| Part of the Politics series on Trotskyism |
Marxism Prominent Trotskyists Trotskyist groups Branches |
| Communism Portal |
Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Politics Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions Leon Trotsky ( Russian:, Lev Davidovich Trotsky, also transliterated Leo, Lyev, Trotskii, Trotski, Trotskij The Fourth International ( FI) is a communist international organisation working in opposition to both Capitalism and Stalinism. Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Leninism refers to various related political and economic theories elaborated by Bolshevik revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin. The October Revolution (Октябрьская революция Oktyabrskaya revolyutsiya) also known as the Soviet Revolution James Patrick Cannon (1890–1974 was an American Trotskyist Communist leader Tony Cliff ( May 20, 1917 – May 9, 2000) was a Trotskyist Revolutionary Activist. Pierre Frank (born 24 October 1905, Paris – died 18 April 1984, Paris) was a French Edward (Ted Grant ( 9 July 1913 &ndash 20 July 2006) was a South African Trotskyist Politician who spent most of his adult Joseph Leroy Hansen ( June 16, 1910 – January 18, 1979) was an American Trotskyist and leading figure in the Socialist Thomas Gerard Healy, known as Gerry Healy, ( December 3, 1913 - December 14, 1989) was a Trotskyist Activist. Cyril Lionel Robert James ( 4 January 1901 &ndash 19 May 1989) was an Afro- Trinidadian Journalist This article is about the French Trotskyist leader Pierre Lambert Boussel should not be confused with Pierre Lambert, the United Nations interpreter Livio Maitan ( April 1, 1923&mdash September 16, 2004) was an Italian Trotskyist, a leader of Associazione Bandiera Rossa Ernest Ezra Mandel, also known by various pseudonyms such as Ernest Germain, Pierre Gousset, Henri Vallin, Walter etc Nahuel Moreno ( April 24, 1924 - January 25, 1987) (real name Hugo Miguel Bressano Capacete) was a Trotskyist leader from Max Shachtman ( September 10 1904 - November 4, 1972) was an American Marxist theorist This is a list of Trotskyist internationals. It includes all of the many Political internationals which self-identify as Trotskyist. The Committee for a Workers' International (CWI is an international association of Trotskyist parties The Fourth International - International Centre of Reconstruction is a " Tendency " within the Fourth International, a conglomeration of Trotskyist For the "International Committee of the Fourth International" that superseded the United Secretariat of the Fourth International in 2003 please see Reunified The International Marxist Tendency (IMT is a Trotskyist tendency based on the ideas of Ted Grant. The International Socialist Tendency is an international grouping of organisations around the ideas of Tony Cliff, founder of the Socialist Workers Party in the UK See also the Workers International League. The International Workers League (Fourth International or IWLfi ( Spanish: Liga Internacional The reunified Fourth International was created in 1963 by the reunification of the majorities of the two public factions of the Fourth International: the International Secretariat Orthodox Trotskyism is a branch of Trotskyism which aims to adhere more closely to the philosophy methods and positions of Trotsky and the early Fourth International The third camp, also known as third camp socialism or third camp Trotskyism, is a branch of Socialism which aims to support neither Capitalism Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Leon Trotsky ( Russian:, Lev Davidovich Trotsky, also transliterated Leo, Lyev, Trotskii, Trotski, Trotskij Trotsky considered himself an orthodox Marxist and Bolshevik-Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party. Orthodox Marxism is the term used to describe the version of Marxism which emerged after the death of Karl Marx and acted as the official philosophy of the The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists ( Большевик Большевист (singular, derived from bolshe, "more" were a faction Leninism refers to various related political and economic theories elaborated by Bolshevik revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin. A vanguard party is a Political party at the forefront of a mass action movement or revolution His politics differed sharply from those of Stalinism, most importantly in declaring the need for an international proletarian revolution (rather than socialism in one country) and unwavering support for a true dictatorship of the proletariat based on democratic principles. Stalinism is the political regime named after Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union from 1929–1953 A proletarian revolution is a social and/or political Revolution in which the Working class attempts to overthrow the Bourgeoisie. Socialism in One Country was a thesis developed by Nikolai Bukharin in 1925 and adopted as state policy by Joseph Stalin. The " dictatorship of the proletariat " or workers' state is a term employed by Marxists that refers to what they see as a temporary state between the
Trotsky was, together with Lenin, the most important and well-known leader of the Russian Revolution and the international Communist movement in 1917 and the following years. Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based Nowadays, numerous groups around the world continue to describe themselves as Trotskyist, although they have developed Trotsky's ideas in different ways. A follower of Trotskyist ideas is usually called a "Trotskyist" or (in an informal or pejorative way) a "Trotskyite" or "Trot". [1]
James P. Cannon in his 1942 book History of American Trotskyism wrote that "Trotskyism is not a new movement, a new doctrine, but the restoration, the revival of genuine Marxism as it was expounded and practiced in the Russian revolution and in the early days of the Communist International. James Patrick Cannon (1890–1974 was an American Trotskyist Communist leader History of American Trotskyism 1928-38 Report of a Participant is a biographical book written by the Communist James P " However, Trotskyism can be distinguished from other Marxist theories by four key elements.
On the political spectrum of Marxism, Trotskyists are considered to be on the left. A political spectrum (plural Spectra) is a way of modeling different political positions by placing them upon one or more geometric axes Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. They supported democratic rights in the USSR,[5] opposed political deals with the imperialist powers, and advocated a spreading of the revolution throughout Europe and the East.
According to Trotsky, the term 'Trotskyism' was coined by Pavel Milyukov, (sometimes transliterated as 'Paul Miliukoff'), the ideological leader of the Constitutional Democratic party (Kadets) in Russia. Pavel Nikolayevich Milyukov ( Cyrillic: Павел Николаевич Милюков ( 15 January, 1859 - 31 March, 1943) a Milyukov waged a bitter war against 'Trotskyism' "as early as 1905", Trotsky argues. [6]
Trotsky was elected chairman of the St. Petersburg Soviet during the 1905 Russian Revolution. St Petersburg Soviet of Worker's Delegates was a Workers' council, or soviet in St He pursued a policy of proletarian revolution at a time when other socialist trends advocated a transition to a "bourgeois" (capitalist) regime to replace the essentially feudal Romanov state. A proletarian revolution is a social and/or political Revolution in which the Working class attempts to overthrow the Bourgeoisie. It was during this year that Trotsky developed the theory of Permanent Revolution, as it later became known (see below). This article is about the theory See Permanent Revolution (group for the group of the same name and Permanent Revolution (album for the Catch 22 In 1905, Trotsky quotes from a postscript to a book by Milyukov, The elections to the second state Duma, published no later than May 1907:
Those who reproach the Kadets with failure to protest at that time, by organising meetings, against the 'revolutionary illusions' of Trotskyism and the relapse into Blanquism, simply do not understand… the mood of the democratic public at meetings during that period. " – The elections to the second state Duma by Pavel Milyukov[7]
Milyukov suggests that the mood of the "democratic public" was in support of Trotsky's policy of the overthrow of the Romanov regime alongside a workers' revolution to overthrow the capitalist owners of industry, support for strike action and the establishment of democratically elected workers' councils or "soviets".
In 1905, Trotsky formulated a theory that became known as the Trotskyist theory of Permanent Revolution. This article is about the theory See Permanent Revolution (group for the group of the same name and Permanent Revolution (album for the Catch 22 This article is about the theory See Permanent Revolution (group for the group of the same name and Permanent Revolution (album for the Catch 22 It may be considered one of the defining characteristics of Trotskyism. Until 1905, Marxists had only shown how a revolution in a European capitalist society could lead to a socialist one. But this excluded countries such as Russia. Russia in 1905 was widely considered to have not yet established a capitalist society, but was instead largely feudal with a small, weak and almost powerless capitalist class.
The theory of Permanent Revolution addressed the question of how such feudal regimes were to be overthrown, and how socialism could be established given the lack of economic prerequisites. Trotsky argued that in Russia only the working class could overthrow feudalism winning the support of the peasantry, but that the working class would not stop there. It would seize the moment to go on to win its own revolution against the weak capitalist class, establishing a workers' state, and appeal to the working class in the advanced capitalist countries to come to its aid, so that socialism could develop in Russia and worldwide.
Revolutions in Britain in the 17th Century and in France in 1789 abolished feudalism, establishing the basic requisites for the development of capitalism. But Trotsky argues that these revolutions would not be repeated in Russia. In Results and Prospects, written in 1906, in which Trotsky outlines his theory in detail, he argues: "History does not repeat itself. However much one may compare the Russian Revolution with the Great French Revolution, the former can never be transformed into a repetition of the latter. "[8] In the French Revolution of 1789, France experienced what Marxists called a "bourgeois-democratic revolution" – a regime was established where the "bourgeoisie", (the French term approximating to "capitalists"), overthrew feudalism. The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an The bourgeoisie then moved towards establishing a regime of "democratic" parliamentary institutions. But while democratic rights were extended to the bourgeoisie they did not, however, generally extend to a universal franchise, let alone to the freedom for workers to organise unions or to go on strike, without a considerable struggle by the working class.
But, Trotsky argues, countries like Russia had no "enlightened, active" revolutionary bourgeoisie which could play the same role, and the working class constituted a very small minority. In fact, even by the time of the European revolutions of 1848, Trotsky argued, "the bourgeoisie was already unable to play a comparable role. It did not want and was not able to undertake the revolutionary liquidation of the social system that stood in its path to power. "
The theory of Permanent Revolution considers that in many countries which are thought to have not yet completed their bourgeois-democratic revolution, the capitalist class oppose the creation of any revolutionary situation, in the first instance because they fear stirring the working class into fighting for its own revolutionary aspirations against their exploitation by capitalism. In Russia the working class, although a small minority in a predominantly peasant based society, were organised in vast factories owned by the capitalist class, in large working class districts. During the Russian Revolution of 1905, the capitalist class found it necessary to ally with reactionary elements such as the essentially feudal landlords and ultimately the existing Czarist Russian state forces, in order to protect their ownership of their property, in the form of the factories, banks, and so forth, from expropriation by the revolutionary working class.
According to the theory of Permanent Revolution, therefore, in economically backward countries the capitalist class are weak and incapable of carrying through revolutionary change. They are linked to and rely on the feudal landowners in many ways. Trotsky further argues that since a majority of branches of industry in Russia were originated under the direct influence of government measures, sometimes even with the help of Government subsidies, the capitalist class was again tied to the ruling elite. In addition, the capitalist class were subservient to European capital. [9]
Instead, Trotsky argued, only the 'proletariat' or working class were capable of achieving the tasks of that 'bourgeois' revolution. In 1905, the working class in Russia, a generation brought together in vast factories from the relative isolation of peasant life, saw the result of its labour as a vast collective effort, and the only means of struggling against its oppression in terms of a collective effort also, forming workers councils, (soviets), in the course of the revolution of that year. In 1906, Trotsky argued:
The factory system brings the proletariat to the foreground… The proletariat immediately found itself concentrated in tremendous masses, while between these masses and the autocracy there stood a capitalist bourgeoisie, very small in numbers, isolated from the 'people', half-foreign, without historical traditions, and inspired only by the greed for gain. – Trotsky, Results and Prospects[10]
The Putilov Factory, for instance, numbered 12,000 workers in 1900, and, according to Trotsky, 36,000 in July 1917. The Kirov Plant or Kirov Factory (Кировский Завод Kirovskiy Zavod) is a major Russian machine-building Plant in St [11] The theory of Permanent Revolution considers that the peasantry as a whole cannot take on this task, because it is dispersed in small holdings throughout the country, and forms a heterogeneous grouping, including the rich peasants who employ rural workers and aspire to landlordism as well as the poor peasants who aspire to own more land. Trotsky argues: "All historical experience… shows that the peasantry are absolutely incapable of taking up an independent political role. "[12]
Trotskyists differ on the extent to which this is true today, but even the most orthodox tend to recognise in the late twentieth century a new development in the revolts of the rural poor, the self-organising struggles of the landless, and many other struggles which in some ways reflect the militant united organised struggles of the working class, and which to various degrees do not bear the marks of class divisions typical of the heroic peasant struggles of previous epochs. However, orthodox Trotskyists today still argue that the town and city based working class struggle is central to the task of a successful socialist revolution, linked to these struggles of the rural poor. They argue that the working class learns of necessity to conduct a collective struggle, for instance in trade unions, arising from its social conditions in the factories and workplaces, and that the collective consciousness it achieves as a result is an essential ingredient of the socialist reconstruction of society. [13]
Although only a small minority in Russian society, the proletariat would lead a revolution to emancipate the peasantry and thus "secure the support of the peasantry" as part of that revolution, on whose support it will rely. [14] But the working class, in order to improve their own conditions, will find it necessary to create a revolution of their own, which would accomplish both the bourgeois and then establish a workers' state.
Yet, according to classical Marxism, revolution in peasant based countries, such as Russia, prepares the ground ultimately only for a development of capitalism since the liberated peasants become small owners, producers and traders which leads to the growth of commodity markets, from which a new capitalist class emerges. Only fully developed capitalist conditions prepare the basis for socialism.
Trotsky agreed that a new socialist state and economy in a country like Russia would not be able to hold out against the pressures of a hostile capitalist world, as well as the internal pressures of its backward economy. The revolution, Trotsky argued, must quickly spread to capitalist countries, bringing about a socialist revolution which must spread world-wide. But this position was shared by all Marxists until 1924 when Stalin began to put forward the slogan of "Socialism in one country".
In this way the revolution is "permanent", moving of necessity first from the bourgeois revolution to the workers’ revolution, and from there uninterruptedly to European and world-wide revolutions. Socialism until then had always seen capitalism as an international enemy to be replaced internationally.
An internationalist outlook of permanent revolution is found in the works of Karl Marx. The term "permanent revolution" is taken from a remark of Marx from his March 1850 Address: "it is our task", Marx said,
to make the revolution permanent until all the more or less propertied classes have been driven from their ruling positions, until the proletariat has conquered state power and until the association of the proletarians has progressed sufficiently far – not only in one country but in all the leading countries of the world – that competition between the proletarians of these countries ceases and at least the decisive forces of production are concentrated in the hands of the workers. – Marx, Address of the Central Committee to the Communist League[15]
During his leadership of the Russian revolution of 1905, Trotsky argued that once it became clear that the Tsar's army would not come out in support of the workers, it was necessary to retreat before the armed might of the state in as good an order as possible. [16] In 1917, Trotsky was again elected chairman of the Petrograd soviet, but this time soon came to lead the Military Revolutionary Committee which had the allegiance of the Petrograd garrison, and carried through the October 1917 insurrection. Military Revolutionary Committee also known as the Milrevcom (Военно-революционный комитет военревком ВРК was the name for military Stalin wrote:
All practical work in connection with the organization of the uprising was done under the immediate direction of Comrade Trotsky, the President of the Petrograd Soviet. Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party It can be stated with certainty that the Party is indebted primarily and principally to Comrade Trotsky for the rapid going over of the garrison to the side of the Soviet and the efficient manner in which the work of the Military Revolutionary Committee was organized. – Stalin, Pravda, November 6, 1918[17]
As a result of his role in the Russian Revolution of 1917, the theory of Permanent Revolution was embraced by the young Soviet state until 1924. Events 355 - Roman Emperor Constantius II promotes his cousin Julian to the rank of Caesar, entrusting him with Year 1918 ( MCMXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common
The Russian revolution of 1917 was marked by two revolutions: the relatively spontaneous February 1917 revolution, and the 25 October 1917 seizure of power by the Bolsheviks, who had won the leadership of the Petrograd soviet. Events 1147 - The Portuguese, under Afonso I, and Crusaders from England and Flanders conquer Lisbon after a Year 1917 ( MCMXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year
Before the February 1917 Russian revolution, Lenin had formulated a slogan calling for the 'democratic dictatorship of the proletariat and the peasantry', but after the February revolution, through his April theses, Lenin instead called for "all power to the Soviets". Lenin nevertheless continued to emphasise however (as did Trotsky also) the classical Marxist position that the peasantry formed a basis for the development of capitalism, not socialism. [18]
But also before February 1917, Trotsky had not accepted the importance of a Bolshevik style organisation. Once the February 1917 Russian revolution had broken out Trotsky admitted the importance of a Bolshevik organisation, and joined the Bolsheviks in July 1917. Despite the fact that many, like Stalin, saw Trotsky's role in the October 1917 Russian revolution as central, Trotsky says that without Lenin and the Bolshevik party the October revolution of 1917 would not have taken place.
As a result, since 1917, Trotskyism as a political theory is fully committed to a Leninist style of democratic centralist party organisation, which Trotskyists argue must not be confused with the party organisation as it later developed under Stalin. Democratic centralism is the name given to the principles of internal organization used by Leninist political parties and the term is sometimes used as a synonym for any Leninist Trotsky had previously suggested that Lenin's method of organisation would lead to a dictatorship, but it is important to emphasise that after 1917 orthodox Trotskyists argue that the loss of democracy in the Soviet Union was caused by the failure of the revolution to successfully spread internationally and the consequent wars, isolation and imperialist intervention, not the Bolshevik style of organisation.
Lenin's outlook had always been that the Russian revolution would need to stimulate a Socialist revolution in western Europe in order that this European socialist society would then come to the aid of the Russian revolution and enable Russia to advance towards socialism. Lenin stated:
We have stressed in a good many written works, in all our public utterances, and in all our statements in the press that… the socialist revolution can triumph only on two conditions. First, if it is given timely support by a socialist revolution in one or several advanced countries. – Lenin, Speech at Tenth Congress of the RCP(B)[19]
This outlook matched precisely Trotsky's theory of Permanent Revolution. Trotsky's Permanent Revolution had foreseen that the working class would not stop at the bourgeois democratic stage of the revolution, but proceed towards a workers' state, as happened in 1917. In 1917, Lenin changed his attitude to Trotsky's theory of Permanent Revolution and after the October revolution it was adopted by the Bolsheviks. [20]
Lenin was met with initial disbelief in April 1917. Trotsky argues that:
up to the outbreak of the February revolution and for a time after Trotskyism did not mean the idea that it was impossible to build a socialist society within the national boundaries of Russia (which "possibility" was never expressed by anybody up to 1924 and hardly came into anybody’s head). Trotskyism meant the idea that the Russian proletariat might win the power in advance of the Western proletariat, and that in that case it could not confine itself within the limits of a democratic dictatorship but would be compelled to undertake the initial socialist measures. It is not surprising, then, that the April theses of Lenin were condemned as Trotskyist. – Leon Trotsky, History of the Russian Revolution[21]
In The Stalin School of Falsification, Trotsky argues that what he calls the "legend of Trotskyism" was formulated by Zinoviev and Kamenev in collaboration with Stalin in 1924, in response to the criticisms Trotsky raised of Politburo policy. Zinoviev, Zinovyev, Zinovieff (Зиновьев or Zinovieva (feminine Зиновьева is a Russian surname and may refer to ( Russian: Лев Борисович Каменев born Rosenfeld, Розенфельд ( – August 25, 1936) was a Bolshevik [22] Orlando Figes argues that "The urge to silence Trotsky, and all criticism of the Politburo, was in itself a crucial factor in Stalin's rise to power. Orlando Figes ( IPA pronunciation:) (born 1959 is a British historian of Russia and a professor of history at Birkbeck University of London. "[23]
During 1922–24, Lenin suffered a series of strokes and became increasingly incapacitated. Before his death in 1924, Lenin, while describing Trotsky as "distinguished not only by his exceptional abilities – personally he is, to be sure, the most able man in the present Central Committee", criticized him for "showing excessive preoccupation with the purely administrative side of the work" and "non-Bolshevism", and also requested that Stalin be removed from his position of General Secretary, but his notes remained suppressed until 1956. [24] Zinoviev and Kamenev broke with Stalin in 1925 and joined Trotsky in 1926 in what was known as the United Opposition. The United Opposition (sometimes also called the Joint Opposition) was a group formed in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks in 1926 by Leon Trotsky [25]
In 1926, Stalin allied with Bukharin who then led the campaign against "Trotskyism". Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (Никола́й Ива́нович Буха́рин ( &ndash March 15, 1938) was a Bolshevik In The Stalin School of Falsification, Trotsky quotes Bukharin's 1918 pamphlet, From the Collapse of Czarism to the Fall of the Bourgeoisie, which was re-printed by the party publishing house, Proletari, in 1923. In this pamphlet, Bukharin explains and embraces Trotsky's theory of permanent revolution, writing: "The Russian proletariat is confronted more sharply than ever before with the problem of the international revolution … The grand total of relationships which have arisen in Europe leads to this inevitable conclusion. Thus, the permanent revolution in Russia is passing into the European proletarian revolution. " Yet it is common knowledge, Trotsky argues, that three years later, in 1926, "Bukharin was the chief and indeed the sole theoretician of the entire campaign against 'Trotskyism', summed up in the struggle against the theory of the permanent revolution. "[26]
Trotsky wrote that the Left Opposition grew in influence throughout the 1920s, attempting to reform the Communist Party. Left communism and the Left Opposition are distinct Left communism should not be confused with the Trotskyist tendency described below But in 1927 Stalin declared "civil war" against them:
During the first ten years of its struggle, the Left Opposition did not abandon the program of ideological conquest of the party for that of conquest of power against the party. Its slogan was: reform, not revolution. The bureaucracy, however, even in those times, was ready for any revolution in order to defend itself against a democratic reform.
In 1927, when the struggle reached an especially bitter stage, Stalin declared at a session of the Central Committee, addressing himself to the Opposition: “Those cadres can be removed only by civil war!” What was a threat in Stalin’s words became, thanks to a series of defeats of the European proletariat, a historic fact. The road of reform was turned into a road of revolution. – Trotsky, Leon, Revolution Betrayed, p279, Pathfinder (1972)
Defeat of the European working class led to further isolation in Russia, and further suppression of the Opposition. Trotsky argued that the "so-called struggle against 'Trotskyism' grew out of the bureaucratic reaction against the October Revolution [of 1917]". [27] He responded to the one sided civil war with his Letter to the Bureau of Party History, (1927), contrasting what he claimed to be the falsification of history with the official history of just a few years before. He further accused Stalin of derailing the Chinese revolution, and causing the massacre of the Chinese workers:
In the year 1918, Stalin, at the very outset of his campaign against me, found it necessary, as we have already learned, to write the following words:
“All the work of practical organization of the insurrection was carried out under the direct leadership of the Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet, comrade Trotsky…” (Stalin, Pravda, Nov. 6, 1918)
With full responsibility for my words, I am now compelled to say that the cruel massacre of the Chinese proletariat and the Chinese Revolution at its three most important turning points, the strengthening of the position of the trade union agents of British imperialism after the General Strike of 1926, and, finally, the general weakening of the position of the Communist International and the Soviet Union, the party owes principally and above all to Stalin. – Trotsky, Leon, The Stalin School of Falsification, p87, Pathfinder (1971)
Trotsky was sent into internal exile and his supporters were jailed. Victor Serge, for instance, first "spent six weeks in a cell" after a visit at midnight, then 85 days in an inner GPU cell, most of it in solitary confinement. He details the jailings of the Left Opposition. [28] The Left Opposition, however, continued to work in secret within the Soviet Union. [29] Trotsky was eventually exiled to Turkey. He moved from there to Norway, and finally to Mexico. [30]
After 1928, the various Communist Parties throughout the world expelled Trotskyists from their ranks. Most Trotskyists defend the economic achievements of the planned economy in the Soviet Union during the 1920's and 1930's, despite the "misleadership" of the soviet bureaucracy, and what they claim to be the loss of democracy. [31] Trotskyists claim that in 1928 inner party democracy, and indeed soviet democracy, which was at the foundation of Bolshevism,[32] had been destroyed within the various Communist Parties. Anyone who disagreed with the party line was labeled a Trotskyist and even a fascist. Fascism is a totalitarian nationalist and corporatist ideology
In 1937, Stalin again unleashed a political terror against the Left Opposition and many of the remaining 'Old Bolsheviks' (those who had played key roles in the October Revolution in 1917), in the face of increased opposition, particularly in the army. Old Bolshevik (ста́рый большеви́к is an unofficial designation for a member of the Bolshevik party before the Russian Revolution of 1917, most of The October Revolution (Октябрьская революция Oktyabrskaya revolyutsiya) also known as the Soviet Revolution [33]
Trotsky developed the theory that the Russian workers' state had become a "degenerated workers' state. In Trotskyist political theory the term degenerated workers' state has been used since the 1930s to describe the state of the Soviet Union after Stalin 's " Capitalist rule had not been restored, and nationalized industry and economic planning, instituted under Lenin, were still in effect. However, Trotskyists claim that the state was controlled by a bureaucratic caste with interests hostile to those of the working class. Stalinism was a counter-revolutionary force.
Trotsky defended the Soviet Union against attack from foreign powers and against internal counter-revolution, but called for a political revolution within the USSR to bring about his version of socialist democracy: "The bureaucracy can be removed only by a revolutionary force". A counter-revolutionary is anyone who opposes a Revolution, particularly those who act after a revolution to try to overturn or reverse it in full or in part A political revolution, in the Trotskyist theory is an upheaval in which the government is replaced or the form of government altered but in which property relations are predominantly [34] He argued that if the working class did not take power away from the "Stalinist" bureaucracy, the bureaucracy would restore capitalism in order to enrich itself. In the view of many Trotskyists, this is exactly what has happened since the beginning of Glasnost and Perestroika in the USSR. (Гла́сность)is literally defined as publicity and sometimes figuratively interpreted as "tipping a vase to let someone see into the vase but not the bottom of the vase" (Перестройка) is the Russian term (now used in English for the economic reforms introduced in June 1987 by the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev Some argue that the adoption of market socialism by the People's Republic of China has also led to capitalist counter-revolution. Market socialism is a term used to denote two different Economic system (s based in Socialism which operate according to Market principles Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES Many of Trotsky's criticisms of Stalinism were described in his book, The Revolution Betrayed. Stalinism is the political regime named after Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union from 1929–1953
"Trotskyist" has been used by "Stalinists" to mean a traitor; in the Spanish Civil War, being called a "Trot," "Trotskyist" or "Trotskyite" by the USSR-supported elements implied that the person was some sort of fascist spy or agent provocateur. The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict in Spain that started after an attempted Coup d'état committed by parts of the army against the government of Traditionally an agent provocateur ( Plural: agents provocateurs, French for "inciting agent" is a person employed by the police or For instance, George Orwell, a prominent Anti-Stalinist writer, wrote about this practice in his book Homage to Catalonia and in his essay Spilling the Spanish Beans. Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950 who used the Pseudonym George Orwell, was an English writer Stalinism is the political regime named after Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union from 1929–1953 Homage to Catalonia is political journalist and Novelist George Orwell 's personal account of his experiences and observations in the In his book Animal Farm, an allegory for the Russian Revolution, he represented Trotsky with the character "Snowball" and Stalin with the character "Napoleon. Animal Farm is a Novel by George Orwell, and is the most famous satirical Allegory of Soviet Totalitarianism Snowball is a fictional Pig in the book Animal Farm written by George Orwell. Napoleon is a fictional character in George Orwell 's Animal Farm. " Emmanuel Goldstein in Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four has also been linked to Trotsky. Emmanuel Goldstein is a key character in George Orwell 's Novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. Nineteen Eighty-Four (also titled 1984) by George Orwell (the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair) is a 1949 English Novel
In 1937 Trotsky wrote:
To maintain itself, Stalinism is now forced to conduct a direct civil war against Bolshevism, under the name of "Trotskyism," not only in the USSR but also in Spain. The old Bolshevik Party is dead, but Bolshevism is raising its head everywhere. To deduce Stalinism from Bolshevism or from Marxism is the same as to deduce, in a larger sense, counterrevolution from revolution. – Trotsky, Leon, Stalinism and Bolshevism 1937, in Living Marxism, No. 18, April 1990.
Stalin put out a general call for the assassination of Trotsky, and he was finally killed with an ice axe in Mexico in 1940, by Ramon Mercader, a Spanish supporter of Stalin, under direct orders from the GPU. An ice axe is a multi-purpose Mountaineering tool carried by practically every mountaineer The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Jaume Ramón Mercader del Río Hernández ( February 7 1914 &ndash October 18 1978) was a Catalan Communist who became Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party [35]
Basic concepts Ideologies Communist internationals Prominent communists Related subjects Communism Portal |
In 1938, Trotsky and the organisations that supported his outlook established the Fourth International. Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based See also Marxian economics, Marxism Marxist philosophy or Marxist theory are terms which cover work in Philosophy Class struggle is the active expression of Class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective International Socialism redirects here For the journal of the same name see International Socialism (journal Proletarian internationalism is a A Political party described as a communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of Communism through a communist form of Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Leninism refers to various related political and economic theories elaborated by Bolshevik revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin. Stalinism is the political regime named after Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union from 1929–1953 Maoism, variably and officially known as Mao Zedong Thought ( is a variant of Marxism derived from the teachings of the late Chinese leader Titoism is an adaptation of communist ideology named after Josip Broz Tito, leader of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, primarily used to describe The Juche Idea (주체사상 Juche Sasang) is the official state Ideology of North Korea and the Political system based on it Left communism is the range of communist viewpoints held by the Communist Left, which opposes the political ideas of the Bolsheviks Council communism is a Far-left movement originating in Germany and the Netherlands in the 1920s Religious communism is a form of Communism centered on religious principles Eurocommunism was a new trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties to develop a theory and practice of social transformation that National Communism, is an Islamic form of Communism which had a strong Nationalist element The Communist League was the first Marxist international organisation The Second International (1889-1916 was an organization of socialist and labour parties formed in Paris on July 14, 1889. The Comintern ( Com munist Intern ational also known as the Third International) was an international Communist organisation founded in Moscow The Fourth International ( FI) is a communist international organisation working in opposition to both Capitalism and Stalinism. Friedrich Engels (28 November 1820 – 5 August 1895 was a German social scientist and philosopher, who Rosa Luxemburg (Róża Luksemburg 5 March 1870 or 1871 15 January 1919 was a Polish-born Jewish German Marxist theorist, socialist Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party Leon Trotsky ( Russian:, Lev Davidovich Trotsky, also transliterated Leo, Lyev, Trotskii, Trotski, Trotskij Mao Zedong ( 26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976) was a Chinese Military and political leader who led Anarchism is a Political philosophy encompassing theories and attitudes which support the elimination of all compulsory Government, i Anti-capitalism describes a wide variety of movements ideas and attitudes which oppose Capitalism. Anti-communism refers to opposition to Communism. Historically the word "communism" has been used to refer to several types of communal social organization and Communist state is a term used by many Political scientists to describe a Form of government in which the State operates under a one-party system Communist symbolism consists of a series of Symbols that represent (either literally or figuratively a variety of themes associated with communism Criticisms of Communism can be divided in two broad categories Those concerning themselves with the practical aspects of 20th century Communist state and those concerning Democratic centralism is the name given to the principles of internal organization used by Leninist political parties and the term is sometimes used as a synonym for any Leninist The " dictatorship of the proletariat " or workers' state is a term employed by Marxists that refers to what they see as a temporary state between the This article intentionally focuses only on the history of communism as a self-contained self-aware political movement Luxemburgism (also written Luxembourgism) is a specific revolutionary theory within Communism, based on the writings of Rosa Luxemburg. The New Class is a term to describe the privileged Ruling class of Bureaucrats and Communist party functionaries which typically arises in a Stalinist The New Left were the Left-wing movements in different countries in the 1960s and 1970s that unlike the earlier leftist focus on union activism instead adopted a Post-Communism is a name sometimes given to the period of political and economic Transition in former Communist states located in parts of Europe and Primitive communism is A term usually associated with Karl Marx, but most fully elaborated by Friedrich Engels (in The Origin of the Family 1884 and referring Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution Stalinism is the political regime named after Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union from 1929–1953 Socialist economics is a broad and sometimes controversial term Titoism is an adaptation of communist ideology named after Josip Broz Tito, leader of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, primarily used to describe The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The Fourth International ( FI) is a communist international organisation working in opposition to both Capitalism and Stalinism. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Fourth International ( FI) is a communist international organisation working in opposition to both Capitalism and Stalinism. He said that only the Fourth International, basing itself on Lenin's theory of the vanguard party, could lead the world revolution, and that it would need to be built in opposition to both the capitalists and the Stalinists.
Trotsky argued that the defeat of the German working class and the coming to power of Hitler in 1933 was due in part to the mistakes of the Third Period policy of the Communist International and that the subsequent failure of the Communist Parties to draw the correct lessons from those defeats showed that they were no longer capable of reform, and a new international organisation of the working class must be organised. The Third Period was the policy adopted by the Comintern at the end of the Soviet Union's New Economic Policy in 1928 and was in place until the adoption
At the time of the founding of the Fourth International in 1938 Trotskyism was a mass political current in Vietnam, Sri Lanka and slightly later Bolivia. Vietnam (ˌviːɛtˈnɑːm Việt Nam) officially Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island The Republic of Bolivia (República de Bolivia) named after Simón Bolívar, is a Landlocked country in central South America. There was also a substantial Trotskyist movement in China which included the founding father of the Chinese Communist movement, Chen Duxiu, amongst its number. Chronology October 9 1879 Birth in Anqing, Anhui. 1879 to 1901 Early life and education in China Wherever Stalinists gained power, they made it a priority to hunt down Trotskyists and treated them as the worst of enemies.
The Fourth International suffered repression and disruption through the Second World War. Isolated from each other, and faced with political developments quite unlike those anticipated by Trotsky, some Trotskyist organizations decided that the USSR no longer could be called a degenerated workers state and withdrew from the Fourth International. In Trotskyist political theory the term degenerated workers' state has been used since the 1930s to describe the state of the Soviet Union after Stalin 's After 1945 Trotskyism was smashed as a mass movement in Vietnam and marginalised in a number of other countries. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar
The International Secretariat of the Fourth International organised an international conference in 1946, and then World Congresses in 1948 and 1951 to assess the expropriation of the capitalists in Eastern Europe and Yugoslavia, the threat of a Third World War, and the tasks for revolutionaries. The Fourth International ( FI) is a communist international organisation working in opposition to both Capitalism and Stalinism. The Eastern European Communist-led governments which came into being after World War II without a social revolution were described by a resolution of the 1948 congress as presiding over capitalist economies. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including By 1951, the Congress had concluded that they had become "deformed workers' states. In Trotskyist political theory deformed workers' states are states where the Bourgeoisie has been overthrown through Social revolution, the industrial " As the Cold War intensified, the FI's 1951 World Congress adopted theses by Michel Pablo that anticipated an international civil war. Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the Michel Pablo ( Greek: Μισέλ Πάμπλο; August 24, 1911 - February 17 1996) was the pseudonym of Michalis Pablo's followers considered that the Communist Parties, insofar as they were placed under pressure by the real workers' movement, could escape Stalin's manipulations and follow a revolutionary orientation.
The 1951 Congress argued that Trotskyists should start to conduct systematic work inside those Communist Parties which were followed by the majority of the working class. However, the ISFI's view that the Soviet leadership was counter-revolutionary remained unchanged. The Fourth International ( FI) is a communist international organisation working in opposition to both Capitalism and Stalinism. The 1951 Congress argued that the Soviet Union took over these countries because of the military and political results of World War II, and instituted nationalized property relations only after its attempts at placating capitalism failed to protect those countries from the threat of incursion by the West.
Pablo began expelling large numbers of people who did not agree with his thesis and who did not want to dissolve their organizations within the Communist Parties. For instance, he expelled the majority of the French section and replaced its leadership. As a result, the opposition to Pablo eventually rose to the surface, with an open letter to Trotskyists of the world, by Socialist Workers Party leader James P. Cannon. The Socialist Workers Party, or SWP, is a Communist Political party in the United States. James Patrick Cannon (1890–1974 was an American Trotskyist Communist leader
The Fourth International split in 1953 into two public factions. The International Committee of the Fourth International was established by several sections of the International as an alternative centre to the International Secretariat, in which they felt a revisionist faction led by Michel Pablo had taken power. For the "International Committee of the Fourth International" that superseded the United Secretariat of the Fourth International in 2003 please see Reunified The term "revisionism" is also used to refer to other concepts From 1960, a number of ICFI sections started to reunify with the IS. After the 1963 reunification congress which established the reunified Fourth International, the French and British sections maintained the ICFI. The reunified Fourth International was created in 1963 by the reunification of the majorities of the two public factions of the Fourth International: the International Secretariat Other groups took different paths and originated the present complex map of Trotskyist groupings.
Trotskyism has had some influence in some recent major social upheavals, particularly in Latin America. In particular, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez declared himself to be a Trotskyist during his swearing in of his cabinet two days before his own inauguration on 10 January 2007. Events 49 BC - Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. [36]
The Bolivian Trotskyist party (Partido Obrero Revolucionario, POR) became a mass party in the period of the late 1940s and early 1950s, and together with other groups played a central role during and immediately after the period termed the Bolivian National Revolution. The Revolutionary Workers' Party ( Spanish: Partido Obrero Revolucionario, POR is a Trotskyist Political party in Bolivia. [37]
In Brazil, as an officially recognised platform or faction of the PT, the Trotskyist Movimento Convergência Socialista (CS), now the United Socialist Workers' Party saw a number of its members elected to national, state and local legislative bodies during the 1980s. The Unified Socialist Workers' Party ( Portuguese: Partido Socialista dos Trabalhadores Unificado, PSTU) is a Trotskyist organisation in [38] Today the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL) is described as Trotskyist. The Socialism and Freedom Party ( Partido Socialismo e Liberdade, P-SOL is a Brazilian political party Its presidential candidate in the 2006 general elections, Heloísa Helena is termed a Trotskyist who was a member of the Workers Party of Brazil (PT), a legislative deputy in Alagoas and in 1999 was elected to the Federal Senate. Heloísa Helena Lima de Moraes Carvalho, pron. elo'izɐ e'lenɐ 'limɐ di mo'ɾajs kax'vaʎu (born June 6, 1962 in Pão de Açúcar Alagoas The Workers' Party ( Partido dos Trabalhadores, PT is a left-wing Political party in Brazil. Expelled from the PT in December 2003, she helped found PSOL, in which various Trotskyist groups play a prominent role.
During the 1980s in Argentina, the Trotskyist party founded in 1982 by Nahuel Moreno, MAS, (Movimiento al Socialismo, Movement Toward Socialism), claimed to be the "largest Trotskyist party" in the world, before it broke into a number of different fragments in the late 1980s, including the present-day MST. Nahuel Moreno ( April 24, 1924 - January 25, 1987) (real name Hugo Miguel Bressano Capacete) was a Trotskyist leader from During the 1980s it obtained around 10% of the electorate, representing 3. 5 million voters. . Today the Workers' Party in Argentina has an electoral base in Salta Province in the far north, particularly in the city of Salta itself, and has become the third political force in the provinces of Tucuman, also in the north, and Santa Cruz, in the south. The Workers' Party (Partido Obrero is an Argentine Trotskyist Political party.
In Indochina during the 1930s, Vietnamese Trotskyism led by Ta Thu Thau was a significant current, particularly in Saigon. Vietnamese Trotskyists were involved in the earliest efforts to build a revolutionary movement in Indochina. Tạ Thu Thâu (1906–1945 was a Trotskyist, the leader of the Fourth International in Vietnam. [39]
In Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan Trotskyist party (LSSP) expelled its pro-Moscow wing in 1940, becoming a Trotskyist-led party. The Lanka Sama Samaja Party (literally Ceylon Equal Society Party in Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය in Tamil: லங்கா சமசமாஜக் In the general election of 1947 the LSSP became the main opposition party, winning 10 seats. It joined the Trotskyist Fourth International in 1950, and led a general strike (Hartal) in 1953. [40][41]
In France, 10% of the electorate voted in 2002 for parties calling themselves Trotskyist. [42]
In the UK in the 1980s, the entrist Militant tendency won three members of parliament and effective control of Liverpool City Council while in the Labour Party. The Militant tendency was an entryist group within the UK Labour Party founded in 1964 Described as "Britain's fifth most important political party" in 1986[43] it led the 1989–1991 mass anti-poll tax movement which was widely thought to have led to the downfall of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Margaret Hilda Thatcher Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925 [44][45]
There is a wide range of Trotskyist organisations around the world. These include but are not limited to:
The reunified Fourth International derives from the 1963 reunification of the majorities of the two public factions into which the FI split in 1953: the International Secretariat of the Fourth International (ISFI) and the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). The reunified Fourth International was created in 1963 by the reunification of the majorities of the two public factions of the Fourth International: the International Secretariat The Fourth International ( FI) is a communist international organisation working in opposition to both Capitalism and Stalinism. For the "International Committee of the Fourth International" that superseded the United Secretariat of the Fourth International in 2003 please see Reunified It is often referred to as the United Secretariat of the Fourth International, the name of its leading committee before 2003. It is widely described as the largest contemporary Trotskyist organisation. [1], [2], [3]. Its best known section is the Ligue Communiste Revolutionnaire of France. The Revolutionary Communist League ( Ligue communiste révolutionnaire) (LCR is a French democratic Revolutionary socialist Political party
In many countries its sections work within working class parties, and alliances, in which Trotskyists are a minority.
The Committee for a Workers' International (CWI) was founded in 1974 and now has sections in over 35 countries. The Committee for a Workers' International (CWI is an international association of Trotskyist parties Before 1997, most organisations affiliated to the CWI sought to build an entrist Marxist wing within the large social democratic parties. Social democracy is a Political ideology of the left and centre-left Since the early 1990s it has argued that most social democratic parties have moved so far to the right that there is little point trying to work within them. Instead the CWI has adopted a range of tactics, mostly seeking to build independent parties, but in some cases working within other broad working-class parties.
The International Socialist Tendency, led by the Socialist Workers Party, the largest Trotskyist group in Britain. The International Socialist Tendency is an international grouping of organisations around the ideas of Tony Cliff, founder of the Socialist Workers Party in the UK The Socialist Workers Party ( SWP) is the largest political party of the Far left in Britain that stands in the revolutionary socialist tradition The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located
In France, the LCR is rivalled by Lutte Ouvrière. Workers' Struggle ( Lutte Ouvrière) is the usual name under which the Communist Union ( Union Communiste) (Trotskyist a French Trotskyist That group is the French section of the Internationalist Communist Union (UCI). The Internationalist Communist Union (in French Union Communiste Internationaliste) is an international grouping of Trotskyist political parties, centred UCI has small sections in a handful of other countries. It focuses its activities, whether propaganda or intervention, within the industrial proletariat.
The Committee for a Marxist International (CMI) split from CWI, when CWI abandoned entryism. The International Marxist Tendency (IMT is a Trotskyist tendency based on the ideas of Ted Grant. Since 2006, it has been known as the International Marxist Tendency (IMT). The International Marxist Tendency (IMT is a Trotskyist tendency based on the ideas of Ted Grant. CMI/IMT groups continue the policy of entering mainstream social democratic, communist or radical parties. In Pakistan, the group had three MPs elected as candidates of the Pakistan Peoples Party. Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and The Pakistan Peoples Party ( PPP) (پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی is Centre-left Political party in Pakistan affiliated with Socialist Leading figures in CMI/IMT are Ted Grant (who died in 2006) and Alan Woods. Edward (Ted Grant ( 9 July 1913 &ndash 20 July 2006) was a South African Trotskyist Politician who spent most of his adult Alan Woods may refer to Alan Woods (footballer Alan Woods (politician Alan Woods (soccer
There used to be several groups claiming the name of International Committee of the Fourth International, but now only two remain. For the "International Committee of the Fourth International" that superseded the United Secretariat of the Fourth International in 2003 please see Reunified Further, only one of these ICFIs has national groups in more than one country. Its sections are called Socialist Equality Parties and publish the World Socialist Web Site. The World Socialist Web Site is the online news and information center of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI
The list of Trotskyist internationals shows that there are a large number of other multinational tendencies that stand in the tradition of Leon Trotsky. This is a list of Trotskyist internationals. It includes all of the many Political internationals which self-identify as Trotskyist. Some Trotskyist organisations are only organised in one country.