We explain what Trotskyism is and what are the characteristics of this political current. In addition, Trotsky’s works and death.
What is Trotskyism?
Trotskyism is a political current within Marxism that arose from León Trotsky’s ideas (Hence his name), a Russian revolutionary politician of Jewish origin who had a prominent role in the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and that, at Lenin’s death, opposed the doctrine of Iosif Stalin of “socialism in a single country.”
In its original formulation, Trotskyism accused Stalinism of proceeding against the interests of the world socialist revolution, and instead proposed the doctrine of “the permanent revolution”. This doctrine stated that the success of the revolution depended on the extension of communism to all of Europe through similar revolutionary processes.
Trotskyism As ideological doctrine he survived the death of Trotskyfirst through the fourth international (which had been founded by Trotsky in 1938), and to this day by the formation of leftist movements in various parts of the world that positively value the Bolshevik revolution but are not identified with the historical experience of the Stalinist Russia.
The origins of Trotskyism
León Trotsky (1879-1940) was interested since his youth for socialism and was briefly linked to the Menshevique faction of the Social Democratic Workers Party of Russia (the Mensheviks represented the minority and moderate wing of the party, against the Bolsheviks that followed Lenin).
Subsequently, he adopted a position that proposed that the success of a socialist revolution in the Russian Empirethat overthrew the Tsarist autocracy and grant power to the proletariat, depended on the revolutionary extension to the rest of Europe, especially to the most industrialized countries and with a more organized working class.
After the February revolution (1917) that overthrew the Trotsky, he joined the Bolshevik party and He participated with Lenin in the October Revolution (1917)which installed the Bolsheviks in the government and allowed the progressive implementation of communism in Russia. Trotsky took over the military driving of the Bolshevik government and the creation of the Red Army that repressed workers and allowed the triumph in the civil war against the opponents of the new regime.
Differences of Trotskyism with Stalinism
To Lenin’s death In 1924, the party and the government remained in the hands of Stalin. From this moment the differences that separated to Trotskyism from Stalinism became more patent, which finally led Trotsky to exile in 1929.
The main difference between both currents was the one that opposed the doctrine of the “permanent revolution” of Trotsky (which he had formulated before the revolution and then synthesized in the book The permanent revolution of 1930) and the policy of “socialism in a single country” adopted in 1925 by the Soviet Communist Party (which was the ruling party) at the instances of Stalin.
The “socialism in a single country” started from recognizing that nations were separate political entities and that it was necessary for communism to be built from the interior of each country to compete with the Western capitalist powers. In the Soviet Union (USSR), this program meant promoting internal self -sufficiency, through the state centralization of the economy and An intensive industrialization policy and forced agrarian collectivization.
The “permanent revolution” of Trotskyism was sustained in the idea that the revolution in a mostly peasant and un industrialized country as Russia could only succeed if communism extended to the rest of Europeespecially to the most industrialized countries and with a better organized proletariat. In addition, the global extension of the revolution was considered a requirement to avoid international isolation.
Fundamental texts of Trotskyism
Trotskyism as a political ideology is mostly based on two theoretical or programmatic texts:
- The permanent revolution (1930). This work written by Trotsky postulated the foundations of his doctrine of the “permanent revolution” and the guidelines for the internationalization of communism. It suggested that the bourgeoisie of the countries considered economically backward (such as Russia) was unable to promote a democratic-bourgeois revolution that then led to socialism (according to Marx’s thesis), so the proletariat directed by a revolutionary avant-garde had to lead the process. To do this, it was necessary to internationalize their efforts.
- The betrayed revolution (1937). In this work, Trotsky claimed the revolutionary process of 1917 and denounced what he interpreted as an authoritarian and bureaucratic deviation undertaken by Stalin in the Soviet Union, which he characterized as a betrayal of the revolution.
- Transition program either The agony of capitalism (1938). Written mainly by Trotsky, this program was approved in the First Congress of the Fourth International, convened by the supporters of Trotskyism in September 1938. The program defended the need for a transition, that is, the realization of gradual changes that allowed the proletariat to acquire awareness of their power and progressively connect their transitory claims with a program of action oriented to the socialist revolution.
The fourth international
When Trotskyism began to distance from Stalinism, he did it partly by Stalin’s commitment to “socialism in a single country” but also by The bureaucratism that was being established in the Soviet state Due to the primacy of the Nomenklatura (The Soviet elite composed of members of the Communist Party).
This led to Trotsky and his followers – who They had formed an “leftist opposition” Initially integrated in the Communist International (also known as the third international or Komintern) – to denounce that this organization had become a political instrument of Stalin.
For this reason, and to gather socialists and trade unionists from different countries in a common front separate from Stalinism and directed against fascism (which was growing in Europe), the Trotskyists They decided to summon an international fourth in 1938.
This organization adopted the principles of the permanent revolution and It was supported by some leftist games International, but it was very weakened after Trotsky’s death and was dissolved in 1953. In the following decades, various organizations recognized heirs of the fourth international, and the Trotskyist parties today are usually affiliated with any of these organizations.
The entrism and other characteristics of Trotskyism
The entrismo was A tactic devised by Trotskyism to infiltrate left -wing gamesespecially those attached to the Second International (of social democratic trend), with the aim of gaining adherents for the revolutionary movement through the radicalization of militants of reformist parties that, in general, had a greater call among the workers. In this way, it was sought to increase the forces of the fourth international. This tactic was continued by some Trotskyist games that emerged later, but was then mostly abandoned.
Trotskyism accused the third international of being counterrevolutionary And he opposed numerous measures implemented by the Stalinist regime in the Soviet Union, especially to his bureaucratism, which had closed the road to an assembly democracy in the party and in the councils. In countries like Spain during the Civil War (1936-1939), local Trotskyists also questioned the subordination of communist parties, dependent on the third international, to the interests of the leadership of the Soviet Union.
Trotsky also reflected on art and its relationship with revolution and socialism, which influenced the subsequent Trotskyist thought. In turn, formulated the so -called “Law of unequal and Combined Development”through which he argued that the unequal evolution of capitalism in different nations did not prevent the combination of “advanced” and “backward” economies, which guaranteed that the proletariat was a revolutionary force even in mostly peasants in countries, such as Russia. Today some of these ideas are recovered by contemporary Trotskyist movements, along with their anti -capitalist and anti -imperialist positioning.
Trotskism vs. Leninism
In many ways, Trotskyism as thought and action was linked to Leninism. Trotsky accepted a good part of the theoretical and practical foundations made by Lenin. However, at different stages of their lives, Lenin and Trotsky had some ideological and programmatic differences. An example is Lenin’s initial insistence on the need to build in Russia a dictatorship of the proletariat and the peasantry, because it is a mostly rural country, as opposed to Trotsky’s thesis that the motor force should be the proletariat (idea that Lenin ended up adopting).
In general, Trotskyists recognize in Trotsky’s thought a continuity or improvement of Leninist theses, while conceiving Stalinism as a reactionary deviation of Lenin’s ideas. Instead, the sectors related to Soviet communism consider Trotskyism as a divergent interpretation of Leninismwhich divided and intended to weaken the strength of the revolutionary block that, in the time of Stalin, supposedly represented true Marxism-Leninism.
Trotsky’s death
When Stalin went on to lead the Bolshevik party and the Soviet government after the death of Lenin, the current represented by Trotsky and the so -called “leftist opposition” was persecuted by Stalinism in the Soviet Union and within the communist international. Trotsky was expelled from the Soviet Union in 1929, accused of a traitor.
After passing through Türkiye, France and Norway, He settled in Mexico in 1937 and lived a time in a house of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. During this time, he created the fourth international, continued writing and tried to spread his ideas, contrary to Stalinism prevailing in the Soviet Union and in the communist parties that made up the third international.
In 1940, after surviving an attack in which they shot their room with machine guns, Trotsky was killed by Ramón Mercader, a Spanish communist who operated as a Soviet spy of the NKVD (Internal Affairs Agency of the Soviet Union). It is believed that his murder was ordered by Stalin.
Trotskyism today
Trotskyism It currently has a presence in numerous countries, especially in Latin America: Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Chile and Venezuela are a good example, but also the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, France or Algeria.
In general, these are social movements, union associations, student groups or minority political parties affiliated with any of the organizations that are claimed heirs of the fourth international.
References
- Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2015). Trotskyism. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com
- Daniels, RV (2022). Leon Trotsky. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com
- Fitzpatrick, S. (2005). The Russian revolution. 21st century.
- Marie, J.-J. (2009). Trotsky A revolutionary without borders. Economic Culture Fund.
