ISRTE
FOR LENIN AND TROTSKY! On The Anti-Fascist Front.
A LETTER PROM GERHANT.
officinidom bad been pushed into making an impressive chow of strengh indeed within 12 montbs the government would be in sarled retrear. There was a revival, tenemal of srugale, but lo what end? So that ane working people could be sald our hy shallow-pared Labour carocrists, or duped by Stalinism? There was, lon, somerbing titreal even in retrospect abour the LO confercace salemnly pronouncing an the controversies af the Cominters, and even carlier ones of Russian Social-democracy, Hitler and Lie Nazis sood onl Lie (breshaid of total power. Surely there could be no truc rebavation of socialat idoes, or renewal of the farces and spirit of rebellion and resiscanes, in ibose old, obscure contentions, argaed out again in the thick accents of a now deerucrate communism."(9) To undaand tue hom acres Lim2 Aar IU Why The RED FLAG Appears.
TO REGENERATE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT.
nod it some cases intermationally, koown leaders of the working class. The eremus which the bd Opposition discussed wore the grearest io the world -tbe defeat in Germany, the French Popular Front, the Spanish Civil War. Absolutely no polirical wrilings in the catire world in the 1930'% were on a level even remorely comprable to chose Troisky desclopod far tbe Fourth International. Yei British Trotskyisrs could lind in chese developments coly ridiculaus 'soleoin pronouncements on the concroversies of the Comintern' and the thick acsents of a now degenernte pommunisun". The events which centred their attention were iot the giganric strogeles of Spain, Germany and France, bur demonstrations against unemplayment ig Britain. While Lenin stressed the ast ward in right from the beginning commienced the long series of splits over tacticel questions which have marked its course ever since. The very first split in a British Trotskyise orgaitisation, over the tactical quescion of whether or nor to enter the Independenc Labour Party, ocoutred within 18 months of the organised foundation of British Trotskyism. (10) The 1938 founding congress of the Fourth International, then persomnlly led by Tratsky, could nore that:
'For adherents Fourth International in Great Britain -nayc CECCI BiTces into schall groups.. This light minded atrirude on the organisa tional question led noc only to ltl-considered späirs ever lactical differences but even to splits oser punely personal dispuces having no discernible political base (11)
By June 1940: "no less than four groups claiming adherence to the Fourch International exist ourside the ranks of our official sectioo in Great Britain". (12)
Fundamental These splits rook plnce on the natiooal soctarian basis of subordionting the fundamental intceests af the proletariet to various tactieal disagreements - expressed in an organisational form in splits over various questions of ational tactics. For once Healy bimself is quite correct in characrerising what was the antihide of the particular orgamsation to which he helonged:
Shorrly hefore the founding conference af the Folrch Intemational In 1938 the Workers' InterConference of the Fourth Interna* The invitation of the International Secresariat dele pace to this group to be represented (at the Tounding Congress) and presen its point of view at the world conference, either by delegate or letter, was disregarded; all we have is a statement, apparently addressed to the world at large, rejecting in advance any decision of the warld conference not in accord with their untenable demande.
the comrades associated with the Lee group that they are being led on a path of unprincipled clique politics which can only land them in the mire. It is possible to maintain and develop a revolutionary political group ing only on the basis of great principles._. It is ponibl for a national group to maintain a constant revolu tionary course only if it is firmly connecied in one organisation with co-thinkers throughout the world and maintains a constant political and theoretical alone is such an organisation. All purely national groupings, all those who reject international organisreactionary: (14)
could have been written as an epitaph to the later degeneration of tWo thirds of British Trotskyist groups. so again following the formation of the 1945 Labour Government. During the actual war years, however, it the Fourth International, whose General Secretary ar that time was Michel Pablo, and by the leadership of the Healy current's links with international experien over the nationa insularity of the Hasion group ar traditional British Trotskyism came precisely over L