Problems of the International Left Opposition¶
Core Argument¶
Problems of the International Left Opposition
This chapter dissects the catastrophic trajectory of the Communist International following Lenin’s death, arguing that its tactical oscillations have been driven not by sober assessment of objective conditions but by the deepening contradiction between its line and reality. The Comintern’s imposition of the so-called ‘third period’ tactic in 1928—predicting an abrupt revolutionary upsurge—occurred precisely when defeats in Britain and China, combined with a commercial-industrial boom, made such a turn impossible. The result was adventurism, isolation from the masses, and organisational weakening. Only when these consequences became menacing did the Comintern lurch rightwards in February 1930, coinciding with the onset of an acute international crisis that should have demanded a left turn.
The German elections starkly illustrate the resulting contradiction. The Communist Party gained 1,300,000 votes, but fascism leapt from 800,000 to 6,400,000, while Social Democracy retained more workers’ votes. The petty bourgeoisie swung towards fascism, not the proletariat, because the Communist Party’s record of mistakes and defeats had destroyed mass confidence. Trotsky rejects the official schematism of numbered periods: there is no abstract tactic fixed for such phases; the path to armed uprising depends on the objective situation, the state of the proletariat, and prior strategy. The German party’s ultra-left policy during stabilisation left it disoriented when the situation shifted. Four possible variations of development are outlined: missing the revolutionary situation through caution; catastrophic defeat from a premature left turn; an eclectic middle course that wastes time; or the only propitious path—uniting the proletarian majority through correct, flexible policy. The key precondition is a change in party regime, breaking from Stalinist bureaucratic control, and a return to Lenin’s united front policy against fascism, rejecting the theory of social fascism.
The struggle for the seven-hour day must be linked to the immediate slogan of planned economic collaboration with the Soviet Union. On the Versailles Treaty, the German Communist Party’s merely negative formulation brings it closer to the National Socialists; the correct slogan is the Soviet United States of Europe. The party’s immediate tactics must be defence, not offensive—a united front with Social Democratic and non-party workers against the fascist danger. The Stalinist bureaucracy’s use of physical violence against Bolshevik-Leninists is a direct favour to fascism and must be exposed.