Leon Trotsky: Letter to Raymond Molinier

July 16, 1934

[Writing of Leon Trotsky, Vol. 14, New York 1979, p. 502 f., title: “Cross the Rubicon”]

Dear Friend:

Following our last conversation, I would like to clarify several points in writing and to add some supplementary arguments.

Some people say: first we Were a faction of the Third International; then we were an independent organization (the Fourth International); after that we had connections with the centrists (of the Second and the Two-and-a-Half Internationals); and now we are being urged to rejoin the Second International. Presenting the facts in this fashion does indeed paint a bizarre picture. But using the same method (or using no method at all) one could state: Lenin belonged to the Second International; he broke with it at Zimmerwald and at Kienthal; he formed an alliance with elements of the Two-and-a-Half and even of the Second Internationals. On the eve of the February revolution he was already calling for a split with them, although at the same time he was disturbed with the slow pace of development of the Third International. After the October Revolution he advised the British Communists to enter the Labour Party, etc… . These “contradictions” are only different ways of applying the same ideas in different circumstances.

I believe that the consistency and continuity of our program are unquestionable. Events have vindicated us time and again and continue to do so. If our program obliges us to maneuver energetically in a constantly changing environment, among unparalleled difficulties, that is not our fault. We do not choose the conditions under which we must function any more than we choose our own parents.

The debates as well as the most recent decisions of the Socialist National Committee meeting reveal how intense the mass pressure for unity is. The turn will either include us or hurl us into oblivion. However, there are two ways in which it could include us: either bound hand and foot like captives or as a group that knows how to manage its affairs consciously and skillfully in the swirl of events. Woe to us if we are too late! It would give us a tremendous advantage if we could declare our adherence today, the day after the National Committee meeting. That is not possible. But six weeks! Six weeks are worth more than six years would be in another period! It is necessary to make an immediate decision — the situation is absolutely clear and urgent.

It is necessary to cross the Rubicon in order to conquer an empire!