Trotskyism

Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky considered himself a Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party. He considered himself an advocate of orthodox Marxism. His politics differed in many respects from those of Stalin or Mao, most importantly in declaring the need for an international "permanent revolution". Numerous groups around the world continue to describe themselves as Trotskyist and see themselves as standing in this tradition, although they have diverse interpretations of the conclusions to be drawn from this.

Trotsky, the Russian Revolution and Stalin

Trotsky advocated proletarian revolution as set out in his theory of "permanent revolution", and he argued that in countries where the bourgeois-democratic revolution had not triumphed already (in other words, in places that had not yet implemented a capitalist democracy, such as Russia before 1917), it was necessary that the proletariat make it permanent by carrying out the tasks of the social revolution (the "socialist" or "communist" revolution) at the same time, in an uninterrupted process. Trotsky believed that a new socialist state would not be able to hold out against the pressures of a hostile capitalist world unless socialist revolutions quickly took hold in other countries as well. This theory was accepted by Lenin (until his death) and the Bolshevik party and guided their conception of the Russian Revolution as part of the world revolution. The Stalinist faction within the Bolshevik Party adopted the theory "socialism in one country" in 1924 in order to justify making deals with imperialist countries and in order to advance their own position and conception of Marxism by attacking the theories of the current group of leaders (e.g., Trotsky).

Related Topics:
Proletarian revolution - Permanent revolution - Bourgeois - Democratic - Socialism in one country

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On the political spectrum of Marxism, Trotskyists are considered to be on the left. They supported democratic rights in the USSR, opposed political deals with the imperialist powers, and advocated a spreading of the revolution throughout Europe and the East. The Left Opposition, led by Trotsky, grew in influence throughout the 20s, until Stalin used force against them in 1928, sending Trotsky into internal exile and jailing his supporters. The Left Opposition continued to work in secret within the Soviet Union, Trotsky was eventually exiled to Turkey, then Norway, and finally to Mexico.

Related Topics:
Political spectrum - Marxism - Left

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After 1928, Stalin used his power in the USSR to gain bureaucratic control over the various Communist Parties through out the world, and expelled Trotskyists from their ranks. At this point, inner party democracy, which was at the foundation of Bolshevism, was destroyed within the various Communist Parties. Anyone who disagreed with the party line was labeled a Trotskyist and a fascist. The Communist Parties then began to support capitalist governments, such as the CPUSA which to this day advocates a vote for the Democratic Party. Stalin did this to show that he was not a threat to capitalist rule and so hoped to avoid an invasion of the imperialist powers, as happened after the 1917 revolution.

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Trotsky later developed the theory that the Russian workers' state had become a "bureaucratically degenerated workers' state". Capitalism had not been restored, and rational planning of the economy, instituted under Lenin, was still in effect, but it was no longer democratically controlled and so could not be called socialism. Trotskyists defended the Soviet Union against attack from imperialist powers, but called for a political revolution within the USSR to restore socialist democracy. He argued that if the working class did not take power away from the Stalinist bureaucracy, the bureaucracy would restore capitalism in order to enrich itself. Much later, in the view of the ICFI, this is exactly what happened in the form of Glasnost and Perestroika. Many of Trotsky's criticisms of Stalinism were described in his book, The Revolution Betrayed.

Related Topics:
Bureaucratically degenerated workers' state - ICFI - Glasnost - Perestroika - Stalinism

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In 1937, Stalin unleashed a political terror against all the remaining 'Old Bolsheviks' who had played key roles in the October Revolution in 1917. He also killed many of the Soviet Union's leading generals including Mikhail Tukhachevsky in a purge because they had served under Trotsky when he was the commander of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War.

Related Topics:
October Revolution - Mikhail Tukhachevsky - Red Army - Russian Civil War

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"Trotskyist" has been used by Stalinists to mean a traitor; in the Spanish Civil War, being called a "Trot", "Trotskyist" or "Trotskyite" by the USSR-supported elements implied that the person was some sort of fascist spy or agent provocateur. George Orwell, a prominent socialist novelist, wrote about this practice in his book Homage to Catalonia and in his essay Spilling the Spanish Beans. He showed that instead of helping to fight against the fascist forces, the Stalinists did them a great favor by rooting out all the Trotskyists in Spain and then pulling out their forces, allowing Franco to win. In his book Animal Farm, an allegory for the Russian Revolution, he represented Trotsky with the character "Snowball" and Stalin with the character "Napoleon."

Related Topics:
Traitor - Spanish Civil War - Agent provocateur - George Orwell - Homage to Catalonia - Spilling the Spanish Beans - Animal Farm - Snowball - Napoleon

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Stalin pulled out of Spain in order to make a rapproachment with England and France. He later signed a deal with Hitler. This proved to many people that Stalin was selling out the revolution in order to defend an elite stratum within the Soviet Union, as Trotsky had been saying.

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Still not satisfied, he tried Trotsky in absentia, and killed almost all his relatives. An agent of the Russian government finally assassinated Trotsky in Mexico in 1940.

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