Leon
Trotsky: The League Faced with a Turn
July
1934
[Writings
of Leon Trotsky, Vol 7, 1934-1935, New York 1971, p. 33-38]
1.
It is not enough for a revolutionist to have correct ideas. Let us
not forget that correct ideas have already been set down in Capital
and in The
Communist Manifesto.
But that has not prevented false ideas from being broadcast. It is
the task of the revolutionary party to weld together the correct
ideas with the mass labor movement Only in this manner can an idea
become a driving force.
2.
A revolutionary organization does not mean a paper and its readers.
One can write and read revolutionary articles day in and day out and
still remain in reality outside of the revolutionary movement One can
give the labor organizations good advice — from the sidelines. That
is something. But that still does not make a revolutionary
organization.
3.
Although the living conditions inside the Comintern are hardly
normal, the Left Opposition as a faction would have developed in
constant contact with the mass movement. But the Stalinist apparatus
isolated the Opposition mechanically from the very first steps of its
existence. Two aims were achieved by this: (1) the internal life of
the Comintern was choked off and (2) the Opposition was deprived of
the necessary sphere of political action.
4.
The League (like other sections) was forced to develop as an isolated
propaganda group. This determined both its positive sides (an honest
and serious attachment to the principles) and its negative sides
(observing the labor movement from the outside). In the course of the
elaboration of the principles and methods of the Left Opposition, the
positive sides of the League carried the day. At present, when it
becomes necessary to circulate the accumulated capital, the negative
sides are threatening to get the upper hand.
5.
The leadership of the League has entrusted the circulation end [of
the paper] to a capitalist concern. For a group of literati the
circulation end is an unpleasant burden. For a revolutionary
organization it is an important lever. How can one entrust such an
important lever to the enemy when one is seriously preparing for the
struggle? The revolutionary movement is composed of dozens and
hundreds of different sorts of just such "uninteresting,"
"technical" labors. Without detailed and assiduous
preparatory work it is impossible to begin with a militia or a
strike, and even less so with the general strike or the insurrection.
A revolutionary organization that is incapable (or more clearly,
unwilling) of taking care of the circulation end thereby forgoes in
advance leadership in the execution of more complicated labors.
6.
In relation to the Socialist Party, the League has shown not only
insufficient initiative but also a hidebound sectarianism. Instead of
taking for its task the creation of a faction inside the SFIO just as
soon as the crisis in the latter became obvious, the League demanded
that every Socialist become convinced of the correctness of our ideas
and leave his mass organization to join the group of La
Vérité
readers. In order to create an internal faction, it was necessary to
pursue the mass movement, to adapt oneself to the environment, to
carry on menial daily work. Precisely in this very decisive field the
League has not been able to make any progress up to the present —
with very few exceptions. A great deal of valuable time was allowed
to be lost. After a delay of a whole year, the Political Bureau now
poses the task: "to create an internal faction." No —
that is no longer sufficient The situation requires more decisive
measures.
7.
The criticism, the ideas, the slogans of the League are in general
correct, but in this present period particularly inadequate. The
revolutionary ideas must be transformed into life itself every day
through the experience of the masses themselves. But how can the
League explain this to them when it is itself cut off from the
experience of the masses? It is necessary to add: several comrades do
not even see the need of this experience. It seems to them to be
sufficient to form an opinion on the basis of newspaper accounts they
read and then to give it expression in an article or in a talk. Yet
if the most correct ideas do not reflect directly the ideas and
actions of the mass, they will escape the attention of the masses
altogether.
8.
In that case the League is bankrupt, is it not? — An absolutely
false conclusion. The successes of the League are obviously much
smaller than many of us had hoped — much smaller than they could
have been if there were not the fetters of an abstract conservatism.
But despite the immense obstacles, there have been undoubtedly some
successes. The League has exercised certain influence on the ideas
and slogans of the labor movement in its entirety (united front, the
workers' militia, trade-union unity). But it is exactly these
successes, when taken into consideration together with the whole
situation and particularly with the changed tactics of the
bureaucratic apparatuses, that demand on the part of the League a new
and decisive turn. Whither? To the masses.
9.
The general situation in France puts the entire conscious labor
movement before a task of short perspective: either the proletariat
will in the course of six months, a year or perhaps the coming two
years, destroy fascism and take a tremendous step forward all the way
to the struggle for power, or it will itself be destroyed and all of
Europe will become the arena for fascist tyranny and war. The
pressure of this terrible alternative has forced both of the labor
parties to strike out on the road of the united front. But in an
exact sense this great victory poses the question before the League
in all its amplitude: to be or not to be.
10.
The joint meeting of July 2 gives a remarkably clear picture of the
situation created. Just as the League has so often predicted, the
very first step of the united front has aroused an extraordinary
enthusiasm among the masses. The possibility
of victory along this road is beyond all doubt. And yet neither the
Stalinists nor the Socialists utilized the unification in order to
advance aims of struggle but, on the contrary, directed their energy
towards having the mass find satisfaction in the fact of unification
itself. Yesterday the greatest danger was the sabotage
of the united front Today the greatest danger lies in the illusions
of the united front, very closely related to the parliamentary
illusions: the diplomatic notes, the pathetic speeches, the
handshaking, the bloc without revolutionary content — and the
betrayal of the masses. At this symbolic gathering, the League did
not get the floor. And this is no accident: we face the program of
action of both these bureaucracies for the whole coming period.
11.
This program can be realized practically only because the League
remains isolated from the masses. The attempt to skim over this
isolation through an exchange of diplomatic notes with the Central
Committee or through attendance at the sessions of the Socialist
National Council is nothing but diplomatic horseplay that aims to
conceal the unfavorable relationship of forces. That is not at all
worthy of us. The relationship of forces has to be changed, not
concealed. It is necessary to go to the masses. It is necessary to
find a place for oneself within the framework of the united front,
Le., within the framework of one of the two parties of which it is
composed. In actual practice, that means within the framework of the
SFIO.
12.
Is that not a capitulation before the Second International? Such a
complaint can be lodged with much more justice against the
Stalinists. It was they who renounced, inside of twenty-four hours
and on command from Litvinov, the theory of social fascism when they
realized that democracy is to be preferred. And they even gave up all
criticism of their new friends. But we 'have nothing to renounce. We
merely admit honestly that our organization is too weak to establish
for itself a practical independent role in the struggles that are
looming ahead of us. At the same time, as good revolutionists, we do
not want to stand on the sidelines. In 1848 Marx and his weak
Communist organization entered the democratic party. In order not to
stand on the sidelines, Plekhanov attempted to join his group
"Emancipation of Labor" to that of the "People's Will"
(Narodnaya Volya), with which he had broken on principled grounds
only five years before For different reasons and in a different
situation, Lenin advised the Communist Party of England to join the
Labour Party.
We,
on our part, have been ready to form a new International together
with the SAP and OSP. We urgently advised our British comrades to
enter the ILP and some of them took our advice. Was that
capitulation? Not at all. We are now concerned with applying and
developing the same policy in France.
13.
Nevertheless — have we not proclaimed the necessity of creating a
new party and a new International? This program remains in force in
its entirety. But we have never promised to stop and ruminate until
such a time as the Fourth International gathers about us. We have
always declared that the means for its creation are complex and not
of the same character in the different countries, just as was the
case with the Third International. Comrade Trotsky reminded us a year
ago particularly of the French example. There, in spite of the break
of the Bolsheviks with the Second International, the whole section
was won over to the Third International. We know of no law that says
that a repetition of the Tours Congress is impossible. On the
contrary, many of the prevailing conditions speak for such a
possibility.
14.
But in that case the SFIO will not accept us! — It is quite
possible that the big shots will refuse. But the local organizations,
on the other hand, will for the most part go with us. Inside of the
party, the struggle of the tendencies continues to pursue its course.
The left wing will be for us. Our ties with the left wing will be
strengthened. And the developments themselves appear to work for the
left wing.
15.
And we are to agree to maintain discipline? To be sure, we shall work
in the membership and maintain discipline. We shall develop into a
faction. In return for that, we shall be in constant contact with
tens of thousands
of
workers, and we shall receive the right to participate in the
struggle and in the discussion — and we shall have the
opportunity, particularly indispensable for us, of controlling our
ideas and slogans daily in the actions of the masses.
16.
But does not entry into the SFIO imply the danger of opportunist
adaptation or of degeneration? Undoubtedly. Yet it would be naive to
think that one can escape this danger through self-isolation. The
League is at present independent. But unfortunately its position on
the SFIO policy contains elements of an impermissible adaptation. It
is not necessary to use strong words against the leaders, but it is
absolutely necessary to expose the danger of such a purely decorative
attitude toward the "struggle against fascism" as has been
expressed in the columns of Le
Populaire
(or l'Humanité).
The
proletariat is facing a deadly enemy who is prepared for all events
and who will be armed to the teeth if necessary. The proletarian
vanguard should develop in its own ranks and among the broad masses
an unshakable preparedness for struggle, an iron will, a
revolutionary spirit of discipline, a military pugnacity. Parades at
given times, demonstrations with permission of the police and other
such symbolic actions tend only to lull the watchfulness and the
willpower of the workers. A fighting organization is necessary; steel
battalions are necessary; instructors and officers are necessary. It
is necessary to disarm the enemy, to sweep him off the streets, to
terrorize him. The task of the League — whether it remains
independent or joins one of the parties of the united front —
demands imperiously an explanation to the workers as frank, as clear,
as honest as the seriousness of the situation and the tasks flowing
from it require.
17.
In that case, what will be our position as regards the Communist
Party? We shall come more closely in contact with it than before —
through the united front. We must clearly bear in mind that the CP is
capable only of such a dissolution of the SFIO as will be of no
advantage whatever to the revolution. It is notoriously true that
this has been the result of the coalition between the CP of England
and the ILP. But if we can intervene effectively, we will have a new
and invaluable opportunity to influence the proletarian core of the
CP. In such a manner, a powerful section of the Fourth International
may evolve.
18.
But the proletarian party must be independent. Quite so. But the
League is not yet a party. It is an embryo, and an embryo needs
covering and nourishment in order to develop.
19.
But if … and then … and if? To foresee everything and to provide
for everything in advance is impossible. It is necessary to
understand the situation clearly, to determine the tasks and to
proceed with their fulfillment In six months we can lose forever that
opportunity that we are offered now. We must look at things from the
short perspective.
20.
To conclude: the Koran says that the mountain came to the prophet
Marxism counsels the prophet to go to the mountain.