The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party Adopted by the SEP Founding Congress August 3-9, 2008 © 2008 Socialist Equality Party Contents The Principled Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party ......................................................................................................................1 The Origins and Development of Marxism .................................................................................................................................................2 The Origins of Bolshevism ..........................................................................................................................................................................3 The Theory of Permanent Revolution ........................................................................................................................................................4 Lenin’s Defense of Materialism ...................................................................................................................................................................5 Imperialist War and the Collapse of the Second International ..................................................................................................................6 The Russian Revolution and the Vindication of Permanent Revolution ..................................................................................................8 The Communist International ..................................................................................................................................................................10 The Origins of Stalinism and the Founding of the Left Opposition .........................................................................................................12 The Consequences of “Socialism in One Country” ..................................................................................................................................13 The Expulsion of Trotsky ..........................................................................................................................................................................14 The Early Struggles of the International Left Opposition ........................................................................................................................15 The Victory of Fascism in Germany ..........................................................................................................................................................16 The Fourth International and the Struggle against Centrism .................................................................................................................17 The Treachery of the Popular Front ..........................................................................................................................................................17 The Revolution Betrayed ...........................................................................................................................................................................19 The Founding of the Fourth International ...............................................................................................................................................20 The Outbreak of World War II and Trotsky’s Last Struggle ......................................................................................................................21 Trotsky’s Defense of Materialist Dialectics .................................................................................................................................................22 The Petty-Bourgeois Opposition and Party Organization ........................................................................................................................23 The Fourth International and the Outbreak of World War II ..................................................................................................................24 Trotsky’s Place In History ..........................................................................................................................................................................26 The United States Enters the War ..............................................................................................................................................................27 The End of the War and the “Buffer States” .............................................................................................................................................28 The United States and the Restabilization of Capitalism .........................................................................................................................28 The Post-war Upsurge of the Masses .........................................................................................................................................................29 The Chinese Revolution ............................................................................................................................................................................30 The Establishment of Israel ......................................................................................................................................................................30 The Korean War .........................................................................................................................................................................................31 The Origins of Pabloite Revisionism .........................................................................................................................................................31 Pablo’s Repudiation of Trotskyism ............................................................................................................................................................33 The “Open Letter” and the Formation of the International Committee .................................................................................................34 The Lenin-Trotsky Theory of the Party .....................................................................................................................................................35 Stalinism in Crisis .....................................................................................................................................................................................36 Castroism and the SWP’s Return to Pablo ................................................................................................................................................36 The SLL’s Defense of Trotskyism ...............................................................................................................................................................37 The Pabloite Reunification and the Betrayal in Ceylon ...........................................................................................................................38 Opposition in the SWP: The Emergence of the ACFI ................................................................................................................................39 The Third Congress of the ICFI .................................................................................................................................................................39 Pabloism, the New Left and Guerrillaism ................................................................................................................................................40 “Continuity” vs. “Reconstruction” of the Fourth International..............................................................................................................41 The Formation of the Workers League ......................................................................................................................................................41 Split in the International Committee .......................................................................................................................................................43 The Founding of the Workers Revolutionary Party and the World Crisis of 1973-75 .............................................................................44 Wohlforth’s Break with the Workers League .............................................................................................................................................44 The Workers League After Wohlforth .......................................................................................................................................................45 The Origins of the “Security and the Fourth International” Investigation .............................................................................................46 The Role of Joseph Hansen ........................................................................................................................................................................47 A Phony “Verdict”: The Pabloites Endorse the Cover-up of Stalinist Crimes ..........................................................................................47 A Shift in the World Situation: The Capitalist Counter-Offensive .............................................................................................................49 The Crisis in the Workers Revolutionary Party .........................................................................................................................................50