& L ol£ 1 41 soon convince ourselves by examining the full evidence.£

It wopld have been, of course, an absurdity to deny ta

the Soviet Government the right to ptilise antagonisms in the

camp of the Imperialists, or in case of necessity to give this or

that concession to the Imperialists. Workers on stnice also utilise

the competition between capitalist enterprises, give concessions to

the capitalists, and efoen capitulate before them when tney cannot win^.

But does it follow from this that the Trade Union leaders have the

right to collaborate amicaoi^ witn the capitalists, ( mnhw 11 i nlii7iz.~~

/M ( K ^painting them in bright colours^, and turning--infrfr their servants?

Nobody can ©frl-l those strikers who are forced to give dm iapAitsrs.k tfn-ACAttyny" But te^eerW* Jouhauxj^f ,who is paralysing the class struggle of the

proletariat in the name of peace and friendship with the capitalists,

a—*feya4-tor—%o--the id not only our right but our duty.

The difference between the Brest-Iitovsk policy of Lenin and the

Franco-Soviet policy of Stalin is the same as the difference between

the policy of a revolutionary Trade Unionist who^ after a partial

defeat^is forced to give concessions to the class enemy, and the policy

of an opportunist who voluntarily becomes an ally and lackey of the

class enemy.

Lenin ^ rece iv ed tB¥gcaaied-^w^-4-nterview ta . ). the reactionary

French officer, I wa*s==w*=fcl used to £receive£ him in those days with

the same purpose. S feexsaekU M iad undertaken to blow up the bridges

on the way of our retreat in order that our M U t a r y supplies should

not fall into the hands of the Germans, Only a^l*¥^-headed anarchic u

Cl *

perhaps will see treason in such/nrwt-

flays the official agents of France tod visited me and offered

artillery and provisions. tie perfectly well understood

that their aim was to drag us into a war with Germany. But the Ger­

man armies had attacked us in actual reality, and we were weak. B W f Uin these circumstances c+Q -rc

we tens the right A o ^ t ^ ^ 'h e l p " from the French military Staff.

UnquestionablyI It was precisely such a proposal that I brought

before the Central Committee of the Party on the 22nd February,191b .

The written text of this proposal was printed in the o ff ic ia l

minutes o f * the Central Committee, tublishcd in Moscow in ,929- Here

is the proposal*

"As a party of the socialist proletariat which is in power and which

is waging a war with Germany, we, through the government institution^.,

are taking all measures to arm and equip in the best possible way our

^evolutionary army with a ll meaao t necessitiesf, and for

this reason we have tp gesctcre them £&tm wherever possible, consequ-

ently also from the capitalistic governments Qur Party retains

the complete independence of its foreign policy, giving no political H

whatsoever to the capitalist governments , and in every

separate case examines their propositions from the view-point of

isefulnessl.— v i H —

Lenin was not present at this meeting of the Central Committee,

He sent a note. Here is its iext; 11 I beg to add my vote for

taking potatoes and weapons from the robbers of Anglo-French Imperial­

ism." (Protocol, page 246). Such was the way the Central Committee of

the Bolsheviks regarded the utilisation of capitalist antagonisms;

practical agreements with the Imperialists ("take the potatoesM) are

wholly permissible; but absolutely impermissible is a political solid-

ari3atlon with the "Imperialist robbers",

The crime of Stalin does not consist in entering into this or

^ h a t practical agreement with the class enemy; these agreements may

be correct or wrong,but in principle they cannot be rejected, Tne

crime consists in thisrlhat Stalin has approved of a policy of an^imper.

ialist government which stands in v i ^ i ^ n t defence of th e 'preying and

robbing Versailles Peace Treaty. Stalin has not yet taken a n y > ta to e s

from the imperialist robber, , b u t > « >

with them. The French bourgeoisie can, of course ,|s^trengthen its army

which already oppresses 60 millions of colonial alaves,without -Wre

I f the French bourgeoisie needed this approval it

~n Ln order to weaken and demoralise the class struggle of the

French proletariat. By signing the diploma' cum laudei* to French

militarism, Stalin acted not as a striker who is forced temporarily to

yield to the capitalist, but as a atrike-breaker who paralyses the

struggle of the workers.

" 0 — 0 - 0 - 0 -

The betrayal by Stalin and the leadership of the Comintern is

sxplainable by the character of the n£w ruling strata in the OSSft!

St is a privileged and uncontrolled bureaucracy which is prising above

the people and is oppressing tne people, Marxism teaches; Existence

determines consciounessfr. The Soviet bureaucracy is afraid more tnan

anything else of criticism, movement, riskj it is conservative, it

greedily guards its privileges. Strangling tne working class within t~e

USSR, it long ago lost its belief in the World Revolution. It promises

to build up "socialism in one country" if the toilers , remain;A

silent, endure, and submit.

lor the safeguard of the USSR the bureaucracy puts its hope in

its political daxterity, in the diplomacy of Litvinov, in the military

alliances with France and Czechoslavakia, but not in the revolutionary

^p ro letar iat . On the contrary^it is afraid that the French and Czech^

workers may frighten its new allies by their j^ncautious actions. It pSuts

as its task; to retard the class struggle of the proletariat in tne

"allied" countries. Thus the source of Stalin 's betrayal is the nat­

ional conservatism of the Soviet bureaucracy, a direct hostility to the

world proletarian revolution. ,v> —

The consequences of Stalin 's betrayal have shown themselves

at once In tne oynioal change of policy of the irench Communist Party, which

(^d ire cted by Stalin 's agents and not by le-ders elected by the French

I S b n . Yesterday these sentlemen prattled about "revolutionary iefeatism"

in case of war. Today they have come round to the point of view of

"national defence" ^ f * S U ar41n« pea0'-

repeat word by the formulas of capitalist diplomacy. Alas, a l l , pos­

itively a ll , imperialist robbers are "for peace"; ^ebnolud. alliances, lte

crease M e armies, manufacture poisonous gases, cultivate deadly bacilli—

l y and c c l u s i v e l y - l n ^ U * — of peace". Whoever says. "The Frahcc-

Soviet Alliance Is a guaranty for peace" Is taking on himself the r « P o n

slblllty not only for the Soviet Government but also for the

^ c h a n g e , for the French General Staff , for the gases and bac e n a

^ taf f ^

"L ’ Humanite" w rites»lh e French Government will find itself u n d e ^ _

* . control of the French workers". But this is an empty pbra.e of pi ^

— ' .here and when did the oppressed proletariat "control

foreign^policy of the bourgeoisie and the actions of its army, Hbw can

• t do It as long as all the power Is in the hands of the the proletariat do it as long

■bourgeoisie? In order to direct the army the bourgeoisie must be

overthrown and power captured. There is no other way. But the new

^policy ;<trd-tf«^rMiV<rtj,, • llAai). means to refuse tnis only road.

When a ?arty of the proletariat proclaims ihat in the event of

war it intends to "control" ( that is , to support) its national militar­

ism, and not to overthrow it , this Party transforms itself by this action

into a domestic animal of Capitalism, There is not the slig^est ground

to fear such a Party: it is not a revolutionary tiger but a tame donkey.

can be kept ift hunger, it can be whipped, it can b < / « ^ t in tae-eye©-,- y

all tne same it will carry its load of patriotism. It will |h ? perhaps

from time to time pitifully bray, "For Cod’ s sake, disarm the fascist

^ •a g u e s '1. in reply tc the bray it will i v an additional crack

fjt6» the whip. And well deserved!

XXJ&X

The Comintern ^ r e p r e s e n t e d , * ^ * * * * * * ^ the entry of the USSR into the

League of Nations and the conclusion of the Franco-Soviet^Alliance as the

greatest victory of the proletariat and peace. In what then the real

** J contert^r of this victory?

The programme of the Comintern adopted in 1 says that "the main

aim of the (League of Nations) is to put a stop to the irresistible

o-rowth of the revfclutionary crisis and to a s aifocate^^SiiflSj the USSR

^ y means of blo^ckade and war” . QUite naturally,fin such circumstance^

tirwirh the representatives of the USSR could not enter

the League of Nations, that is , the General Staff of the world imperial­

ist counter-revolution,

What has changed since then? Why has the USSR found it necessary

to enter the League of,Nations? vihe^s victory is nere? Here also the

leaders of tae Comintern have been cheating the workers. The trench

bourgeoisie would never enter into an agreement with the USSR if it

continued tfc see in it a revolutionary ^factor , iiMnaoe, f

Only the extraordinary weakening og the world revolution male it possible

to include the USSR in the^afe^einr group- , o f comoating imperial^/*A

camps.

Of course, had not Soviet industry made such tzxxtxvx* solid*<XS-hs-COy\jCl-<i

progress, had not Soviet* tanks and Soviet been in existence,

nobody would take the USSR f into account, fariac nnnHaimt-trt— rfc.

But the USSR can be taken into con i-d-e-rar-t-ism in different ways. Had

r~\the—tJSSR remained the fortress of the international revolution, had

the Comintern led a victorious offensive, the ruling classes of France,

England, and Italy would not hesitate to Hitler to

war against the USSR. But at present, f after .^ g-Lae e c aua the

crushing of the revolution in China, Germany, Austria, opain, ^after^.

b^^-aus-e^f}- the successes of European Fascism, -(-a-fter, becaus^-e#)-*

the collapse of the Comintern and the national regeneration of the

Soviet bureaucracy, the bourgeoisie of trance .England, and -i-taly is

jmpnyifir to Hitler; Why take the risk of opening a crusade against thel /ti'l'i Xi'. <-f

USSR? (All-1he—aa-»e-, wltheut this, by Stalin is successfully

strangling the revolution. It is worth trying to come to terms with*

him.XiXO .

.4The Franco-Soviet Alliance is not a guarantee ^er^peace - wha o

impudent nonsense1. - but a deal in case of war. The advantages of this

deal for the USSR are, to say the least, auestionafole. France is

"obliged" to come to the assistance of the USSR only -ia- that-ease’

when her partners of Locarno, that is England and Italy , will a^ree

to / t h i s T h i s means; in case French Imperialism rarfci finds it more

advantageous to come to terms^with Hitler at the expense of the USSR

ffioe^-%, England and Italy will always assist ■Cto-aedcfrHrnts

tre-tyayo.1'1- loga^U, i *1 legalising this "betrayal"^. " L ’ Humanite" is

carefully ^Tconcealing^^^u ^ r e v ii ngt- this clause safeguards irencn

Imperialism. But precisely this is the whole point,* fhe agreement

binds the USSfi, but it does not bind France/

XXLiU

Let us however assume that after all its blunders and ciimes

there was really nothing else left for the Soviet bureaucracy to do

than to conclude this double-meaning and unreliable military fejliance

with France. In this case there was nothing else left to the Soviets

but to ratify the treaty of Stalin^Lavai. But the position in J?ranee

is entirely different. The French proletariat must not allow xtt

bourgeoisie to hide behind the back of the Soviet bureaucracy.

aims of the French Imperialists in signing the pact with the Soviets ^

remain the same; to t ■ o to prepare n >

to facilitate the new mobilisation of the French people; to exploit

the >±oof|- of the Soviet proletariat. Had the Communist and Socialist

deputies voted in parliament for the Franco-Soviet Alliance, they

would by this act have demonstrated once more their betrayal of the

proletariatI

A struggle against was is unthinkable without a struggle against

one’ s own imperialism. A struggle against imperialism is unthinkable

without a struggle against its agents and a llies , the reformists and

Stalinists. What is flooeesift-py is a merciless purge from the workers

organisations ^p o lit ic a l and tradu-unionist, of all social-patriotic

traitors to the working class,whatever tiieir name i* : Leon Blum of

Thorez, ^ouhaux or J*.oimousson,

XXXH.

There is only one group in France|fcMto\, that| honestly, con­

sistently, and courageously standgup for the principles of the

proletarian revolution; it is the group of Bolsheviii-Leninists.

Their organ is the weekly, "La Yeriti” . Every* thinking worker^

must acquaint himself with this paper.

The Bolshevik-Leninists have clearly and precisely formulated

the tasks of the proletariat in the struggle against war in a special

pamphlet, "War and the Fourth International". To acquaint himself

with and to (deliberately; study tne questions adaamftg in this pamphlet

is the duty of everTadvanced proletarian who thinks for himself and

for his class.

The betrayal by the Stalinists together with the old betrayai

t f 1 the reformists demands a complete renewal of a ll proletarian

organisations. A new revolutionary party is wanted, i. new, a Fourth

International is wanted! To serve In this great h istoric // task form,

the content of the activity of the international organisation of

the Bolshevik-Leninists.

XXXXX

The betrayal ^ S t a l i n did not strike us as a bolt from the

blue, fie have forecasted It since 1 <>24, when the Soviet lmreauorao,

renounced the theories of k a r ^ n d kenin in favour of the theory of

"Socialism in One Country” . Intriguants and Philistines said that

our struggle with Stalin was a "personal" struggle. Now even the

blind must be oonvineed that this struggle Is waged H » for tne

fundamental principles of Internationalism and Revolution.

t

During the iWFk years we have said hundreds of times; Sacratch

a Stalinist and you will find an opportunist. Juow there is no

need to. even' scratch. The Stalinists actually stand on the extreme

right flank of the workers1 movement,and in so far as they continue

to cover themselves with the authority of the SuviHixftjiiaja October

Revolution, they are immeasurably more harmful than the oild tradit­

ional opportunists.fCfl

The hatred of-the Stalinists the ^olshevik-leninists ("Trotsky-

ists") is the hatred of a conservative bureaucrat • to. a real revolut­

ionary. Tne bueaucracy, trembling for its power and income, does

ectnot^stop Ue saSfle* hesitate -t-e— eom^itfr any meanness and vileness in

its struggle with the -Colshevik^Leninists.

Before committing his latest open betrayal, Stalin carried out a

new, the hundred and first , raid on the left wing in the USjR. lie

instigated a series of false trials against oppositionists, conceal­

ing their authentic opinions and ascribing to them actions which they

have^never committed. .Thus Zinoviev, the former Chairman of the

Comintern, was sentenced to 10 years7 imprisonment only because after

a series of waverings and repentances he was compelled to admit

the disastrous nature of Stalinist policy.

The Soviet bureaucracy has made an attempt, through an agent-

prov^cateur, to connect me with the terrorists, Kirov's assassins.

At the beginning of this year Stalin arrested my sen, a young scient-taken

ist, a loyal Soviet worker, who has absolutely no part at all in

political struggles. The aim of the arrest - a merciless terror not

only against Bolshevik-Leninists, but also against members of their

families. The Bureaucracy jlrnnvn ^ghfrfflfT no mercy when it sees tne

4. peril n r . . . T _its domination and its privileges. In this

sphere the Stalinists find constant support from the capitalist police

of the whole world.

Quite recently, in April, Stalin sent the leaders of the

Russian Comsomol to Paris to persuade the French revolutionary youth

to go over to a patriotic position. These young bureaucrats organioed

inside the Socialist Party a separate Stalinist faction,.whose main

slogan Is '! Ex pulsion of the Trotskyists*!'' It is unnecessary to add

that for this destructive work the Stalinists did not and do not

spare money; i a l t h o u g h they are poor in fldeas, they have no

1 1 jf'"-. proposed substi&ite fo-p- 1 1

shortage of cash.

But revolutionaries do not surrender under terror. On the con­

trary, they reply with a redoubled offensive. Stalinism is at present

the main ulcer of the world working-class movement. This ulcer must

be removed, must be cut out, and the piace cauterised with hot irons.

IThe proletariat must again be united under the banner of Marx and Lenin.

Lear Comrades,

I have not told you by far all that I intended to, and

not by far as I intended to. But I am compelled to hurry. At any

moment now a police officer will arrive to conduct me and my wife —

true comrade of my struggle and my wanderings — to theM- borders of

France. I am leaving with the warmest love for the French nation

and an ineradicable belief in the great future of the French prole­

tariat} but with an equally strong hatred of the hypocrisy, greed,

and cruelty of French Imperialism.

I believe that the toiling folk will sooner or later offer me

again the hospitality which the bourgeoisie now refuses me. I would

consider it my greatest happiness if in the near future the French

proletariat would give me the possibility of participating in their ±sito £4rvw A Sf j ,

decisive battles. Working men and working women of France! I am ready

at any minute, by word and deed, to answer your revolutionary call.

Permit me heartily and brotherly to shake your hands, and to

conclude this letter with that~^a3pJLiat-io«( which for almost forty years

has directed my thoughts and actions:

10th June,

iiOng Live the International ttoietarian Revolution1.

i.935. L.Trotsky.

N\

\) 11 A - proposed substitute for 11

shortage of cash.

But revolutionaries do not surrender under terror. On the con- r

trary, they reply with a redoubled offensive. Stalinism is at present:

the main ulcer of the world working-class movement. This ulcer must

be removed, must be cut out, and the gla<»c cauterised with hot irons.

The proletariat must again be united under the banner of Marx and Lenin.

Lear Comrades,

I have not told you by far all that I intended to, and

not by far as I intended to. But I am compelled to hurry. At any

moment now a police officer will arrive to conduct me and my wife —

true comrade of my struggle and my wanderings — to thek borders of

France. I am leaving with the warmest love for the French nation

and an ineradicable belief in the great future of the French prole­

tariat but with an equally strong hatred of the hypocrisy, greed

and cruelty of French Imperialism.

I believe that the toiling folk will sooner or later offer me

again the hospitality which the bourgeoisie now refuses me. I would

consider it my greatest happiness if in the near future the French

proletariat would give me the possibility of participating in their ots

decisive battles. Working men and working women o f :France! I am reacLy

at any minute, by word and deed, to answ?r your revolutionary call.

Permit me heartily and brotherly to shake your hands, and to

conclude this letter with that aap-fti-atIftn which for almost forty years

has directed my thoughts and actions:

Long Live the International Proletarian Revolution!

10th June, 1935. L.Trotsky.

Collection Number: AG2722

WORKER’S PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA, 1933-1935

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