletarian dictatorship# Of course these attacks were always hidden under a guise of attacking the 0bureaucratic state apparatus0, or 0%talinist bureaucracy, with the alleged desire to improve matters# -nd when the oft"predicted disaster did not happen, this only provided Trotsky with an occasion to report on invented widespread disaster, disillusionment and demoralisation as a means of bringing about the fulfilment of his (eremiads# Trotsky0s 0Eew ourse0 predicts degeneration of the Party .n 234<, at the time of the Eew Cconomic Policy ECP!, Trotsky predicted immediate doom for the proletarian dictatorship through the 6degeneration of the state apparatus in a bourgeois direction#6 .n his Eew ourse, written in 234<, he claimed that 6Bureaucratism has reached an e*cessive and truly alarming development#6 This is how he predicted the restoration of capitalism through the ECP, claiming that 'uantity would at a certain stage be transformed into 'uality: 6###The rapid development of private capital### would show that private capital is interposing itself more and more between the workers0 state and the peasantry, is ac'uiring an economic and therefore a political influence### J%Kuch a rupture between %oviet industry and agriculture, between the proletariat and the peasantry, would constitute a grave danger for the proletarian revolution, a symptom of the possibility of the triumph of the counter"revolution# 6=hat are the political paths by which the victory of the counter"revolution might come if the economic hypothesis (ust set forth were to be realisedN### JTKhe political process would assume in the main the character of the degeneration of the state apparatus in a bourgeois direction### .f private capital in creased rapidly and succeeded in fusing with the peasantry, the active counter"revolutionary tendencies directed against the ommunist Party would then probably prevail### 6The counter"revolutionary tendencies can find a support among the kulaks, the middlemen, the retailers, the concessionaires, in a word, among elements much more capable of surrounding the state apparatus than the Party itself###
MJTKhe negative social phenomena we have (ust enumerated and which now nurture bureaucratisation could place the revolution in peril should they continue to develop### bureaucratism in the state and party apparatus is the e*pression of the most ve*atious tendencies inherent in our situation, of the defects and deviations in our work which### might sap the basis of the revolution### Fuantity will at a certain stage be transformed into 'uality#6 hapter 5!# .n all this, Trotsky forgets completely the role of the dictatorship of the proletariat# Of course, the introduction of the ECP did unleash capitalist elements, in the countryside in particular; of course it was a partial return to capitalism# -ll that was known to the author of the ECP, >ladimir .lyich Lenin# But there was no other way of transition from war communism to socialism e*cept through the ECP even though the latter, by unleashing capitalist elements in the countryside, carried the danger of capitalist restoration# This danger, however, this possibility of capitalist restoration, could never be realised as long as the proletarian dictatorship e*ercised its iron rule over hostile capitalist classes / kulaks and traders# That is why Lenin called for the ma*imum strengthening of the dictatorship of the proletariat# This, in turn, could only be done through unity of will and iron discipline in the ruling Bolshevik Party# That is why he caused the Tenth Party ongress to pass the resolution, written by himself, calling for e*isting factions within the Party to be disbanded forthwith, for the formation of new factions in the future to be banned, and declaring that non"compliance with this resolution by anyone would result in their immediate e*pulsion from the Party# Trotsky for his part consistently undermined the proletarian dictatorship by his vicious attacks on the leadership of the Party, his denigration of the Party and state apparatus in the %%+, and by flouting all norms and discipline of the Bolshevik Party# 1ailure of Trotsky0s predictions Eotwithstanding Trotskyist sabotage, Trotsky0s predictions did not come true, thanks to the Leninist leadership of the Party and the state during this very difficult period# .nstead ECP +ussia was actually transformed into a mighty socialist %%+ that then went on to achieve the crowning glory of defeating the mighty Ea7i war machine almost single"handedly# -s the 6degeneration6, 6initiative"killing bureaucratism6, 6ossification6, 6estrangement6 and 6morbid uneasiness6 predicted by Trotsky failed to materialise and the %%+ began to be transformed through the collectivisation and industrialisation drive of the 1ive"Gear Plans, Trotsky intensified his attacks on the %%+ and the leadership of the Bolshevik Party / revealing in the process his true hideous features as a market socialist, i#e#, as a bourgeois socialist of the social"democratic variety# ontemptible and cowardly capitulator .n 23<<, Trotsky published his pamphlet %oviet Cconomy in @anger, in which he came out in opposition to this second assault on capitalism, i#e#, the assault mounted through socialist industrialisation and collectivisation / both measures of world revolutionary historic significance# He declared that the 6correct and economically sound collectivisation, at a given stage, %HOL@ EOT LC-@ TO THC CL.).E-T.OE O1 THC ECP but to the &+-@-L +CO+&-E.%-T.OE O1 .T% )CTHO@%#6 p# <4!# .n other words, no attempt should be made to eliminate capitalism in general, and capitalism in the countryside in particular# &orbachev style, pretending to stand for some sort of control of the market, Trotsky0s method of controlling the market is to leave it to the market to control itselfD
6The regulation of the market,6 he says, 6itself must depend upon the tendencies that are brought about through its medium#6 p# <8!# Cvery revolutionary giant stride forward of the %oviet economy at that time, because outside the market, is portrayed by this high priest of market socialism as disorder and 6economic chaos#6 He says: 6By eliminating the market and installing instead -siatic ba7aars the bureaucracy has created### the conditions for the most barbaric gyrations of prices and conse'uently has placed a mine under commercial calculations# -s a result economic chaos has been redoubled#6 p# <5!# Trotsky, who in @ecember 2349, at the 25th Party ongress of the P%, had tried to force on the Party the policy of immediate collectivisation of the peasantry, when the conditions necessary for such collectivisation were totally lacking, this same Trotsky in 23<<, when collectivisation was well on the way to completion, comes out in opposition to the policy of li'uidating the kulaks as a class, demanding instead the establishment of 6a policy of severely restricting the e*ploiting tendencies of the kulaks#6 p# 5A!# .n other words, capitalism must not be eliminated in the countryside# Praying for miracles Trotsky declares: 6ommodities must be adapted to human needs###6 Trotsky0s position amounts to this: 0Cconomic accounting is unthinkable without market relations#0 .n view of this, it is hardly surprising that Trotsky came to the conclusion that: 6.t is necessary to put off the %econd 1ive"Gear Plan# -way with shrieking enthusiasmD6 p# 52!# Eo wonder then that %talin, in his +eport to the 2Ath Party ongress 4I $anuary 23<5! made the following observation on the Trotskyist programme: 6=e have always said that the 0Lefts0 are in fact +ights who mask their +ightness by Left phrases# Eow the 0Lefts0 themselves confirm the correctness of our statement# Take last year0s issues of the Trotskyist 0Bulletin# =hat do )essieurs the Trotskyists demand, what do they write about in what does their 0Left0 programme find e*pressionN They demand: THC @.%%OLT.OE O1 THC %T-TC 1-+)%, on the grounds that they do not pay, THC @.%%OLT.OE O1 THC )-$O+.TG O1 THC OLLCT.>C 1-+)%, on the grounds that they are fictitious, the -B-E@OE)CET O1 THC POL.G O1 CL.).E-T.E& CL.).E-T.E& THC L-%, +C>C+%.OE TO THC POL.G O1 OEC%%.OE%, -E@ THC LC-%.E& TO OEC%%.OE-.+C% O1 - E)BC+ O1 O+ .E@%T+.-L CETC+P+.%C%, CETC+P+.%C%, on the grounds that they do not pay# 6There you have the programme of these contemptible cowards and capitulators / their counter" revolutionary programme for restoring capitalism in the %%+D 6=hat difference is there between this programme and that of the e*treme +ightsN learly, there is none# .t follows that the Lefts0 have openly associated themselves with the counter"revolutionary programme of the +ights in order to enter into a bloc with them and to wage a (oint struggle against the Party#6 %talin, ollected =orks, >ol# 2<, pp#
-lthough bourgeois economics learnt nothing from Trotsky0s %oviet Cconomy in @anger, seeing as he had but repeated, in a clumsy way, what had been said a decade earlier by bourgeois economists such as >on )ises and Brut7kus, it was nevertheless e*tensively 'uoted in the imperialist press by the bourgeois critics of socialist construction, for it enabled them to stress that their 0ob(ective0 and 0impartial0 criti'ues of socialism, and their dogma that it was impossible for society to free itself of the market, were fully accepted by this 0old Bolshevik0# 1or a fuller treatment of this sub(ect, the reader is referred to chapter 22 of my book Perestroika / the omplete ollapse of +evisionism!# Trotsky0s diatribes against the %oviet regime were grasped with alacrity by the &erman and .talian fascists: 6%ee, my friends, 6 said &oebbels to the &erman socialists and communists, 6what Trotsky is saying about the %oviet state# .t is no longer a %ocialist %tate but a state dominated by a parasitic bureaucracy, living on the +ussian people#6 see -ppendi* 4! These and similar arguments, broadcast by the fascists as well as other imperialist states, were designed to weaken both the faith the masses might have in the %%+ as well as their faith in themselves, in their capacity to build a new life for themselves# These Trotskyist arguments were, and continue to be, sei7ed upon by the opponents of communism in the Labour movement as well as by the radical petty"bourgeois intelligentsia# Trotskyism thus performed, and continues to perform, the function of confusing and disarming the working"class movement politically and ideologically# 1lying in the face of all reality, ignoring the developments in socialist construction in the %%+, Trotsky continued to predict disaster and to advocate the overthrow of the 0%talinist bureaucracy0 / a euphemism for the Leninist leadership of the Bolshevik Party and the %oviet state / in other words, the overthrow of the dictatorship of the proletariat# in an article written in October 23<<, Trotsky predicted the restoration of capitalism if 0%talinist bureaucracy0 continued to hold sway: 6The further unhindered development of bureaucratism must lead inevitably to the cessation of economic and cultural growth, to a terrible social crisis and to the downward plunge of the entire society# But this would imply not only the collapse of the proletarian dictatorship but also the end of bureaucratic domination# .n place of the workers0 state would come not 0social bureaucratic0 but capitalist relations#6 The lass Eature of the %oviet %tate!# .n 1ebruary 23<9 Trotsky predicted the 6inevitable collapse of the %talinist political regime6 and its replacement by fascist"capitalist counterrevolution6, unless the removal of the %oviet regime came 6as a conscious act of the proletarian vanguard,6 to wit, the same Trotskyist counter"revolutionaries who denied the very possibility of building socialism in the first place, who tried to put every obstacle albeit unsuccessfully! in the way of socialist construction, who hand in hand with the imperialist bourgeoisie slandered the %oviet state and Bolshevik Party leadership, who belittled and denigrated every single achievement of socialist industry, agriculture, science, technology and the arts and who ended up by being allies and tools of &erman and $apanese fascismDD These very contemptible cowards and counter"revolutionaries, these ardent advocates of the programme of capitalist restoration, in the topsy"turvy world of Trotskyist make"believe and intrigue, convince themselves that they are the 0proletarian vanguard0D -t the same time we are told by Trotsky that the Bolshevik Party which, following the Leninist line, not only believes in the possibility of building socialism in the %%+ but is actually accomplishing it successfully in the face of internal and e*ternal difficulties and foes, is a regime of 0Bonapartism0 which is bound to make way for 0counter"revolution0 unless its removal comes about at the hands of the counter"revolutionary Trotskyists who have awarded themselves the title of 6proletarian vanguard6D
6The inevitable collapse of the %talinist political regime will lead to the establishment of %oviet democracy only in the event that the removal of Bonapartism comes as the conscious act of the proletarian vanguard .n all other cases, in place of %talinism there could only come the fascist"capitalist counterrevolution6# Trotsky, The =orkers0 %tate, Thermidor and Bonapartism!# Trotsky acknowledges socialist achievements as a means of gaining credibility By the end of the %econd 1ive"Gear plan, however, even the blind could not fail to see the gigantic, truly heroic and world" historic achievements of socialist construction# Cven intelligent representatives of imperialism began to make admissions of the achievements of socialism in all walks of life of the %%+ / the only country to have achieved full employment while the capitalist world was reeling under the hammer blows of recession# Trotsky was in danger of being discredited because of the crying discrepancy between %oviet reality and Trotsky0s description of it# %o Trotsky, that most anti"%oviet of all anti"%oviets, in order to gain some credibility, was compelled to write almost effusively of the gains of socialism in the %%+, again, of course, merely as a prelude to a further scurrilous campaign of lies and slander against the %oviet regime# .n his +evolution Betrayed 23<
mining# gold production; for work in the -rctic, %akhalin, or in -mur where the new town of omsomolsk is in process of construction# The new generation is putting out shock brigades, champion workers, %takhanovites, foremen; under administrators# The youth are studying and a considerable part of them are studying assiduously# They are as active, if not more so, in the sphere of athletics in its most daring or war"like forms such as parachute (umping and marksmanship# The enterprising and audacious are going on all kinds of dangerous e*peditions# 60The better part of our youth,0 said recently the well"known polar e*plorer, %chmidt, 0are eager to work where difficulties await them#0 This is undoubtedly true### 6### J.Kt would be a crude slander against the youth to portray them as controlled e*clusively, or even predominantly, by personal interests# Eo, in the general mass they are magnanimous, responsive, enterprising### .n their depths are various unformulated tendencies grounded in heroism and still only awaiting application# .t is upon these moods in particular that the newest kind of %oviet patriotism is nurturing itself# .t is undoubtedly very deep, sincere and dynamic###6 hapter A!# )ore scurrilous attacks on socialism -ll this, however, is only a prelude to a vicious denunciation of the %oviet regime, a negation of %oviet achievements and everything socialist, and a distortion / nay a downright falsification / of %oviet history# Having been forced to pay lip service to socialism having 6demonstrated its tight to victory, 6 to the %oviet state having achieved 6ten years successes une*ampled in history,6 Trotsky devotes the rest of his book to a vitriolic attack on the %%+ and its leadership# =e are told, despite all the admissions about 6successes une*ampled in history6, that 6the %oviet %tate in all its relations is far closer to a backward capitalism than to communism6 p# 44!; that, far from achieving the lower stage of communism, what the %oviet nion had achieved was a 6preparatory regime transitional from capitalism to socialism#6 p# 94!; that this regime was engendering increasing ine'ualities: 6wage differences in the %oviet nion,6 he asserted, 6are not less but greater than in the capitalist countries6 p# 44?!; and that industry was dominated by a 6corps of slave drivers6 p# 443!# Before this transitional regime could develop in the direction of socialism, it was absolutely necessary for there to be 6a second supplementary revolution against bureaucratic absolutism6 p# 4A4! because 6the bureaucracy can be removed only by a revolutionary force# -nd, as always there will be fewer victims the more bold and decisive is the attack6 p#4A2!# %ince the %oviet leadership had the overwhelming support of the working class and the collectivised peasantry, Trotsky0s references to revolutionary force6 could either mean acts of terrorism against the leadership of the Bolshevik Party, or a military conspiracy, or foreign intervention for the overthrow of the Bolshevik regime / or a combination of all these means# That this is precisely what Trotsky had in mind is made clear in the course of the pages of this book# +e"assertion of the discredited theory of 0permanent revolution0 There is also the inevitable statement that the advance towards socialism depends to some e*tent on the prior victory of the revolution in the rest of Curope p# 4A5! / a rehash and latest version of Trotsky0s permanent hopelessness that mas'uerades as the theory of 0permanent revolution# That being the case, one may be forgiven for asking" what will the 6supplementary revolution against bureaucratic absolutism6 achieve if the revolution is destined to vegetate and degenerate into hopelessness in the absence of 6victory of the revolution in the rest of Curope6N
.n addition, the book contains virulent denunciations of all attempts at raising the productivity of labour, unattainable under the conditions of capitalism Trotsky attacks all wage differentials, piece" work payments, socialist emulation drives / all of which are simply denounced as 6a source of in(ustice, oppression; and compulsions for the ma(ority, privileges and a 0happy life0 for the few6 pp# 455"459!# -part from the demagogy of it all, what comes through is the sheer ignorance, not to mention dishonesty: it would appear that its author has failed totally to grasp the essence of The riti'ue of the &otha Programme, in winch )ar* deals, inter alia, with the norms of distribution under the lower and higher stages of communism .n the lower stage, distribution can only be according to the formula 1rom each according to his ability, to each according to his work, a formula which does not 6remove the defects of distribution and ine'uality of 0bourgeois right06 Lenin, %tate and +evolution!# C'uating socialism and fascism and spreading defeatist demoralisation @riven by his intense and insensate hatred of the %oviet state, mindless sub(ectivism and limitless vindictiveness against the Bolshevik regime for the reason that the latter had decided to e*pel him for his incorrigible factionalism, Trotsky goes to the despicable length of saying in hapter 22 of his book +evolution Betrayed that 6%talinism and fascism ### are symmetrical phenomena .n many of their features they show a deadly similarity#6 .n the appendi* to his book, Trotsky says: 6###with the working class and its sincere champions among the intelligentsia### our work will actually cause doubts and evoke distrust / not of the revolution but of its usurpers# But that is the very goal we have set ourselves#6 Trotsky predicts and calls for the defeat of the %%+ in war %ince Trotsky, driven by a combination of egotistical factionalism and bourgeois sub(ectivism, always referred to the Leninist leadership of the Bolshevik party and the %oviet state as a 6%talinist bureaucracy6, 6caste of usurpers6, 6totalitarian +egime6, etc#, it can hardly be denied that the purpose and intention behind Trotsky0s demented vituperations was to malign the %oviet regime by attempting to convince workers all over the world that this regime, indistinguishable according to Trotsky from fascism, was not deserving of their support# %uch an attitude is only the prelude to wishing, and calling, for the defeat of this regime in any war against fascism by spreading demoralisation# That Trotskyism took this step not only secretly but also openly is clear from the following disgusting pronouncements concerning the then impending %econd =orld =ar# .n these pronouncements Trotsky predicts with malicious glee the military defeat of the %%+ in the coming war# .ndeed he goes even further, asserting that a protracted war without a military defeat 6would have to lead to a bourgeois"Bonapartist revolution#6 Here are Trotsky0s very words: 6an we, however, e*pect that the %oviet nion will come out of the coming great war without defeatN To this frankly posed 'uestion we will answer as frankly; if the war should only remain a war, the defeat of the %oviet nion will be inevitable# .n a technical economic, and military sense, imperialism is incomparably more strong# .f it is not paralysed by revolution in the west; imperialism will sweep away the regime which issued from the October +evolution6 +evolution Betrayed, p# 42I!# =hat would be the case if the %oviet nion managed to survive the fate assigned to it by TrotskyN =ell, the destruction of the %oviet state would ensue (ust the same# Turn or twist as we may / military defeat or not / the %oviet nion could not survive the war:
6The protracted nature of the war,6 Trotsky wrote, 6will reveal the contradictions of the transition economy of the %%+ with its bureaucratic planning#### J.Kn the case of a protracted war accompanied by the passivity of the world proletariat the internal social contradictions of the %%+ not only might lead but would have to lead to a bourgeois"Bonapartist revolution#6 The 1ourth .nternational and the =ar!# .n 2358, nearing the end of his life / a life full of irreconcilable hostility towards Leninism / Trotsky, with a 7eal worthy of a better cause, again predicted the defeat of the %%+ and the triumph of Hitlerite &ermany: 6=e always started from the fact that the international policy of the remlin was determined by the new aristocracy0s### incapacity to conduct a war# 6###the ruling caste is no longer capable of thinking about tomorrow# .ts formula is that of all doomed regimes 0after us the deluge0### 6The war will topple many things and many individuals# -rtifice, trickery, frame"ups and treasons will prove of no avail in escaping its severe (udgment6 %tatement to the British capitalist press on %talin / Hitler0s Fuartermaster!# 6%talin cannot make a war with discontented workers and peasants and with a decapitated +ed -rmy6 &erman"%oviet -lliance!# 6The level of the %%+0s productive forces forbids a ma(or war### The involvement of the %%+ in a ma(or war before the end of this period would signify in any case a struggle with une'ual weapons# 6The sub(ective factor, not less important than the material has changed in the last years sharply for the worse### 6%talin cannot wage an offensive war with any hope of victory# 6%hould the %%+ enter the war with its innumerable victims and privations, the whole fraud of the official regime, its outrages and violence will inevitably provoke a profound reaction on the part of the people, who have already carried out three revolutions in this centuryM 6The present war can crush the remlin bureaucracy long before revolution breaks out in some capitalist country###6 The Twin %tars: Hitler"%talin!# Trotsky0s predictions refuted by the epic victory of the %%+ in =orld =ar .. -s usual, and happily for humanity, all Trotsky0s predictions were totally belied# -fter initial reverses in the first few weeks of the war, attributable in the main to the Ea7i surprise attack, the %oviet defences stiffened# Before long they struck back# The rest of the world, like Trotsky, had given the %%+ only a few weeks before collapsing in the face of the onslaught of the allegedly invincible Ea7i war machine# The +ed -rmy and %oviet people, united as one under the leadership of the P% and their %upreme ommander $oseph %talin, e*ploded this myth of Ea7i invincibility# %oviet >ictories in the titanic battles of )oscow, %talingrad, ursk and Leningrad will forever be cherished not only by the peoples of the former, great and glorious %oviet nion, but also by all progressive humanity#
6The Battle of )oscow had been an epic event### .t had involved more than 4 million men; 4,988 tanks, 2,?88 aircraft, and 49,888 guns# asualties had been horrifying in scale# 1or the +ussians it had ended in victory# They had suffered the full impact of the &erman 0Blit7krieg0 offensive and, notwithstanding their losses### they had been able to mount an effective counterattack# They had begun to destroy the myth of &erman invincibilityM6 .an &rey, %talin / )an of History, -bacus, p# <55!# The surrender on 2 1ebruary 235< at %talingrad, by the fascist general >on Paulus and 4< other generals, mesmerised the world# The victory of the +ed -rmy at %talingrad was incredible as it was heroic# The Ea7i losses in the >olga"@on"%talingrad area were 2#9 million men, <,988 tanks, 24,888 guns and <,888 aircraft# Eever before had the Ea7i war machine, which was accustomed to running over countries in days and weeks, suffered such a humiliating defeat, a defeat 6in which the flower of the &erman army perished# .t was against the background of this battle### that %talin now rose to almost titanic stature in the eyes of the world6 @eutscher, %talin, p# 5A4!# 1rom now on nothing but defeat stared the &ermans in the face, leading all the way to the entry of the +ed -rmy into Berlin and the storming by it of the +eichstag on <8 -pril 2359 / the same day that the 1uhrer committed suicide# %i* days later, 1ield" )arshall =ilhelm eitel, acting on behalf of the &erman High ommand, surrendered to )arshall hukov# %talin and the &reat Patriotic =ar -lthough the credit for the victory must correctly be given to the %oviet armed forces and the heroic efforts of the %oviet people, no narrative of these fateful years is complete without a reference, indeed a fulsome tribute, to the undisputed leader of the P%B!, the %oviet people, and the %upreme commander of the %oviet forces $oseph %talin# Cven a renegade like &orbachev is obliged, apropos the %oviet victory in the %econd =orld =ar, to admit that: 6- factor in the achievement of victory was the tremendous political will purposefulness and persistence, ability to organise and discipline people, displayed in the war years by $oseph %talin#6 +eport at the 1estive )eeting on the A8th -nniversary of the &reat October +evolution held in )oscow on 4 Eovember 23?A, p# 49!# .an &rey, who is a bourgeois but honest writer, has this to say on this score: 6The massive setbacks and the immediate threat to )oscow would have unnerved most men, but the impact on %talin was to strengthen his grim determination to fight# Eo single factor was more important in holding the nation from disintegration at this time#6 .bid# p# <<9!# 1urther: 6.t was in a real sense his J%talin0sK victory# .t could not have been won without his industrialisation campaign and especially the intensive development of industry beyond the >olga# ollectivisation had contributed to the victory by enabling the government to stockpile food and raw materials to prevent paralysis in industry and famine in the towns# But also collectivisation with its machine"tractor stations, had given the peasants their first training in the use of tractors and other machines#6 .bid# p# 523!# Fuoting .saac @eutscher, who is far from being friendly to %talin, approvingly, .an &rey continues: 60ollectivised farming had been 0the peasants0 preparatory school for mechanised warfare0M
6.t was his victory, too, because he had directed and controlled every branch of +ussian operations throughout the war The range and burden of his responsibilities were e*traordinary, but day by day without a break for the four years of the war he e*ercised direct command of the +ussian forces and control over supplies, war industries, and government policy, including foreign policy#6 .bid# pp# 523" 548!" 1inally the same writer says: 6.t was his victory, above all because it had been won by his genius and labors, heroic in scale The +ussian people had looked to him for leadership, and he had not faded them# His speeches of $uly < and Eovember I, 2352, which had steeled them for the trials of war, and his presence in )oscow during the great battle of the city, had demonstrated his will to victory# He### inspired them and gave than positive direction# He had the capacity of =ending to detail and keeping in mind the broad picture and, while remembering the past and immersed in the present; he was constantly looking ahead to the future6p# 545!# .nnately hostile as he is to %talin, @eutscher is nevertheless obliged to Paint this Picture of %talin0s role during the war: 6)any allied visitors who called at the remlin during the war were astonished to see on how many issues, great and small military, political or diplomatic, %talin personally took the final decision# He was in effect his own ommander"in"hief, his own minister of defence, his Own 'uartermaster, his Own minister of supply, his own foreign minister, and even his own chef de protocole# The stavka, the +ed -rmy0s &HF, was in his offices in the remlin# 1rom his office desk; in constant and direct touch with the commands of the various fronts, he watched and directed the campaigns in the field 1rom his office desk, too, he managed another stupendous operation, the evacuation of 2,olga, the rals and %iberia, an evacuation that involved not only machines and installations but millions of workmen and their families Between one function and the other he bargained with, say, Beaverbrook and Harriman over the 'uantities of aluminium or the calibre of rifles and anti"aircraft guns to be delivered to +ussia by the western allies; or he received leaders of the guerrillas / "" from &erman occupied territory and discussed with them raids to be carried out hundreds of miles behind the enemy0s lines -t the height of the battle of )oscow, in @ecember 2352, when the thunder of Hitler0s guns hovered ominously over the streets of )oscow, he found time enough to start a subtle diplomatic game with the Polish &eneral %ikorski who had come to conclude a +usso"Polish treaty### He entertained them Jforeign envoys and visitorsK usually late at night and in the small hours of the morning# -fter a day filled with military reports operational decisions, economic instructions and diplomatic haggling he would at dawn pore over the latest dispatches from the commissariat of Home -ffairs, the E>@### Thus he went on, day after day, throughout four years of hostilities / a prodigy of patience tenacity, and vigilance, almost omnipresent almost omniscient#6 .saac @eutscher, %talin, pp# 59I"59A!# -nd further# 6 ###JTKhere is no doubt that he was their Jthe %oviet troopsK real ommander"in"hief #His leadership was by no means confined to the taking of abstract strategic decisions, at which civilian politicians may e*cel The and interest with which he studied the technical aspects of modern warfare, down to the minute details, shows him to have been anything but a dilettante# He viewed the war primarily from the angle of logistics ### To secure reserves of manpower and supplies of weapons, in the right 'uantities and proportions, to allocate them and transport them to the right points at the right time, to amass a
decisive strategic reserve and to have it ready for intervention at decisive moments / these operations made up nine"tenths of his task6 .bid# p# 593!# @eutscher also dispels any notion of popular hostility to the %oviet regime: 6.t should not be imagined that a ma(ority of the nation was hostile to the government .f that had been the case no patriotic appeals, no prodding or coercion, would have prevented +ussia0s political collapse, for which Hitler was confidently hoping The great transformation that the county had gone through before the war had### strengthened the moral fibre of the nation# The ma(ority was imbued with a strong sense of its economic and social advance, which it was grimly determined to defend against danger from without#6 .bid# p# 5A
.n 6these days of undreamt"of triumph and glory,6 continues @eutscher: 6%talin stood at the full bla7e of popular recognition and gratitude# These feelings were spontaneous, genuine not engineered by official propagandists slogans about the 0achievements of the %talinist era0 now conveyed fresh meaning not only to young people, but to sceptics and malcontents of the older generationM6 .bid# p# 9<5!# Thus, at the end of the war Trotskyism stood thoroughly discredited "thoroughly bankrupt / and regarded as no more than an information bureau and anti"communist ally of imperialism in particular during the %"led war of aggression against the orean people, during which most Trotskyists, consumed by their genetical hatred of the %oviet nion, effectively sided with % imperialism and against the forces of national liberation and socialism The cold war / .mperialism0s response to the prestige of victorious socialism The %%+0s successes in the collectivisation of agriculture, massive socialist industrialisation, gigantic achievements in education, science, technology and culture, with a continuously rising standard of living for the working class and the collective peasantry, and her crowning victory in the anti"fascist &reat Patriotic =ar, with the resultant victory of Peoples @emocratic governments in Poland, Hungary 7echoslovakia, +omania, Bulgaria and -lbania, brought %oviet prestige to soaring point# .t was this spectacle of triumphant, confident and advancing socialism that put the fear of &od into the hearts of the imperialist bourgeoisie and caused the latter, under the leadership of % imperialism which had emerged from the war as the strongest imperialist power, to initiate the cold war, establish the E-TO aggressive warmongering military alliance and re"arm =est &ermany as a member of this alliance# The E-TO warmongers threatened the %%+ with an economic blockade and nuclear blackmail# But the %%+ defied the blockade and military threats alike# .t re"doubled its efforts to build its economy and destroy the % monopoly of the atom bomb# -t the end of %eptember 2353, in the same week as omrade )ao Tse"tung proclaimed the Peoples +epublic of hina and the success of the hinese revolution, the world heard the detonation of the %%+0s first atom bomb# Cven such a Trotskyite writer as .saac @eutscher, whose hatred for %talin is total and who never misses a chance of describing %talin as 6dug and dreary6, is obliged to admit: 6He J%talinK achieved some of his vital ob(ectives# He resisted =estern pressures firmly enough to deter any -merican design for spreading the war, and %oviet nuclear industry progressed by leaps and bounds and produced its first hydrogen bomb in 239<, shortly after the -mericans had achieved the feat# The basic sectors of the %oviet economy, having reached their pre"war level of output in 235?"53, rose 98 per cent above in %talin0s last years# The modernisation and urbani7ation of the %oviet nion was accelerated# .n the early fifties alone its urban population grew by about 49 millions %econdary schools and universities were giving instruction to twice as many pupils as before 2358# Out of the wreckage of the world war the foundations had been re"laid for +ussia0s renewed industrial and military ascendancy, which was presently to startle the world6 %talin, pp# 9?9"9?I!# - few pages further down, @eutscher observes: 6### it is a fact that 0%talin found +ussia with a wooden plough and left her e'uipped with atomic piles0### This summary of %talin0s rule is, of course, a tribute to his achievement#6 .bid# p# I83!# The words 'uoted by @eutscher are 'uoted from his own obituary of %talin published in the )anchester &uardian of I )arch 239<#
Of course, only the demented Trotskyites can argue that the above achievements took place automatically on the foundation of socialist property relations inherited from the October +evolution / not because of but despite, the leadership, as it were# Eo, such achievements do not come without correct leadership# One has only to compare the leadership, the policies pursued by the leadership, and the conse'uences and achievements of those policies, in the %%+ up to the mid"fifties with those of the leadership from the 48th Party ongress 239I! onwards until the -ugust 2332 coup resulting in the disintegration of the %%+ to realise what a chasm divides the two periods# Cven +oy )edvedev, no friend of %talin0s and the author of the thoroughly anti"%talin Let history (udge, has been obliged to say" 6%talin found the %oviet nion in ruin and left it a superpower# &orbachev inherited a superpower and left it in ruin#6 Triumph of hrushchevite revisionism and the resuscitation of Trotskyism Thus, in view of her gigantic achievements, winch were the fruit of domed persistence in following the Leninist path of socialist construction, working people treated with utter contempt the Trotskyist ravings against the %%+ and its leadership# -ll this, however, changed with the triumph of hrushchevite revisionism in the P% after the death of %talin# hrushchevite revisionism could get nowhere in its desire to undermine socialism, reach an accommodation with imperialism, and start the long process, on the road back to capitalism, unless it attacked the person who had, after the death of Lenin and in a bitter struggle for the victory of the Leninist line on the 'uestion of socialist industrialisation and collectivisation, become the most representative spokesman of, and whose name was indelibly and ine*tricably linked with, the building of socialism in the %%+, namely, $oseph %talin# Hence hrushchev0s attack on %talin in his so"called secret report to the 48th Party ongress of the P% in 239I# =ith this attack on %talin0s alleged 0personality cult0 / all, incidentally, in the name of Leninism and with the alleged purpose of returning to true Leninist norms / began the long political and economic process that brought forth ripe capitalist fruit under the loving and tender care of hrushchev0s last successor, &orbachev . cannot here go further into this 'uestion, with which . have dealt in greater detail in my Perestroika / the omplete ollapse of +evisionism# hrushchev0s attack on %talin brought some retrospective credence to Trotskyist counter"revolutionary fulminations against the %%+ from the mid"twenties onwards# -s under the tutelage of hrushchev and his successors, the P% itself, as well as the revisionist parties in Curope and elsewhere, really did begin to degenerate, the long"repeated Trotskyist (eremiads about the alleged Thermidor and degeneration gripping the P% from 234< onwards came to ac'uire the semblance of plausibility# Trotskyism sides with every single counter"revolutionary movement .n the aftermath of the triumph of revisionism at the, 48th Party ongress of the P%, and under its direct stimulus, bourgeois"nationalist tendencies within the working"class parties, acting in close coordination with the imperialist agencies and broadcasting media as well as the church, came to the fore in some of the Peoples @emocracies# .n a number of places / most notably Hungary / these led to counter"revolutionary uprisings# Cverywhere in these upheavals directed against socialism and the rule of the working class, the Trotskyites were, as was to be e*pected, on the side of imperialism reaction, counter"revolution and clerico"fascism# The .th =orld ongress of Trotskyites paid homage to the .-">atican inspired and led Hungarian counter"revolution in the following glowing terms: 6The Hungarian revolution of October"Eovember 239I went the farthest on the path of a fully"fledged anti"bureaucratic political revolution#6 .mprecor, Eov# 23A3!#
$ames Burnham, the -merican Trotskyist, and Trotsky0s trusted henchman until 2358, openly advocated, from 2398 onwards, the % policy of 0liberation6 of captive nations6 / a policy of destabilising People0s @emocracies in eastern Curope# Trotskyism and the 7echoslovak counter"revolution =hen the e*treme revisionists in 7echoslovakia, under the leadership of @ubcek, impatient with the slow speed of 0reform0 aimed at restoring a capitalist economy and a multi"party bourgeois democracy, started the, so"called Prague %pring they euphemistically declared that their aim was 6to free )ar*ism from %talinist and bureaucratic distortions6 and to 6formulate the humanist vocation of the communist movement#6 The meaning of these apparently attractive slogans became all too clear during 23?3, by which time the li'uidation of the ommunist Parties in Poland and Hungary, the dismantling of what remained of socialist planning of the economy in those countries, and the plunge into capitalism and bourgeois democracy, under the tender mercies of imperialism and its spiritual arm, the >atican, had become obvious# @ubcek, in a letter to the Party leadership, pleaded with them not to condemn reforms in Poland and Hungary# %o did his colleague, $iri Pelikan, who called upon the 6democratic movement in western Curope JtoK develop a dialogue with %olidarnosc### in Poland, with the @emocratic 1orum ### in Hungary, with harter AA### in 7echoslovakia6, that is, with the forces of capitalist restoration# Then, in 23I?, as well as subse'uently in the late 23?8s and the beginning of the present decade, the Trotskyites, true to form, were to be found on the side of counter"revolution# The Trotskyist, Petr hl, was one of the most active members of the anti"communist harter AA# On 29 October 23??, the luminaries of harter AA and other opposition groups signed a )anifesto of the )ovement for ivil Liberty which, inter alia, demanded 6economic and political pluralism,6 / freeing of business from 6the yoke of centralised bureaucracy,6 6complete reestablishment of private enterprise in### commerce craft industry, small and medium business,6 and 6the integration of the 7ech economy### in a natural way with the world economy, based upon the international division of labour6 / that is, a manifesto for the restoration of capitalism and bourgeois democracy# =hile declaring himself to be in sympathy with this manifesto of the velvet counter" revolution, hl did not (udge it opportune# to append his signature to it, even criticising it as 6liberal democratic6 and 6totalitarian#6 The conclusionN .nstead of denouncing it and disassociating himself from it, he welcomed the manifesto because of the inclusion in it of 6the demand for worker0s control in the big firms,6 of the kind that abounds in the imperialist countries with its humbug of a share"owning democracy# -fter the success of the counter"revolution and the implementation of the above manifesto, hl stated: 6One might discuss the e*tent to which Trotsky0s theory of the political revolution has been (ustified# . think that it is in 7echoslovakia that the reality is nearest to this theory#6 He goes on to add by way of an e*planation of this 0political revolution0 and the composition of this anti"communist coalition: 6so long as people can say they are against communism, %talinism and bureaucracy, then everybody is in agreement6 .mprecor, no# <85, 2338, p# 4I!# -nd further: 6There were those who saw in harter AA a step in the direction of political revolution / of whom . was one; others saw in it a means of propagating the word of hrist# .t was a veritable laboratory of tolerance#6 .mprecor, no# <88, 2338, p# ?!#
omrade Ludo )artens, hairman of the Belgian Party of Labour PTB!, in his book The >elvet ounter +evolution which . recommend to any reader desiring a detailed account of these events, (ustly remarks in this regard 6To overthrow and destroy socialism whether it be a strong and vigorous socialism or an eroded and sickly socialism!, the clerico"fascists reactionary nationalists, the agents of the .- and social democrats all stick together and needless to say they show great 0tolerance0 towards those pseudo" socialists who back up their political agitation with repeated 'uotations from Trotsky6 about the so" called anti"bureaucratic, political revolution, which turns out, as it was always meant, to be no more than another e*pression, wrapped up in 0left0 verbiage, for the simple restoration of capitalism Thus has Trotskyism arrived at its 6political revolution6 against 6%talinist bureaucracy6DD The Belgian Trotskyist, Crnest )andel, greeted the events of 24 $anuary 2338 as: 6the sudden access of hundreds of millions of men and women from the Castern countries to political life#6 .mprecor, no# <88, 2338, p# ?!# The meaning of this meaningless hyperbole was made clear by the selfsame puffed"up and pompous Trotskyist gentry a mere ten months later, on 4< Eovember 2338: 6-ccording to Petr hl there are probably only a few thousand, even a few hundred militants from ivic 1orum at the regional and local level#6 1urther: 6The student movement which largely inspired the events of Eovember 23?3, no longer e*ists#6 .mprecor, no# <23, 2338, p# 5!# .n 7echoslovakia, the 6access to political life6, over which )andel wa*es so lyrical, happened at a time when the masses were following the counter" revolutionary ivic 1orum, under the leadership of Havel, a notorious .- agent# This is what Pavel Pechacek, head of the 7ech section of the .-" financed +adio 1ree Curope, has to say in this instance: 6=e have always played important role# -ccording to the leader the student revolt in Bratislava, it was +adio 1ree Curope which lit the fuse# =e always had close contacts with Havel, amogursky and @ienstbeir, who today are members of the new government but who for years worked for us as independent correspondents#6 These were the people / the Havels and Pechaceks / who 6awakened the masses to political life6 in 7echoslovakia# nowing full well that the ivic 1orum stood for restoration of capitalism, that >aclav, laus, head of the ivic 1orum %ince October 2338 and one of the principal advisors to Havel, is not Only on record e*pressing his admiration for )ilton 1riedman and Hayek the two bourgeois economists most admired by +onald +eagan and )argaret Thatcher, former President Of the %- and former Prime )inister of Britain respectively, but also his commitment to 6a market economy, without 'ualification6 / knowing all this )andel told a Belgian financial paper on 42 )arch 2338: 6The transition to a completely western model is possible, but this is not the case in countries like the %oviet nion and 7echoslovakia6 @e 1inancieel Ckonomische Ti(d, 42#<#38!# nowing all this, why did the Trotskyists go along with the ivic 1orumN Their innate hatred of socialism and communism is the answer# This truth is blurted out by the dim"witted hl, who e*plained that his support for the ivic 1orum and Havel was motivated by a desire to get rid of the remnants of the socialist systemD
-fter several political somersaults and mental contortions, the Trotskyist hl finally, and not une*pectedly, carved for himself a nice little niche in the 0new bourgeois 7ech state, as the head of the 7ech Press -gency, a position to which he was appointed in 1ebruary 2338, from which to propagate the wonders of capitalist restoration and the 6access to political life6 set in train by this restoration / 0anti"bureaucratic revolution0 if you like# 1rom (abbering away about worker0s control only the previous day, hl had little difficulty in getting on with the (ob of informing the masses that the 7ech state represents society: 6.t a generally understood that, if we depend on the %tate, we support the government which is not e*actly the case# Of course we must 0respect0 the government but if there is a conflict it would be up to a parliamentary committee to make a decision, because parliament represents the %tate more than the government does Our task is to propagate news abroad about 7ech society This is the concern of the 7ech %tate because it represents 7ech society for the moment#6 .mprecor, no# <85, 2338, p# 4A!# .f this drivel amounts to anything at all it amounts to the worst form of parliamentary cretinism, according to winch the, 7ech parliament and bourgeois 7ech state are synonymous, and since, according to this Trotskyist imbecile, the state represents society, it is 6our task to propagate news abroad about 7ech society#6DD This is the beginning and end, the sole meaning of the much"trumpeted Trotskyist 6anti"bureaucratic, political revolution#6 Eothing could be clearer than this# The Belgian Trotskyist )andel and the 1rench Trotskyist Brou crudely defend counter"revolution )andel, notorious for his anti")ar*ism and vulgar economism, had for more than two decades held the view that in the absence of a violent counter"revolution capitalism could not be restored in the socialist countries# Proceeding from this erroneous premise, he has all along advocated multi"party democracy democracy for all!# %ince, according to his reasoning, there was no danger to socialism and the real enemy lay in 0bureaucracy0, through multi"party democracy socialism would ac'uire a democratic character# Towards the end of 23?3, in regard to the counter"revolutionary movement in Timisoara, which resulted in the overthrow and foul murder of eaucescu and his wife, Helena, )andel surpassed even the lying imperialist media in denouncing the 6hideous %talinist crimes in Timisoara6 / crimes which turned out not to have been committed after all# The bourgeois media0s inflammatory figures of A8,888 to 288,888 dead in Timisoara, and the horror stones about mass graves, turned out to be totally fabricated# The correction, of only A88 deaths, most at the hands of the army rather than the %ecuritate, was made in half"inch columns relegated to inside pages# .n regard to the counter"revolutionary movement in the &erman @emocratic +epublic )andel declared# 6. am delighted over what0s happening in Berlin# The anti" socialist movement is really weak#6 =elcoming this 6revolution,6 / he went on to e*claim# 6Cverything Trotsky ever hoped for could now become reality#6 @ans Humo, 42#24#?3!# .n Trotskyist, as indeed in imperialist circles, whereas &orbachev, Geltsin and Trotsky are revolutionaries, %talin and the Bolshevik party that he led are counter"revolutionariesDD .t is worth while reproducing the views of )andel, considered to be the theoretician of the Trotskyist .>th .nternational, on the counter"revolutionary Programme of capitalist restoration embodied in &orbachev0s Perestroika# @uring an interview he gave to a (ournalist of Eew Times he was asked:
6.s it not true that )ikhail &orbachev stated that Perestroika is a true new revolutionN6 To which )andel replied: 6Ges, he does indeed and again this is very positive# Our movement has defended this thesis for 99 years and was therefore labelled as counterrevolutionary# Today people, both in the %oviet nion and in a large part of the international communist movement, understand better where the real counterrevolutionaries were#6 no# atican, %olidarnosc in Poland, cheering its rise and accession to power / again in the name of Trotsky0s 6anti"bureaucratic political revolution,6 The 1rench Trotskyist Brou, already referred to, for his part applauds the counter"revolutionary movements of eastern Curope which two years after the publication of his Trotsky came to head the capitalist"restorationist regimes, and correctly attributes to Trotsky the following version of 6political revolution#6 6The demands appearing in these movements of workers and youth reconstitute those that defined the program of political revolution0 as Trotsky sketched it: democracy, freedom for parties, destruction of the bureaucratic apparatus, 0free 0trade unions, electoral freedom and the right of criticism ending infringements on human tights, punishing those responsible for crimes, winning the democratic rights of speech, assembly, demonstration, as well as the appearance of a free / and hence stimulating "press#6 op# cit# p# 35
are second to none in maligning the former socialist regimes, especially the %oviet regime from 234< to 239<, which they have always denounced as 6bureaucratic6, needing to be overthrown by a 6political revolution#6 .n unguarded moments, however, dropping their usual mask, they reveal the reactionary essence of their Trotskyist political line# .n an article written in Eovember 2334 for the sole purpose of presenting a sanitised version of Trotskyism, the truth literally oo7es out, despite themselves, in the following lines: 6The idea that 0socialism0 could be built in a single country and a backward one at that!, surrounded by imperialist enemies, is a nationalist perversion of )ar*ism# 6%talin0s dogma of 0socialism in one country0 was the ideological afterbirth of a political counterrevolution which @C1C-TC@ Leninist internationalism and brought to power a nationalist bureaucratic caste#6 =as the idea of socialism in a single country really a 6nationalist perversion of )ar*ism 6 was it really 6%talin0s dogma6 and 6the ideological afterbirth of a political counterrevolution which defeated Leninist internationalism and brought to power a nationalist bureaucratic caste6N .f what %partacist says is true, would it be worthwhile for them, or for anyone else, to defend the gains of this 6nationalist perversion6N The %partacists of the .L only had to ask this 'uestion to realise that they were giving away their whole game, of appearing to defend socialism in words while undermining it in deeds# -re the %partacists really so ignorant of Lenin0s writings as not to realise that this 6nationalist Perversion6 of socialism in one country was not 6%talin0s dogma,6 but Lenin0sN He and he alone must get the credit or discredit! for the authorship of this 0dogma0# The %partacists ought not to be so ignorant, for they claim that they are Leninists and make the same claim for their guru, Trotsky# Let them then read Lenin0s 232I article )ilitary Programme of Proletarian +evolution, and his article on cooperation at the beginning of 234<, (ust as Trotsky was writing his anti"Leninist, counter"revolutionary pamphlet Eew ourse# -nd let them read the following lines taken from Lenin0s 48th Eovember 2344 speech to the )oscow %oviet: 6=e have approached the very core of the everyday problems, and that is a tremendous achievement# %ocialism is no longer a matter of the distant future, or an abstract picture, or an icon# Our opinion of icons is the same / a very bad one# =C H->C B+O&HT %O.-L.%) .ETO C>C+G@-G L.1C and must here see how matters stand# That is the task of our day, the task of our epoch# Permit me to conclude by e*pressing confidence that difficult as this task may be, new as it may be compared with our previous task and numerous as the difficulties may be that it entails, we shall all / not in a day, BT .E - 1C= GC-+% / all of us together fulfil it whatever the cost %O TH-T ECP +%%.- =.LL BCO)C %O.-L.%T +%%.-#6 >#.# Lenin, ollected =orks, >ol# <<, p# 55< / Cmphasis added!# -fter this, if the %partacists have the courage of their convictions, they ought to accuse Lenin of the 6dogma6 they attempt to pin on %talin0s shirt sleeve; they ought to lay the blame for this 6nationalist perversion6 at the doorstep of Lenin rather than depositing it at %talin0s# %=P Trots welcome the demise of communism The largest British Trotskyist Organisation, the %ocialist =orkers Party %=P!, having cheered every counter"revolutionary movement in eastern Curope from the .-">atican inspired Hungarian uprising to the capitalist restorationist %olidarnosc and the ivic 1orum in 7echoslovakia, greeted with fren7ied glee the demise of socialism in the %%+# .ts organ, %ocialist =orker, declared (oyfully" 6ommunism has collapsed# Eow fight for real socialism#6 <2 -ugust 2332!# .t went on to cheer the
toppling of the statues of %verdlov, @7er7hinsky, and other 6former ommunist Party icons6; it even considered it opportune to carry a picture of the statue of the great Lenin down and to declare 6ommunism has collapsed### .t is a fact that should have every socialist re(oicing#6 The %=P went as far as to argue that Geltsin0s victory had brought 6the workers of the %%+ closer to the spirit of the socialist revolution of 232A, not further from it#6 =ell, since the Berlin wall came down on 3 Eovember 23?3, what has this 0death of communism0 and the fight for 0real socialism0 brought in its trailN C*actly what imperialism had been desiring and working for over decades# C*actly what every intelligent observer, not consumed by anti"communist hate, e*pected it to be# The market forces have been let loose over the unhappy peoples of eastern Curope and the former %%+# Cverywhere there is rising unemployment, contraction of production, catastrophic rates of inflation, national strife, rising racism, anti"semitism and fascism, increased crime, drug trafficking, prostitution, black market and hunger# There has been an astronomic rise in the prices of basic necessities such as food, accommodation, electricity and clothing# .n other words, all the freedoms have been unleashed that are associated with a free market economy and the Trotskyite 6political revolution6 against 6%talinist bureaucracy#6 .n the former &erman @emocratic +epublic, for instance, between the beginning of 2338 and the end of 2332, the economy contracted by 48Q as entire industries were shut down# .n the first half of 2338, industrial output fell by a huge 58Q; in the second half of the same year by another 58QD By the spring of 2332, a third of Cast &ermans had either lost their (obs or were put on short time# 1rom 4A8,888 in $uly 2338, unemployment (umped to 2 million by the end of 2332 and 2#9 million in 2334# .n Poland, 4 million workers, representing 29Q of the workforce, are un"employed, and, while real wages have fallen by <8Q the cost oil living has risen by 58Q# The picture is the same in Hungary and 7echoslovakia, where industrial Production has fallen by a fifth# .n the %%+, which had a giant economy before 23?9, industrial production is down by 58Q since then; the rate of inflation stands at a staggering 4,988Q; the currency is in ruin, with the rouble, which used to have a value higher than the % dollar, now having a rate of e*change of ?88 roubles to the dollar )arch 233
6###the market economy has not led to prosperity, simply deepened the misery#6 On the contrary# Cvery prediction of bourgeois politicians and media has come true# apitalism is being restored, and this process, as was known to everyone including the dim"witted Trotskyists whose 6anti"bureaucratic political revolution6 against 6%talinism6 and 6the command economy6, shorn of all its 0left0 verbiage, amounted to this capitalist restoration!, can only take place amid misery and ruin for the masses of workers and an e*traordinary enrichment of the few# The movement involving the demolition of all central planning and the introduction of private property cannot but e*press itself in shocks, (olts and dislocation which are hurting the working class of the former socialist states# .t is indeed the %=P gurus who, if they had any sense of shame and a gram of socialism in them, ought to be 'uiet at the very least, since it is their darlings, Lech =alesa and his %olidarnosc in Poland, Havel and his ivic 1orum in the 7ech +epublic, Boris Geltsin in +ussia, etc#, all leaders of the Trotskyist 6anti"bureaucratic revolution6, who are introducing the wonders of 0democracy0 and the free market0# .nstead of wisely keeping 'uiet, %ocialist =orker, having summarised the results of introduction of the market economy in eastern Curopean countries, goes on mildly to complain: 6Get this, and the misery being suffered in east &ermany and Poland, has not stopped +ussia0s President Boris Geltsin proposing a programme of rapid and widespread privatisation and the 'uick removal of food and rent subsidies#6 But it would appear that they are not happy with the results as yet, for they believe that the newly established bourgeois regimes have not been thorough enough in destroying all the traces, instruments and institutions connected with the previous regimes in the former socialist states: 6-nd not a week goes by without revelations proving the hated %tasi, the %ecuritate, the Hungarian ->O and all the other riff raff which once enforced the %talinist regimes, are still around6D The above sentence, apart from revealing that their hatred is most reserved for the socialist regimes, is also a clever attempt to fool the simple %imons, who swell the rank and file of Trotskyist organisations everywhere and who have a weakness for catchphrases, into believing that the former regimes in eastern Curope were %talinist, i#e#, Leninist# .n the preface of my book Perestroika, The omplete ollapse of +evisionism, referring in this conte*t to the Trotskyites, revisionists and social democrats, . said: 6This revolting gentry / in particular the counter" revolutionary Trotskyites / have been gloating with delirium over the alleged collapse, in Castern Curope and the %%+, of %talinism# $ust the contrary# =hat has collapsed is revisionism, and its inevitable degeneration into ordinary capitalism# =hat is called 0%talinism0 by these despicable creatures is only Leninism in practice# =hen Leninism was practised in the %%+, as it undoubtedly was during the three decades of %talin0s leadership of the P%, it achieved world" historic feats on all fronts / economic, social cultural, diplomatic and military / which is precisely the reason why the very name of %talin has become the target of so much abuse on the part of the bourgeoisie and its 0hired pri7e"fighters0# %o what has collapsed is revisionism even though in order to confuse the proletariat the sly and yet unthinking and uncouth Trotskyites using the word 0%talinism0 as a swear word rather than as a political characterisation, have been applying it to the very revisionists who entertain mortal haired of %talin#6 pp# viii"i*!# .n the end when all is said and done, %ocialist =orker is well satisfied with the achievements of the counter"revolution in eastern Curope, and ends with the following smug, not to say smutty, conclusion:
6=hat %ocialist =orker said in Eovember 23?3 remains true today: 0what really wonderful about the new movements in eastern Curope is they raise the possibility of a society which is better, freer and more democratic than that which east or west at the moment0#6 .n other words, what a wonderful thing it was to have replaced the former socialist regimes with bourgeois regimes and free market economies, the conse'uences of which )r -lan &ibson, the writer of this article in %ocialist =orker, so dementedly and in such self"annihilatory a manner, bemoansDD The same %=P, which in -ugust 2332 had with great counter"revolutionary 7eal declared that Geltsin0s victory had brought 6the workers of the %%+ closer to the spirit of the socialist revolution of 232A6, now declares, through the column of the despicable $ohn )olyneu*, that 6it is precisely the viciously anti"working class nature of Geltsin0s free market reform, that makes him aspire to dictatorial powers in order to impose his Programme# onse'uently no socialist should now support Geltsin#6 %ocialist =orker, 28 -pril 233<, 6+ussia: should we take sidesN6! %uch is the logic of the counter"revolutionary gentry of the %=P: support for Geltsin0s counter" revolution in -ugust 2332 on the prete*t that his victory brought the %%+ proletariat 6closer to the spirit of the socialist revolution of 232A6 and opposition to Geltsin in -pril 233< for his attempt to put into effect the declared programme of the very counter"revolution over which the %=P wa*ed so elo'uentDD Eothing could reveal better the hideous social"democratic face of the %=P than the fact that the same %ocialist =orker, which felt elated at the death of communism, suffered a deep 6depression6 and 6post" election demoralisation6 in the wake of the fourth consecutive electoral rout of the Labour Party# Bleated the %ocialist =orker: 6The election result was a disaster for everyone who wants a better society#6 The crudity of %=P0s defence of capitalism and its representatives compelled even the %partacists of the .L, another counter"revolutionary Trotskyite organisation, to make the following correct observation: 6-n organisation Ji#e# the %=P / HBK which found a cause 0that should have every socialist re(oicing0 in the victory of Geltsin0s counter"revolutionary forces that have brought poverty, mass unemployment and misery to the masses of the former %oviet nion, while finding a cause to make socialists0 sob in the defeat of Eeil innock0s scab"herding Labour traitors, obviously has a pretty twisted weathervane###6 =orkers Hammer $ulyR-ugust 233
6The %=P presents itself as a fighting alternative# .f there were any (ustice in this world, these Third amp renegades should feel ashamed to even try to show their face in publicD 1rom Poland to Cast &ermany to )oscow, they were among the foremost cheerleaders for the forces of counter"revolution that are now devastating Castern Curope and the e*"%oviet nion# =hile most of the rest of the left followed suit howling along with the imperialist wolves in championing any and every anti"%oviet 0movement0 the %=P not only supported some of the darkest forces of reaction but offered them as a model for the struggle against %talinist 0totalitarianism#0 6%o, for e*ample, following the %oviet withdrawal from -fghanistan the liffites heralded the .-" funded .slamic reactionaries who are now drowning any shred of social progress in that country in blood# %ocialist =orker 5 1ebruary 23?3! enthused that a 0)o(ahedin victory will encourage the opponents of +ussian rule everywhere in the %%+ and Castern Curope0D By rights the %=P should now be pleased that (ust such 0opponents of +ussian rule0, i#e#, vicious nationalist reactionaries, fascist terrorists, women"hating clericalists, have been unleashed by capitalist counterrevolution#6 ibid#! The %=P may be organised independently, but in terms of its programme and political and ideological physiognomy it is indistinguishable from the social"democratic Labour Party / as indeed are all Trotskyite organisations, which everywhere act as an anti"communist militant wing of social democracy# The hypocrisy of %=P0s fake anti"Labour stance is e*posed by another Trotskyite, %ean )atgamna# =riting in the %ocialist Organiser of 23 Eovember 2334, from a perspective which would have the %=P within the Labour Party to help build the 0left0 within it, this is how he tears the mask of false anti" Labourism, from the hideous face of the %=P: 6.n the 23A3 &eneral Clection the %=P while proclaiming itself 0the socialist alternative0 to the Labour Party declined to put up candidates, backed the Labour PartyD### .t fell to 1oot in a much"'uoted interview in the London Cvening %tandard, to e*press the %=P0s dualism, the approach which left the political labour movement to the right wing in all its crassness# He said: 01or the ne*t three weeks . am a strong Labour supporter# . am very an*ious that a Tory government shouldn0t be returned, and . shall be going around to meetings we are having telling everyone to vote Labour0 3 -pril 23A3!#6 oncludes )r )atgamna: 6.n his role of %=P ambassador to the bourgeoisie and the media 1oot often blurts out the truth about the %=P0s politics without the usual 0socialist0 obfuscation and phrase" mongering, )ichael 1oot0s nephew Paul is thus a useful man to have around#6 The Healyite Trotskyites detect Trotsky0s line and welcome &orbachev0s Perestroika The late and unlamented child molester and recipient of funds from a wide variety of sources ranging from the -rab regimes to the .- for his lifelong devotion to the cause of anti"communism and anti" %ovietism, namely the Trotskyite &erry Healy of the old and notorious %ocialist Labour League %LL!, welcomed &orbachev0s perestroika and glasnost as 6the political revolution for restoring Bolshevik world revolutionary perspectives#6 %ince the collapse of the %oviet nion and its disintegration, Healy0s followers, the +edgrave Trots of the so"called )ar*ist Party, have gone on to blacken all %oviet development and history by asserting that Lenin had been wrong throughout and that +osa Lu*emburg0s denunciation of Lenin as a 6sterile overseer6 aiming at 6blind subordination6 to 6an intellectual elite hungry for power6 through 6pitiless centralism6 was correct#
=ith the disappearance of the former socialist states and the coming to power of bourgeois regimes, the Trotskyites are at si*es and sevens as to how to e*plain away their wretched theory of 6anti" bureaucratic political revolution#6 -s a result they are at each other0s throats# The other offshoots of Healy0s lunatic fringe, the Eorthites and Torrancites, are in convulsions over this# The Eorthites simply pass the buck on to Trotsky who, they say, got it wrong for there was nothing left with which to have a revolution: =hat was destroyed between 23
Thus we find one section of Trots the Eorthites! blaming Trotsky for not being firm enough in his fulminations against the %oviet nion, thereby misleading his followers into the blind alley of supporting an allegedly workers0 state in need of political revolution, when, say the Eorthites, socialism had already been destroyed and therefore there was nothing left against which to have a revolution# The other section Torrancites! e*onerate themselves from all responsibility for lifelong anti"%oviet and anti"communist activity by pretending that the counter revolution has not taken place at all, that Geltsin represents the 6political revolution6, which, in the course of time, will 6restore Bolshevism#6 %ome other Trots 1or its part, the Trotskyist rag %ocialist Organiser, referred to immediately above, e*ulted over the victory of the Geltsin forces thus: 6His brave defiance of the %talinist establishment will help workers to see what the issues are / an opening society, with the beginnings of the rule of law and some degree of democratic self"control, on one side, and stifling ice"age %talinist dictatorship on the other#6 %O %upplement, 48 -ugust 2334!# The 0)ilitant0 Trotskyites were no less despicably shameless in welcoming the Geltsin counter" revolution: 6-ll over the world workers will see this as people0s power reducing the threat of dictatorship to a poorly scripted farce# Cvery dictator will tremble at the prospect of his own sub(ects taking such action#6 0=orkers Power0, yet another Trotskyist outfit, being fully cognisant of the 6socially counter" revolutionary nature of Geltsin0s programme6 and the 6spivs and racketeers6 who supported him, nevertheless felt obliged to back Geltsin: 6Eo matter what the socially counter" revolutionary nature of Geltsin0s programme, no matter how many spivs and racketeers (oined the barricades to defend the +ussian parliament, it would be revolutionary suicide to back the coup"mongers and support the crushing of democratic rights### 6.t is far better that the fledgling workers0 organisations of the %%+ learn to swim against the stream of bureaucratic restorationism than be huddled in the 0breathing space0 of the prison cell#6 Looking forward with great enthusiasm 6to the ne*t stage / the task of rapidly dismantling the instruments of central planning6 =orkers Power, %eptember 2332!, 0=orkers0 Power0, reducing its counter"revolutionary logic to an absurdity, calls for 6workers control of the counter"revolutionD / for a 6workers Geltsin6 who will not stop half way: 6+evolutionaries share the workers0 hatred for all the real and symbolic representatives of their oppression# =e support the closing down of the palatial P% offices, private shops and sanatoria, the rooting out of the &B officers# But we put no trust in Geltsin or the leadership of the main soviets in the chief towns and cities to carry out the destruction of the %talinist dictatorship# 6=e seek at every point to involve the masses independently in the process of the destruction of the P% dictatorship### 6The workers must control the process of destruction of the %talinists through to the end and not let Geltsin preserve what is useful to him#6
Like the %ocialist Organiser, it / =orkers Power / too was fully aware of the forces supporting Geltsin# .ts on the spot report stated that those manning the Geltsin barricades 6were not for the most part, the most audacious workers and students of )oscow,6 adding: 6+ather they were in the ma(ority small businessmen, speculators and owners of J0free enterprise0K co" operatives, the traditional base of the J+ussian nationalistK 0@emocratic +ussia0 demonstrations, plus a few hundred young enthusiasts# =hile there have been reports of strike action and mass mobilisations in other parts of the %%+, in )oscow at least the working class played little part in the resistance to the coup6# There are, of course innumerable other Trotskyist groups of which nothing, at all has here been said# .t is not, however, either possible or necessary or even desirable to make reference to all of them, for they represent no more than variations on themes already encountered in the brief sketch given above of the ma(or Trotskyist tendencies# =hat unites them all, however, is that they are all Trotskyists# They are, therefore, all counterrevolutionary to their finger tips / not out of a desire to be so, but because they cannot help being counter"revolutionaries for as long as they follow Trotsky0s petty bourgeois, pessimistic and counter revolutionary theory of 0permanent revolution#0 The bankruptcy of Trotskyism and the triumph of socialism The events of the last few years, which have overwhelmed eastern Curope and the %%+, have not only proved the utter bankruptcy of hrushchevite revisionism but also e*posed, if such e*posure was ever re'uired, the thoroughly counter"revolutionary nature of Trotskyism# These events have proved beyond doubt the inner affinity, notwithstanding the differences in form, of revisionism and Trotskyism# hrushchevite revisionism, right in form and in essence, was aiming, through the ommunist Party, for the same aim of restoring capitalism in the %%+ and other east Curopean countries that Trotskyism, 0left0 in form and right in essence, had been attempting ever since the twenties through the so"called 6anti"bureaucratic revolution#6 This affinity, and the proof in practice in a most vivid form of the counter"revolutionary essence of revisionism and Trotskyism, ought to facilitate the task of e*posing and fighting both these counter"revolutionary trends# =e are, however, passing through a time of ideological decay, confusion, disintegration and wavering / a time when renegacy and apostasy are the order of the day# =ith the complete collapse of hrushchevite revisionism, the disintegration of the %%+ and the east Curopean socialist regimes, as well as the li'uidation of the revisionist parties elsewhere, the Trotskyists can yet again be e*pected to come forward and say: 0=e told you so# Trotsky was correct in asserting that socialism could not be built in a single country, etc#0 Our task is to refute this nonsensical and counter"revolutionary chatter# The collapse of the %%+, far from proving the correctness of Trotskyism, actually smashes it to smithereens# =hat it proves is that had Trotskyism or Bukharinism for that matter! been put into effect in the %%+ in the mid"twenties, the latter would have collapsed much earlier, more than si* decades ago# The P%, however, re(ecting Trotskyism and Bukharinism, went on to construct socialism and a mighty %oviet state / a bastion and a beacon of socialism whose epic achievements in war and peace, whose heroic feats in all spheres of social development, economic, educational, artistic, military and scientific; whose superhuman endeavours to build a new society based not on the e*ploitation of one human being by another but on the basis of the law of balanced development of the national economy for the satisfaction of the constantly"rising needs of the population, a society based on fraternal cooperation and not on national strife and racism, a society based on se* e'uality not on se* discrimination; whose titanic struggle against, and crowning victories over, Hitlerite &ermany / victories which freed humanity from the scourge of fascism / brought socialism to eastern Curope and
imparted a tremendous impulse to the national liberation movements thereby weakening imperialism; and whose unstinting support to the revolutionary proletarian and national"liberation wars else "where, whose proletarian internationalism, will continue to inspire humanity in its endeavour to get rid of all e*ploitation and achieve a classless communist society through the dictatorship of the proletariat# Trotskyism or LeninismN .n this period of ideological confusion, the Trotskyites are bound to come forward with scraps of pompous, high"sounding, empty, obscure and bombastic catchphrases which confuse the intelligentsia and non"class"conscious workers, in an attempt to fill the ideological vacuum and to pass off Trotskyism as Leninism# They are bound to make yet another attempt to substitute Trotskyism for Leninism# They must not be allowed to do this# Cvery )ar*ist"Leninist, every class"conscious worker, must play his or her part in frustrating this attempt and in ensuring that it fails as miserably as did all similar attempts in the past# .t is by way of a contribution to frustrating this attempt to substitute Trotskyism for Leninism that this book is presented# The author seeks no other reward than the fulfilment of this aim# The choice is straightforward: either counter"revolutionary Trotskyism or revolutionary Leninism# One or the other# Trotskyism or LeninismN - few words about this book 1inally, a few words as to the material which constitutes this book# Parts . to .> are based on a series of lectures which . delivered in London at the invitation of the -ssociation of ommunist =orkers -=!, an anti"revisionist group which, although small in numbers, played a very important role in defending the fundamentals of )ar*ism"Leninism against attacks from Trotskyists and revisionists alike# Originally these pages were distributed as a series of four separate pamphlets under the title %ome Fuestions oncerning the %truggle of ounter" +evolutionary Trotskyism -gainst +evolutionary Leninism# The pages dealing with the %panish ivil =ar Part >! were never produced at the time# %ince then, on the basis of some of the notes that . had at my disposal and further research on her part, my comrade and friend Clla +ule wrote this section and presented it as a paper to the deliberations of the %talin %ociety on 45th )arch, 2332# The sections dealing with the 'uestion of collectivisation and class struggle under the conditions of the dictatorship of the proletariat were both written by way of a preface to collections of %talin0s writings on these two important 'uestions# These too appeared as separate pamphlets, the one on collectivisation in 23A9 and that on class struggle in 23A<# .n this last pamphlet, the section dealing with the &erman"%oviet Eon"-ggression Pact has been much e*panded to include substantiating evidence which was not in the original pamphlet# Eow that this Pact has come in for renewed criticism, . have decided to include this material# -lso, . have updated the te*t to take account of works which have been published since the original material was produced, or have come to my notice since that time# 1rom the conte*t, and the dates of the publications referred to, the reader will have little difficulty in spotting the new material# These last two publications were necessitated by a stream of attacks on the )ar*ist"Leninist policies of the P%B! during the leadership of %talin 2345"9
considerable amount of 6sublime nonsense6, to borrow Cngels0 e*pression, producing several personages who gave themselves airs about the science of )ar*ism"Leninism of which they really never learnt a word# .n the 2?A8s, in the preface to his -nti"@Shring, Cngels complained bitterly about the 6infantile disease6 which was then afflicting a large section of the &erman intelligentsia, including a section of the socialist intelligentsia, where 61reedom of science is taken to mean that people write on every sub(ect which they have not studied and put this forward as the only strictly scientific method#6 This 6infantile disease6 was rampant among a large section of the 23A8s anti"revisionist movement and its fellow travellers, causing great confusion# -gain, at the invitation of the -=, . edited the two collections of %talin0s writings on the sub(ects referred to above, provided each collection with a lengthy preface with the purpose of refuting the sublime nonsense and platitudes of our opponents who, possessing but little knowledge of the science of )ar*ism"Leninism but a goodly amount of conceit and ignorance, were dishing out, in the name of )ar*ism, a great deal of muddled and reactionary nonsense# %ince this reactionary nonsense came from 'uarters at least nominally anti"revisionist, it had to be dealt with# - long time has passed since the contents of this book were first published in the form of si* separate pamphlets# %ome of the persons polemicised against have either died or retired, or have simply, and wisely, retreated into the little bourgeois niches they have carved for themselves# C'ually, some of the organisations have either gone into voluntary li'uidation or faded into political oblivion# Get others are no longer recognisable as they have changed their names once or more often this being especially true of the Trotskyite organisations!# Eone of this matters in the least# =hat is really important are the issues and 'uestions which were then, and show every sign of becoming now or in the future, the sub(ect of heated arguments and polemics# .n that case all we need to do is to remove the name of the person or organisation while using the substance of the argument against those who might insist on putting out nonsense of the type which was put forward by the people . polemicised against two decades ago# )oreover those against whom . polemicised are insignificant today, or were perhaps insignificant even at that time# But similar nonsense has come from 'uarters far more significant, whose word carries weight, influence and authority# .t is my hope that my polemics against my opponents will have the desired effect of countering e'ually pernicious nonsense from these high 'uarters# Originally, when the contents of this book were distributed as separate pamphlets, each pamphlet was provided with an introduction, so that each could be read on its own if so desired# That form is maintained in the book now presented# This ought to make it easier for the reader to read different sections of the book in any preferred order# . have deliberately provided a rather lengthy preface in order, first, to bring the te*t up to date by including a brief reference to the demise of socialism in the %%+ and eastern Curope, as a culmination of a long process of revisionist theory and practice in the fields of politics, political economy, class struggle and philosophy, all set in train by the triumph of hrushchevite modem revisionism at the 48th Party ongress of the P% in 239I; second, to provide more evidence of the thoroughly counter"revolutionary nature of Trotskyism by reference to the response of present"day leading Trotskyite organisations and individuals to the restoration of capitalism in eastern Curope; and finally to provide to all the matters dealt with in this book a degree of coherence which, being originally issued as separate pamphlets, they perhaps did not possess# .t has been decided, also, to provide three appendices / one on what has come to be called Lenin0s Testament, another on the relations between Trotsky and the imperialist press and another on the
murder of Trotsky by one of his own followers# -s they are self"e*planatory, there is no need to say anything about them here# =ith these words . conclude this preface by e*pressing the hope that it will make for a useful contribution, no matter how small, in the struggle against Trotskyism and revisionism, and in defence of the eternally true propositions of )ar*ism"Leninism# . make no pretensions to any originality whatsoever in writing this book# =hat . have to say in it will be common knowledge to the older generation of )ar*ist"Leninists# But, to our shame, knowledge of what ought to be generally"known truths is becoming less and less with the younger generation# =e meet young comrades who want to (oin the movement movement and help help with our work# =hat are we going going to do with these these comradesN comradesN . answer this 'uestion in the following words of %talin0s: 6. think that systematic reiteration and patient e*planation of the so"called 0generally known0 truths is one of the best methods of educating these comrades in )ar*ism#6 %talin, Cconomic Problems of %ocialism in the %%+, 1LPH Peking, p# 3!# .f . have succeeded in correctly and systematically reiterating at least some of the so"called 0generally" known0 truths in this book, . shall consider myself entirely satisfied with the enterprise involved# Eotes 2: Ot7ovists: an opportunist group formed in the +%@LP in 238?# .t was led by -# Bogdanov# 1rom behind a screen of revolutionary verbiage, the Ot7ovists demanded the recall of the %ocial"@emocratic deputies from the Third @uma 7arist parliament! and the cessation of Party activity in legal and semi"legal organisations, maintaining that because reaction was on the rampage the Party had to confine itself to illegal work# This would have isolated the Party from the masses and turned it into a sectarian organisation incapable of mustering the forces for another revolutionary upsurge# Lenin showed that the views of the Ot7ovists were inconsistent, unprincipled and hostile to )ar*ism# -t a conference of an e*tended editorial board of the Bolshevik newspaper, Proletary, in $une 23@3, a resolution was passed to the effect that 6as a clear"cut trend in the +%@LP Bolshevism has nothing in common with Ot7ovism or ultimatumism6 a variety of Ot7ovism!# -# Bogdanov, the Ot7ovist leader, was e*pelled from the Bolshevik Party# 4: Li'uidators: representatives of an opportunist trend in the +%@LP during the period of reaction from 238A"2324# The )ensheviks were utterly demoralised by the defeat of the revolution of 2389"A# They wanted the disbandment of illegal Party organisations and the cessation of underground revolutionary activity# Their aim was to li'uidate the revolutionary Party of the working class and set up an openly reformist party# The li'uidators urged the working class to come to terms with the bourgeoisie, to reconcile itself to the reactionary regime in +ussia# The li'uidators were headed by )artov, -*elrod, @an, )artynov and other )enshevik leaders# Trotsky in fact sided with the li'uidators# -t the %i*th Prague! -ll"+ussia onference of the +%@LP $anuary 2324!, the li'uidators were e*pelled from the Party# <: -T: The -ll"nion entral ouncil of Trade nions#
5: 6-mong these legends most be included also the very widespread story that Trotsky was the 0sole0 or 0chief organiser0 of the victories on the fronts of the civil war# . must declare, comrades, in the interest of truth, that this version .s 'uite out of accord with the facts# . am far from denying that Trotsky played an important role in the civil war# But . must emphatically declare that the high honour of being the organiser of our victories belongs not to individuals, but to the great collective body of advanced workers in our country, the +ussian ommunist Party# Perhaps it will not be out of place to 'uote a few e*amples# Gou know that olchak and @enikin were regarded as the principal enemies of the %oviet +epublic# Gou know that our country breathed freely only after these enemies were defeated# =ell, history shows that both these enemies, i#e#, olchak and @enikin, were routed by our troops .E %P.TC of Trotsky0s plans# 6$udge for yourselves: 6OLH-: This is in the summer of 2323# Our troops are advancing against olchak and are operating near fa# - meeting of the entral ommittee .s held# Trotsky proposes that the advance be halted along the line of the +iver Belaya near fa!, leaving the rals .n the hands of olchak, and that part of the troops be withdrawn from the Castern 1ront and transferred to the %outhern 1ront# - heated debate takes place# The entral ommittee disagrees with Trotsky, being of the opinion that the rals, with its factories and railway network, must not be left .n the hands of olchak, for the latter could easily recuperate there, organise a strong force and reach the >olga again, olchak must first be driven beyond the ral range .nto the %iberian steppes, and only after that has been done should forces be transferred to the %outh# The entral ommittee re(ects Trotsky0s plan# Trotsky hands in his resignation# The entral ommittee refuses to accept it# ommander"in"hief >atsetis, who supported Trotsky0s plan, resigns# His place is taken by a new ommander"in"hief, amenev# 1rom that moment Trotsky ceases to take a direct part in the affairs of the Castern 1ront# 6@CE..E: This .s .n the autumn of 2323# The offensive against @enikin is not proceeding successfully# The 0steel ring0 around )amontov )amontov0s raid! is obviously collapsing# @enikin captures ursk# @enikin is approaching Orel# Trotsky is summoned from the %outhern 1ront to attend a meeting of the entral ommittee# The entral ommittee regards the situation as alarming and decides to send new military leaders to the %outhern 1ront and to withdraw Trotsky# The new military leaders demand 0no .ntervention0 by Trotsky in the affairs of the %outhern 1ront# Operations on the %outhern 1ront, right up to the capture of +ostov"on"@on and Odessa by our troops, proceed without Trotsky# 6Let anybody try to refute these facts#6 %talin, ollected =orks, >ol# I, pp# <98"<94!
