...... , . . October 1940 Fourth n~ernational I~he Monthly Magazine of the Socialist Workers Party

Twenty Cents letter from H, T. of Los Angeles. IIM anager’s Column SinCeany comment would be su- II1[ PuZd48hedbv the NationaZUotnm{tteeof the 8o04@et Wovker8Partu perfluous, we merely print the ! letter as received. “Dear Mike: Volume I October 1940 No. 5 (Whole No. 5) The magazine is late in reach- Where is the September issue of Published monthly by the SOCIALIST WORKZRS PARTW, 116 Uni- ing the worker%first because of versity Place, New York, N. Y. Telephone: ALgonquin 4-8547. the FOURTH INTERNATION- Subscription rates: $2.00 per year; bundles, 14c for 5 copies and AL? The irregular appearance financial difficulties, and then up. Canada and Foreign: $2.50 per year; bundles 16c for 5 because the contents had to be copies and up. Entered as seeond-ckiaematter May 20, 1940, at the of the F.I. has to stop. If the post Officeat New York N.Y., under the Act of Maroh 8,.1879. changed to make it a memorial F.I. is to increase its influence issue. That our tribute to Trot- Editoi+al Board: and its readers, it must appear JAMES P. CANNON JOSEPH HANSEN regularly each month, and on sky should have been delayed ALBERT GOLDMAN FELIX MORROW of the month. A drive because of a shortage of moneY BU8h&%T lf~ag~: the first is a bitter situation. Yet, who MICHAEL CORT must be started, similar to the better than the Old Man knew Trotsky Defense Fund Drive to of the heartaches involved in TA B L E O F CONT EN TS raise adequate financial support keeping a revolutionary press for the continued existence of With Trotsky to the End ...... 115 the F.I. Furthermore, the Ple- alive in periods of reaction. And by Joseph Hansen who better than he proved that num XUUSt demand that al] Lo. it can be kept alive and in- LETTERS AND ARTICLES BY : cals and Branches cease their fluential in face of the most His Last Letters ...... 124 horseplay with accounts. There persistent persecuticm. His Last Article ...... 128 must be no retreat on the F.I. While Trotsky is no longer It must appear at all costs. Its Some Questions on American Problems . . . . 132 educational value for our mem- able to guide and assist us, his We Do Not Change Our Course ...... 135 bers and our sympathizers is too memory will play no small part in steeling us for the tas~ The Kremlin’s Role in the War ...... 137 important for any retreat.” ahead. Our memorial to the Old The May 24 Attempt to Kill Trotsky ...... 138 Man will not be merelY this Letter to the Workers of the USSR ...... 140 October issue, but rather the On the Founding of the Fourth International 141 UNSER WORT hundreds of issues not yet gone ORGAN OF THE 1. K. D. to press: our renewed faith in, MANAGER’SCOLUMN InsideFront Cover -446 (Internationalist Commun- and dedication to, hjs political ists of Germany, Section principles; and our detern@a- of the 4th International) tion that our magazine will con- tinue to live and grow and play on neighborhoodand newsdealer Randolph Street; Ma g a z ine THE LATEST ISSUE IS its part in the coming revolu- will bring results, Stand, 141 North Clark Street; ON THE PRESS NOW tion. *** Ziv Book Shop, 167North Clark *** Street; 51st Street L Station; TEN CENTS A COPY While you are out creating Newsstands are of particular L Station, Cottage Grove and Order from newsstand demand for the mag- importance right now. LOSAn- 63rd Street; News Stand, 57th azine, don’t overlook your li- D. EDWARDS geles has been concentrating on Street and Blackstone; and Uni- P. O. BOX 173 Station D brary. A great many libraries this angle during the past month versity of Chicago Bookstore, New York, N. Y. and reports fine results. H. T. subscribe but a local check-up 57th and Ellis. writes, “We are distributing should be made by every branch. most of the F.I.’s through news- If you find no F.I. in your li- stands and contact sales. As a brary, send us the word and matter of fact, now that we’ve we’ll forward a sample copy. WRITTEN BY TROTSKY gotten under way there is an After the sample copy is on the increasing demand for the maga- shelves, the rest is up to you. Manifestoof the FourthInternational zine fkomthe news sellers. One See that it is used! newsstand declined to take our Bundle orders have remained magazine at first but we created constant over the summer The Imp erial ist War a demand for it by canvassing months. The magazine weathered his neighborhood. H e n o w the reduced bundle orders with andthe handles twenty copies of each considerably more difficulty. issue and is often sold out before Now that the S.W.P. is making the first week.” This is a tine organizational gains, that prog- Proletarian Revolution report from H. T. and shows ress must be reflected in the that a little joint concentration bundle orders. Some branches A 48-pagepamphleton—. take more than they sell and CAtiSE~ OF TEE- PRESENT WAR distribute the remainder free, ROLE OF U.S. RWPERIALISM and this is not the least unsound. WHAT NAZI WAR SLOGANS REALLY MEAN If the number on your The main objective is to get our RESPONSHMLITYOF 2nd& Srd wrapper reads: INTERNATIONALS message to the workers, and WHAT TO DO NOW ! N 46, .orF 4, however you finance it locally !s your subscription expires your concern. Do be careful A COM PLETE P ROG RAM ! with this issue. In order to that your bundle order keeps avoid missing a single ia- A CALL TO ACTION! sue of FOURTHINTERNA- pace with your organizational TIONAL,be sure to send in gains. Analyze your F.I. distri- 30 per copy to all branchesof the S.W.P. your renewal order immed- bution this fall. 60 per single copy *** iately. $2.00 for one year, Published by the: $3.00 for one year in com- Good distribution newa from bination with the SOCIAL- Chicago. The FOURTH INTER. SOCIALl:T’mWORKERSm~A#o~~ = ISTJ%P2AU NATIONAL is now on sale at: 116 UNIVERSITY . . Argus Book Store, 156 West . FOURTH INTERNATIONAL The Monthly Magazine of the Socialist Workers Party

VOLUME I OCTOBER 1940 NUMBER 5

With Trotsky to the End By JOSEPH HANSEN Secretary to Leon Trotsky L Since the May 24 machine-gun attack by the GPU on Trotsky was in the patio feeding the rabbits and chickens Trotsky’s bedroom,the houseat Coyoacan had been converted —his way of obtaining light exercise in the confined life he into a virtual fortress. The guard was increased,more heavily was forced to follow. We expected that as was his usual CUS- armed. Bullet proof doors and windowswere installed. A re- tom, Trotsky would not enter the house until he had finished doubt was constructed with bomb-proof ceilings and floors. with the feeding or untiI Sylvia had arrived. Robins was in Double steel dcmrs, controlled by electric switches, replaced the patio. Trotsky was not in the habit of seeing Jacson the old wooden entrance where Robert Sheldon Harte had alone. been surprised and kidnapped by the GPU assailants. Three Melquiades,Cornell and 1 continued with our work. Dur- new bullet-proof towers dominated not only the patio but the ing the next ten or fifteenminutes I sat in the main tower writ- surrounding neighborhood. Barbed wire entanglements and ing the names of the guards on white labels to be affixed to bomb-proofnets were being prepared. the switches connecting their rooms with the alarm system. All this construction had been made possible through A fearful cry wrent the afternoon calm—a cry prolonged the sacrificesof the sympathizers and members of the Fourth and agonized, half scream, half sob. It dragged me to my International, who did their utmost to protect Trotsky, know- feet, chilled to the bone. I ran from the guard-house out onto ing that it was absolutely certain that Stalin would attempt the roof. An accident to one of the ten workers who were re- another and more desperate assault after the failure of the modelingthe house? Sounds of violent struggle came from the May 24 attack. The Mexican government, which alone of all Old Man’s study, and Melquiades was pointing a rifle at the “ the nations on the earth had offered asylum to Trotsky in window below. Trotsky, in his blue work jacket became visi- 1937, tripled the number of police guards on duty outside ble there for a moment, fighting body to body with someone. the house, doing everything in its power to safeguard the life “Don’t shoot!” I shouted to Melquiades, “you might hit of the world’s most noted exile. the Old Man !“ MeIquiades and Cornell stayed on the roof, Only the form of the coming attack was unknown. covering the exits from the study. Switching on the general Another machine gun assault with an increased number of alarm, I slid down the ladder into the library. As 1 entered assailants? Bombs? Sapping? Poisoning? the door connectingthe library with the dining room the Old Man stumbled out of his study a few feet away, blood stream- August20, 1940 ing down his face. I was on the roof near the main guard tower with Charles “See what tbey bave done to w!” he said. Cornell and MelquiadesBenitez.We were connectinga power- ful siren with the alarm systemfor use when the GPU attacked At the same moment Harold Robins came through the north door of the dining room with Natalia following.Throw- again. Late in the afternoon, between 5:20 and 5:30, Jacson, ing her arms frantically about him, Natalia took Trotsky out known to us as a sympathizer of the Fourth International and cn to the balcony. Harold and I had made for Jacson, who as the husband of Sylvia Ageloff, former member of the So- cialist Workers Party, drove up in his Buick sedan. Instead stood in the study gaspin~ face knotted, arms limp, automatic pistol dangling in his hand. Harold was closer to him. “You of parking it with the radiator facing the house, as was his usual custom, he made a complete turn in the street, parking take care of him,” I said, “I’ll see what’s happened to the Old Man.” Even as I turned, Robins brought the assassin down the car parallel to the wall, nose pointed towards Coyoacan. to the floor. When he got out of the car, he waved to us on the roof and shouted, “Has Sylvia arrived yet?” Trotsky staggered back into the dining room, Natalia We were somewhatsurprised.We did not know that Trot- sobbing, trying to help him. “See what they have done,” she sky had made an appointment with Sylvia and Jacson, but said. As I put my arm about him, the Old Man coIlapsednear ascribed our lack of knowledgeof such an appointment to an the dining room table. oversight by Trotsky, something not uncommon on his part The wound on his head appeared at first glance to be in such matters. superficial. 1 had heard no shot. Jacson must have struck “No,” I responded to Jacson: “wait a moment.” Cornell with some instrument. “What happened?” I asked the Old then operated the electrical controls on the double doors and Man. Harold Robins received the visitor in the patio. Jacson wore “Jacksonsbot me with a revolver; 1 am seriouslywound- a raincoat across his arm. It was the rainy season, and ed. . . I feel that tlis time ibis tbe end.” although the sun was shining, heavy clouds massed over the “It’s only a surface wound.“You will recover,” I tried mountains to the southwest threatened a downpour. to reassure him.

I Page 116 F“UU K’l”H IN”1 ILKN A“l-JUNA~ WmDer r94u

“we ~1~ abd Frwb statistics,” responded the Old in his eyes. Natalia cried brokenly, bending over him, kissing Man. his hand. “Did he hit you from behind?” I asked. When Dr. Dutren arrived, the reflexeson the Old Man’s Trotsky did not answer. left side were already failing. A few moments later the asn- “No, he did not shoot you,” 1 said; “we didn’t hear any bulance came and the police entered the study to drag out shot. He struck you with something.” the assassin. Trotsky looked doubtful; pressed my hand. Betweenthe Natalia did not wish to let the Old Man be taken to a sentenceswe exchanged, he talked with Natalia in Russian. hospital—it was in a hospital in Paris that their son, Leon He touched her hand continually to his lips. Sedov, was killed only two years ago, For a moment or two 1 scrambled back up to the roof, shouted to the police Trotsky himself, lying stricken on the floor, felt doubtful. acrossthe wall; “Get an ambulance!” I told Cornell and Mel- “We will go with you,” I told him, Wiades: “It’s an assault—Jacson...” My wrist watch read “1 leave it to your decision,”he told me, as if he wem at that moment ten minutes to six. now turning everything over to those about him, as if all the Again I was at the Old Man’s side, Cornell with me. days of making decisionswere now gone. Without waiting for the ambulance from the city, we decided Before we placed the Old Man on a stretcher, he again that Cornell should go for Dr. Dutren, who lived nearby, and whispered: “1 want everything I own to go to Natalicz”Then who had attended the family on previous oaasions. Since our with a voice that tugged unendurably at all the deepest and car was locked up in the garage behind double doors, Cornell most tender feelings in the friends kneeling at his side . . . decided to take Jacson’scar standing in the street. “You will take care of her.,. ” As Cornell left the room, soundsof renewedstruggle came Natalia and I made the sad ride with him to the hospital. from the study where Robins was holding Jacson. His right hand wanderedover the sheetscoveringhim, touched “Tell tbe boys not to kill him,” tbe Old Man said, “be the water basin near his head, found Natalia. Already the must talk.’* streets were jammed with people, all the workers and the poor 1 left Trotsky with Natalia, and entered the study. Jac- lining the way as the ambulance sirened behind a squadron son was trying desperately to escape from Robins. His auto- of motorcycle police through the traffic on its way to the matic pistol lay on the table nearby. On the floor was a blood- center of the city. Trotsky whispered, pulling me down in- ~attered instrument which looked to me like a prospectors sistently near his lips so that I should not fail to hear: pick, but with the backside hammered out like a pick-axe. 1 joined in the struggle with Jacson, hitting him in the mouth “He was a politual assassin. Jacson was a member of the GPU or a fascist. Most likely tbe GPU.” Impressions of and on the jaw belowthe ear, breaking my hand. Jacson were going through the Old Man’s mind, [n the few . As Jacson regained consciousness, he moaned: “They have imprisoned my mother . . . Sylvia .4geloff had nothing words left to him, he was telling me the course he thought to do with this . . . No, it was NOT the GPU; I have NOTH- should be followedin our analysis of the assault, on the basis of the facts already in our possession:— Stalin’sGPU is guilty ING to do with the GPU... ” He placed heavy stress on the words which would separate him from the GPU, as if he had but we must leave open the possibility that they were aided by Hitler’s Gestapo. He did not know that Stalin-$ calling suddenly remembered that the script of his role called here for a loud voice. But he had already betrayed himself. When card in the form of a “confession”was in the assassin’spocket. Robins brought the assassin down, Jacson had evidently be- The LastHours lieved it was his last moment. He had writhed in terror; words he could not control had escapedfrom his lips: “They MADE At the hospital, the most prominent doctors in Mexico me do it.” He had told the truth. The GPU had made him gathered in consultation. do it. The Old Man, exhausted, wounded to death, eyes almost Cornell burst into the study. “The keys aren’t in his car.” closed, looked in my direction from the narrow hospital bed, He tried to find the keys in Jacson’s clothing but without m’ovedhis right hand feebly. “Joe, you. . have. . notebook?” success.While he searched, I ran out to open the garage doors. How many times he had asked me this same question!— in a few secondsCornell was on his way with our car. but in vigoroustones, with the subtle innuendo he enjoyed at We waited for Cornell to return—Natalia and I kneeling our expense about “American efficiency.”Now his voice was at the Old Man’s side, holding his hands. Natalia had thick, words scarcely distinguishable. He spoke with great ef- wipedthe blood from his face and placed a block of ice against fort, fightingagainst the encroachingdarkness. I leaned against his head, which was already swelling. the bed. His eyes seemed to have lost all that quick flash of “He hit you with a pick,” I told the Old Man. “He did mobile intelligenceso characteristic of the Old Man. His eyes not shoot you. I am sure it is only a surface wound.” were fixed,as if no longer aware of the outside world, and yet “No,” he responded, “1 feel here” (indicating his heart) 1 felt his enormouswill power holding away the extinguishing “tbat this time they have succeeded.” darkness, refusing to concede to his foe until he had accom- 1 tried to reassure him, “No, it’s only a surface wound; plished one last task. Slowly, haltingly, he dictated, chmsing you’ll get better.” the words of his Iast messageto the working class painfulIy in But the Old Man only smiled faintly with his eyes. He English, a languagethat was foreign to him. On his death-bed understood. . . he did not let himself forget that his secretary spoke no “Take careof Natalia. She has been witb me many, muny Russian! years.” He pressed my hand as he gazed at her. He seemedto “1 am close to death from the blow of a political assas- be drinking in what her features were like, as if he were leav- sin. . .struck me down in my room. I struggled with him. . .we ing her forever—in these fleeting secondscompressingall the . . entered.. talk about French statistics.. .he struck me. . . past into a last glance. Please say to our friends...1 am sure.. .of the victory.. .of “We will,” I promised. My voice seemed to flash among the Fourth lntemational. . .Go forward.” the three of us the understanding that this was really the end. He tried to talk more; but the words were incomprehen- The Old Man pressed our hands convulsively,tears suddenly sible. His voice died away, the tired eyes closed. He never re- ...... October 1940 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL P&””ii7

gained consciousness.This was about two and a half hours Jacson met Trotsky near the rabbit hutches,told him that after the blow was struck. he had brought the finished article, that he and Sylvia were An x-ray picture was taken of the wound and the doc- leaving for New York the following day. Trotsky respondd tors decide that an immediate operation was necessary. The with his typical cordiality, but continued placing dried alfalfa surgeon in charge of the hospital performed the delicate work in the feed troughs. of trepanning in the presence of leading Mexican specialists Catching sight of Natalia on the balcony between the and the family doctors.They discoveredthat the pick-axe had kitchen and the dining room, Jacson left Trotsky. He wore penetrated seven centimeters, destroying considerable brain his hat, kept his raincoat pressed close to his body as he ad- tissue.Someof these doctorsdeclared the case absolutely hope- vanced to make his greeting. less.Others gave the Old Man a fighting chance. To Natalia he appeared nervous and absent minded, as For more than twenty-two hours after the operation, des- if he were in deep abstraction. Jacson asked her for a glass of pair alternated with the desperate hope that he would survive. water; he was very “thirsty” he explained. Natalia offered in the United States friends arranged to send a world famous him tea, as she and Trotsky had just finishedtheir customary brain specialist, Dr. Walter E. Dandy of Johns Hopkins, by afternoon cup and there was still some left in the pot. Jacson airplane. Hour after agonized hour we listened to the Old refused, however, saying that he had eaten but a short while Man’s heavy breathing as he lay on the hospital bed. With his before—’’thefood is still sticking in my throat.” head shaved and bandaged he bore a startling resemblanceto After drinking the glass of water, he returned with Nata- Lenin. We thought of the days when they had led the first lia to Trotsky’s side at the rabbit hutches. “You know that victorious working class revolution. Natalia refused to Jacson and Sylvia are returning to New York tomorrow?” leave the room, refused food, watched dry-eyed, hands asked Trotsky. “They have come to say goodbye.” Then in clenched, knuckleswhite, as the hours passed one by one dur- Russian: “We should prepare something for them.” ing that long, horrible night and the endless following day. A few minutes conversation passed before Trotsky with- The reports of the doctors noted favorable signs, an occa- out enthusiasm asked, “You wish me to read your article?” sional improvement, and up until the very last, we still felt “Yes.” that somehowthis man who had survived the Czar’s prisons, “Good, we can go into the study.” exiles, three revolutions, the Moscow trials, would survive Without notifying any of his guards, Trotsky took Jac- this unspeakably treacherous blow of Stalin. son into his room. Natalia parted from them at the door and But the Old Man was over sixty years old. He had been ~~entjnto the kitchen. in ill health for a number of months. At 7:25 P. M. on August Later, as he lay bleedingon the dining room floor, Trot- 21, he entered the final crisis. The doctors worked for twenty sky told Natalia that it flashed across his mind as he entered ‘ minutes, utilizing all the scientificmethcxisat their disposal, the room, “This man could kill me.” But he did not listen to but not even adrenalin could revivt?the great heart and mind the intuitive warning from the subconscious layers of his which Stalin had destroyed with a pick-axe. mind. As a proletarian revolutionist, Trotsky had carried his life in his hands for too many years. What Happenedin the Study Trotsky seated himself at the wide table, scattered with OnAugust 17Jacson showedTrotsky a draft of an article books,newspapers,manuscripts. Near an ink-wella few inches he intended to write on the recent dispute in the Fourth Inter- from his hand lay his .25 calibre automatic—it had been oiled national over the Russian question.Trotsky invited Jacson to and reloaded just a few days before. He began reading Jac- come into his study while he read the draft. This was the first son’s article. Jacson sat behind and to the left of Trotsky, time Jacson was alone there with Trotsky. To Jacson it meant near the switch that would set off the alarm system. that the time was ripe. It was a dress rehearsal for what the “The opportunity was too good to be lost,” Jacson told GPU had ordered him to do. the police afterward. “I took the ‘piolet’.I raised it up high. Trotsky offered a few su~estions to the author, but told 1 shut my eyes and struck with all my strength . . . As long Natalia that the draft showedconfusionand was without par- as I live I can never forget his cry ...” ticular interest. Trotsky staggered up from his seat as the assassin On August 20, Jacson came to the housewith the finished wrenched the weapon loose and struck again at his victim’s article, Under the title “The and the Popular face. Chairs were broken, papers and books scattered, the Dic- Front,” it ostensibly dealt with the Bumham-Shachtman taphone smashed,blood spattered over the desk, on the books, theory of a “Third Camp” in the World War. The idea of the newspapers-on the last pages of the manuscript of Trot- the article, a comparison of the class basis of the “Third sky’s biography of Stalin. Camp” with that of the French was not Jac- son’s, but an idea first expressed to my knowledge by Otto CouldWe HavePreventedIt? Schueder, one of the secretariesof Trotsky. Jacson picked up In the morning here at the house in Coyoacan when I am the idea in conversationwith the guards and wrote some kind half awake, it still seemsthat I can hear the Old Man’s voice of an article for no other purpose than to cause Trotsky to sit calling. Sometimesit seemsthat he is impatient, as if he were down at his desk in a helpless position while he raised the anxious that the day should begin energetically—as if there pickaxe from behind. were mountainous tasks before us and only a few short hours It was Jacson’splan, apparently, to kill Trotsky with one left. Every stone,every turn in the paths, even the shade from blow, silently, and then to leave the house as he had come, the tall pines where the Old Man used to talk with us in the without arousing attention—with his revolver gripped in his patio is a memory, keen, raw, painful.. . The Old Man is pocket in case it was necessary to shoot his way out. He car- everywhere. And yet the house seemsempty and vacant, like ried a large sum of money in his pocket-$890-indicating a ruin left long ago to crumble into dust. that he hoped to escape. Besidesthis, he carried a letter of Couldn’t we have prevented it? “confession”,obviouslydictated by the GPU—planted on him When I feel like this-the intolerable burden of what for discovery by the police in the event he was shot by the might have been; I remember the pressure of his hand as he . guards. He expected either to escape or be killed. lay oh the floor...... Page 118 FOURTH ‘ INTERN~TIONAL October”W40

I rememberwhat he said about his escape in the May 24 to Trotsky’s instructions to leave, but both he and I felt un- assault: “ln war, accidentsare inevitable, favorable accidents comfortable about it, and he would never permit this dis- and unfavorable-it is a part of war.” courtesy from anyone else. Trotsky was the builder of the I remember Natalia’s words: “On the morning of August political party and a worker in the field of ideas. He preferred 20, when we got up, L. D. said, ‘Another lucky day. We are to trust his friends rather than to suspect them. still aZive.’He had repeated that every morning since May 24.” All of Trotsky’s guards tried to make themselves Sus- Trotsky knew that Stalin had decreed his death. He knew piciousof everyone.Trotsky, however,was interested not only that Stalin countedon the assassinationbeing lost in the titan- in being guarded, but in teaching his guards by example some ic events of the Second World War where whole states are of the fundamentals of organizing a political movement. wiped out and the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of hu- Mutual suspicionin his eyes was a disintegrating force much ‘man beings means no more than a brief headline in the daily worse than the inclusion of a spy in the organization, since dispatches from the battlefields. Trotsky knew that against such suspicions are useless anyway in uncovering a highly all the enormous resources of the powerful state apparatus skilled provocateur. Trotsky hated perscnal suspiciontowards controlled by Stalin, were pitted only the courage and woe- the members and sympathizers of the Fourth International. fully inadequate means of a small handful of revolutionaries. He considered it worse than the evil it was supposed to cure. Trotsky knew that all the tactical advantages were with the Whenever this subject came up, he was fond of telling enemy; the chosen moment, surprise, the ability to attack a the story of Malinovsky, who became a member of the fixedposition with a number of variant methods. It was vir- Political Bureau of the Bolshevik Party, its representative in tually certain that with enough attempts, one time sooner or the Duma and a trusted confidantof Lenin. Malinovsky was later the accidentsof war would be unfavorable to us. Trotsky at the same time an agent of the Czar’ssecret police,the dread even predicted that the next assault would occur when Hitler Okhrana. He sent hundreds of Bolsheviks into exile and to launched his battle against England. death. Nevertheless,in order to maintain his position of con- Trotsky’s politics were never the politics of despair. He fidence,it was necessaryfor him to spread the ideas of Bolshe- fought with every ounce of his energy; nevertheless many vism. These ideas eventually caused his downfall. The pro- times during the month in which we constructed our “fort- letarian revolution is more powerful than the most cunning ress’),I knew that he felt himself doomed. police spy. “I will not see the next revolution,”he told me once,“that Could the guards have prevented the assassination of is for your generatim.” I felt in his words a deep regret— Trotsky? With more precaution could they have prevented what pleasure to see the class struggle in its next stage of de- Jacson from ingratiating himself into the household? From velopment, what keen joy to participate in one more revo- using a more subtle method? Poisoning? A shot from am- lution—whatvistas opening for the human race in the coming k.ushon a picnic? A direct suicidal assault with some weapon period! especially built by the GPU to escape our limited means of “It is not like before”, he said again. “We are old-we detection? don’t have the energy of the younger generation.One becomes The GPU itself answeredthis question through the mouth tired. . . and old. . . It is for your generation, the nex~ revo- of its agent, Jacson: “In the next attack, the GPU will use lution. We will not see it.” different methods.” Yet Trotsky carried on despite the fact that he knew all the probabilities were against his personal survival. He was HowtheAssassinGained Entry fighting against time, steeling the Fou”rthInternational, arm- Jacson came to Mexicoin October 1939.According to his ing it with the ideas of Bolshevism. story, he was told not to force an entry into the household Each day in this period of world war, of factional but to let the meeting be “casual.” He followed his instruc- struggles,was of immeasurable value to the new generation of tions perfectly. For months he did not come near Coyoacan revolutionary cadres. Trotsky knew it better than anyone. but stayed in Mexico City. When Sylvia Ageloff, his wife, He wanted to hand us intact the entire heritage of Bolshevism who was well known to the household, came to Mexico, he which was in his charge, even down to the smallest item. He did not attempt to enter the house with her. But he utilized knewwhat that heritage had cost, what it was worth to us in her to becomeknown to the Rosmers—friendsof Trotsky and the epoch now opening before us. The time was so short! Natalia since 1913—whowere staying at the house after Since September 1937 Trotsky’s secretaries tried to in- bringing Trotsky’s grandson from France. Through these stitute a system in the household whereby everyone who en- trusted people he became known by name to the household. tered would be searched for concealed weapons. They also Many of the guards knew him, were accustomedto admit- attempted to make it an iron rule that Trotsky was never to ting him for a few moments to the patio where he would wait talk with anyone alone in his study. Trotsky could not endure to meet whomever he had come to see. It is absolutely certain either of these rules. Either we trust the people and admit that Robert Sheldon Harte knew him and trusted him. But them without search, or we do not admit them at all. He could t:e did not meet Trotsky until after the May 24 assault. not bear having his friends submit to search. No doubt he felt On May 28, the Rosmers were leaving Mexico via Vera that in any case it would be uselessand could even give us a Cruz, carrying out the decisionof several months before to re- false senseof security. If a GPU agent succeededin entering, turn home. Jacson had offered, some weeks previously, to he would fmd some way of setting at naught what search we take them from Mexico City to the port. He had told them could make. Trotsky had dozens upon dozens of friends in that he went to Vera Cruz every two weeks on business any- Mexico,whom the guard+so far as their vigilance was con- way, and could combine this trip with the affairs of his ~med-placed in the same general category as Jacson before “boss.” the assauit. As to our second proposal that someone should He came out to the house early in the morning, rang the always remain with him in his study, this too was never ef- bell and was invited inside to wait until the Rosmers were fective. So many of his guests had personal problems-would ready. Trotsky was in the patio, and met Jacson for the not talk freely in the presence of a guard! Sometimes 1 was first time. They shook hands. Trotsky cuntinued with his able to remain in the room merely by sitting down contrary chores about the chicken yard. Jacson retired ~d began October 1940 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL Page 119 speaking to Seva, Trotsky’s grandson, to whom he gave a toy lutionary, spurred Trotsky into making a stronger demonstra- glider. Both Natalia and Trotsky noticed him in Seva’sroom tion. He suggestedto me specificallythat I should go out of and asked Seva what it meant. Jacson then explained the my way to become friendly with Jacson, in order to help workingof the glider to them. bring him closer to the Fourth International. Trotsky with his customary thoughtfulness for others It was precisely at this time that Jacson was plotting asked Natalia if Jacson should not be invited in. Natalia how to murder Trotsky. responded that he must have already had his breakfast. At In a conversation with Jacson, in which Cornell and the table, however, as a matter of courtesy, he was invited I participated, Trotsky asked Jacson what he thought of the to come in and have a seat. He took a CUPof coffee. This “fortress.” Jacson responded that everything seemed well was the first time Jacson sat down at the table with Trotsky. done, but “in the next attack the GPU will useother methods.” Jacson cultivated friendly relations with consummate “What methods?” one of us asked. skill. Already weII known for his generosity, his car was at Jacson shrugged his shoulders slightly. the constant disposal of the household. When he went tO New York he left it for the use of the guards. He did small Stalin’s Calling Card servicesnot only for Trotsky and Natalia, but also for every- When Frank Jacson was taken to the hospital, the police one connected with th; house. When friends were visiting, found in his pocket a letter of “confession.”This letter obvi- he t~k them sightseeing. If it was necessary to make a trip, ously intended for use by the GPU in its propaganda follow- he offered his car and himself as a chauffeur. ingtheassassination, constitutes documentary evidence that In the dispute between the minority and majority, on the Jacson was a paid agent of the GPU. It alone would fix the Russian question, he supported Trotsky’s position, even guilt for Trotsky’s murder directly on the Super-Borgiain the against that of his wife, Sylvia Ageloff. In talking with the Kremlin. guards, he was careful to mention the donations he claimed Like the classic “confessions”manufactured by the GPU he had given to the French section. He told Jake Cooper for use in the Moscow Trials, the “confessor” starts out as that he knew Rudolph Klement; was in Paris when the GPU an ardent “Trotskyist,” is ordered on fantastic missions by . had foully murdered him. He was fond of mentioning that superiorslacking names, acceptsthe assignmentswithout mur- he had met James P. Cannon in Paris. Thus he built UP an mur, is finally “ordered by Trotsky” to kill Stalin and “spread impressionof himself as one known to our people. sabotage in the USSR,” discovers Trotsky is “linked” with Following the assault of May 24, he entered the house a “foreign power” (with whatever power Stalin has not signed ten times in all before he carried out the GPU order to murder a pact), immediately becomes “disillusioned,” repents, ac- his host. Twice he came with Sylvia Ageloff, had tea with knowledgesthe genial Stalin to be right and the successorof the Trotskys. When Trotsky reviewedthe controversy in the Lenin, and “confesses” all. This pattern, developed to its Fourth International, Jacson warmly defended Trotsky’s finished form by Yagoda in the Lubianka torture chambers views, attacked those of Sylvia. has, despite the discovery that Yagoda was a super-poisoner Upon one visit he gave Natalia an elaborate box of choco- for ten years under Stalin, been repeated now monotonously lates, saying that it was a gift from Sylvia. Nevertheless, Jacson—mairr]y because he was not a and with little change. Jacson’sletter includes a few variations for the local use member of the Fourth International and because his political of North American supporters of the GPU, such as Lombardo ideas seemedconfused and far from being serious—wasnever Toledano, Harry Block, correspondent of the Nation, and accepted as an intimate or a closefriend of the house. Frank JelIinek, correspondentof PM and the Stalinist “Fed- When Jacson took a trip to New York after the May 24 erated Press.” assault, returning in the last part of July, he admitted that These varial.ionsinclude the dander that Trotsky sneered he had not visited any of the membersof the SocialistWorkers at the Mexican Revolution, supported Almazan. These sen- Party. tences in Jacson’s letter sound as if they had been lifted “Why?” we asked with astonishment. bodily from the Mexican organs of the GF’U-La VU? de” Jacson glibly explained that it was because he spent so Mexico, Future, and El Popular, where Trotsky was accused much time in the eveningsarguing with Sylvia and her sisters, of being “linked with the Dies Committee,” an “agent of trying to convince them that the majority viewpoint was Wall Street” and a “traitor” who committed “seIf-assault” correct, that he didn’t have time to visit so much as the head- for no other reason save that of embarrassing the Cardenas cluarters of the Socialist Workers Party. He said that he governmentwhich had given him asylum alone of all the gov- spent his days “slaving in an officeon Wall Street.” el”nmentsin the world. The fact that he had not contacted the headquarters of Jacson claims he was a disillusioned member of the the Socialist Workers Party produced a bad impression on Fourth International. Lie! This was simply an attempt of the guards, which they communicated to Trotsky. TrotskJ’ the GPU to trick world opinion into believing its hands are responded: “It is true, of course, that he is rather light minded and spotless. Under questioning by the investigating judge he has will probably not become a strong member of the Fourth now admitted he was never a member. International. Nevertheless, he can be won closer. In order Jacson claims a “member of the Bureau of the Fourth to build the party we must have confidencethat people can International” sent him to Mexico to see Trotsky because be changed.” Trotsky added that Jacson was carrying on “something more was expected of him than being a simple some studies in French statistics which cotdd prove useful militant.” Another lie written in the jargon invented by the to us. GPU for the MoscowTrials! It is my conviction that Trotsky, who saw the possibility Jacson says that Trotsky ordered him to go to Shanghai, for anyone to develop into a revolutionary, wished to utilize steal the China Clipper, fly across Manchukuo to Russia, and Jacson as an example in point. The very distance which there, without knowing a word of the Russian 1anguage,begin the guards kept between themselves and the apparently difti- spreading sabotage and plotting the death “of the h=ders of cult job of turning this rather unpromising clay into a revo- the USSR!” Recall the Stalin-I-litler dictum: “The grosser Page 120 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL October 1940

the he, the more readily will people believe it-” Jacson’s American Consulate on June 12 for a tr~sit visa to Canada. letter could not follow this dictum any closer. Apparently he utilized this transit visa h enter the United The story is more absurd than the story concoctedby the States without giving up the Mexican tourist card which was GPU in 1936about the airplane in which Pyatakov was al- issuedto him in October 1939.From all information available, leged to have flown from Berlin to Oslo in order to. help he did not apply for a tourist card on his second entry, but Trotsky make a pact with Hitler. merely walked across the border and took passage to Mexico In jacmn’s letter, the GPU again over-reached itself, City, exhibiting his original tourist card with its time exten- succeededin accomplishingnothing but convincing the world sion to whatever authorities demanded his credentials. Only a of Stalin’sguilt in the murder of Trotsky. person with an expert acquaintance with these matters could It is merely necessary to substitute in Jacson’s letter have done this. the three letters “GPU” for the “member of the Bureau of When Jacson was struggling with the guards, he cried out the Fourth International.” Then the story told by Jacson several times: “They have imprisoned my mother!” When he as to how he was ordered to go to Mexico to see Trotsky was dragged out of Trotsky’s study, he repeated, “Ma mere! becomes clear. The reasons for the infinite caution and Ma mere!” If he is not a subject of the USSR, it is possibIe casualness with which he approached the household become that the Gestapo, as a slight service to Stalin, turned Jacson’s apparent. The whole “confession”crumbles before one’seyes mother, possibly his whole family, 6ver to the GPU, subse- and the truth stands revealed: GPU agent Jacson is lying in quent to the German invasion of the Lowlands and France. the easiest way possible for him—whereverpossible he attri- Jacson was then threatened with the death of his family if he butes to the Fourth International the actual instructionsgiven did not carry out Stalin’s order to assassinate Trotsky. It is him by the GPU. possiblethat Jacson’sstory about being born in Persia of Bel- gian parents is true, but there are many indications that his Who Is “Frank Jacson”? story about the “Mornard” family and its wealth is a com- According to the declarations the assassin made to the plete fabrication: police, he was furnished a false passport by “the member of 1. The Belgian minister in Persia from 1904to 1908was the Bureau of the Fourth International,” who “proposed that not his father, “Mornard Van den Dreschd, as Jacson claims, he go to Mexicoto seeTrotsky.” On his final trip to Coyoacan but a man named T’Sterstevens. from Mexico City, Jacson claims that he stopped on Avenida 2. There is no record of the older brother of Jacson, Insurgencesand burned this false passport along with his “Robert Mornard,” being in the Belgian Consular service as other personal papers. Why did Jacson burn this passport? Jacson claims. fhe reason is not difficult to determine. Forgers always leave 3. When Jacson gave the address of his family residence certain identifying marks. In the hands of government experts i,l Brussels, he named one of the longest and busiest streets it would have been possible to trace such a passport back to in the city, and the number mentioned turned out to be that of those who falsified it, just as it is possiblefor experts to trace a public building. forged money back to the particular individual who made it. 4. Jacson wrote to Sylvia many times about his father, In the case of Jacson’s passport the identifying mark would and the things his father was doing. But he told the Mexican have been “GPU.” police that his father died years ago. The passport on which Frank Jacson entered the United Jacson was well suppliedwith money. He claims that dur- States was issued in March 1937to Tony Babich, resident of ing the last days of August, 1939, his “mother” gave him Canada and a naturalized British subject, born at Lovinac, $5,000in addition to the $200 given him by the alleged mem- Yugoslavia, June 13, 1905.Tony Babich used this passport ber of the Bureau of the Fourth International. In New York to travel from Canada ostensibly on a visit to his home. He City he entrusted $3,000 to Sylvia Ageloff. Later, in October went to , instead, where he fought in the Loyalist army. i939 he established a letter of credit with the American Ex- On May 12, 1939,the Spanish government issued a death cer- press agency in for approximately $2,500.On tificate for Tony Babich. this letter of credit he cashed heavy checks in January of this What happened to Tony Babich’s passport? year, again in .May of this year, just before the first assault It is well known that the foreigners who enlisted in the on Trotsky, and withdrew the balance early in June. When Loyalist army were systematically robbed of their passports he was taken by the police he had more than $890 in his b~-the GPU. Walter Krivitsky, former head of the Soviet In- pockets. In Mexico he bought an automobile for 3,500 pesos. telligenceService in western Europe, reported that the diplo- When he traveled, he used airplanes. In Mexico he lived ex- matic pouches sent to the USSR from Spain carried bundles pensively from October, 1939,up until the time of the assas- cifthese passports in every mail. That is obviously what hap- sination without holding any job whatsoever. pened to the passport of Tony Babich. In the hands of the Although he listed himselfon his tourist card as a “mech- GPU it underwent certain alterations by the most skilled pass- anical engineer” he declared upon his capture that he had port forgers in the world. The name of Tony Babich was studied journalism and was a journalist by profession.TO the changed to read “Frank Jacson.” The photograph of Babich household he claimed that he worked for a mysterious in- was removed and repIaced by that of the man who later mur- dividual who at first dealt in oil for the Allies, but who had der~d Trotsky. lately shifted to diamonds. He claimed that he was paid $50 The GPU attempts to picture Jacson in his “confession” a week by this mysterious boss. as a naive lad in the beginning, so gullible that he instantly Sylvia Ageloff testified to the police that after she met packed his valises and sent to his mother for $5,000when the Jacson in Paris he began working for the “Argus Press Ser- “member of the Bureau of the Fourth International” asked vice.” He sold a number of Ageloff’sarticles on child psycho- him to go to Mexico.It would be interesting to hear the GPU logy to this service, but told Sylvia it was impossibleto find explain how this innocent “rabbit,” as Jacson labels himself, out wherethey were publishedsinceshe could then deal direct- gained his expert knowledgeof passport regulations between ly with the magazine, cutting the .4rgus’ service out of its the United States and Mexico. commission. He himself, he claims, wrote sports articles at When ht Ieft Mexico the last time, he applied at the a high salary for the Argus Service. Sylvk Ageloff never saw October 1940 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL Page 121 any of her own articles in print. The Argus Service,it is clear, on the danger involved in answering truthfully: “Yes, The was merely another name.for the GPU even though it might GPU killed Leon Sedov.” have had “Argus” printed on its letterheads and across some Just before the World Conference of the Fourth Inter- office door. national in September, 193S,Rudolf Klement, secretary of the In personal appearance, Jacson before the assault struck organization, was kidnapped. A letter forged in his handwrit- one as a nervous individual, prematurely aged, darkened as if ing was mailed to Leon Trotsky from Perpignan, a small scme poison were working its way through his skin. His town in southern France with which Jacson showsgreat famil- features twitched. He talked rapidly but found words with iarity. This letter, in terms almost identical to those in Jac- difficulty, causing him occasionally to stumble in his utter- son’s letter of “confession,” reports Klement’s “disillusion- ances.While he was not husky, neverthelesshe appeared wiry. ment” over his supposed discovery that Trotsky was nego- He wore horn-rimmed glasses,dressed neatly, rarely covered tiating to make a pact with “Hitler.” his dark hair with a hat. It was impossibleto carry on a sus- That the “Klement letter” was a GPU job became clear, tained political conversation with him; he always wandered a few days later, when Klement’sbody was found floating in into another subject. He claimed to be an ardent sympathizer the Seine river at Paris. The head, arms and legshad been of the Fourth International, and especially devoted to Trot- amputated by someonewith a knowledgeof anatomy. sky, of whom he said many times in an admiring tone, in the Jacson was proud to showoff at a dinner table his general presence of the guards: “IHehas the greatest intellect in the knowledgeof anatomy. With a sharp knife, a roast chicken world.” under his hands seemedto fall apart almost by itself. Since the assault, Jacson has appeared completely pros- Why was Klement killed? It was Trotsky’s opinion that trated and near collapse.When he is brought into the judge’s Klement stumbled across some information of utmost im- chambers for questioning, he drags his feet as if they were portance concerning the GPU. The identity of a provocateur weighted to the floor, hangs his head, requires the support of -–perhaps proof that the GPU murdered Leon Sedov, was two men. During the questioning he keeps his eyes on the preparing the assassination of Trotsky. floor, answers in tones that are scarcely audible, refuses to Jacson knew David Alfaro Siqueiros, the leader of the speak in any language but French, although he is quite famil- A4ay 24 assault. “By accident,” Jacson told Judge Trujillo, ]ar with Spanish and English. IHowever,he dropped this mask he gave to Sylvia Ageloff as his business address in Mexico completely when Albert Goldman pressed him on his story that of the house named “Ermita” which was frequented by about the alleged member of the Bureau of the Fourth Inter- David Alfaro Siqueiros. national who had sent him to Trotsky. He appeared suddenly It is easy now to reconstruct the night of May 24. Jacson alert, cautious. He sat up in his chair, gesticulated,employed rang the bell during Harte’s shift. Harte answered the door. histrionics.At times his eyes would peer balefully from under “It’s Jacson—I have a message of utmost importance.” his bandaged head, like an animal in a trap studying its cap- Harte, who knew Jacson, as admitted by the assassin tor before lunging. himself, opened the door, holding it by the safety latch. He In view of the consummateskill with which he penetrated saw Jacson, whom he recognizedas a friend of the house. He the household, ingratiated himself, brutally carried out his saw the GPU agents in disguise as Mexican policemen, took horrible assignmentand stuck to the line prepared for him by them for genuine and opened the door. the Stalinists, Jacson can be considered one of the most That was why Harte was murdered. He could have iden- finished products of the GPU terror machine. tified the GPU agent who tricked him into opening the door. This phase of the May 24 assauIt, one of the most mysterious, ProfessionalGPU Killer can now be considered solved. Likewise, in all probability We can now look back upon some of the previous mur- Jacson was the mysterious “French-Jew” who spoke Spanish ders of our comra,descommitted by the GPU and begin to fix with a decided French accent, who gave orders to Siqueiros, the sinister role pIayed by Frank Jacson. who drove about in a black Packard with New York license In February 1938 Leon Sedov was stricken with an in- plates, who furnished the money for the May 24 assailants. testinal ailment, IHewas taken to a hospital. Somehow his \Ve can picture the scene in GPU headquarters in New whereabouts leaked out to the Stalinists. Leon Sedov died York when Jacson returned to make his report following the ~ within a few days under the most mysterious circumstances. failure of the May 24 assault: “What is your opinion about the death of Sedov?” Judge “Go back and finish the job yourself; or—” Trujillo asked Jacson at the preliminary hearing. The assassin hesitated, fumbled for words, replied sullen- The Reaction to Trotsky’s Death ly: “Only what is printed on the case.” Indignation and sorrow over the murder of Leon Trot- “Was it the GPU?” sky by Stalin swept through the working class on a world “Yes. The GPU killed Leon Sedov.” wide scale. Telegrams and letters poured in from all the An intensely interesting statement! Was it a single slip countries from which the censorship would permit. Working of the tongue, an unintentional admission of a truth well class organizations, one after the other in Mexico,passed re- known among the agents of the GPU? Was it the very height solutionscondemningthe murder of Trotsky by the GPU. of deviousness-a consciousattempt to separate himself from President Lazaro Cardenas issued a scathing denunciation the GPU by implying: the GPU did THAT job but NOT of the perpetrators of the murder, naming them as “agents of THIS one? Or was it the admission of a fact he knew to be a foreign power” and “traitors” to Mexico. true because of his personal involvement in the murder of OnIy the friends and agents of the GPU were silent or Sedov and which he admitted as a welcome relief from the tried to insinuate that Jacson’s “confession” was true. El strain of constant lying because he did not feel it could be Popular, Lombardo Toledano’s paper, for instance, published dangerous to him? The last hypothesis seemsthe most likeIy. the declaration of Trotsky’s murderer under the front-page Jt would explain his hesitation when the question was first headline: “Sensational Confession of the Assassin of kn asked—shouldhe lie? was it necessary? “only what is print- Trotsky—LaunchesTremendous AccusationAgainst the Dead ecl. ..” A cautious reply made to gain time while he decided Chief of the Fourth Jnternational.” This was the biggestplay Page 122 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL October 1940

El Popular gave to the whole assassination,which of course “Highly advanced civilization—that we must still make is only natural for an organ of the GPU. such constructions,” he said, his eye brow lifting good hum- In a more cautious form El Popukzr expressesthe same oredly. sentiment toward Trotsky as that expressed by David Ser- “Yes,” I responded—itwas not the first time he had made rano before Judge Trujillo. Serrano, a member of the Poli- this remark to me—’’justsuch constructions in order to or- tical Bureau of the Mexican Communist Party and believed ganize the economicsystemon a rational basis.” to be the GPU representative on that body, was arrested in “To have to spend a life-time on that!” connection with the May 24 assault. It was he who ordered The hot Mexican sun high-lighted his eagle features, cut the police uniforms with which the assailants disguised them- his white bushy hair away from the dark vines behind him. selves. It was his ex-wife who acted as one of the spies who His eyes were no longeron me but speculativelyon the towers, seduced the police on guard at the Coyoacan house. and I was suddenly looking at the life’s task of a Bolshevik “The Third International is opposed to personal terror,” from a thousand years in the future. Serrano declared cynically in testifying before Judge Trujil- The Old Man taught those about him like that—with 10, “but I would not be sorry if anything happened to half jest converting even his own distastes into something Trotsky.” valuable for this new generation surrounding him. “You understand that a statement like that will go Trotsky enjoyed the Mexican country-side; liked sitting against you in the case?” asked the judge astonished. beside a good chauffeur and driving off the paved highway “I understand; but that’s what I believe.” onto someobscure road filledwith chuck holes,boulders,mud, This was on August 1, not three weeks before the assas- bayonet-bladed cactus. Such roads reminded him of the old sination. It was the order from the GPU representative to days and campaigns with the Red Army. But these excur- finish the job. sions,which he called “walks,”were dangerous,and for months Among those working for the GPU in the campaign at a time the Old Man would deny himself the pleasure. against Trotsky is Frank Jellinek. This man, long known to On the last “walk” the Old Man took, he slept much more be at least a closesympathizer of the Stalinists, came to Mex- than usual. As if he were exhausted and this were his first op- ico in the fall of 1937.He tried to visit Trotsky, was refused portunity in a long time to rest. He relaxed in the seat beside admittance. Later he came to the press interview which Trot- me and slept from Cuemavaca almost to Amecameca,where sky gave followingthe verdict of the John Dewey Commission the volcanos, Popocatapetl and Ixtaccihuatl, the sleeping that he was innocentof the charges levelledagainst him in the woman, gather great fleecy clouds about their white summits. MoscowTrials. Jellinek came with his friend, Frank Kluck- While one of the other cars re-fueled, we stopped beside an hohn, and had to be called to order by Trotsky becauseof the ancient hacienda with towering strongly buttressed walls. The disturbance he was creating. Frequently seenwith leading Stal- Old Man regarded the walls with interest: “A tine wall, but inists in Mexico, he wrote reports on the May 24 assault in medieval. Like our own prison.” accordancewith the GPU line. What is most interesting about As we approached Coyoacan, he slid down low in the seat Jellinek, however, is what he did when Trotsky appeared in so that his head would not show—from any of the windows the Coyoacan court to answer questionsby Serrano’sattorney, facing the streets near our house might come a burst of Pavon Flores. Although Flores is a member of the Political machine gun fire. Bureau of the Mexican Communist Party and one who sur- “After this we must have two of the best drivers in the vived the March purge, which prepared for the assault of May car,” the Old Man said. He was thinking of the danger con- 24, he consultedJellinek in the courtroom so frequently as to nected with these enjoyable “walks’’-the chance of the driver give Jellinek the appearance of wielding a great deal of being killed. But there was never another “walk” on which to authority. Followingthe murder of Trotsky, Jellinek wrote a carry out his suggestion. report in PM, which attempted to bolster Jacson’sself-portrait From the May 24 assault until the week before his death, of warring factions in the Fourth International as the matrix Trotsky worked on uncovering the GPU—fighting its agents out of which came the murder. Jellinek reported “quarreling and its friends, such as Lombardo Toledano who carried on a factions are now competing for Trotsky’s body.” What quar- rabid campaign of vilification, slander, foul personal attacks reling factions? Those of James P. Cannon and Albert GoId- under the monotonouslyrepeated slogan of the GPU: “Expel man ! (PM, Aug. 23) the Traitor Trotsky from Mexico.” Jellinek’s defense of the GPU is as stupid as Jacson’s “confession.”The hand which becomeswarped to the handle On the Saturday before the assault Trotsky told me that he had practically finishedall his work in relation to exposing of a pickaxe loses its dexterity with a pen. the perpetrators of the May 24 assault and that now he ex- pected to return to his “poor, neglectedStalin book.” But be- fore doing so he wanted to know what I thought about his During the construction work when we were converting writing somethingon the question of militarism. We discussed the house into a fortress, Trotsky often walked about the the form and content of such an article, whether it would be patio, suggestingchanges, improvements.Nevertheless,he did an article for Fourth International,somethingfor the Socialist not feel happy about having to live in such a place. Often he Appeal, or because of world conditions an unsigned article. told me: “It reminds me of the first prison I was in, at Khir- The thesisof the project in his own words as 1recall them ghizan. The doors make the same sound when they shut. It was as follows: “We must now launch a fight to the finishwith is not a home; it is a medieval prison.” all the remnants of pacifismin our ranks. This pacifismis not The place was, indeed, like a prison. Trotsky confined only a heritage of our entry into the Socialist Party but a himself to living behind those twenty-foot walls as if he were heritage of the last imperialist war. Even the Bolsheviks in serving a term in a Czarist jail. 1914did not have the perspectiveof taking power. Our poli- One day he caught me gazing at the new towers. His eyes tics then flowed more or less from a she~ opposition point of twinkled in one of those warm, intimate smilesof his, a glance view to the official politics of the government. Even Lenin and nod that took one into his confidence. when he was in Switzerland wrote some articles in which he October 1940 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL Page 123 said that the secondor third generation may see socialismbut that his remains would finally rest here. He spoke of the irw- we will not. Now the world situation is even more ripe than trievable loss Trotsky’s death meant to the working class of at that time. Our politics must flow from the perspective of the world. seizing power. There will be revolutionary situations in the Garcia Trevino, former leader of the CTM, one of the coming period, one after the other. It will be a period rich in founders of El Popular and a well-knownsocialist,condemned revolutionary situations. At first there will be defeats. They Lombardo Toledano and his Stalinist cohorts as those directly are inevitable; but we will learn from them. It is also inevita- responsiblefor the intellectual preparation of the murder of ble that we will have victories. One good victory can change Trotsky. He called on the Mexican workers to purge their the whole world situation. It is not excluded that you will ranks of these petildious and venal agents and friends of the gain power in the United States in the coming period.” GPU. We talked over this thesis several times during the after- , one of the leaders of the Spanish section noon. I told Trotsky of my experience in writing a war of the Fourth International, who fought in Spain and had pamphlet in which it was very easy to point out the horrors been imprisoned there by the GPU, outlined the major events and causesof war, but not so easy to tell the workers exactly in Trotsky’s life, particularly his struggle against the degene- what steps to take next, and that this difficulty came from the ration of the Russian Revolution in the person of Stalin. fact that we had not yet settled completely on our politics in Grandizo ended his speech with the last words of Trotsky, relation to pacifist sentiment. I also gave him my reaction to translated into Spanish: “Estoy seguro de h victoria de la the victories of Hitler as indicating not so much the strength Cumta International. Adelante!” cf fascism as the rottenness of democratic imperialism, a rot- From August 22 until August 27 Trotsky’s body was tennesswhich not even we had measured to the full and which kept at the funeral parlors pending an answer from the U. S. clearly showed that we were much nearer to power than we government on the request to take his remains to New York had thought—that it would take but very little from the work- City for a funeral service. A guard of honor, composed of ing class to smash this whole structure. “Of course,” Trotsky Mexican workers and members of Trotsky’s household stood said. “Well, I will have plenty of time to think over the prob- at attention twenty-four hours a day besidethe casket. There Iem tomorrow,” referring to his doctor’sorder that he stay in was a constant flow of those who wished to pay their last bed all day Sunday to rest. But he became so interested in ~espectsto Trotsky. By August 27 an estimated 300,000people this thesis that he went into his study and began dictating had passed his casket. They were composed almost entirely immediately. 1 heard his strong vibrant voice dictating to his of the poorest people, burdened with toil, many of them Dictaphonewith a frequent “totchka!” until 9:30 that even- ragged, barefoot. They filed in silently, heads bowed. ing and again Monday morning. He had gotten an excellent From all over the world telegrams and letters expressing start on the article, he told me just before dinner, utilizing as the deepest sorrow were sent to Coyoacan. All the sectionsof his point of departure the “miserable article” of Dwight Mac- the Fourth International, where it was possible,sent messages donald in the Partisan Review which I had underlined for of solidarity, vowing to carry on the struggle for the ideas of him. He also mentioned some of the pacifist tendencies in the Trotsky. minority group who split from the Fourth International which President Lazaro Cardenas and Mrs. Cardenas visited he intended to use along with the ‘{miserableand contempti- Natalia and expressedtheir indignation at the crime and their ble” pacifismof Norman Thomas as illustrations in the article. deepest sympathy with Natalia. They assured her that they The first draft was typed and on his desk at the time he “understood very well where letters such as that found in the was attacked. Knowing Trotsky’s methods of work, I am sure assassin’sclothing were manufactured”, and that she was “not that he had blocked out most of his main ideas; the illustra- to worry about it.” tions and quotations were in the large still missing, possibly On August 26 the State Department of the United States he had not yet arrived at a formulation of his key idea. But government categorically refused to permit Trotsky’s body attack against pacifism as expressed in his conversation with to be taken to the United States for a funeral service.The de- me is certain to permeate the entire Fourth International in cayed capitalist class, entering the final stage of the epoch of the comingperiod. * wars and revolutions from which will emerge, does well to stand in holy terror of everything associatedwith Leon The Funeral of Trotsky Trotsky ! On August 22, funeral serviceswere held for Trotsky in * ** accordance with the Mexican custom. A cortege followed the casket slowlythrough the streets. An enormouscrowd followed So died our comrade, friend, teacher. He saw the future from the funeral parlors to the Pantheon, some eight miles. as if he were already living in it, and like Marx, Engels and At funeral pace, the procession wound through one of the Lenin, directed all his titanic energy into arousing the work- densely populated working class sections of Mexico. The ing class towards taking the necessary road to that future streets were packed on both sideswith the most humble people society.Trotsky neither feared death nor believed in a god or of this city which Trotsky had learned to love during the last an after-life. “All that is tit to live is fit to perish.” He wished years of his life. As the casket approached, covered with a red to be remembered by nothing but his revolutionary deeds and flag, they took off their hats and stood silently in tribute until ideas, and these only so that they could be utilized in the it had passed. liberating struggle of the working class. He was opposed to At the Pantheon, three of Trotsky’s friends spoke over the mummifying of Lenin’sbody, and expressedthe desire to the bier. Albert Goldman, who had defended Trotsky at the Natalia that when he died his remains should be cremated. hearings of the John Dewey Commission,assured the people Let the fire consume everything that decays! On August 27 of Mexico, the only country which would grant him asylum, this wish of his was carried out. Many of his friends on that day no doubt thought of one of Trotsky’s favorite quotations: * The unfinishedarticle referred to is publishedin this issue. “Not to laugh; not to weep; EDITOR. But to understand.” ---?%ge“124 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL October 1940 Trotsky’s Last Letters On Japan’sPlansfor Expansion would be an occasionalcontribution to the Hearst press. 1 appreciate too highly your moral personality, my dear May 1, 1940 friend, not to tell you the whole truth—’’Hier stehe ich und My dear Chris, ich kann nicht anders.” Do you know what the Tanaka Memorial is? I ca+lyour With my warmest greetings and wishes. attention to this very important and very much discussed Cordially yours, document. It was published in the United States for the first Coyoacan, D. F. LEON TROTSKY time, I think, at the end of 1923or during 1924,hardly any ● ** later. In what paper? I imagine in one of secondary import- ance because the most important publications were afraid of Manifestoof the FourthInternational the diplomatic importance of the document, especiallyfor the relations between the United States and Japan and they in- (Trotsky bad nearly comjdeted tbe Manifesto of tbe clined to the version that the document was a forgery. This Fow%bInternational on ‘[The Imperialist War and the Pro- was not true, the document was not a forgery, it is completely letarian Revolution”, when tbe May 24 macbine-gun attack authentic in spite of all the Japanese denials. on his house occurred. Tbe Manifesto was adopted by the Rear Admiral Taussig made an allegation about it before Emergexcy Conference of tbe International and is available the Senate Committee on April 22, but the New York Times in pampblet form. “ComradeHank” arrived to supervise re- reminded its readers that the “so-called”Tanaka Memorial is, organization of the defenses of tbe bousebold.) accordingto the Japanese, a forgery. Dear Comrades, May 28, 1940 1will now prove in the big press that the documentwhose You have now, I hope, the full text of the Manifesto in origins I know very well is authentic. But to help my memory English. I was very sorry about the delay occasioned one and my personal archives I need an investigation of the fate lime by a bad state of health, then by the length of the docu- of the document in the American press: the date and the place ment and finally by the attempt. If you have already approved of the first appearance; the reaction provoked by the docu- the document, as I hope (with some changes possibly), it is ment in the press and public opinion; the discussionsabout necessary in my opinion to undertake immediately a serious its authenticity, etc. [ would even need the English text of the international action on the basis of the Manifesto. My general document itself. proposals are as follows: Can you spend time for such an investigation which 1. Publish the Manifesto in English as a special issue of would, in my opinion, be very useful to you, introducing you the Socialist Appeal or of the Fourth International in an en- to Japanese-American relations and preparing you for the larged edition. cominggreat events in the Pacific? If you agree, the best way 2. Apart from the general channels of circulation I pro- would be to invite a typist for the copying of the document pose to send copies to all the labor publications, trade union and the quotations. I would be glad to cover the necessaryex- offices, liberal and radical papers and magazines, etc. with penses. With best greetings, a special letter which should in a very friendly manner invite Yours, the respectivegentlemen and ladies to take a position toward Coyoacan, D. F. L. TROTSKY the document in view of the importance of the matters treated ● O* therein. The letters should be signed by the General Secretary On A “Socialist”Ally of Chaptberlain of the Party. (The following letter is in reply to one /rem Miss Suzanne 3. Simultaneously the document should be translated in LaFollette, requesting an article for the American Mercury, New York into German, French and if possible into Spanish the title to be “The Coming Peace.”Miss LaFolMte proposed and published in foreign languages at least in the form of a that Trotsky’s article appear beside one by H. N. Brailsford, bulletin becausewe cannot hope that it would be published in British Laborite, entitled “Can Europe Federate?”,which ad- Europe during the next period. vocated something similar to the League of Nations but with 4. The document should be seriously studied and dis- cussed in Party branches. “realpower.”) *** My dear Miss LaFollette, May 14, 1940 The length of the document is determined by the neces- I would be ready to move heaven and earth in order to sity to present again our whole program in connection with grant your request, but I cannot. I am writing now a large the war. The Party cannot preserve its tradition without documentfor the Fourth International on the war and I must periodical repetitionsof the general ideas of our program. finish it during the next week. *** But I must also confess that I felt a horror at the idea 1 hope to receive the text of the translation before its of seeingmy article published at the side of one by Mr. Brails- publication because secondary misunderstandings are inevi- ford. When 1 publish an article in Life or in Liberty it’s the table in a text of such length. sameas when I use the tramway: 1 am not interested in know- With warmest greetings, ing who are the other passengersbecausenobody can identify L. TROTSKY me with them. An “opinion” magazine is quite another thing. Mr. Brailsford considershimselfa left author, a kind of social- P. S. Comrade Han’kcame just in time. Not necessary to ist and so on. But in my eyes he is only a petty bourgeoisre- say how useful was his presence here this week. actionary shadow of the conservative Mr. Chamberlain. Poli- *** tically I prefer to deal with Chamberlain than with Brailsford. The resignation of Burnham is an excellent confirmation l-he idea itself, that I could have common ground with Mr. of our analysis and prognosisconcerningthe ex-Minority. We Brailsford is for me a thousand times less acceptable than don’t believe that it is the last separation. L. T. -.-—, . .... --.-. . -- Qctober 1940 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL “Pa&i25

On Conscription Misfortuneof an Intellectual July 9, 1940 July 29, 1940 Dear Comrade Al, Dear Al: I believe that we agree with you on all the points of a Thank you for your letter of July 4th enclosing letter principled character as they are formulated in your letter of of Comrade X. My delay in answering has been caused by ju]y 6. the judicial investigation which has taken up all of my time. It is very important to understand that the war d~s not What you write about J. confirms my apprehensions that nullify or diminish the importance of our Transitional Pro- he may be completely lost for the movement. His misfortune gram. Just the contrary is true. The Transitional Program is that he never belonged to the mass movement. He never is a bridge between the present situation and the proletarian learned the workers’organization from the inside. He shares revolution. War is a continuation of politics by other means. this misfortune with many others, only in a sharper form. The characteristic of war is that it accelerates the develop- His reasonings about the methods of organizing workers, etc. ment. It signifiesthat our transitional revolutionary slogans are purely speculative and without any basis or content. will become more and more actual, effective, important with During the last few months we were visited by our friends every new month of the war. We have only of course to in Minneapolis. What a difference! These poeopleare active, concretize and adapt them to the conditions. That is why optimistic, sure of themselves and thoroughly revolutionary. irr your first paragraph I would eliminate the word “to On the other hand, we were also visited by a group of modify” because it can produce the impression that we must seven minorityites. They have all the characteristics of the modify somethingof a principled character. Russian Mensheviks at the beginning of the history of the We are absolutely in favor of compulsory military train- party. Three of them, who seemed to us at first glance more ing and in the same way for conscription. Conscription? Yes. stable, more firm, more serious, are abandoning the so-called By the bourgeois state? No. We cannot entrust this work, Workers Party. as any other, to the state of the exploiters. In our propaganda With best greetings. and agitation we must very strongly differentiate these two TROTSKY

questions. That is, not to fight against the necessity of the ● ☛☛ workersbeing good soldiersand of building up an army based on discipline,science,strong bodies and so on, including con- scription,but against the capitalist state which abusesthe army NippingA NewGPU Lie for the advantage of the exploiting class. In your paragraph August 2, 1940 four you say: “Once conscription is made into law, we cease Dear Friend Charles: to struggle against it but continue our struggle for military It seems that the Stalinists here are making a new des- training under workers’ control, etc.” I would prefer to say: perate attempt to transform David Siqueiros into my agent. “Once conscription is made into law we, without ceasing to David Serrano, a member of the Politburo (of the Mex- struggle against the capitalist state, concentrate our struggle ican Communist Party) and one of the prisoners in connection for military training and so on.” with the (May 24) assault, made a deposition that Diego Ri- We can’t oppose compulsory military training by the vera and 1 have given money to David Siqueirosfor his paper. bourgeoisstate just as we can’t oppose compulsory education This new ,construction surely comes from the GPU by the bourgeois state. Military training in our eyes is a through the defender of David Serrano, a certain Pavon part of education. We must struggle against the bourgeois Flores, a miserableperson who is capable of any villany. They state; its abuses in this field as in others. will again represent my break with Diego Rivera as fictitious, We must of course fight against the war not only “until In view of the fact that you played a very important role the very last moment” but during the war itself when it during the period immediately preceding and following the begins. We must howevergive to our fight against the war its break, it would be a good thing for you to send me an affi- fully revolutionary sense, opposing and pitilessly denouncing davit on this matter. It is not necessary to present a large ex- pacifism. The very simple and very great idea of our tight position of various incidents; one or two pages would be suf- against the war is: we are against the war but we will have ficient. In view of the fact that the agents of the GPU repeat the war if we are incapable of overthrowing the capitalists. that I intervened in the presidential campaign, it is necessary I don’t see any reason why we should renouncethe slogan not to forget that one of the most important points in my dis- of a people’sreferendum on the war. [t is a very good slogan agreement with Diego Rivera was his adventurous interven- to unmask the futility of their democracyin such a vital ques- tion in the presidential campaign. tion as the war. 1would be glad to have your affidavit as early as possible. 1don’t believethat the demand for workers’defenseguards Also pleasegive me some information about the situation will be eliminated by the demand for universal military train- in general and in the party. ing. The approach of the war and the war itself with the In all friendship, I am, rise of chauvinistic moods will inevitably provoke pogroms Sincerely, against the trade unions, revolutionary organizations and pa. L. TROTSKY pers. We can’t give up defendingourselves. Universal train- ing can only facilitate for us the creation.of workers’ defense ● *e guards. “Government ownership. . . of all war industries” should To GenerousFriends Lwreplaced by “national” or by “state ownership.” August 3, 1940 Such are the remarks I can make in relation to your Dear Mr. —: letter. My old friends, during their visit.here and later in their Fraternally letters, have communicatedtome that your friendship is inde- L. TROTSKY fatigable. This fact is one hundred times more precious rmw, ...... l%ge 126 FOURTH INTIZRNATIONAL October 1940

when the chauvinistic epidemic created by the war dominates skepticismtowards aIl theories, governments and social sys- even honest liberal friends and removes them from us—who tems; devotion to the revolutionary fightof the masse~nly are incorrigible revolutionaries. then can we justify ourselves as intellectuals.” Thanks to the efforts of the North American friends, our Revolutionary activity based upon theoretical skepticism peaceful suburban house is now being transformed, week by is the most awkward of inner contradictions. “Devotion to the week,into a fortress-and at the same time into a prison. Not revolutionary fight of the masses” is impossiblewithout theo- in the modem manner, it is true, but rather like a prison in retical understanding of the laws of this revolutionary fight. medieval times. My young friends, who have the difficult and Revolutionary devotion is possible only if one gains the as- risky job of being guards are hopeful that, thanks to the re- surance that his devotion is reasonable, adequate; that it cor- construction now under way, the assailants will not escape a responds to its aim. Such assurance can be created only by second time as easily as they did the first. theoretical insight into the class struggle. “Skepticismtowards My wife, Natalya, and I send you our warmest greetings all theories” is nothing but preparation for personal desertion. and hope-in case your plans make it necessary or possible Shachtman remains silent; as “General Secretary” he is for you to come to Mexico-that we will have the pleasure too busy to defend the “most basic premisesof Marxism” from of meeting you, and of showingyou our “fortress”. petty bourgeoisphilistines and snobs. . . With cordial greetings and thanks, I am, Fraternally yours, Sincerely yours, L. TROTSKY L. TROTSKY ***

August 3, 1940. Howto DefendOurselves Dear Mr. Kay: (In a Dies Committee raid on some strident rooms in The only thing I know about you, through my friends Austin, Texus, large quantities o} Trotskyismliterature were Jim Cannon and Farrell Dobbs, is that you are a very sure sei~ed. Tbere were beadlina in the Texus press about it and and generousfriend. There are not many such friends in these tbe sensationalist stories attempted Z$Olink Trotsky to tbe times of war fury; of nationalistic tendenciesand red-baiting. case. Tbe jollowing letter suggests tbe course to be taken by We live here, my family and my young friends, under tbe defense.) the permanent threat of a new “blitzkrieg” assault on the part August 12, 1940 of the Stalinists and, as in the case of England, the material Dear Friend: aid comes from the States. The Texas story is very important. The attitude of the During the past two months the house has been under- people involved can become decisive from the legal point of goingtransformation into a kind of “fortress”; in a few more view. weekswe will be very well protected against new “blitzkrieg” We, of course,cannot imitate the Stalinists who proclaim assaults. their absolute devotion to the bourgeoisdemocracy. However, Pleasebe assured of my friendliest thanks and best wishes. we do not wish to furnish any pretext for persecutions. Sincerely yours, In this case, as in any others, we should speak the truth L. TROTSKY as it is; namely, the best, the most economicaland favorable method for the masseswould be to achievethe transformation of this society by democratic means. The democracy is also necessary for the organization and education of the masses. On A PettyBourgeoisPhilistine That is why we are always ready to defend the democratic August 9, 1940 rights of the people by our own means. However,we know on .41bertGoldman the basis of tremendous historical experience that the 60 Dear Friend: Families will never permit the democratic realization of social- I don’t know whether you have seen Dwight Macdonald’s ist principles,At a given moment the 60 Familiei will inevita- article in the August issue of his Partisan Review. bly overthrow, or try to overthrow,the democratic institutions This man was a disciple of Burnham, the intellectual and replace them by a reactionary dictatorship. This is what snob. After Burnham deserted, Dwight Macdonald was left happened in Italy, in Germany and in the last days in France in Shachtman’sparty as the lone representative of “Science”. —not to mention the lesser countries. We say in advance that On the question of fascism, Macdonald serves up a pcmr we are ready to reject such an attempt with arms in hands, compilation of plagiarisms from our arsenal which he repre- and crush the fascist dictatorship by a proletarian dictator- sents as his own discoveries and to which he opposes some ship. banalities that he characterizes as our ideas. The whole- This position correspondsto the historical reality and is without perspective, without proportion and without elemen- juridically unattackable. tary intellectual honesty. ~ Fraternally, However, this is not the worst. Burnham’s orphan pro- L. TROTSKY claims: “We must examine again with a cold and sceptical *** eye, the most basic premises of Marxism” (Page 266). And what must the poor “Workers Party” do during this peribd of examination? What must the proletariat do? They should Howto ReallyDefendDemocracy wait of course, for the result of Dwight Macdonald’s study. (The theme of tbe following letter is tbe same as tbat This result will probably be Macdonald’s desertion himself oj tbe article upon wbicb Trotsky was working when be was into the camp of Burnham. assassinated;tbe article appearsin bbis issue.) The last four lines of the article can be nothing but pre- August 13, 1940 paration for personal desertion. “only if we meet the stormy Dear Friends: and terrible years ahead with both skepticismand devotion— We should, in my opinion, fortify and deepen our cam- ...... October 1940 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL Page 127

paign against the pacifist tendencies, prejudices and false- The siren provoked even more admiration. It is wonder- hoods. ful enough just in appearance. We have not yet tried it out The liberals and democrats say: “We must help the de- because we do not wish to provoke some supplementary “za- mocraciesby all means except direct military intervention in faranchos” (clearing for action); for we are told that this Europe.” Why this stupid and hypocritical limitation? If de- siren can be heard from here to Los Angeles, I, personally, mocracy is to be defended, we should defend it also on Euro- consider this an exaggeration, pean soil; the more so as this is the best way to defend democ- We had a talk with comrade T, and his sister, both of racy in America. To help England—to crush Hitler— by all w-hornproduced a good impression. We will have some more means including military intervention, would signify the best talks with them. way to defend “American democracy”.The purely geographi- More than two and a half months of my time has been cal limitation has neither political nor military sense. almost exclusively devoted to the investigation (of the May That which we workers find worth defending, we are 24 assault). Tomorrow I shall present to the Judge a very ready to defend by military means-in Europe as well as in large memorandum about the Mexican Stalinists, the GPU the United States. It is the only possibility we have of assur- and the financial aid to the Moscow agents, with affidavits ing the defense of civil liberties and other good things in from Ben Gitlow, Joseph Zack, Walter Krivitsky and Albert America. Goldman. I hope this memorandum will not fail to have its But we categorically refuse to defend civil liberties and effect. And now 1 hope to be able to go back to my book. democracy in the French manner; the workers and farmers Our warmest thanks for the exceptional gifts and our to give their flesh and blood while the capitalists concentrate fraternal greetings. in their hands the command. The Petain experiment should L. TROTSKY now form the center of our war propaganda. It is important, of course,to explain to the advanced workers that the genuine *** fight against fascism is the socialist revolution. But it is more urgent, more imperative, to explain to the millions of Ame- On Dewey’sPhilosophy rican workers that the defense of their “democracy” cannot August 16, 1940 be delivered over to an American Marshal Petain—and there Dear Gerland.: are many candidates for such a role. I completely agree with your idea about the necessity of Carl O’Shea’sarticle in the Socialist Appeal of August giving a Marxist criticism of Dewey’sphilosophy and I be- IOth is very good.We can, in this manner, develop a very ef- lieve it is your direct duty to do this job. fective campaign against William Green as well as against With best wishes and warmest greetings, John L. Lewis, who flatly reject conscription in favor of a L. TROTSKY voluntary slave army. The Institute of Public Opinion established that over *** 70% of the workers are in favor of conscription. It is’a fact cf tremendous importance! Workers take every question seriously. If the Fatherland should be defended, then the AnotherThoughton Conscription defensecannot be abandoned to the arbitrary will of individ- August 17, 1940 uals. It should be a common attitude. This realistic concep- Dear Chris: tion shows how right we were in rejecting beforehand purely Thank you very much for the Tanaka material. It has negative pacifist or semi-pacifistattitudes. We place ourselves arrived in plenty of time, becausefor the past two and a half on the same ground as the 70% of the workers; against Green months 1 have been busy aImost exclusivelywith the investi- and Lewis, and on this premise we begin to develop a cam- gation of the assault. paign in order to opposethe workers to their exploiters in the I very much enjoyed your appreciationof the anti-pacifist military field. You, workers, wish to defend and improve position accepted by the party. There are two great advan- democracy. We, of the Fourth International, wish to go fur- tages to this position: first, it is revolutionary in its essence ther. However, we are ready to defend democracy with you, and based upon the whole character of our epoch, when all only on condition that it should be a real defense, and not questions will be decided not only by arms of critics, but by a betrayal in the Petain manner. critiques of arms; second,it is completelyfree of sectarianism. On this road I am sure we can make some progress. We do not oppose to events and to the feelings of the masses Fraternally, an abstract affirmation of our sanctity. L. TROTSKY- The poor “Labor Action” of August 12th writes: “In his fight against conscription we are with Lewis 100%.’’”We are ● ☛☛ not with Lewis for even a single percent, because Lewis tries to defend the Capitalist Fatherland with completely outdated means. The great majority of the workers understand or A Letterto C. Charles feel that these means (professional voluntary armament) are August 16, 1940 outdated from a military point of view and extremely dan- Dear Friend Charles: gerous from a class point of view. That is why the workers Everything has been received. I will use your testimony are for conscription. It is a very confused and contradictory smly in case of real necessity, but in such a case it would be form of adhering to the “arming of the proletariat.” We do extremely helpful. not flatly reject this great historical change, as do the sect- The bullet-proof vest has been piously admired by every- arians of all kinds. We say “Conscription? Yes. But made one. We have not yet decided upon what occasion we will by ourselves.” It is an excellent point of departure. wear it. In any case it can be used on trips. On the other hand With best greetings, I am, 1 doubt if it would be comfortable enough as a protection dur- Fraternally, ing sleep. (S@ted) YOUR OLD MAN Page 128 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL October “l-W’-

permanently keep this book in my hands in order to be able Welcometo “Our SmallGarrison” to understand the conversation. However, I shall try to study (R.wusto have gone to Mexico to help train the guards). it betweenmeals in order to better check the “academic” part August 18, 1940 of the household.In the part I have already studied, which is Dear Comrade R.: devoted to collegeslang, I had hoped to find some abbrevia- During the last two years there has been more than one tions for the various sciences,philosophicaltheories, etc., but discussionabout your coming here. Next to the last time we instead 1 found merely about 25 expressionsfor an attractive waited for you when your daughter and her husband visited girl. Nothing at all about dialectics or materialism. 1 see that us. The last time it was when Jim Cannon and Farrell Dobbs tfie official “Science” is a bit unilateral. at-idJoe Hansen came here to check the situation after the “rhe Nortbwest Organizer becomes more precisbmore assault. aggressive—morepolitical. We enjoyed it very much. Now we hear that the matter is being discussedagain. Of With friendliest and warmest greetings from househoId course the decision is completely up to the party and you, to household, I am, sinceyou should know better there on the ground if your trip Fraternally yours, would be detrimental to the party and trade union work. I L. TROTSKY can only express the wish from our local and very “provin- cial” point of view that your visit announced so many times should really be carried out. I am sure that your visit even for a couple of weeks would be of high value for our small (These two letters Trotsky wrote to two classwar prison- garrison not to mention the pleasure of meeting you. ers, who were to be releasedin a few days a/ter having served You will of course find a room and a plate in our home. prison terms jor their activity iti a strike.) With best comradely greetings, L. TROTSKY August 20, 1940 Dear Comrade Edward: *** Jake Cooper tells me that you will be released from your provisional asylum on August 23rd. His LastThreeLetters,Written It is always preferable to leave than to enter such a place. On the Day HeWas StruckDown My warmest congratulations and wishes. August 20, 1940 Fraternally yours, My dear l-lank: L. TROTSKY Please do not think that we have forgotten you, because we have not yet sent the photographs. Everything is slower here, as you know from your own experience in the recon- August 20, 1940 struction of the house. Dear Comrade Max : From Joe’s letters you probably know that we have made 1 learned from my friend, Jake Cooper that on August someprogressduring the past weeks,but we are still far from 23rd you will be released from jail. the end. From my own personal experienceI know that such a day How are your feet, and your health in general? I hope is very agreeable. that the soil of the fatherland is more favorable to your gen- I wish you all the best and especially-not to be hasty in eral status. And how are your wife and daughter? visiting the same place. . . I received an excellentgift from Grace-a dictionary of Fraternally yours, siang. There is only one difficulty-that at meal-times 1 must L. TROTSKY His Last Article Comrade Trotsky never saw this article in written form. from the recordsdictated by Trotsky. Despite its unfinished He bad dictated it into his Dictaphone,as was his custom, form, however,this article belongsamong Trotsky’s most im- part oj it merely as notations for luter elaboration.Further portant contributions. More precisely and sharply than else- sectionalwould come later, and the whole would be considera- where, be established here the historical law that fascism is bly revised,some paragraphscd out altogether,others @ced successfulonly after the radicalizationof tbe massesand a}ter at other points in the manuscript, and so on. For, contrary to tbe proletarian vanguurd has failed to lead the radicalized populur myth and despite his enurmous production, Trotsky masses to the conquest of power. The profound importance did not write easily. What follows is, therefore,a literal trans- of this concept, particularly for the workers of the United lation of tbe transcriptionmade by bis ‘Russianstenographer States, will be clear to every serious reader.—EDITORS.

In his very pretentious,very muddled and stupid article* fascism as it developed,throughout the various stages of its Dwight Macdonald tries to represent us as holding the view development and advanced to the forefront now one now that fascism is simply a repetition of Bonapartism. A greater another of its aspects.There is an element of Bonapartism in pieceof nonsensewould be hard to invent. We have analyzed fascism. Without this element, namely, without the raising of state power above society owing to an extreme sharpening of *NritionalDefense:The Case for Secialism, Partisan Review, the class struggle, fascism would have been impossible. Bul July-Augnat,1940. we pointed out from the very beginningthat it was primarily October 1940 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL Page 129 a question of Bonapartism of the epoch of imperialist decline This political position of the extreme left wing expressed which is qualitatively different from Bonapartismof the epoch itself most graphically on the question of the defense of the of bourgeois rise. At the next stage we separated out pure fatherland. Bonapartism as the prologue to a fascist regime.Because in In 1915 Lenin referred in his writings to revolutionary the case of pure Bonapartism the rule of a monarch is ap- wars which the victorious proletariat would have to wage. But proximated and. . . . . it was a question of an indefinite historical perspective and in Italy. . . . not of tomorrow’s task. The attention of the revolutionary [n post-war Italy the situation was profoundly revolutionary. wing was centered on the question of the defenseof the capi- The proletariat had every opportunity. .,. talist fatherland, The revolutionists naturally replied to this question in the negative. This was entirely correct. But this the Ministries of Bruening, Schleicher and the Presidency of purely negative answer served as the basis for propaganda Hindenburg in Germany, Petain’s Government in France, but and for training the cadres but it could not win the masses they all have proved, or must prove, unstable. In the epoch who did not want a foreign conquerer. In Russia prior to the of imperialist decline a pure Bonapartist Bonapartism is com- war the Bolsheviksconstituted four-fifths of the proletarian pletely inadequate; imperialism finds it indispensableto mo- vanguard, that is, of the workers participating in political bilize the petty bourgeoisieand to crush the proletariat under life (newspapers, elections, etc.). Following the February re- its weight. Imperialism is capable of fulfilling this task only volution the unlimited rule passed into the hands of defens- in case the proletariat itself reveals its inability to conquer ists, the Mensheviks and the S. R.’s. True enough, the Bol- power, while the social crisis drives the petty bourgeoisieinto sheviks in the space of eight months conquered the over- a condition of paroxysm. whelming majority of the workers. But the decisive role in The sharpness of the social crisis arises from this, that this conquest was played not by the refusal to defend the with today’s concentration of the means of production, i.e., bourgeois fatherland but by the s]ogan: “AII power to the the monopoly of trusts, the law of value—the market is al- Soviets!“ And only by this revolutionary slogan! The criti- ready incapable of regulating economic relations. State in- cism of imperialism, its militarism, the renunciation of the tervention becomes an absolute necessity. Inasmuch as the defense of bourgeois democracy and so on could have never proletariat. . . conqueredthe overwhelmingmajority of the peopleto the side of the Bolsheviks.In all other belligerent countries, with the exceptionof Russia the revolutionary wing toward the end of The present war, as we have stated on more than one oc- the war all . . . casion, is a continuation of the last war. But a continuation does not signify a repetition. As a general rule, a continuation signifiesa development,a deepening,a sharpening. Our policy, the policy of the revolutionary proletariat toward the second In so far as the proletariat proves incapable at a given imperialist war is a continuation of the policy elaborated dur- stage of conquering power, imperialism begins regulating eco- ing the last imperialist war, primarily under Lenin’s leader- nomic life with its own methods; the fascist party which be- ship. But a continuation does not signify a repetition. In this comesthe state power is the political mechanism.The produc- case too, continuation signifies a development, a deepening tive forces are in irreconcilable contradiction not only with and a sharpening. private property but also with national state boundaries. im- perialism is the very expressionof this contradiction. Imper- We Were Caught Unawaresin 1914 ialist capitalism seeks to solve this contradiction through an During the last war not only the prcJetariat as a whole extensionof boundaries, seizure of new territories, and so on. but also its vanguard and, in a certain sense, the vanguard of The totalitarian state, subjecting all aspects of economic,po- this vanguard was caught unawares. The elaboration of the litical and cultural life to finance capital, is the instrument principles of revolutionary policy toward the war began at a for creating a super-nationalist state, an imperialist empire, time when the war was already in full blaze and the military the rule over continents, the rule over the whole world. machine exercisedunlimited rule. One year after the outbreak All these traits of fascism we have analyzed each one by of the war, the small revolutionary minority was still com- itself and all of them in their totality to the extent that they pelled to accommodateitself to a centrist majority at the Zim- became manifest or came to the forefront. merwald Conference. Prior to the February revolution and even afterwards the revolutionary elements felt themselves to be not contendersfor power but the extreme . The Pointat Which FascismSucceeds Even Lenin relegated the socialistrevolution to a more or less Both theoretical analysis as welI as the rich historical distant future. (In 1915 or 1916) he wrote in Switzerland: experienceof the last quarter of a century have demonstrated (quotation).* If that is how Lenin viewed the situation, then with equal force that fascism is each time the final link of a there is hardly any need of talking about the others. specificpolitical cycle composedof the following: the gravest crisis of capitalist society; the growth of the radicalization of * Several citations from Lenin during that period fit Trot- the working class; the growth of sympathy toward the work- sky’sdescription.We quote two: ing class and a yearning for change on the part of the rural qt “is~os~ible,~wever, that five,ten and ev@nmore Years and urban petty bourgeoisie; the extreme confusion of the will pass beforethe beginningof the socialistrevolution.”(From big bourgeoisie; its cowardly and treacherous maneuvers an article written in March, 1916,Lenin’sCollectedWorks,vol. aimed at avoiding the revolutionary climax; the exhaustion XIX,p. 45, Third Russian Editian.) of the proletariat, growing confusion and indifference; the “We, the older men, will perhaps not live long enough to see :!ggravationof the social crisis; the despair of the petty bour- the decisive battles of the impendingrevolution.” (Report on 1905 geoisie,its yearning for change, the collectiveneurosis of the Revolutiondelivered to Swiss students, January, 1917,idem, page petty bourgeoisie,its readinessto believein miracles; its readi- 35’7.) ness for violent measures; the growth of hostility towards the Page 130 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL October 1940 proletariat which has deceived its expectations.These are the example in France. The first wave of the revolution has often, premisesfor a swift formation of a fascist party and its or more correctly, always carried to the top those “left” victory. parties which have not managed to discredit themselves com- pletely in the preceding period and wfiich have an imposing It is quite self-evidentthat the radicalization of the work- political tradition behind them. Thus the February revolution ing class in the United States has passed only through its ini- raised up the Mensheviks, the S. R.’s who were the opponents tial phases, almost exclusivelyin the sphere of the trade union of the revolution on its very eve. Thus the German revolution movement (the C1O). The pre-war period, and then the war in November, 1918, raised to power the social democrats who itself may temporarily interrupt this processof radicalization, were the irreconcilable opponents of revolutionary uprisings. especially if a considerable number of workers are absorbed into war industry. But this interruption of the processof radi- Twelve years ago Trotsky wrote in an article published calization cannot be of a long duration. The second stage of by “The New Republic”: radicalizationwill assumea more sharply expressivecharacter. “There is no epoch in human history so saturated The problem of forming an independent labor party will be with antagonisms as ours. Under a too high tension of put on the order of the day. Our transitional demands will class and international animosities,the ‘fuses’of democ- gain great popularity. On the other hand, the fascist, reac- racy ‘blow out’. Hence the short-circuits of dictatorship, tionary tendencies will withdraw to the background, assum- Naturally the weakest ‘interrupters’ are the first to give ing a defensive position, awaiting a more favorable moment. way. But the force of internal and world controversies This is the nearest perspective. No occupation is more com- does not weaken: it grows. It is douBtful if it is destined pletely unworthy than that of speculating whether or no we to calm down, given that the process has so far only shall succeed in creating a powerful revolutionary leader- taken hold of the periphery of the capitalist world. Gout party. Ahead lies a favorable perspective, providing all the begins in the little fingerof a hand or in the big,toe, but justificationfor revolutionary activism. It is necessaryto util- once on the way it goes right to the heart,” (“The New ize the opportunities which are opening up and to build the Republic,” May 22, 1929) revolutionary party. TheAmericanPhilistineProtests Problemof PowerPosedto the Workers This was written at a time when the entire bourgeois The second world war poses the question of change of democracy in each country believed that fascism was possible regimes more imperiously, more urgently than did the first ordy in the backward countries which had not yet graduated war. It is first and foremost a question of the political regime. from the school of democracy. The editorial board of “The The workers are aware that democracy is suffering shipwreck New Republic”,which at that period had not yet been touched everywhere, and that they are threatened by fascism even in with the blessingsof the GPU, accompaniedTrotsky’s article those countrieswhere fascism is as Yetnon-existent.The bour- with one of its own.The article is so characteristic of the aver- geoisieof the democratic countries will naturally utilize this age American Philistine that we shall quote from it the most dread of fascism on the part of the workers, but, on the other interesting passages. hand, the bankruptcy of democracies, their collapse, their “In view of his personaImisfortunes,the exiled Rus- painless transformation into reactionary di~tatorships compel sian leader showsa remarkable power of detached analy- the workers to pose before themselvesthe problem of power, sis; but his detachment is that of the rigid Marxian, and render them responsiveto the posingof the problem of power. seems to us to lack a realistic view of history—the Reaction wields today such power as perhaps never be- very thing on which he prides himself. His notion that fore in the modern history of mankind. But it would be an democracy is a fair-weather form of government, incapa- inexcusableblunder to see only reaction. The historical pro- ble of withstanding the storms of international or domes- cessis a contradictory one. Under the cover of officialreaction tic controversy, can be supported (as he himself half profound processes are taking place among the masses who admits) only by taking for your examplescountrieswhere are accumulating experience and are becoming receptive to democracy has never made more than the feeblest be- new political perspectives.The old conservative tradition of ginnings, and countries,moreover, in which the industrial the democratic state which was so powerful even during the revolution has hardly more than’ started.” era of the last imperialist war exists today only as an ex- Further on, the editorial board of “The New Republic” tremely unstable survival. On the eve of the last war the Eu- dismissesthe instance of Kerensky’sdemocracy in Soviet Rus- ropean workers had numerically powerful parties. But on the sia and why it failed to withstand the test of class contradic- order of the day were put reforms, partial conquests,and not tions and yielded place to a revolutionary perspective. The at all the conquest of power. periodical sageIy writes: The American working class is still without a mass labor “Kerensky’sweaknesswas an historic accident,which party even today. But the objective situation and the ex- Trotsky cannot admit because there is no room in his perienceaccumulated by the American workers can pose with- mechanistic scheme for any such thing.” in a very brief period of time on the order of the day the ques- Just like Dwight Macdonald, “The New Repub]ic” ac- tion of the conquestof power. This perspectivemust be made cused the Marxists of being unable to understand history the basis of our agitation. It is not merely a question of a realistically owing to their orthodox or mechanistic approach pm.ition on capitalist militarism and of renouncing the de- to political events. “Th~ New Republic” was of the opinion fepse of the bourgeois state but of directly preparing for the that fascism is the product of the backwardnessof capitalism conquestof power and the defense of the proletarian father- and not its over-ripeness. In the opinion of that periodical land. which, I repeat, was the opinion of the overwhelmingmajority May not the Stalinists turn out at the head of a new re- of average democratic philistines, fascism is the lot of back- volutionary upsurge and may they not ruin the revolution as ward bourgeois countries. The sage editorial board did not they did in Spain and previously in China? it is of course im- even take the trouble of thinking about the question of why permissibleto consider that such a possibility is excluded,for it was the universal conviction in the Nineteenth Century ‘-_cmobii -wa FOURTH INTERNATIONAL I%ge 151

that backward countries must develop along the road of the state endangers his “freedom” and he has therefore de- democracy. In any case, in the old capitalist countries democ- cided to renounce socialism.This anecdote deserves being in- racy came into its rights at a time when the level of their cluded in the text of a history of ideology.The socialization economicdevelopmentwas not above but below the economic of the means of production is the only solution to the eco- developmentof modern Italy. And what is more, in that era nomic problem at the given stage of mankind’s development. democracy represented the main highway of historical de- The delay in solving this problem leads to the barbarism of velopment which was entered by all countries one by one, fascism. All the intermediate solutions undertaken by the the backward ones following the more advanced and some- bourgeoisiewith the help of the petty bourgeoisie have suf- times, ahead of them. Our era on the contrary is the era of fered a miserable and shameful fiaxo. All this is absolutely democracy’scollapse, and moreover, the collapse begins with uninteresting to Eastman. He noticed that his “freedom” the weaker links but gradually extends to those which ap- (freedom of muddling, freedom of indifferentism, freedom peared strong and impregnable.Thus the orthodox or mechan- of passivity, freedom of literary dilettantism) was being istic, that is, the Marxist approach to events enabled us to threatened from various sides, and he decided immediately forecast the course of developmentsmany years in advance. to apply his own measure: renounce socialism..4stonishingly On the contrary, the realistic approach of “The New Repub- enough this decision exercised no influence either on Wall lic” represented the approach of a blind kitten. “The New Street or on the policy of the trade unions. Life went its own Republic” followed up its critical attitude toward Marxism way just as if Max Eastman had remained a socialist. It may by falling under the influence of the most revolting carica- be set down as a general rule that the more impotent is a petty ture of Marxism, namely, Stalinism. bourgeoisradical especially in the United States the more. . .

The NewestCrop of Philistine FascismHas Not Conqueredin France Most of the philistines of the newest crop base their at- In France there is no fascism in the real sense of the tacks on Marxism on the fact that contrary to Marx’s prog- term. The regime of the senile Marshal Petain represents a nosisfascismcame instead of socialism.Nothing is more stupid sende form of Bonapartism of the epoch of imperialist de- and vulgar than this criticism. Marx demonstrated and proved cline. But this regime too proved possibleonly after the pro- that when capitalism reaches a certain level the only way out longed radicalization of the French working class, which led for society lies in the socializationof the means of production, to the explosionof June, 1936,had failed to find a revolution- i.e., socialism.He also demonstrated that in view of the class ary way out. The Second and Third Internationals, the re- s&uctureof society the proletariat alone is capable of solving actionary charlatanism of the “People’sFronts” deceived and ‘ this task in an irreconcilable revolutionary struggle against demoralizedthe working class, After five years of propaganda the bourgeoisie.He further demonstrated that for the fulfill- in favor of an alliance of democraciesand of collectivesecur- ment of this task the proletariat needs a revolutionary party. ity, after Stalin’s sudden passage into Hitler’s camp, the All his life Marx, and together with him and after him Engels, French working class proved caught unawares. The war pro- and after them Lenin, waged an irreconcilablestruggleagainst voked a terrible disorientation and the mood of passive de- those traits in proletarian parties, socialist parties which ob- featism, or to put it more correctly, the indifferentism of an structed the solution of the revolutionary historical task. The impasse. From this web of circumstances arose first the un- irreconcilability of the struggle waged by Marx, Engels, and precedented military catastrophe and then the despicable Lenin against opportunism, on the one side, and anarchism, Petain regime.

on the other, demonstratesthat they did not at all underestim- 1. ate this danger. In what did it consist? In this, that the op- Precisely because Petain’s regime is senile Bonapartism, portunism of the summits of the working class, subject to the it contains no element of stability and can be overthrown by bourgeoisie’sinfluence,could obstruct, slow down, make more a revolutionary mass uprising much sooner than a fascist difficult, postpone the fulfillment of the revolutionary task of regime. the proletariat. It is preciselythis condition of society that we are now observing. Fascism did not at all come “instead” of EspeciallyImportantto U. S.Workers socialism. Fascism is the continuation of capitalism, an at- In every discussion of political topics the question in- tentpt to perpetuate its existenceby means of the most bestial variably flares up: Shall we succeedin creating a strong party and monstrous measures. Capitalism obtained an opportunity for the moment when the crisis comes?might not fascism an- . to resort to fascism only because the proletariat did not ac- ticipate us? isn’t a fascist stage of development inevitable? complish the socialist revolution in time. The proletariat was The successesof fascism easily make people lose all perspec- paralyzed in the fulfillment of its task by the opportunist tive, lead them to forget the actual conditionswhich made the parties. The only thing that can be said is that there turned strengthening and the victory of fascism possible. Yet a clear out to be more obstacles,more difficulties,more stages on the understanding of these conditions is of especial importance road of the revolutionary developmentof the proletariat than to the workers of the United States. We may set it down as an was foreseen by the founders of scientificsocialism. Fascism historical law: Fascism was able to conquer only in those and the seriesof imperialist wars constitute the terrible school countries where the conservative labor parties prevented the in which the proletariat has to free itself of petty bourgeois proletariat from utilizing the revolutionary situation and traditions and superstitions, has to rid itself of opportunist, seizing power. In Germany two revolutionary situations were democratic and adventurist parties, has to hammer out and involved: 1918-1919and 1923-24. Even in 1929 a direct train the revolutionary vanguard and in this way prepare for struggle for power on the part of the proletariat was still pos- the solving of the task apart from which there is not and can- sible. In all these three cases the social democracy and the not be any salvation for the developmentof mankind. Comintern criminally and viciously disrupted the conquest of power and thereby placed society in an impasse.Only under Eastman, if you please,’has come to the conclusion that these conditions and in this situation did the stormy rise of the concentration of the means of production in the hands of Fascism and its gaining of power prove possible. I . .. . Page 132 FOU”R”TH” “I”N”T”ERNATIONAL c)iiibir’1!$40 Some Questions on American Problems By LEON TROTSKY

QUEST~ON 1: What should be the rok of a draftable revo- else for a couple of years, because you cannot create such an lutionist in the United States now? army over-night in a country where you do not have a mili- .(a) Sbould he try to avoid the draft? tary tradition, as, for instance, in Germany, where for cen- (b) To what extent should the party try turies they have had a tradition of Prussian militarism. to conserve its cadres? Now the capitalists wish to create this tremendous army of millions, to create officers,to create a new military spirit, (c) Should the party concentratemost o/ and they have begun with full successto change the public its strength in the military or indus- opinion of the nation toward militarism. At the time that trial sections of the country? Roosevelt made his campaign speech, there was an outburst (d) What are the alternative roles of a of public opinion for isolationism,but now all this sentiment woman revcdutimist in this war? belongs to the past—to the childhood of the nation—in spite TROTSKY: If he is draftable, then let him be drafted. I of the fact that it took place only a few months ago. don’t think he should try to avoid the draft— Now the national feeling is for a tremendous army, navy he must go with his generation and participate in its life. and air force. This is the psychologicalatmosphere for the Should the party try to conserve its cadres by saving them creation of a military machine, and you will see it become from the army? This means conserving them in a very bad stronger and stronger every day and every week. You will sense.When the best part of the population is mobilized,then have military schools,etc., and a Prussianization of the United our cadres must be among them. States will take place, The sons of the bourgeoisfamilies will Should the party concentrate most of its strength in the became imbued with Prussian feelings and ideals, and their military or industrial organizations? This depends upon the parents will be proud that their sonslook like Prussian lieuten- sizeof the militarization and mobilization. If the greater part ants. To some extent this will be also true of the workers. of the population is militarized then the greater part of our party would also be in the army. SeparatingtheWorkersfrom the Bosses About the,women—inasmuchas the women will replace That is why we must try to separate the workers from men in many branches of industry and social work, our com- the others by a program of education, of workers’ schools,of rades will also play the role of their generation. workers’ officers,devoted to the welfare of the worker army, We should understand that the life of this society, poli- etc. We cannot escape from the militarization but inside the tics, everything, will be based upon war, therefore the revo- machine we can observe the class line. The American workers lutionary program must also be based on war. We cannot do not want to be conquered by Hitler, and to those who say oppose the fact of the war with wishful thinking; with pious “Let us have a peace program”, the worker will reply, “But Facifism.We must place ourselves upon the arena created by HitIer does not want a peace program.” Therefore we say: this society.The arena is terrible—it is war—but inasmuch as MJe will defend the United States with a workers’ army, With we are weak and incapable of taking the fate of societyinto our workers’officers,with a workers’ government, etc. If we are hands; inasmuch as the ruling class is strong enough to im- not pacifists,who wait for a better future, and if we are active pose upon us this war, we are obliged to accept this basis for revolutionists,our job is to penetrate into the whole military our activity. machine. Of course, out of this army, tomorrow they might select a corps to send to some battlefield, and no doubt this “Program For Peace”Is Not Serious corps will be annihilated, but war is a risky business and we 1read a short report of a discussionthat Shachtman had cannot invent any medicine against these risks. with a professor in Michigan, and Shachtman formulated Of course the party can make certain exceptionsof those this idea: “Let us have a program for peace, not war; for the men who are necessary for a certain job, but this concerns masses,not for murder,” etc. What does this mean? If we do only individual exceptions, and here we are discussing the not have peace, we cannot have a program for peace. If we rule. Furthermore, our comrades should be the best soldiers have war, we must have a program for war, and the bour- and the best officersand at the same time the best class mili- geoisiecannot help but organize the war. Neither Roosevelt tants. They should provoke in the workers a mistrust of the nor Willkie are free to decide; they must prepare the war, and old tradition, the military plans of the bourgeois class and when they have prepared it they will conduct it. They will officers, and should insist upon the necessity of educating say they cannot do otherwise, because of the danger from workers’officers,who will be absolutely loyal to the proletar- Hitler-,etc., of the danger from Japan, etc. There is only one iat. In this epoch every great question, national or intern- way of avoiding the war—that is the overthrow of this society. ational,will be resolved with arms-not by peaceful means. It However, as we are too weak for this task, the war is inevi- doesn’t depend upon my will or your will, but is caused by table. The questionthen, for us, is not the same as in the bour- the contradictions of the society which has put this problem geois salon-’’ let us write an article on peace, etc.”, which is before us, and from which we cannot escape. That is why it suitable’for publications like The Nation. Our people must is the duty of every worker and revolutionist to learn how to consider it seriously; we must say: the war is inevitable, so manipulate arms skillfully. let us have an organized workers’ program for the war. The About the losses in the trade unions, if we have a large draft of the youth is a part of the war and becomespart of mobilization, then the unions will immediately lose the best our program. elements and only the older people will remain. These people It is questionablewhether the United States will send an are not as likely to be persistent. On the other hand, the expeditionary force at this time. I have the impression that younger generationsfor the first time in history will feel thems- Aey are not dispowd to m-id an army to Europe or.anywhere elves armed-by the State itself! It is absolutely correct tkt ... October 1940 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL Page 133

in the first period w will have an explosion of chauvinistic remember is: ‘(This man warned us and we rejected him.” patriotism, and that we will be isolated even more than now, Then he becomestheir leader, a hero. and that this period of activity will inevitably be limited by If the leaders seek only to preserve themselves, that is repressions,but we must adapt ourselvesto the situation. That what they become; preservetiried preserves. If they enter is why it would be doubly stupid to present a purely abstract the movement, they give the impulse to five, ten, twenty pacifist position today; the feeling the masses have is that it others. It is more important to multiply our cadres than to is necessary to defend themselves. We must say: “Roosevelt preserve them, and they can be multiplied by the hundreds. (or Willkie) says it is necessaryto defend the country; good! Our cadres need education and experiencein mass movements, only it must be our country, not that of the 60 families and and how can they get this outside the life of the masses? No, their Wall Street. The army must be under our own com- it is not possible to jump out of your epoch. Moreover, we mand; we must have our own officers,who will be loyal to us.” would have to make arrangements with the General Staff, and In this way we can find an approach to the masses that will I am sure they would not agree with the idea of escape! not push them away from us, and thus to prepare for the secondstep-a more revolutionary one. The ComingChangein the AmericanWorkers Profoundimportanceof FrenchEvents QUESTION 2: How will the backwardness o~ the United We must use the example of France to the very end. We States working class advance or retard the must say, “I warn you, workers, that they (the bourgeoisie) growth of fascism? will betray you! Look at Petain, who is a friend of Hitler. (a) What are the possibilities of the ZSWr Shall we have the same thing happen in this country? We time dictiatorsbip becoming a full must create our own machine, under workers’ control,” We fledged fascist dictatorship? must be careful not to identify ourselveswith the chauvinists, TROTSKY: The backwardnessof the United States working, nor with the confused sentiments of self-preservation,but we class is only a relative term. In many very must understand their feelings and adapt ourselves to these important respects it is the most progressiveworking class of feelings critically, and prepare the masses for a better under- the world; technically, and in its standard of living. standing of the situation, otherwise we will remain a sect, of We can look forward now to a change in the economic which the pacifist variety is the’most miserable. situation of the United States—a very brusque change, and We must also say that the war has a tendency toward then when the war comes, to the misery which will follow. totalitarian dictatorship. War develops a centralization, and Even now, under the program of militarization, with millions during war the bourgeoisclass cannot allow the workers any upon millions thrown into the war machine, the rapid lower- new concessions.“rhe trade unions will therefore become a ing of the standard of living for the working class will pro- kind of Red Cross for the workers, a sort of philanthropic duce a very rapid change of mind in the American workers. institution. The bosses themselves will be under control by The American worker is very combative—as we have the State, everything will be sacrificed to the army, and the seen during the strikes. They have had the most rebellious trade union influence will become zero. And we must say of strikes in the world. What the American worker misses is a this now: “If you don’t place yourselves on a workers’ mili- spirit of generalization, or analysis, of his class position in tary basis, with workers’ schools, workers’ officers,etc., and society as a whole. This lack of social thinking has its origin ‘ go to war on the old style military basis,you will be doomed.” in the country’s‘wholehistory—the Far West with the per- And this, in its own way, will preserve the trade unions spectiveof unlimited possibilitiesfor everyone to becomerich, themselves. etc. Now all that is gone, but the mind remains in the past. Even if the United States sends armies abroad, to Europe Idealists think the human mentality is progressive, bu~ in or Asia, and the mortality rate will be expectedly high, we reality it is the most conservative element of society. Your cannot make exceptionsfor our comrades,becauseon the other technique is progressivebut the mentality of the worker lags hand we cannot foresee the tempo of revolutionary develop- far behind. Their backwardness consists of their inability to ment in Europe or Asia, and perhaps the American army will generalize their problem; they consider everything on a per- enter such a country during a revolutionary beginning.In that sonal basis. case even two or three of our men can play a tremendous role Now, the war will teach the American workers social during such a period. They might try to use this American thinking. The economic crisis has already begun and in the army against such a revolution, and in that case even one C.I.O. we see the first reaction of the workers-confused but courageousman can turn the regiment into another direction. important. They begin to feel themselves as a class; they see This cannot be foreseen—thereare too many unknowns; but 10 to 14 millions of unemployed,etc. Now the war will ccm- that is why we say we must all go with our class. tinue to teach them social thinking, and this means revolu- tionary thinking. We CannotStandAsidefrom Our Class! I do not believethat a revolutionary can remain aside for FascismWill ComeOnly If We Fail the first critical period—say,a year or so-and then comewith About fascism. In all the countries where fascism became his stick and hat and say, “Now, comrades,we will begin the victorious, we had before the growth of fascism and its vic- revolution!“ Excuse me for making a caricature of this. But tory, a wave of radicalism of the masses; of the workers and if he is in the army and tells the others about the dangers in the poorer peasants and farmers, and of the petty bourgeois the bourgeoisinstitutions and advises them to create a work- class. In Italy, after the war and before 1922,we had a revo- ers’ program for war, in spite of all the chauvinistic attacks lutionary wave of tremendous dimensions;the state was par- upon him, and even if they turn him away, they will later alyzed, the police did not exist, the trade unions could do say, “Remember, he told us so.” And then he becomes an anything they, wanted—but there was no party capable of authority..This is repeated in every war, and not only in wars taking the power. As a reaction came fascism. but in strikes and,trade union movements. All they have to In Cm-manythe same. We had a revolutionary situation ——-——...... ,. .. . Page 134 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL October 1940

in 1918;the bourgeoisclass did not even ask to participate in of famine and pestilence.These are Hitler’s gains for the next the power. The Social Democrats paralyqd the revolution. years. Then the workers tried again in 1922-23-24.This was the time When the United States goes to war they will introduce of the bankruptcy of the Communist party-all of which we a war economy. This means sacrificing everything for the have gone into before. Then in 1929-30-31the German work- army and war purposes-and misery for the population, How ers began again a new revolutionary wave. There was a tre- can there be a self-sustainingeconomy for the United States? mendous power in the Communists and in the trade unions, Jn times of peace you have 10 million unemployed—and this but then came the famous policy of Social Fascism, a policy in a time of relative prosperity; during crises you have 13 to invented to paralyze the working class. Only after these three 14 million unemployed. Moreover you must export. To do tremendouswaves,did fascism becomea big movement.There this you must import. What? Products that will ruin your are no exceptionsto this rul+fascism comes only when the farmers, who are even now being supported artificially? No, working class shows complete incapacity to take into its own there is no possibility. Instead, it is necessary to organim a hands the fate of society. kind of fascism—anorganized control of the misery, because In the United States you will have the same thing. A1- what is fascism except the organization of misery for the ready there are fascist eIements,and they have of course the people. “TheNew Deal tried to do it in a better way but did examplesof Italy and Germany. They will therefore work in not succeed,becauseat that period you remained too rich for a more rapid tempo. But you also have the examplesof other a fascist misery. Howeveryou will becomepoorer and poorer, countries.The next historic waves in the United States will be and as a result the next New Deal will be in fascist form. The waves of radicalism of the masses; not fascism. Of course the only solution carries the name of Socialism. war can hinder the radicalization for some time but then it The Pan American conference is probably the last spec- will give to the radicalization a more tremendous tempo and tacular form of convulsion of the Rooseveltian Good Neighb- swing. The war cannot organically change developments but or policy. The United States cannot enter a world war, or cxdy retard them for some time—and then give them a push. even make seriouspreparation for it without assuring first the War, as we have said before, is only the continuation of poli- full domination of the Latin American countries. Their real tics by other means. In this sense, I am sure you will have assurance is their American fleet and air-craft, so that the many possibilitiesto win the power in the United States be- iron fist shows beneath the Good Neighbor policy. We saw fore the fascists can become a dominant force. that Argentina was a bit rebellious, but that was their last We must not identify war dictatorship-the dictatorship convulsionof independence.Washington will not permit such of the military machine, of the staff, of financecapital—with a rebelliousattitude. The armies, of course, have a world pur- fascist dictatorship. For the latter there is first necessary a pose, but the immediate step is first directed to South Ame- feelingof desperation of large massesof the people.When the rica to teach them to obey. For the United Statesj Latin Ame- revolutionary parties betray them, when the vanguard of rica is like Austria and Czechoslovakia was to Hitler—a workers shows its incapacity to lead the people to victory— springboard to the larger things. then the farmers, the small business men, the unemployed, As to whether the United States will take direct control the soldiers,etc. becomecapable of supporting a fascist move- over the Latin American countries, Canada, or let them re- men, but only then. main under governors-gauleitiers-we will see both ! We will A military dictatorship is purely a bureaucratic institu- have various combinations in the next period, and Washing- tion, reinforced by the military machine and based upon the ton will name the terms. disorientation of the people and their submission to it. After some time their feelingscan change, and they can becomere- On the “Workers” Party belliousagainst the military dictatorship. QUESTION 4: In your opinion were there enough political Yes, the feeling against conscription in the United States differences between the majority and minori- could possibly become a point of departure for such a rebel- ty to warrant a split? liousness. Here is our opportunity to show the workers how TROTSKY: Here it is also necessary to consider the ques- the bourgeois class resolves its problems, and we could say: tion dialectically, not mechanically. What does “You see,they now want to imposeupon you a Prussian mili- this terrible word “dialectics)’mean? Jt means to consider tarism, with its lack of regard for workers’ lives.” We could things in their development, not in their static situation. If demand, possibly, the election of officer-and ‘this can be- we take the political differencesas they are, we can say they come a very good slogan. ‘Officers elected by the soldiers were not sufficient for a split, but if they developed a ten- themselves.” dency to turn away from the proletariat in the direction of petty bourgeoiscircles,then the same differences can have an AmericanEconomyDuringtheWar absolutely different value; a different weight; if they are con- QUESTION 3: What are the possibilitiesof building a self- nected with a different social group. This is a very important sustaining economy in the Western Hemis- point. phere? We have the fact that the minority split away from us, TROTSKY: Not very good, especially during the war. in spite of all the measurestaken by the majority not to split. During the war we will have a deepening This signifiesthat their inner social feeling was such that it of self-sustaining misery throughout the whole West- is impossible for them to go together with us. It is a petty ern Hemisphere. The war is only the beginning-the re- bourgeoistendency, not a proletarian. If you wish a new con- sults will remain for decades. Even Hitler, who now has firmation of this, we have an excellentexample in the article Europe, and tomorrow will have Great Britain, has only of Dwight Macdonald. hungry people. He must have the colonies, and that sig- First of all, what characterizes a proletarian revolution- nifies the oceans-and that means a fight with the United ary? No one is obliged to participate in a revolutionary party, States for the dominions of Great Britain. This would be a but if he does participate, he considersthe party seriously. If !ong term conflict, and after the German soldiers and sailors we dare to call the people for a revolutionary change of so- have been at war, they will return hometo a country of misery, ciety, we carry a tremendous responsibility, which we must ‘-”TEtober 1940 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL Page 135

consider very seriously. And what is our theory, but merely all theories. So also to the workers he would say that the in- the tools of our action? These tools are our Marxist theory struments and tools they work with are not important but becauseup to today we have not found better tools. A worker they must have dewtion to their work! I think the workers is not fantastic about tools—if they are the best tools he can would find a very sharp expressionfor such a statement. get he is careful with them; he does not abandon them or de- It is very characteristic of the disappointed intellectual. mand fantastic non-existent tools. He sees the war, the terrible epoch ahead, with losses,with Burnham is an intellectual snob. He picks up one party, sacrifices,and he is afraid. He begins to propagate skepticism abandons it, takes up another. A worker cannot do this. If he and still he believesit is possibleto unify skepticismwith re- enters a revolutionary party, addressesthe people, calls them volutionary devotion. We can only develop a revolutionary for action, it is the same as a general during a war—he must devotion if we are sure it is rational and possible,and we can- know where he is leading them. What would you think of a not have such assurances without a working theory. He who general who said he thought the guns were bad—that it would propagates theoretical skepticismis a traitor. be better to wait for 10 years until they had invented better guns, so everybody had better go home.That is the way Bur- Our OwnActualAnalysisof Fascism nhamreasons.So he abandoned the party. But the unemployed We analyzed in fascism different elements. remain, and the war remains. These things cannot be post- 1. The element which fascism has in common with the poned. Therefore it is only Burnham who has postponed his old Bonapartism, is that it used the antagonisms of classes in action. order to give to the State power the greatest independence. EJutwe have always underlined that the old Bonapartism was PettyBourgeoisSkepticism in a time of an ascending bourgeois society, while fascism is Dwight Macdonald is not a snob, but a bit stupid. I a State power of the declining bourgeois society. quote: “The intellectual, if he is to serve any useful function 2. That fascism is an attempt of the bourgeois class to in society,must not deceiveeither himself or others, must not overcom%to overstep, the contradiction between the new accept as good coin what he knows is counterfeit, must not technique and private property without eliminating the pri- forget in a moment of crisiswhat he has learned over a period vate property. It is the “planned economy” of fascism. I’t is of years and decades.” Good. Absolutely correct. I quote an attempt to save private property and at the same time to again: “Only if we meet the stormy and terrible years ahead check private property. with both skepticism and devotion—skepticismtowards all 3. To overstep the contradiction betweenthe new, modern theories, governments and social systems; devotion to the re- technique of productive forces within the limited borders of volutionary fight of the masses-only then can we justify our- the national state. This new technique cannot be limited by selves as intellectuals.” the borders of the old national state and fascism attempts to Here is one of the leaders of the so-cal!ed “Workers” overcome this contradiction. The result is the war. We have Party, who considers himself not a proletarian but an “in- already analyzed all these elements. tellectual”. He speaks of skepticismtoward all theories. We MustMake Useof EveryIntellectual We have prepared ourselves for this crisis by studying, Dwight Macdonald will abandon the party just as Burn- by building a scientificmethod, and our method is Marxism. ham did, but possibly becausehe is a little lazier, it will come Then the crisis comes and Mr. Macdonald says “be sceptical later. of all theories”, and then talks about devotion to the revolu- Burnham was considered “good stuff” at one time? Yes, tion without replacing it with any new theory. Unless it is the proletarian party in our epoch must make use of every in- this sceptical theory of his own. How can we work without a tellectual who can contribute to the party. 1 spent many theory? What is the fight of the masses and what is a revolu- months on Diego Rivera, to save him for our movement, but tionary? The whole article is scandalous and a party which did not succeed.But every International has.had an experience can tolerate such a man as one of its leaders is not serious. of this kind. The First International had troubles with the I quote again: “What is the nature of the beast (fascism), poet, Freiligrath, who was also very capricious. The Second then? Trotsky insists it is no more nor less than the familiar and Third Internationals had trouble with Maxim Gorki. phenomenon of Bonapartism, in which a clique maintains it- The Fourth International with Rivera. In every case they self in power by playing one class off against another, thus separated from us. giving the State power a temporary autonomous character. Burnham was, of course, closer to the movement, but But these modern totalitarian regimes are not temporary af- Cannon had his doubts about him. He can write, and has some fairs; they have already changed the underlying economic formal skill in thinking, not deep, but adroit. He can accept and social structure, not only manipulating the old forms but your idea, develop it, write a tine article about it—and then also destroying their inner vitality. Is the Nazi bureaucracy a forget it. The author can forget—butthe worker cannot. How- new ruling class,then, and fascisma new form of society,com- ever, so long as we can use such people, well and good. Mus- parable to capitalism? That doesn’tseem to be true either.” solini at one time was also “good stuff”! Here he creates a new theory, a new definitionof fascism, Coyoacan,D. F. but he wishes,nevertheless,that we should be scepticaltoward August 7, 1940 We Do Not Change Our Course By LEON TROTSKY In the wake of a number of other and smaller European heights, with all the ensuing opportunities for world plunder. states, France is being transformed into an oppressed nation. What then follows? German imperialism has risen 10 unprecedented military From the side of all sorts of semi-intemationali&s one Page 136 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL October 1940 may expect approximately the following line of argumenta- What the Nazis Now Face tion: Successfuluprisings in conquered countries, under the In the defeated countries the position of the masses will Nazi heel, are impossible,because every revolutionary move- immediately become worsened in the extreme. Added to ment will be immediatelydrowned in blcmdby the conquerors. social oppression is national oppression, the main burden of There is even less reason to expect a successful uprising in which is likewiseborne by the workers. Of aIl the forms of the camp of the totalitarian victors. Favorable conditionsfor dictatorship, the totalitarian dictatorship of a foreign con- revolution could be created only by the defeat of Hitler and queror is the most intolerable. At the same time, to the Mussolini. Therefore, nothing remains except to aid England extent that the Nazis will try to utilize the natural resources a,nd the united States. Should the join us it and the industrial machinery of the nations defeated by them, would be possibIe not only to halt Germany’s military suc- the Nazis will themselvesbecome inevitably dependent upon cesses but to deal her heavy military and economic defeats. the native peasants and workers. Only after the victory The further development of the revolution is possible only do economic difficulties always begin. It is. impossible to on this road. And so forth and so on. attach a soldier with a rifle to each Polish, Norwegian, Dan- ish, Dutch, Belgian, French worker and peasant. National- Nothing Newin This Argument socialism is without any prescription for transforming de- This argumentation which appears on”the surface to be feated peoples from foes into friends. inspired by the new map of Europe is in reaIitY onlY an The experienceof the Germans in the Ukraine in 1918 has adaptation to the new map of Europe of the old arguments demonstrated how difficult it is to utilize through military of socia] patriotism, i.e., class betrayal. Hitler’s victory over methods the natural wealth and labor power of a defeated France has revealed completely the corruption of imperialist people; and how swiftly an army of occupation is demoralized democracy,even in the sphere of its own tasks. It cannot be in an atmosphere of universal hostility. These very same “saved” from fascism. It can only be replaced by proletarian processeswill develop on a far vaster scale in the European demwracy. Should the working class tie up its fate in the continent under Nazi occupation. One can expect with assur- present war with the fate of imperialist democracy, it wouid ance the rapid transformation of all the conquered countries only assure itself a new series of defeats. into powder magazines. The danger is rather this, that the “For victory’s sake” England has already found herself explosionsmay occur too soon without sufficient preparation obliged to introduce the methods of dictatorship, the primary and lead to isolated defeats. It is in general impossible, how- pre-requisite for which was the renunciation by the Labour ever, to speak of the European and the with- Party of any political independencewhatsoever. If the inter- out taking into account partial defeats. national proletariat, in the form of all its organizations and Hitler, the conqueror, has naturally day-dreams of becom- tendencies, were to take to the same road, then this would ing the chief executionerof the proletarian revolution in any only facilitate and hasten the victory of the totalitarian re- part of Europe. But this does not at all mean that Hitler gime on a world scale. Under the conditions of the world will be strong enough to deal with the proletarian revolution proletariat renouncing independent politics, an alliance be- as he has been able to deal with imperialist democracy. It tween the USSR and the imperialist democracieswould sig- would be a fatal blunder, unworthy of a revolutionary party, nify the growth of the omnipotence of the Moscow bureau- to turn Hitler into a fetish, to exaggeratehis power,to overlook cracy, its further transformation into an agency of imperial- the objective limits of his successes and conquests. True ism, and its inevitably making concessionsto imperialism in enough, Hitler boastfully promisesto establish the domination the economic sphere. in Al likelihood the military position of the German people at the expenseof all Europe and even of the various imperialist countries on the world arena would of the whole world, “for one thousand years.” But in all be greatly changed thereby; but the position of the world likelihood this splendor will not endure even for ten years. proletariat, from the standpoint of the tasks of the socialist \\/e must learn from the lessonsof the recent past. Twenty- revolution, would be changed very little. two years ago not only the defeated countries but also the victors emerged from the war with their economic life dis- RevolutionMust Be PreparedFor! rupted and were able to realize very slowly, to the extent In order to create a revoltitionary situation, say the that they realized at all, the economic advantages accruing sophists of social patriotism, it is necessary to deal Hitler a from victory. Therefore the revolutionary movement assumed blow. To gain a victory over Hitler, it is necessary to sup- \’ery great proportions in the countries of the victorious En- port the imperialist democracies. But if for the sake of saving tente as well. The only thing iacking was a revolutionary the “democracies”the proletariat renouncesindependent revo- party capable of heading the movement. lutionary politics, just who would utilize a revolutionary situation arising from Hitler’s defeat? There has been no lack Crisisin GermanyToo! of revolutionary situations in the last quarter of a century. The total, i.e., all-embracing character of the present war But there has been lacking a revolutionary party capable excIudesthe possibility of direct “enrichment” atthe expense ~~utilizing a revolutionary situation. To renouncethe train- of the defeated countries. Even in the event of a complete ing of a revolutionary party for the sake of provoking a “re- victory over England, Germany in order to maintain her volutionary situation” is ic) lead the workers blindfolded to conquestswould be compelledin the next few years to assume a massacre. such economic sacrificesas would far outweigh those advan- From the standpoint of a revolution in one’sown country tages which it might draw directly from her victories. The the defeat of one’sown imperialist government is undoubtedly living conditions of the German masses must in any case a “lesser evil.” Pseudo-internationalists, however, refuse to worsen considerably in the next period. Million upon million apply this principle in relation to the defeated democratic of victorious soldierswill find on returning to their homeland countries. In return, they interpret Hitler$s victory not as an even more poverty-stricken home than the one from which a relative but as an absolute obstacle in the way of a revo- they had been torn away by the war. A victory that lowers lution in Germany. They lie in both instances. the living standard of the people does not strengthen a regime ...... October 1940 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL Page 137

but weakensit. The self-confidenceof the demobilizedsoldiers tests, strikes, armed clashes will again be on the order of the who had scored the greatest victories will have been raised in day for Germany. Hitler will have too many worries in the extreme. Their betrayed hopeswill turn into sharp dissa- Berlin to be able successfullyto fulfill the role of executioner tisfaction and embitterment. On the other hand, the Brown- in Paris, Brusselsor London. Shirted caste will rise even higher above the people; its arbi- Consequently the task of the revolutionary proletariat trary rule and profligacy will provoke ever greater hostility. does not consist of helping the imperialist armies create a If in the last decade the political pendulum in Germany has, “revolutionary situation” but of preparing, fusing and tem- as a result of the impotence of belated democracy and the pering its international ranks for revolutionary situations of betrayal of labor parties, swung sharply to the right, then, which there will be no lack. as a result of disillusion in the consequencesof the war and The new war map of Europe does not invalidate the prin- of the Nazi regime, the pendulum will now swing even more ciples of revolutionary class struggle. The Fourth Intern- sharply and decisivelyto the left. Dissatisfaction,alarm, pro- ationaldoes not change its course. End of June, 194 The Kremlin’s Role in the War By LEON TROTSKY The capitulation of France is not a simple military epi- The agents of the Kremlin begin to speak once more sode. It is part of the catastrophe of Europe. IMankindcan no about the alliance of the democracies against the fascist ag- longer live under the regime of imperialism. Hitier is not an gressors. It is possiblethat as the cheated cheater, Stalin will accident; he is only the most consistent and the most bestial be forced to make a new turn in his foreign politics. But woe expressionof imperialism, which threatens to crush our whole to the peoples if they again trust the dishonest agents of the civilization. Kremlin’s chief! Stalin helped convert Europe into bloody But in line with the general causesof the catastrophe in- chaos and took the USSR to the very brink of the abyss. The herent in imperialism, it is impermissibleto forget the crim- peoples of the USSR now cannot help but feel the greatest inal, sinister role played by the Kremlin and the Comintern. anxiety. . . . Only the overthrow of the Moscow totalitarian Nobody else rendered such support to Hitler as Stalin. No- clique, only the regeneration of Soviet democracy can unleash body else created such a dangerous situation for the U.S.S.R. the forces of the Soviet peoplesfor the fight against the inevi- as Stalin. table and fast-approaching blow from imperialist Germany. During a period of five years the Kremlin and its Comin- Hence Soviet patriotism is inseparable from irreconcilable tern propagandized for an “alliance of democracies” and struggle against the Stalinist clique. “people’sfronts” with the aim of preventive war against Coyoacan, D. F. “fascist aggressors.” This propaganda, as witnessed most June 17, 1940 strikingly in the example of France, had a tremendous in- fluence upon the popular masses. But when war really ap- (7”bejollowing stateme~t ~a~ issued by LeotaTrotsky to proached, the Kremlin and its agency,the Comintern, jumped the United Press.) unexpectedlyinto the camp of the “fascist aggressors.”Stalin Molotov’s latest speech confirms that the Kremlin con- with his horse-trader mentality sought in this way to cheat tinues to be a satellite of Berlin and Rome. The Communist Chamberlain, Daladier, Roosevelt, and to gain strategic posi- leaders in various countries have calmed their parties with tions in Poland and the Baltic countries. But the Kremlin’s promises that tomorrow if not today Moscow will turn to- jump had immeasurably greater consequences:not only did it wards the “democracies.”Molotov’sspeech belies these prom- cheat the governments but it disoriented and demoralized the ises. Five years of “anti-fascist” people’sfronts are definitely popular masses,in the first place in the so-calleddemocracies. unmasked as charlatanism. Moscow’s foreign policy is de- with its propaganda of “people’s fronts” the Kremlin hin- termined by power politics and not by political principles. dered the masses from conducting the fight against the im- Molotov, it is true, tried to cover the present Kremlin perialist war. With his shift to Hitler’s side Stalin abruptly policy with anti-imperialist phraseology. But its falseness mixed up all the cards and paralyzed the military power of strikes one’s eyes. Molotov unmasked England’s wish to re- the “democracies.”In spite of all the machines of destruction tain her colonies. But he kept silent about Germany’s and the moral factor retains decisive importance in the war. By Italy’s wish to take them. He spoke about the imperialism of demoralizing the popular masses in Europe, and not solely in Japan and the United States but he didn’t find a word of con- Europe, Stalin played the role of an agent provocateur in the demnation for Hitler’sbanditry and Mussolini’sjackal politics. service of Hitler. The capitulation of France is one of the re- Even more, he underlined for the first time that the German- sults of such politics. Soviet pact assured free hands to Hitler. This unilateral and But it is by no means the only result. [n spite of the thoroughly sham “tight” against imperialism only reveals that Kremlin’sterritorial seizures,the international position of the Moscow’spolitics is not independent but serves the interests USSR is worsened in the extreme. The Polish buffer disap- of one imperialism against the other. peared. The Rumanian buffer will disappear tomorrow. An increase in population of 23,000,000doesn’t solve the Mighty Germany, master of Europe, acquires a common problem of security of the USSR. The victory of Hitler-Mus- frontier with the USSR. Scandinavia, a place of weak and al- solini over Great Britain would immediately place the move most disarmed countries, is occupied by this same Germany. towards the east on the order of the day for German imperial- Her victories in the west are only preparation for a gigantic ism. it would at once becomeclear that in following the line move toward the east. In the attack on Finland the Red Army, of least resistance the Kremlin oligarchy only accumulated decapitated and demoralized, again by Stalin, demonstrat- difficultiesand dangers. ed its weaknessbefore the whole world. In his coming march Coyoacan,D. F. against the USSR, Hitler will find support in Japan. August 2, 1940 Page 138 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL October 194Q The May 24 Attempt to Kill Trotsky The Mexikan press published on June 1 a letter, written I do not have any information concerning the real role by Leon Trotsky to the attorney generalof Mexico, the chief played by sergeant Casas and the five police under him who of the federal police, and the foreign minister. By th”sletter were on guard outside my house. I know only that they are Trotsky swxessfully thwarted at$empts to direct away from arrested. One cannot be sure that they were not in the con- the Stalinists the investigation of the May 24 attempt to as- spiracy; the GPU has means as no other institution in the sassinufieTrotsky. The letter jollows: world of convincing, coercion and bribery. They could have Itis first of all necessaryto affirm that the attempted as- systematically insinuated to the police that I am an enemy of sassination could only be instigated by the Kremlin; by Stalin the Mexican people; promised them a career; and finally they through the agency of the GPU abroad. During the last few could have offered a high price for their services. But foreign years, Stalin has shot hundreds of real or supposed friends of agents could not approach the Mexican police; local agents mine. He actually exterminated my entire family, except me, were necessary. m.y wife and one of my grandchildren. Through his agents abroad he assassinated one of the old leaders of the GPU, lg- StalinistAgentsPreparedPublicOpinion nace Reiss, who had pubIicly declared himself a partisan of The GPU is particularly concerned with the problem of mine. This fact has been established by the French police and preparing public opinion for a terrorist act, especially when a the Swiss judiciary. The same GPU agents who killed Reiss person well-known nationally and internationally is the vic- trailed my son in Paris. On the night of November 7, 1936 tim. This part of the job is always assigned to the Stalinist GPU agents broke into the Scientific Institute of Paris and press, Stalinist speakers and the so-called “friends of the SOV- stolepart of my archives.Two of my secretaries,Erwin Wolff iet Union.” The judicial investigation, it seems to me, from and Rudolf Klement, were assassinatedby the GPU; the first this point of view cannot fail to examinethe work of the news- in Spain, the second in Paris. All the theatrical Moscowtrials papers “El Popular,” “La Voz de Mexico,” and some colla- ciuring 1936-37had as their aim to get me into the hands of boratorsof “El Nacional.” 1 am not referring to criticism of the GPU. my convictions,for such criticism, even though most severe, In saying this 1 do not excludethe possibility of the par- is the most elementary democratic right of everybody. But ticipation of Hitler’s Gestapo in the assassinationattempt. Up “La Voz de Mexico” and “El Popular” have never occupied to a certain point the GPU and the Gestapo are connectedwith themselveswith such criticism. each other; it is possible and probable that in special cases I recall that many times they have accused me of con- the same agents are at the disposal of both. Authoritative re- ]iectionswith all the reactionary circles in Mexico as well as presentatives of the German government have publicly indi- abroad; in one speechToledano deciared that I am preparing cated that they consider me a dangerous enemy. [t is complete- a against the Cardenas government; in “El Ma- ly possible that these two police forces cooperated in the at- chete” and afterward in “La Voz de Mexico”they accuse me, tempt against me. every Sunday, of preparing a revolution together with General l-lowtheGPU Is Organized Cedillo and many other real or supposed counter-revolution- aries; they pictured me in secret sessions with a certain Dr. The general scheme of the GPU ‘organizationabroad is Atl; in collaboration with the German fascists in Mexico,etc. the following:in the Central Committee of each sectionof the etc. In recent times “Future,” “El PopuIar,” as well-as “La Comintern there is placed a responsibledirector of the GPU Voz de Mexico,” for that country. His status is known only to the secretary of systematically repeat that I am in secret contact with the reactionary U. S.”congressman Dies and that the party and one or two trustworthy members. The other 1 gave him certain information against Mexico.All these ac- members of the Central Committee have but a slight inkling cusations, it is easy to see, make no sense,for they ascribe to of the special status of this member. As a member of the Central Committee the country’s me acts which are not only contrary to my convictions and GPU representative has the possibility of approaching with my life’swork, but also against my immediate interests, since full legality all members of the party, study their characters, 1would have to lose all reason to commit disloyal acts against entrust them with commissions,and little by little draw them the Mexican government which has accorded me such gen- into the work of espionage and terrorism, appealing to their erous hospitality. senseof party loyalty as much as to bribery. I need but recail that through the press 1 have called upon This whole mechanism was discovered in France and my accusersrepeatedly to bring their case before an impartial Switzerland in connection with the murder of Reiss and the commission, appointed by the government or the (gover- later movesagainst my dead son and other persons.As for the nment)Party of the Mexican Revolution, in order to publicly United States, Krivitsky establishedthat the sister of Browder, examine the accusations made against me. Toledano and the general secretary of the party, became a GPU agent through Communist Party chiefs have always been careful enough her brother’s recommendation.This example proves the rule not to accept my proposition. rather than an exception. With this I do not wish to say that Toledano and the Agents of the GPU upon coming to a foreign country for Communist Party chiefs took direct part in preparing the at- a specifictask always work through the local head of the GPU, tempt against me. The GPU has a strict division of labor. the above mentioned member of the Central Committee of the Known personsare assignedthe task of propagating the sland- Communist Party; without this they could not orient them- els against me. Lesser known but more serious agents are as- selves in the local situation and select the indispensable exe- signed the task of assassination.Nevertheless Mr. Toledano is cutors of their mission. The emissary from abroad and the no youngster. He knows perfectly well the methods of the local resident and their trustworthy aideswork out the general GPU, particularly the systematic persecution to which the plan of their undertaking, study the list of possibtecollabora- members of my family, my friends and 1 have beersand are tors and draw them into the conspiracystep by step. exposedthroughout the world. It is no secret to Toledano that .. . . . —.-.. .,. . .- . . . . October 1940 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL Page 139

the GPU is out to annihilate me physically. I am therefore is Oumansky, who made his diplomatic career as an agent of ‘ within my rights in saying that, in occupying himself sys- the GPU. Consequently Harry Block is the confidential go- tematically with the poisonous campaign against me, Mr. between for two agents of the GPU, Oumansky and Lombar- Toledano took part in the moral preparation of the terrorist ao Toledano. No wonder that Harry Block defended the dirty act. ConsequentlyToledano as a witnessshould be of immense theory of “self-assault” in the pages of such a prostituted interest to the investigation. magazine as the “Nation.” It cannot be doubted in the least that the former and Meantime the majority of the assailants have been ap- present chiefs of the Communist Party know who is the local prehended. All are members of the Communist Party and director of the GPU. Permit me also to assume that David Al- agents of the GPU. They are the colleagues of Oumansky, faro Siqueiros, who took part in the civil war in Spain as an L,ombardoToledanoj and Harry Block. It will be interesting active Stalinist, may also know who are the most important to learn the reaction of the “Nation’s” editorial board now. and active GPU members, Spanish, Mexican, and of other na- June 18, 1940 tionalities who are arriving at differgnt times in Mexico, es- pecially via Paris. The questioning of the previous and the *** present general secretary of the Communist Party and also of Siqueiros, would help very much to throw light on the insti- Letterto the“Herald Tribune” gators of the assassination attempt and together with them Editor, Herald Tribune discover their accomplices. New York City, N. Y. LEON TROTSKY Sir: ● ** In the July 25 issueof the Herald Tribune an article was published, telephonedfrom MexicoCity by Mr. Jack O’Brine, quoting declarations made by a certain Cesar Ortiz, “For- The ReptileBreedof “The Nation” eign editor of Mexico’sleading labor newspaper, ‘Popular’,” I see that the Nation, which besmirched itself through to sixty American educators visiting Mexico,of a “conspiracy” its attitude in regard to the Moscow judicial frame-ups, has between me and General Juan Andreu Almazan to establish hurried again this time* to support the fantastic and stupid a “fascist regime south of the Rio Grande” and later in the versionsof the GPU in connectionwith the attack of May 24. United States in the event that I were admitted to that coun- Everyone it seems is guilty, General Almazan, the “reaction,” try. Mr. Cesar Ortiz, according to the report in the Herald possiblyTrotsky himself-but by no means Stalin. Tribune, added that the Mexican authorities are investigat- Meanwhile the Mexican police have uncovered the as- ing this “conspiracy” allegedly organized with the financial sailants. They are—by accident-agents of Stalin . . . help of Hitler and Mussolini; that is, the German and Italian What an infamous reptile breed these radicals of the Na- allies of Stalin. tion! But they will not escape their punishment: we shall Your readers no doubt are intelligent enough to discern teach the American workers to appreciate them as they de- the sourceof this dirty, arrogant, and stupid falsification.The serve—to despise them. source is specifiedby three letters: GPU. L. TROTSKY As for Mr. Cesar Ortiz, I do not know anything about Coyoacan,D. F. him. But I can admit that he really exists and directs what June 18, 1940 is called the “foreign” policy of “El Popular”. On July 2, be- fore the Mexicancourts, I reaffirmed that this paper is a semi- ● ** official organ of the GPU; that in all questions of interest to Stalin it supports the politics of the GPU; that it invariably Who is the author of the “Nation’s” article on the attack defends the crimes of the GPU and propagates all the falsifi- upon Leon Trotsky? Harry Block is a citizen of the United cations and slanders which the GPU spreads against the States. His wife is Malu Cabrera, daughter of the Licenciado enemies of Stalin; that if—after a long period of defending Luis Cabrera, a very rich and very reactionary lawyer retained Hitler—”El Popular” today defends “democracy” it does so. by the oil companies and landlords of Yucatan. At the same under direct orders from the GPU and in the interest of some time, Harry Block is a close collaborator of Lombardo Tole- temporary need of Stalin. dano, the notorious political agent of the GPU in Mexico. [n view of the fact that the perpetrators of the assault Harry Block is the managing editor of “Future,” the foul, against me, and particularly the murderers of Robert Sheldon slanderous monthly of Lombardo Toledano. He is also the Harte (Trotsky’s secretary), are agents of the GPU and mem- head of ‘the publishing department of the Stalinist Univer- bers of the Comintern; that the editors of “E] Popular” were sidad Obrera. Under orders of the CTM he publishesa special moral accomplicesin the preparation of the May 24 assault weekly bulletin, “Mexican Labor News,” distributed free in and in the attempts to cover up the crime; that these facts are the United States. being placed before the court by me with all the necessaryex- In the inner staff of Lombardo Toledano the “authority” actitude; and in view of the fact that the friends of the GPU of Harry Block is based upon the fact that he is considered and the inspirers of ‘*EIPopular” happen to be deeply com- the agent of the Soviet Embassy in Washington in relations promised, the secret policeof Stalin, its agents and friends in- with the CTM. The head of the Soviet agency in Washington cluding evidently Cesar Ortiz whom I do not know, are mak- ing desperate attempts to block the judicial investigation and *Harry Block, liaison man between Swiet Ambassador to terrorize me in order to prevent further revelations concern- Oumansky in Washington and Lmnbardo Toledano in Mexico City ing the criminal activity of the GPU on the American con- is the Nation’s regular Mexican correspondent. In its June 8, 1940 tinent. All these attempts are in vain. I will carry my work iesue, the Nation published an article by Block which said the through to the end. May 24 attack “bad all the earmarks of a put-up job’’—e.e.Trot- In order to give my denial of the assertions reported in sky had ~anged it! The Nation also refused to publish a letter the Herald Tribune all the necessary completeness I add: frem Albert Goldman, Trotsky’s attorney, answering Block, (a) I have never had either director indirect connecticins ...... Page 140 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL October 1940 with the internal politics of Mexico, in particular the recent present not an isolated fact but part of a campaign which has dection campaign. been uninterruptedly and systematically conducted against (b) I do not have the honor of knowing General Juan me under the direction and with the financial assistance of Andreu Almazan. I have never had either direct or indirect the GPU. relations with him in particular nor with any of the outstand- (e) I reserve the right to sue Mr. Cesar Ortiz for the ing figures in general in any of the political camps of Mexico. malicious slanders he has made against me in the interests (c) I do not have and could not have any motive to of the GPU. create any difficultiesfor the government of the only country LEON TROTSKY which granted me its hospitality. Coyoacan,D. F. (d) The assertions reported by your correspondent re- Jzdy 27, 1940 Letter to the VV-orkersof the USSR By LEON TROTSKY Greetings to the Soviet workers, collective farmers, sold- defending conquests already gained can never fight for new iers of the Red Army and saiIors of the Red Navy! Greetings cmes.Against the imperialist foe we will defend the USSR with from distant Mexicowhere I found refuge after the Stalinist all our might. However, the conquestsof the October revolu- .cIiquehad exiled me to Turkey and after the bourgeoisiehad tion will serve the people only if they prove themselvescapa- hounded me from country to country! ble of dealing with the Stalinist bureaucracy, as in their day Dear Comrades! The lying Stalinist press has been mali- they dealt with the Tsarist bureaucracy and the bourgeoisie. ciously deceivingyou for a long time on all questions, includ- ing those which relate to myself and my political co-thinkers. StalinismEndangerstheSovietUnion You possessno workers’press; you read only the press of the If Soviet economic life had been conducted in the inter- bureaucracy, which lies systematically so as to keep you in ests of the people; if the bureaucracy had not devoured and darkness and thus render secure the rule of a privileged par- vainly wasted the major portion of the national income; if asitic caste. the bureaucracy had not trampled underfoot the vital inter- Those who dare raise their voices against the universally ests of the population, then the USSR would have been a great hated bureaucracy are called “Trotskyists,” agents of a foreign magnetic pole of attraction for the toilers of the world and the ;power;branded as spies—yesterdayit was spies of Germany, inviolability of the Soviet Union would have been assured. today it is spiesof England and France-and then sent to face But the infamous oppressiveregimeof Stalin has deprived the the firing squad. Tens of thousands of revolutionary fighters USSR of its attractive power. During the war with Finland, have fallen before the muzzlesof G,P.U. Mausers in the USSR not only the majority of the Finnish peasants but also the and in countries abroad, especiallyin Spain. All of them were majority of the Finnish workers, proved to be on the side of depicted as agents of Fascism. Do not believethis abominable their bourgeoisie.This is hardly surprising since they know slander! Their crime consistedof defending workers and peas- of the unprecedented oppression to which the Stalinist ants against the brutality and rapacity of the bureaucracy. bureaucracy subjects the workers of near-by Leningrad and ‘Theentire Old Guard of Bolshevism,all the collaborators and the whole of the USSR. The Stalinist bureaucracy, so blood- assistants of Lenin, all the fighters of the , thirsty and ruthless at home and so cowardly before the im- all the heroesof the Civil War, have been murdered by Stalin. perialist enemies, has thus become the main source of war In the annals of history Stalin’sname will forever be recorded danger to the Soviet Union. with the infamous brand of Cain! The old Bolshevik party and the Third International have disintegrated and decomposed. The honest and RevolutionWas Not Made for Bureaucrats advanced revolutionistshave organized abroad the Fourth In- The October revolution was accomplishedfor the sake of ternational which has sections already established in most of the toilers and not for the sake of new parasites. But due to the countries of the world. I am a member of this new Inter- the lag of the world revolution, due to the fatigue and, to a national. In participating in this work I remain under the large measure, the backwardnessof the Russian workers and very same banner that 1 served together with you or your especially the Russian peasants, there raised itself over the fathers and your older brothers in 1917 and throughout the Soviet Republic and against its peoplesa new oppressive and years of the Civil War—the very same banner under which parasitic caste, whose leader is Stalin. The former Bolshevik together with Lenin we built the Soviet state and the Red ‘Partywas turned into an apparatus of the caste. The world or- Army. ganization which the Communist International once was is today a pliant tool of the Moscowoligarchy.Sovietsof Work- Goalof the FourthInternational ers and Peasants have long perished.They have been replaced The goal of the Fourth International is to extend the by degenerate Commissary,Secretaries and G.P.U. agents. October revolution to the whole world and at the same time But, fortunately, among the surviving conquests of the to regenerate the USSR by purging it of the parasitic bureauc- ‘Octoberrevolution are the nationalized industry and the col- racy. This can be achieved only in one way: By the workers, Iectivized Soviet economy. Upon this foundation Workers’ peasants, Red Army soldiers and Red Navy sailors, rising Soviets can build a new and happier society.This foundation against the new caste of oppressors and parasites. To prepare cannot be surrendered by us to the world bourgeoisieunder this uprising, a new party is needed—a bold and honest re- any conditions. It is the duty of revolutioniststo defend tooth volutionary organization of the advanced workers.The Fourth and nail every position gained by the working class, whether International sets as its task the building of such a party in the it involvesdemocratic rights, wage scales,or so colossala con- USSR. quest of mankind as the of the means of pro- Advanced workers! Be the first to rally to the banner of duction and planned economy. Those who are incapable of Marx and Lenin which is now the banner of the Fourth ln- October 1940 “ FOURTH INTERNATIONAL Page 141 temational ! Learn how to create, in the conditions of Stalin- Down With Cain Stalin and his CamariUa! ist illegality, tightly fused, reliable revolutionary circles! Es- Down With the Rapacious Bureaucracy! tablish-con~acts-between these circles! Learn how to establish Long Live the Sovi~t Union, the Fort&s of the Toilers? contacts-through loyal and reliable people, especially, the Long Live the World Socialist Revolution! sailors-with your revolutionary co-thinkers in bourgeois Fraternally, lands! It is difficult, but it can be done. The present war will spread more and more, piling ruins May, 1940 LEON TROTSKY on ruins, breeding more and more sorrow, despair and pro- test, driving the whole world toward new revolutionary ex- *** plosions.The world revolution shall re-invigorate the Soviet working masses with new courage and resolutenessand shall WARNING ! Stalin’spress will of course declare that this undermine the bureaucratic props of Stalin’s caste. It is ne- letter is transmitted to the USSR by “agents of imperialism.” cessary to prepare for this hour by stubborn systematic re- Be forewarned that this, too, is a lie. This letter will reach the volutionary work. The fate of our country, the future of our USSR through reliable revolutionistswho are prepared to risk people, the destiny of our children and grandchildren are at their lives for the cause @fsocialism. Make copies of this let- stake. ter and give it the widest possiblecirculation.—L.T. On the Founding of the Fourth International On October 28, 1938 an inspiring mass meeting in New bim tbe occasion to press borne two fundamental tbougbts. York celebrated the founding of tbe Fourtb International as First, the uniqsw natswe of tbe revolutionary party and tb~ well as tbe tentibanniversary of tbe Trotskyist movement in relation between tbe individual and tbe party: “For a revok- tbis country. American imperialism would not permit Trotsky ti~ry to give bimself entirely to the party signi/iesfinding to be presentat that memorable celebration.But an electrical bimself.”Second, sucb a party cannot be destroyed by Stalin’s tmsnscriptionof Trotfky’s speecb to tbe nweting belped to murder gangs: “Ifiis possibk to kill indiw”dualsoldierso! w bring bim closer. army, but not to frigbten tibem.” Tbus did Trotsky,& ~- Trotsky never wasted words; tbe cebbratiswtbecame for Vance,armorus against desertersand tbe GPU.—EDITO~.

Dear Comrades and Friends: cupation not to deceive others nor ourselves. We searched J hope that this time my voice will reach you and that 1 seriouslyand honestly,And some important things were found will be permitted in this way to participate in your double by us. The events confirmedour analysis as well as our pro- celebration. Both events: the tenth anniversary of our Ame- gnosis.Nobody can deny it. Now it is necessarythat we remain rican organization as well as the foundation congress of the true to ourselvesand to our program. It is not easy to do SO. Fourth International deserve the attention of the workers in- The tasks are tremendous,the enemies-innumerable. We have comparably more than the war-like gesturesof the ~otalitarian the right to spend our time and our attention on the jubilee chiefs, the diplomatic intrigues, or the pacifist congresses. celebration only insofar as from the lessonsof the past we cart Both events will enter history as important milestones. prepare ourselvesfor the future. No one has now the right to doubt that. It is necessaryto remark that the birth of the American The PartyIs Everything group of Bolshevik-Leninists,thanks to the courageousinitia- Dear friends, we are not a pa~ty as other parties. Our am- tive of ComradesCannon, Shachtman, and Abem, didn’t stand bition is not only to have more members, more papers, more alone. It approximately coincided with the beginning of the money in the treasury, more deputies. All that is necessary, systematic international work of the Left Opposition. It is but only as a means. Our aim is the full material and spiritual true that the Left Opposition arose in Russia in 1923, but liberation of the toilers and exploited through the socialist re- regular work on an international scale began with the Sixth volution. Nobody will prepare it and nobody will guide it but Congressof the Cornintern. ourselves.The old lntemationals-the. Second,the Third, that of Amsterdam, we will add to them also the London Bureau— Work Beganin 1928 are rotten through and through. Without a personal meeting we reached an agreement The great events which rush upon mankind will not leave with the American pioneers of the Fourth International, be- of these outlived organizations one stone upon another. Only fore all, on the criticism of the program of the Communist the Fourth International looks with confidenceat the futura International. Then, in 1928,began that collectivework which It is the world party of Socialist Revolution! There never after ten years led to the elaboration of our own program was a greater task on the earth. Upon every one of us rests a recently adopted by our”International Conference. We have tremendous historical responsibility. the right to say that the work of this decade was not only Our party demands each of us, totally and completely. persistent and patient, but also honest. The Bolshevik-Lenin- Let the philistines hunt their own individuality in empty ists, the international pioneers,our comrades acrossthe world, space. For a revolutionary to give himself entirely to the searched the way of the revolution as genuine Marxists, not party signifiesfinding himself. in their feelings and wishes,but in the analysis of the objec- Yes,our party takes each one of us wholly. But in return tive march of events. Above all were we guided by the preoc- it gives to every one of us the highest happiness: the con- ......

Page 142 FOURTll INTERNATIONAL October 194(1

sciousnessthat one participates in the building of a better The hangmen think in their obtusenessand cynicismthat future, that one carries on his shoulders a particle of the fate it is possibleto frighten us. They err! Under blowswe become of mankind, and that one’s life will not have been lived in stronger. The bestial politics of Stalin are only politics of vain. despair. It is possibleto kill individual soldiers of our army, The fidelityto the cause of the toilers requires from us the but not to frighten them. Friends, we will repeat again in this highest devotion to our international party. The party, of day of celebration. . . IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO FRIGHT- course, can also be mistaken. By common effort we will cor- EN US. rect its mistakes. In its ranks can penetrate unworthy ele- Ten years were necessary for the Kremlin clique in order ments. By common effort we will eliminate them. New thous- to strangle the Bolshevik party and to transform the first ands who will enter its ranks tomorrow will probably be de- Workers’ State into a sinister caricature. Ten years were ne- prived of necessaryeducation. By common effort we will ele- cessary for the Third International in order to stamp into vate their revolutionary level. But we will never forget that the mire their own program and to transform themselvesinto our party is now the greatest lever of history. Separated from a stinking cadaver. Ten years! Only ten years! Permit me to this lever, everyone of us is nothing. With this lever in hand, finish with a prediction: During the next ten years the pro- we are all. gram of the Fourth International will become the guide of millions and these revolutionary millions will know how to StalinCannotFrightenUs storm earth and heaven. We aren’t a party as other parties. It is not in vain that the imperialist reaction persecutesus madly, followingfurious- LONG LIVE THE SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY ly at our heels.The assassinsat its services are the agents of OF THE UNITED STATES! the Mosunv Bonapartistic clique. Our young International LONG LIVE THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAL! already knows many victims. In the Soviet Union they num- L. TROTSKY ber by thousands. In Spain by dozens. In other countries by units. With gratitude and love we remember them all in these Coyoacan, D. F. moments.Their spirits continue to fight in our ranks. Octiober18, 1938. Special Announcement

we have just received the Russian manuscript of the work to which Trotsky devoted the last months of his life — his exposure of the machinery which murdered him. Beginning with an analysis of the May 24th ma- chine-gunning of his house, Trotsky went on to a painstaking exposition of the role of the GPU and the way it is related to the Communist International. Trotsky’s “The Comintern and the GPU” isa lengthy work. It will take up most of the 32 pages of the November issue of the Fourth International.

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