Page THE MILITANT Saturday, April 19, 1980 The Ultra Left Policy on Right Dregs By TROTSKY The following article represents chapter Beven from the larger work of Trotsky entitled Revolutionary Strategy and Tac.
tles in the Imperialist Epoch. which, in later. What is astonishing here, since turn, makes up the third section (yet to the years 1924 25 were filled with be printed in full in English) of the docuLeft adventures and putschist experiments?
ment The Criticism of the Draft Program The Bulgarian terrrorist adventure, like of the Comintern presented to the Vith the tragic history of the Esthonian armed Congress by the Bolshevik Leninist Opposiuprising, form an outbreak of despair tion led by Trotsky. The document was evoked by the false orientation. The suppressed by the Stalin Eukharin regime.
fact that these attempts to force the hisThe first two sections were published in torical process by means of a putsch rebrouchure form by the Militant and copies mained without critical investigation, led may be obtained through the Mbitant. Chapto a relapse in Canton towards the end ter eight of the section Revolutionary of 1927. In politics not even the smallest Strategy in the Imperialist Epoch was mistakes are made unpunished, less published in the April 5th, 1930 issue of the big ones. And the greatest mistake the Militant under the title, The Period of them all is when the mistake is veiled, of Right Centrist Down Silding in the when it is sought to suppress a criticism and a correct Marxist estimate of the misAfter the period of the storm tide of take in mechanical ways.
1923 tegan the period of a long lasting ebb.
We write no history of the Comintern In the language of strategy this means an for the last five years. We bring here urdered retreat, rearguard battles, strengthonly a factual illumination of two straening of the position within the mass ortegical lines in the fundamental stages ganizations, re examination of one own of this period and at the same time an ranks and cleansing and sharpening of illumination of the seclusion from the the theoretical and political weapons. But world of the draft program, for which adoption of this attitude was characterized all these questions do not exist at all.
as liquidatory. As in general with this, We cannot therefore, give here a descripas well as with the other ideas of the Boltion, however general, of the ir extricable shevist lexicon in late years, the very situation into which the Parties of the greatest abuse was practiced. No longer Comintern, placed between the directives did they teach and train, but only sowe disof the Fifth Congress on the one hand and Bension and confusion, Liquidationism signlpolitical reality on the other, had to land fies a renunciation of the revolution and constantly. Of course, not everywhere endeavors to substitute the roads and meunods of reformism for the road and methods were the contradictions solved through of revolution.
such deadly convulsions as was the case The policy of Lenin had in Bulgaria and Esthonia in 1924.
nothing in common with liquidationism.
Yet just as little did it have anything to Falsification and Fiction Replaec do with an ignoring of the changes in the objective situation, or with the maintenFacts and Truth ance of the course of armed uprising with mere words, at a time when the revolution Yet always and everywhere the Parhad already turned its back upon us, and ties felt themselves bound, gave no echo a Inng lasting road full of stubborn, systo the ands the masses, we about tematic laborious work among the masses with eye flaps and stumbled. In the purely for the preparation of the Party for a new Party propaganda and agitation, in the evolution lay before us.
work in the trade unions, on the parliamentary tribune everywhere the ComThe German Defeat of 1923 munists had to drag the decisions of the Fifth Congress behind them like a chain.
When a man ascends a stairs he needs Every single Party, one more, the other one kind of motion, but when he descends less, became a victim of the false positions is another. Most dangerous is such a sitof departure. They chased after phanvation in which a man puts out the light, toms, ignored completely the real process, raises his foot to ascend when there are transformed revolutionary slogans into tiree downward steps before him. crash, howling phrases, compromised themselves injuries and dislocations are unavoidable in the eyes of the masses and lost all the thereby. The leadership of the Comintern in 1924 did everything to extinguish a critground under their feet. To crown all this, the press of the Comintern was robbed icism of the experiences of the German October, Hke all criticisins in general. It reof every possibility, then as well as now, peated stubbornly: The workers are into gather, to arrange and to publish the facts and figures on the work of the Commediately approaching the revolution the munist Parties in the recent years. The stairs lead upwards. Is it then astonishing leadershlp of the epigones, after the de: that the directives of the Fifth Congress feats, mistakes and lack of success, preapplied in the revolutionary ebb had to ferred to accomplish the retreat and the lead to heavy political crashes and disaccounting with extinguished lights.
locations?
In No. 6 of the Information Bulletin Finding itself in a great and growing of the German Opposition, March 1, 1927, it contradiction with the real factors, the leadership had to cling ever more to ficsays. The greatest mistake of the Lefts at titious factors. The Executive Committee the Frankfurt Congress in the Spring of of the Communist International lost the 1924, when they took over the leaderground under its feet and strove constantship, consisted in not speaking relently to disclose revolutionary forces and lessly enough to the Party of the hea signs where there weren any. In order to balance itself, viness of the defeat of 1923; in not had to cling to rotten drawing the necessary deductions, in ropes, not showing the Party, soberly and unembellished, the tendencies of the relaThe Illusions About the Peasantry tive stabilization of capitalism and indicating a corresponding program for In the same measure that an obvious, the impending period with its struggles growing swing to the Right was going on This would surely have in the proletariat, there began in the Comand slogans.
intern the line of idealizing the peasantry, been possible, just as well as a ccrrect and absolutely necessary sharp undera wholly uncritical exaggeration of every scoring of the individual program symptom of its break with bourgeois society, an embellishment of every posdemands.
These lines showed us already, at that sible peasant pseudo organization and a direct hochpappelang of peasant dematime that a part of the German Left, who gogues, participated during the Fifth Congress in the struggle against our fictitious liquidThe task of a long and stubborn strugationism. seriously understood the lesgle of the proletarian vanguard against the sons of 1924 25. That made possible a bourgeois and peasant demagogy for infurther approach on the foundation of fluence upon the village elements most principle.
deprived of rights, was always more and more replaced by the hope for a direct The Bulgarian and Esthonian and independent revolutionary role of the peasantry on a national as well as on an Adventures international scale.
The main year of the turn was the In the course o! the whole year of year 1924.
Nevertheless the recognition 1984, that is main year of the staof this ensuing brusque turn. stabiliza bilizat. Communist press was conion. followed only a year and a half sro Sampletely fantastic reThe Farmer Labor Party aud the Class The press spoke continuously about the ports on the strength of the lately founded impending building of a Farmer Labor ParPeasants International, Dombal, the repty in the United States for the overthrow of resentative of the latter, declared that the capital, on a not purely proletarian, but a Peasants International, six months after class foundation. What the not proletarits formation, already unites within itselt ian, but class character was supposed a few million readers.
mean, no sage either on this or the other side of the ocean could point out. In the Zinovieff on Raditch long run it was only a Pepperized edition There was enacted the scandalous in of the idea of a Joint workers and peacident of the leader of the Croatian Pea sants Party on which we will yet have sants Party, Raditch, who considered it occasion to speak in greater detail in conadvisable to show himself in Red Moscow nection with the lessons of the Chinese in order thereby to strengthen his minis revolution. Here it is enough to establish terial chances in White Belgrade. On that this reactionary idea of non proletarJuly 9, 1924, Zinoviev, in his report before ian but class Parties arose entirely from the Leningrad Party workers on the re the pseudo Left policy of 1924, which, when sults of the Fifth Congress, told of a new it lost the ground from under its feet. victory. clung to Raditch, La Follette and the in At this moment an important turn fiated figures of the Peasants International, is taking place within the peasantry. We are at present witnesses. 90 You have all surely heard already of proclaimed the academician of commonthe Croatian Peasants Party of Raplaces, Millutin of an extraordinarily ditch Raditch is now in Moscow.
important and significant example of the There is a real people leader. Be splitting away of the peasant masses hind Raditch stands united the entire from the bourgeoisie, the coming forth poor and middle peasantry of Croatia of the peasantry against capitalism and. Raditch has now decided in the ame an ever stronger consolidation of the of his Party to join the Peasants Inunited front of the peasantry and the ternational. We consider this event working class in the capitalist countries very important. The building of the in struggle against the capitalist sygPeasants International is an extraortem. Pravda, July 27, 1924. dinarily great event. Some comrades In the course of the whole year of did not believe that a big organization 1924, the press of the Comintern did not would grow out of this. Now we are tire of telling about the general Lettgetting a great auxiliary machine the ward trend of the peasant masses. as peasantry. Pravda, July 28, 1924. though something independent coulí be And so forth and more of the same, excepted from this, in most cases only apparint, Leftward trend of the peasants in The LaFollette Manuever a period of the open Rightward trend of the workers, the strengthening of th. soThe leader LaFollette corresponded on cial democracy and the consolidation of the other side of the ocean to the genuine the bourgeoisie.
people leader. Raditch. The representWe meet the same mistake in political ative of the Comintern, Pepper, in order to vision towards the end of 1927 and the beset the auxiliary machine the American ginning of 1928 with regard to China.
farmers into motion at an accelerated After every great and deep crisis, in which tempo, drew the young and weak American the proletariat suffers a decisive defeat Communist Party into the senseless and for a long time, the stirring still continshameless adventure of creating a Farmerues for a long time among the semi proLabor Party around LaFollette that letarian masses in city and country, like American capitalism might be overthrown the circles in the water when a stone has in the quickest way.
fallen in. So that when the leadership The glad tidings of the closeness of ascribes an independent signincance to the revolution in the United States on the these circles and contrary to the process foundation of the farmers Alled the speechwithin the working class, points to them es and articles of the official leaders of the as a symptom of an approaching revoluExecutive Committee of the Communist In tion, we know that this is an infallible ternational at that time. In the sessions sign that the leadership is once more goof the Fifth Congress, Kolarov reported: ing towards adventures, as with the Es.
thonian or Bulgarian in 1924 or the Can In the United States the small tonese in 1927.
farmers have created a Farmer Labor Party, which becomes ever more radicalThe Course Toward the Kuomintang ized, comes closer to the Communiste, and is being permeated by the idea During the same period of ultra Leftthe creation of a workers and peasants ism, the Chinese Communist Party is drigovernment in the United States. Prayven for several years into the Euo Min da, July 6, 1924. Tang, which is characterized by the Fifth Congress as a friendly Party (Pravda, So; neither more nor less, July 25, 1924. without undertaking a ser.
From Nebraska came Green one of the ious attempt to investigate the class charleaders of the LaFollette organizations to acter of the latter. The idealizing of the the peasants congress in Moscow. For national revolutionary bourgeoisie desome reason or other he joined in order, velops the greater. That is how the as is customary, to help along later on at false Left course, with its eyes shut and a conference in St. Paul to strangle the burning with impatience, laid the foundaCommunist Party when it made the weak tion for the subsequent opportunism with attempt to go over to the realization of the regard to the East also. To give form to great plans of Pepper. The same Pepper opportunism, Martinov was called upon, who was councilor to Count Karolyi and who was all the more loyal councillor who put on an extremely Left air at the of the Chinese proletariat, having himself Third Congress as a reformer of Marxism. Hmped behind the petty bourgeoisie durThe same Pepper who was one of those ing the three Russian revolutions.
who butchered the revolution in Hungary.
In the hunt after an artificial acceleration of the art coutonly Radiich. Lite Pravda of August 29, 1924 complained Follette, the mythical peasant millions of as follows: Dombal and even Pepper were clung to. The American proletariat as a basically false perspective was also built whole has not even risen to the conup for England. The weakensses of the English Communist Party gave birth at sciousness of the necessity even of 80 that time to the necessity of replacing it conciliatory a Party as the English Labor Party 18.
as quickly as possible by more imposing factor. At that time arose And about a month and a halt before the false estimate of the tendency of Engthat, Zinovlev reported to the Leningrad Hsh trade unionism. Zinovlev gave us to Party workers: understand that he counted upon the rev few million farmers are being vol olution finding an entrance, not through untarily or involuntary pushed by the ag the narrow gateway of the British Comrarian crisis all at once. to the work munist Party, but through the broad gateing class. Pravda, July 22, 1924. way of the trade unions. The struggle of Ana Kolarov immediately added: to the Communist Party for the masses orworkers and peasants government. Continues on Page 8)
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