PAGE THE MILITANT SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1931 The Chinese Revolution EDITORIAL NOTES The Permanent Revolution the Canton Insurrection By Leon Trotsky a The Reply of Trotsky to Weisbord THE MEMBERSHIP CAMPAIGN York branch, especially, it can be said that a number of the best workers and In November 1927, the plenum of the Twelve new members have been ment she envisaged the eventunlity of an rolled in the New York branch of the defenders of our cause belong to this Central Commitee of the Chinese party uprising with much more optimism Communist League since the national doubtedly has its shortcomings, and some The objective circumstances existing than during the preceding year, we could only shrnk our shoulders.
conference. In this can be seen the first very glaring ones. On the other hand at the present time in China are such An elementary truth of Marxism says tangible result of the emphasis placed it has compensating advantages. The that the duration of a directly revolution by the conference on the organizational worker who comes directly to the Op. ary situation will be measured not by The following is a cha ter, The Per the subject, and particularly because that the tacties of the socialist prole side of our work. It is a xratifying December marks the anniversary of the tariat cannot be the same in face of a positon, skipping over the official party, weeks or by months, but by long years manent Revolution and the Canton In manifestation, and it shows that our has fewer distorted and perverted teach The Chinese revolution has a lasting surrection. from the book on the Chi Canton Insurrection. This material has revolutionary situation as when this sitmodest program for the enlistment of ings to unlearn.
never before appeared in the English lanuation does not exist. Lanin, Works, character, but on the other hand, it bas nese Revolution to be issued in the near suare. Further information on the comVol. XV. ke 400.
fifty new meinbers by the first of the year has excellent prospects to be crown. tion lies first of all in the system of what Marx called a permanent rerolu reprint this chapter now by Trottion will be forthcoming in the next few The strength of the Marxist Opposi no stops. But its character, it constitutes future by the Pioneer Publishers. We prehensive book on the Chinese Revolu Today, everybody acknowledges this ed with success. Every Oppositionist ideas which le at its foundation. This tion. B verbally, but how far they still will set his heart on the attainment of has been said many times and cannot sky because of the general Interest in days. Ed. are from applying it in reality!
this goal Is this right?
Intelligently under The Tasks of the Leadership be repeated too often. From this it tol stood, it is right. But it must be un carrying out this revolt, is that it did immense vietory, having a world hisThe American section of the Interna lows that the Communist League can bg derstood according to Marx and not acnot understand the meaning and the contorical importance. The Russian prole the communists must do when the mass It is not a question of knowing what totnal Opposition has conducted three no means open its doors to anyone and cording to Lominadze. Bucharin, who sequences of the defeats of Shanghai tariat had its own party, which was notes are rebelling of their own accord.
years of solid propaganda work. By everyone. Those with ideas directly pre showed up the latter precisely for hav and Hupel. There can be no other in subordinated to any bourgeois or petty That is a special question. When the this an unshakeable foundation of prin judicial to communism, or in serious ing employed this formula, was no closer terpretation of it. But the lack of un bourgeois discipline. The self esteem, ciple has been laid under the organiza contiet with the League on settled basic to Marx than the author of it. In cap derstanding can all the less excuse the the intransigeance, the spirit of offensive with them, organizing and instructing tion, and a fairly wide circle or symmasses arise, the Communists must be athizers have been gained for the questions, cannot be regarded to pro talist society, every real revolution leadership of the Communich Internal of the party, rose from stage to stage them. But the question is poseil difter afarxist program, It is time now to be admission dates ucho people would only above all if it takes place in a large tional, since the opposition had warned The Russian proletariat had created Sorently: What did the leadership des and new iets pathizers into the ranks of the Caminun principle struggle. The Left Opposition itself into a permanent revolution in accused for this by idiots and calumn a strike struggle of the masses. Through celed the Canton immediately pre Ist League This is the next step. It cannot be a debating ground of diverse other words, not to come to a balt at intors of having the spirit of liquidators. these Soviets, the party established con lendership was luty bound to explain to insurrection? The stands first order of the day.
tendencies. We do not speak for a. broad faction in this senae.
any of stages it reaches, not to The resolution of the Sixth Congress tact with vast masses; it registered the revolutionary workers that as The discussion now taking place in The acceptance of unschooled but confine itself to national bounds, but to confirms the fact that an inadequate re their revolutionary spirit: it mobilized consequence of defeats, clue to an errone.
the Spanish section of the opposition on scientious workers, who want to become extend and to deepen itself up to the sistance to prutschistic moods produced them. The czarist government, seeing ous polies, the relationship of forces present the dan complete transformation of societs up the fruitless uprisings of Hunan, of that each day brought a change in the had veered entirely in favor of the bour and the relation of forces are not the ters mentioned above. The League, for to the final abolition of class distinctions, Hupeh, etc. What is to be understood relationship of forces favorable to the geole. The great masses of workers an interest for us. The circumstances Communists, does such workers, can al and will become a consequently, up to the complete same here as there. In Spain the sit and by rutschistic moods. The Chinese revolution, passed over to the counter who had fought tremendons battles, disschool serving a double purpose wherein final suppression of the very possibility Communists, in conformity with the dir offensive and thus prevented the revolu persed by the encounters, abandoned the tuation, as we see it, is such that the they will acquire their education in the of new revolutions. That is just what ections of Stalin and Bucbarin, judged tiomary leadership from being able to field of battle. It is absurut to believe Left elementary questions of Marxism at the the Marxian conception of the proletarthat the situation in China was directly main the time needed for continuing to that one can march towards a peasant opportunities to grow and expand can same time they assimilate the standpoint ian revolution consists of being dis revolutionary and that the partial revolts mobilize its forces. Under these condi insurrection when the proletarian massindependent force in the class three of the Opposition on the more compli tinguished by that from the bourgeois had every chance of being extended suctions, the leadership could and shouldes are departing. They must be group For that reason all our sympathies are cated problems which have divided the revolution, limited by its national scopej cessfully to the point of becoming a gen bave staked everything so as to be able, ed together again, tight defensive battles, of a broad faction, enrolling the rev comintern since Lenin departed from its as much as by its specific objectives, eral insurrection. In this way, the to test by deeds the state of mind of avoiding a general battle, which obviousolutionary workers of Spain directly them far better than the stalinist enn itself tendencies to become permanent sulted from an erroneous estimation of was the meaning of the insurrection of spite of such a work of clarification and through the needles detour of the stul as has been concretely demonstrated as far as it contains the possibility of the circumstances in which Chinu found December 1905.
education, contrary to it, the masses of the conquest of power by the proletariat. itself towards the second half of 1927, ready.
Inist official party, In China, the events developed in a Canton hal rebelled (which is very unOur own experience over a period of It is to be hoped that all the branches to speak of the permanent revolution as a result of the defeats suffered.
directly opposite way. The Stalinist likely) the Communists would have had outside of it, is like three years, on a smaller and more in of the Communist League will see the without this The Duplicity of the policy of the Chinese Communist Party to put themselves at their head. But it ited scale, argues against ultra conserva question as the National Comittee sees it trying to fill the cask of the Danaides.
is just the reverse that happened. The tism on the e question of recruitment. In and begin an In Moscow, they could prattle about consisted of a series of capitulations be earnest campaign for Only the proletariat, after having seized the formative period of our movement, new members among the sympathizing the state power and having transformed the directly revolutionary situation. fore the bourgeoisie, accustoming the prising had been commandesi in advance, it is true, we made a somewhat strict workers. Every honest worker who has it into an instrument of struggle against accuse the oppositionists of being liq workers to support patiently the yoke of deliberately and with premeditation, basnecessarily so. Without a firm kernel ship for our cause should be invited to ation, in the interior of the country as beforehand against the future (especial party capitulated before Chiang Kal atmosphere. One of the detachments of to begin with, one already trained in Join the organization. The accession of well as beyond its frontiers, gains therely after Ounton) by making reservations Shek: it consolidated his position while the proletariat was drawn into a strugthe Communist party principle, it woulal Afty new members by first of the with the possibility of assuring a con on the subject of putschism. But on weakening its own; It discredited the sle which obviously held out no hope, have been impossible to maintain a con year will provide us with the necessary tinuous character to the revolution, in the theater of events in China itself, banner of Marxism: it converted itself and made easier for the enemy the anduty into an auxiliary instrument of the bour nihilation of the vanguard of the workwas alstent line and work out a uniform pol forces for an expanded program of ae other words, of leading it to the con every honest revolutionary ley for the conduct of the struggle. But, tivity. The gratifying results of the restruction of a complete socialist society bound to do everything he could in his geois leadership. The party extinguishing class. Not to say this openly, is to deceive the Chinese workers and to preproceeding from that, we have already eruiting campaign in New York point the necessary condition for this is to carry corner to hnsten the uprising, since the ed the agrarian movement and the work had a fruitful experience in the enron way and give the hope for success on out consistently a policy which prepares Communist International had declared ers strikes by putting into practise the pare new defeats. The Sixth Congress ment of revolutionary workers without a national scale.
the proletariat in good time for the that the general situation was propitious directions of the Executive Committee of not say it.
Does all this signify that the Canton previous party experience. In the New conquest of power. Now, Laminadze has for an insurrection on a national scale. the Communist International on the made of the 1ossibility of a permanent It is in this question that the regime bloc of the four classes. It renounced insurrection was only an adventure, aldevelopment of the revolution on the of duplicity divulges its deliberately the organization of Soviets so as not to lowing of but one conclusion, that is, condition that the broadest policy be criminal character.
disturb the situation at the rear of the that the leadership was entirely fucomcorrect) a scholastic formula guaran the same time the resolution of Chinese generals. It thus delivered to petent? No, that is not the sense of our Chiang Kai Shek the workers of Shanged that even after enormous defeats, criticism. The Canton insurrection showteeing at one blow and for all time the Congress says: To Albert Weisbord trade unions. On top of this you at revolutionary situation for many years. The Congress deems it entirely inexhal, bound hand and foot. After the New York, tack the League for not applying the pol The permanent character of the revoluact to attempt to consider the Canton crushing of Shanghai, the party, in con with the manifest decline of the rev. Copy to National Executive Committee, give the impression of being serious. It above history, independent of the polley rear guard. battle of the Chinese ecutive Committee of the ley of the united front. This does not tion thus becomes a law placing itself insurrection as a putsch. It was a heroic formity with the directions of the Exolution, even in non industrialized CanCommunist ton, with its petty bourgeois traditions Communist League of America (Opposition)
the solidarity of Ideas with the Left Op of the leadership and of the material proletariat, fought in the course of the International placed all its hopes in the of Sun Yat seniem, the proletariat was position really means anything to you, development of revolutionary events. As period which has just passed in the Left Kuo Min Tang, the socalled oenter able to rise in revolt, to fight valiantly Dear comrade: you must build a bridge back to the always in such cases, Laminadze and Chinese revolution: in spite of the crude of the agrarlan revolution. The Com and to conquer power. We have here have received a number of documents League in common. This by no means company resolved to announce their meta mistakes committed by the leadership. munists entered the Wuhan government, fact of enormous Importance. It shows the strike struggle anew how considerable is the weight of and letters from you. apologize for excludes internal criticism on the basis physical formula relative to the per. this uprising will remain the standard, which repressed and the peasants uprisings. They thus the proletariat in its own right, how answering so late and in manent character only after the political of the new Soviet phase of the revolu prepared a new and still crueller de creat is the political role which it can German at of a healthy revolutionary democracy.
that; to write in English would be too With Communist Greetings leadership of Stalin, Bucharin, Tehen tion.
vastation of the revolutionary long and too ungrateful a task.
Now to TROTSKY Du Siu. and Tang Ping Shan had thor. Here contusion reaches its zenith. The After all this, an instruction entirely is relatively weak in numbers, in a histhe point.
Kadikoy, October 10, 1931 oughly sabotaged the revolutionary sit heroism of the Cantonese proletariat is penetrated with the spirit of adventurtorically backward country, where the uation. cannot adopt your standpoint. Your placed in evidence as a screen to cover ism, was issued, ordering an immediate majority of the population is composed criticism of the League seems to me oneAfter having assured the continuity of up the faulty leadership not of Canton orientation towards the insurrection. It of peasants and scattered petty boursklel, artificial and terribly exaggerated, the revolution for many years, the (which the resolution casts off complete is from this that was first born the nd seois. This fact, once more after 1905 You throw the League and the Right Militant Builders plenum of the Central Committee of the ly) but of Moscow, which only yester: venture of Ho Lun and Yeh Tin, and and 1917, completely demolishes wing together, which shows that you utterly disregard the fitness of things. More active workers have joined the any further doubts, deduces from this but of the overthrow of the government the even more painful one of the Canton philistines a la Kuusinen, Martinov and coup Etat.
consorts, who teach us that one cannot You make fun of the pablishing activ Militant builders and our subscription formula conditions favorable to the in. of the Kuo Min Tang.
No, all this does not resemble the in dream of speaking of the dictatorship of ity of the league and contrapose your list is growing. When one of our sup surrection.
Why is the appeal to insurrection de the proletariat in agrarinn China. Yet nas action to it. llave you any porters secures a new reader for The. Not only is the strength of nounced as putechism after the expert surrection of December 1905 at all.
the Martinovs and the Kuusinens are at mass activity behind you? Before one Militant, he has rendered a service to the revolutionary movement of the toil ence of Canton? Because thanks to this An Inopportune Insurrection the present time the daily inspirers of turns to the masses, one must construct the revolutionary movement and to his ing masses of China not yet exhausted experience, the inopportuneness of the If an opportunist calls the events of the Communist International.
a principle baxis. One begins as a pro class. If he stays actively within the but it is precisely only now that it is uprising was confirmed. The leader. Canton an adventure it is because it was The Canton insurrection showed at paganda group and develops in the dir ranks of those building up The Militant beginning to manifest itself in a new ship of the Communist International had an insurrection. If a Bolshevik employs the same time that at the decisive me In addition, your international connec much more: it will give more power to All this obliges the plenum of the Cen order to discover what already appeared is because it was an Inopportune insur even in the putts bourgeois capita.
tions, sympathies and semi sympathies our paper. Systematie building of our tral Committee of the Chinese Commun quite clear without it. But are not these rection. It is not for nothing that a Sun Yat Senism a single political ally speak against you. For even if cannot circulation is what is needed. ist Party to recognize a directly rev. supplementary lessons for behind handed German proverb says that when two having a distinct form, not even among claim to be an adept in present day Am. Below we record the subscriptions secolutionary situation exists today (Nov. people, given in life, too costly to the men say the same thing it does not mean the debris of the Kuo Min Tang, of the erican affairs, still know well enough ured by the efforts of our builders. We ember 1927) throughout China. proletariat?
the same thing. The officials a la Thal. Taft or the ultra Left. This means that what the Landau group and the other do not record here those who sent in The Objeetive Conditions on the Eve Lominadze, one of the infant prodig. mann can continue, on the subject of the the vital task of establishing the alliance similar groups in Europe mean. Tell their own sub. or their own renewal.
of the Insurrection ies of revolutionary strategy, swore at Chinese revolt, to recount to the German between the workers and the poor peame with whom you go, and will tell Schechet, Boston The Canton insurrection was deduced the Fifteenth Congress of the Commun. Communists the apostacy of the Op sants in China (evolves exclusively and you who you are. Dunne, Minneapolis The International Opposition has no from a similar evaluation of the situa ist Party of the Soviet Union that the position. We will know how to teach directly upon the Communist party. The Skoglund, Minneapolis tion with a perfect inevitability. Had a Canton insurrection was necessary, the German Communists to turn their accomplishment of this task is one of use for two organizations in America. Dentsche, Perth Amboy revolutionary situation really existed, the right and salutary, precisely because it backs the Thalmanns. In actuality, the conditions for the triumph of the Your kroup IN new, has only recently Such a row, Chiago split off from the Right differs from mere fact of the defeat of Canton would inaugurated an era of the direct strug the question of evaluating the Canton coming third Chinese revolution. And Goldberg, St. Louis the Left Opposition on a number of quesonly have been a special episode, and it cle of the workers and peasants for the insurrection is the question of the teach the victory of the latter will restore the Buehler, Kansas City any ense, would not have transformed the conquest of power. He met with agreeings drawn from the Third Congress, in power to the vanguard of the proletariat, tions and flirts with those elements Goodman, Philadelphia which split themselves off from the In Morris Lewitt, New York uprising of this city into an adventure ment. At the sixth Congress, Lomin other words, of a lesson where the lire supported by the union of the workers Even in face of unfavorable conditions adze recognized that the insurrection of the German proletariat was at stake. and the poor peasants.
ternational Left Opposition. Can you Capells, New York for the insurrection at Canton itself or did not inaugurate an era of triumph but In March 1921, the Communist Party Rebuild the Chinese Communist Party ask us to prefer you to the Communist From time to time we will make its environs, the leadership had as its concluded one of defeat. Nevertheless, of Germany sought to engage in an in League of America. If apostacy must be spoken of, the You declare yourself obeillent to the various builders.
comparison of results obtained by the duty to all that was necessary to realize just as before, the uprising is considered surrection by basing itself upon an ac traitors to the heroes and the victims the revolt most rapidly in order thus necessary, right and salutary. Its name tive minority of the proletariat in the of the Canton insurrection are those International Left Opposition. Organi. to disperse and weaken the forces of has simply been changed from clash face of the passive spirit of the mas, who seek to rid themselves of the teachzationally this is not the case. This can therefore be understood only in the sense of a general solidarity opsdelas. But their views and aims. They openlyde of the uprising in the other parts of the hand, they made a rear guard battle rectative, as a result of all the preceding the crimes of the leadership to the fres now you must ask yourself a question, clare that their own ends can be attain country.
Everything else remains as in the past defeats. Those who directed this at son to draw is the following: how this will be expressed organized only by the forcible overthrow of all However, not after many years but the attempt to chcape the criticism of tempt at this time also sought to take (1) The Canton insurrection showed the Opposition by hiding behind the shelter behind the heroism of which the that only the proletarian vanguard in tionally. In your letter to the League existing conditions. Let the ruling class after a few months, it had to be ac Conference, you propose a unite front tremble at a Communistic revolution, knowledged that the political situation heroism of the Cantonese workers has workers gave proof in the March battles. China is capable of carrying out the as much weight as, let us say for exbut without the heading comrades. This The proletarians have nothing to do bad decline di sabruption, and that before ample, the attempt of General Rennen congratulate them for this attempt when revoit showed, after the experience of Howeveruprising and of capturing The is the famous united front from below but their chains which the staliniste practice (in words) win. Working men of all countries, of Ho Lun and Ych Tin were already de kampt to take shelter behind the heroism it condemned the spirit of adventurism collaboration between Communist toward the social democrats and the unite. Communist Manifesto. veloping in an atmosphere of revolution of the Russian soldiers whom he down of the leadership. What was our juds party and the Kuo Min Tang, the comthemselves from the revolution, the cen swamps. The proletarians of Canton are Their essence, we wrote, is sum Character of the slogan of the democratic Read!
trifugal tendencies were gaining tuilty, without having committed mis med up in the fact that the young Comaletatorship of the proletariat and the Subscribe!
strength. This nigerin we ways contradie. takes, simply of an excess of confidence munist party, alarmed by a manifest de neasantry, opposed to the slogan of the in their leadership. Their leadership cline in the workers movement, made a dictatorship of the proletarian drawing ory to the existence of peasant ments in various provinces. That is how was guilty of having had a blind con desperate attempt to profit by the inter the poor peasants behind it.
move fidence in the leadership of the Commun vention of one of the most active detachit always is. 2) The Canton insurrection, conist International which combined pollments of the proletariat in order to ceived and executed contrary to Let the Chinese Communists ask them tical blindness with the spirit of adven electrify the working class and, if pos course of development of the revolution, selves now: Would they have dared toturism.
decidé. upon fixing the Canton insurreible, to brin matters to a decisive bat accelerates and deep Published by the National Youth Committee, Communist League of tion for December had they understood The False Comparison Between Moscow, tle. Trotsky, Five Years of the the latter, facilitating the annihilation of America (Opposition)
that for the given period the fundament 1905 and Canton, 1927 Communist International, the proletarian forces by the bourgeois YOUNG SPARTACUS al forces of the revolution were ex It is radically false to compare the Thalmann has not understood a thing of counter revolution. This stamps the inter revolutionary period with a painful, hausted and that the great decline had canton insurrection of 1927 with that all this.
84 East 10th Street New York, commenced? It is clear that if they had of Moscow in 1905. During the whole From July 1923 on, we demanded, to Enclosed plense find Afty. 50) cents for one year subscription: understood in good time this radical of 1905, the Russian proletariat rose the great astonishment of Klara Zetkin, Tchen Du Siu since then has acknowName break in the situation, they would in no from one plane to the other, wresting Varski and other old, very venerable ledged the incorrectness of his position, case have put on the order of the day concessions from the enemy, bowing dis but incorrigible social democrats, that and accepted the viewpoint of the Left Address been the appeal for the armed aprising in integration in its ranks, concentrating the date of the insurrection in Germany Opposition. His statement has City.
State Canton. The only way of explaining around its vanguard ever greater popular be fixed. Then, at the beginning of 1924, printed in the Militant Ed.
the policy of the leadership in fixing and masses. The October 1906 strike was an when Zetkin declared that at that mo. Continued on Pawe 2)
the TO the Young Spartacus page 333.