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Ted Grant National Question in Europe

Marxist Theory · 2026-05-13

Core Argument

Ted Grant's 1944 article argues that the impending victory of Anglo-American imperialism over Nazi Germany would not produce a straightforward restoration of pre-war capitalist relations in Europe. Instead, the unique conjuncture of the war's end — the immense prestige of the Red Army, the military exhaustion of the European bourgeoisie, and the mass radicalisation of the working class — would force imperialism to pursue counterrevolution through democratic forms and concessions, not through open reaction. The central thesis is that Stalinism, far from being a revolutionary force, would serve as the indispensable transmission belt for this operation, using its authority over the masses to demobilise them and stabilise capitalism in Europe. Grant insists that the national question in post-war Europe could only be resolved through the socialist revolution and the creation of a United Socialist States of Europe, not through the restoration of bourgeois nation-states.

Theoretical Grounding

The analysis is rooted in the classical Marxist tradition on the national question, drawing on the method of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Trotsky. Grant deploys the theory of permanent revolution as the framework for understanding the relationship between democratic tasks (national self-determination, land reform) and socialist revolution in the post-war period. He argues that the European bourgeoisie had become historically incapable of resolving the national question in a progressive, democratic manner — a position consistent with Lenin's analysis of imperialism as the epoch of moribund capitalism and Trotsky's insistence that the national framework had been superseded by the world economy. The article also applies the Marxist theory of the state: the bourgeois state in Europe had been shattered by war and fascism, and the task of reconstructing it would require the active collaboration of the Stalinist and reformist leaderships, who would use their mass influence to contain working-class militancy within safe, parliamentary channels. Grant's method is rigorously conjunctural — he does not deduce political conclusions from abstract principles but from the concrete balance of class forces in 1944.

Conjunctural Relevance

The article is written in October 1944, at a moment when the defeat of Nazi Germany was certain but the political shape of post-war Europe was entirely contested. Grant identifies three key forces: Anglo-American imperialism, which would emerge militarily victorious but economically weakened; Stalinism, which had gained enormous prestige from the Red Army's role in defeating fascism; and the European working class, radicalised by years of war, occupation, and resistance. He predicts that the imperialists would be forced to grant concessions — land reform, nationalisation of key industries, welfare measures — precisely in order to prevent the masses from moving toward socialist revolution. The Stalinist parties and the reformist labour leaderships would be the instruments of this strategy, using their authority to channel mass radicalism into support for bourgeois-democratic reconstruction. Grant warns that the national question would be used to divide the European working class: the restoration of nation-states, each with its own bourgeoisie and its own national interests, would fragment the international solidarity necessary for socialist revolution. The article is therefore a direct intervention into the strategic debate within the revolutionary left about the character of the coming peace and the tasks of the Trotskyist movement.

Where the Argument Continues

The article is a foundational text in the Ted Grant archive and anticipates themes developed at length in the post-war writings of the International Marxist Tendency (now the Revolutionary Communist International). Grant's analysis of Stalinism as a counterrevolutionary force operating through democratic forms is elaborated in later works on the nature of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. The argument about the national question and the necessity of a United Socialist States of Europe connects to the RCI's ongoing analysis of the European Union and the crisis of the nation-state in the epoch of imperialist decay. Readers should consult Grant's later writings on the post-war settlement, the nature of Stalinism, and the strategy of the united front, as well as the RCI's contemporary analyses of the war in Ukraine and the crisis of the European Union, which apply the same method to the current conjuncture.

Connections

  • Lenin, The Right of Nations to Self-Determination — the classical Marxist treatment of the national question, which Grant updates for the imperialist epoch.
  • Trotsky, The War and the International and The Revolution Betrayed — the theoretical basis for Grant's analysis of Stalinism and the permanent revolution.
  • Trotsky, The United States of Europe — the immediate precursor to Grant's argument for a socialist federation.
  • Ted Grant, The Unbroken Thread — a collection of Grant's writings that situates this article within his broader theoretical output.
  • RCI, The National Question and the Struggle for Socialism — contemporary applications of the same method to the national question in the 21st century.

Key Quotes

  1. "The imperialists will be compelled to carry out a counterrevolution, albeit in a democratic form, with the help of the leaders of the mass reformist and Stalinist parties."

  2. "The national question in Europe can only be solved on the basis of the socialist revolution, the overthrow of capitalism and the establishment of a United Socialist States of Europe."

  3. "Stalinism, which has gained immense prestige from the role of the Red Army, will be used by imperialism to demobilise the masses and to prevent them from moving toward socialist revolution."

  4. "The European bourgeoisie, having been shattered by war and fascism, is incapable of resolving the national question in a progressive, democratic manner."

  5. "The restoration of nation-states in Europe will be a means of dividing the working class and preventing the international solidarity necessary for socialist revolution."

  6. "The imperialists will be forced to grant concessions to the masses — land reform, nationalisation, welfare measures — precisely in order to prevent them from taking power."