Leon
Trotsky et al: Letter to the Presidium of the Fifteenth Congress
of
the AUCP(B)
December
3, 1927
[Leon
Trotsky, The Challenge of the Left Opposition (1926-1927), New York
1980, p. 481-484, title: “The
Statement of the 121”]
To
the Presidium of the Fifteenth Congress of the AUCP(B):
Comrades!
The unity of the Communist Party is the highest principle in the
epoch of the proletarian dictatorship. Without the unity of the party
on the basis of Leninism, the dictatorship cannot be maintained,
progress toward the establishment of socialism cannot be made, and
the development of the world revolution cannot be promoted.
The
unity of the party has, however, been openly endangered lately by the
development of inner-party strife. If the further development of our
struggle leads to a split, and then to a fight between two parties,
it would mean the greatest possible danger to Lenin’s cause.
We
have no desire to deny our share of responsibility for the acuteness
of the inner-party situation. In the struggle for our views, we have
taken the path of factionalism, which at times took extremely sharp
forms; and on several occasions we resorted to methods which go
against party discipline. We were urged onto this path only by a
profound conviction that our views were correct and Leninist; by our
determination to bring these views to the attention of the masses of
party members; by the obstacles we encountered on this path; and by
the accusations that have been made against us, accusations that are
intolerable to Bolsheviks.
There
are no programmatic differences between us and the party. We have
pointed out the presence and the growth of Thermidorian dangers in
the country, and the insufficient measures being taken to guard
against them; but we never thought and do not now think that our
party or its CC have become Thermidorian, or that our state has
ceased to be a workers’ state. We stated this categorically in our
Platform. We still maintain, and shall continue to maintain, that our
party has been and is the embodiment of the proletarian vanguard, and
that the Soviet state is the embodiment of the proletarian
dictatorship. We allow no doubts or hesitations on the question of
the defense of the Soviet Union, the first proletarian state in the
world, the fatherland of all workers. We have never had and do not
now have the intention of making non-party people the judges of our
inner-party conflicts. However, we are firmly convinced that in
fundamental political questions the party has nothing to conceal from
the non-party working masses, who constitute the class basis of our
party, and that those who are not party members must be kept informed
about inner-party affairs by means of an objective outline of the
different points of view within the party, as was the case under
Lenin.
However,
the inner-party struggle has become so acute that it threatens the
unity of the party, and consequently the fundamental interests of the
proletarian dictatorship. This cannot and must not continue. The
struggle in this form must be liquidated. Before the eyes of the
international bourgeoisie, which is speculating on a split in our
party and is therefore preparing all the more feverishly for a war
against the Soviet Union; before the eyes of the international
proletariat, which correctly sees the unity of the AUCP as the most
important guarantee for the success of its revolutionary struggles —
we consider it our duty to do everything necessary to strengthen the
fighting unity of our party.
We
cannot renounce views which we are convinced are correct, and which
we have submitted to the party in our Platform and our theses; but to
preserve the unity of the party, to safeguard its full fighting
capacity as the leader of the state and the world proletarian
movement, we declare to the congress that we will cease all factional
work, dissolve all factional organizations, and call upon all those
sharing our way of thinking in the party and the Comintern to do the
same. We consider it to be an unconditional duty of every party
member to submit to the decisions of the party congress, and we shall
fulfill this duty. We have worked for our party for years and for
decades. We shall not agree either to a split or to the establishment
of a second party. We categorically reject the idea of a second
party. We consider any attempt in that direction to run counter to
Lenin’s teachings, and to be doomed to failure. We shall continue
to work for our party and shall defend our views only within the
limits imposed by the party rules and the formal decisions of the
party. That is the right of every Bolshevik, as laid down in many
basic congress decisions in Lenin’s lifetime and since.
This
declaration is the expression of our firm determination.
We
are convinced that we express the views of all those who share our
way of thinking who have been expelled from the party, and that, on
the basis of this declaration, the party should take the first step
toward restoring a normal party life, by readmitting those who have
been expelled, releasing from prison those who have been arrested for
Oppositional activities, and giving each of us the opportunity to
demonstrate the firmness of our resolve by our work in the party.
We
do not doubt that analogous measures in the Comintern toward those
who share our views, in connection with their ceasing of factional
activities, will also help to restore normal conditions in the other
sections of the Comintern.
At
the congress and during the party discussions before the congress we
defended our views with firmness and determination. Now that we have
decided to submit to the congress, we shall carry out this resolve
with equal firmness and determination, as true soldiers of the
Bolshevik proletarian army.
(1)
Avdeev, Iv. (party member since 1901); (2) Aleksandrov, A. (1918);
(3) Alekseev, G. (1916); (4) Alsky (1917); (5) Andreev, N. (1914);
(6) Ausem (1901); (7) Beloborodov, A. (1907); (8) Belyais, Ya.
(1912); (9) Babakhan, S. (1917); (10) Batashev, A. (1918); (11)
Baranov, S. (1913); (12) Belenky, G. (1901); (13) Bakaev, Iv. (1906);
(14) Budzinskaya (1914); (15) Boguslavsky, M.; (16) Vorobev, V.
(1914); (17) Vardin, I. (1907); (18) Vrachev, I. (1917); (19)
Vujović, V. (1912); (20) Gessen, S. (1915); (21) Greizha, P. (1917);
(22) Gusev, V. I. (1917); (23) Gordon, N. (1903); (24) Gertik, Ar.
(1902); (25) Ginsburg, L. (1919); (26) Guralsky, A. (1918); (27)
Goryachev, V. (1909); (28) Drobnis; (29) Dmitriev, T. (1915); (30)
Yelkovich, Ya. (1917); (31) Yevdokimov, G. (1903); (32) Yezhov, P.
(1917); (33) Yefretov, Ye. (1917); (34) Zhuk, A. (1904); (35)
Zinoviev, Gr.; (36) Zorin, S. (1917); (37) Zalutsky, P. (1907); (38)
Zverev, D. (1917); (39) Ishchenko, A. (1917); (40) Ivanov, A. (1913);
(41) Ivanov, V. (1915); (42) Ilyin (1917); (43) Kamenev, L.; (44)
Kavtaradze, S. (1903); (45) Kaspersky (1913); (46) Krasovskaya, M.
(1912); (47) Kovalevsky (1905); (48) Kuklin, A. S. (1903); (49)
Kasparova, V. (1904); (50) Korolev, A. (1916); (51) Krysin (1917);
(52) Komandir (1912); (53) Kagalin (1917); (54) Kostritsky (1917);
(55) Konkova, A. (1912); (56) Katalynov, I. N.; (57) Korshunov, Ye.
(1919); (58) Lashevich, M. (1901); (59) Levin, V. (1917); (60) Lubin,
G. (1917); (61) Lelozol, P. (1905); (62) Lizdin (1892); (63) Lobanov,
G. (1918); (64) Muralov, N. (1901); (65) Malyuta, V. (1916); (66)
Milner, Kh. (1918); (67) Minichev, A. (1911); (68) Makarov, P.
(1917); (69) Naumov, Iv. (1913); (70) Nikolaev, N. (1914); (71)
Nikolaev, A. (1913); (72) Nalivaiko (1917); (73) Natanson, M. Ya.
(1917); (74) Preobrazhensky, Ye. (1903); (75) Pyatakov, Yu. (1910);
(76) Ponomarev, V. (1917); (77) Pitashko (1918); (78) Peterson, A.
(1917); (79) Paulson, I. (1918); (80) Reingold, I. (1917); (81)
Ravich, O. (1903); (82) Radek, K.; (83) Rakovsky, Khr.; (84) Rotskan
(1915); (85) Ryzhov (1918); (86) Rafail, R. (1910); (87) Rem, M.
(1918); (88) Rumyantsev, V.; (89) Safarov, G, (1908); (90) Smilga, I.
(1907); (91) Serebryakov, L, (1905); (92) Safronov, P. (1917); (93)
Sarkis (1917); (94) Sokolov (1914); (95) Semenov, Iv, (1917); (96)
Semenov, P. (1917); (97) Solovyov, M. (1915); (98) Sosnovsky, L.
(1903); (99) Smirnov, I. N. (1899); (100) Semenov, S. G. (1919);
(101) Senkov, Z. (1919); (102) Trotsky, L.; (103) Tuzhikov (1919);
(104) Tarkhanov, O. (1917); (105) Tarasov, I. I.; (106)
Tartakovskaya, F.; (107) Utkin, K. (1918); (108) Ukonen (1918); (109)
Federov, Gr. (1907); (110) Furtichev, Iv. (1917); (111) Fortin, Iv.
(1919); (112) Filippov, I. (1919); (113) Kharitonov, N. (1905); (114)
Khachkov, D. (1917); (115) Chernov (1917); (116) Sharov, Ya. (1904);
(117) Shepshelova, M. (1918); (118) Shurygin, A, (1914) ; (119)
Eshba, Ye. (1914); (120) Yakovlev, M. (1916); (121) Lilina, Z. I.
(1902).
On
behalf of the above,
L.
Kamenev