4. What Did the Theory of the Permanent Revolution Look Like in Practice?¶
Core Argument¶
Chapter 4: What Did the Theory of the Permanent Revolution Look Like in Practice?¶
This chapter examines the concrete political application of Trotsky's theory of permanent revolution, particularly through the polemical exchanges that followed the defeat of the 1905 Russian Revolution. Trotsky defends his theoretical framework against criticisms from fellow revolutionaries, especially Radek, who alleged that the theory generated a false tactical line and sought to discredit the Bolshevik position in China. Trotsky refutes this charge by demonstrating his complete solidarity with Lenin on the fundamental problems of 1905, citing his February and March 1905 articles which outlined the stages of revolution—insurrection, provisional government, arming the people, and constituent assembly—matching the Bolshevik Congress resolutions of May 1905. He formulated theses on the provisional government with Krasin, which Lenin fully endorsed and which were largely embodied in the Congress resolution.
The chapter provides crucial historical context for understanding the social terrain of the Russian Revolution. Unlike Western Europe, where the sansculottes had occupied revolutionary ground in 1789, in Russia the industrial proletariat—not an urban petty-bourgeois democracy—held this position. Large-scale industry had not grown organically from crafts; there was no guild period. Capitalist industry arose under the direct pressure of European capital on virgin soil, preventing the development of crafts. Consequently, at the moment of bourgeois revolution, the main urban force was an industrial proletariat of a highly developed social type. Trotsky argues that no historical claimant to revolutionary power exists other than the proletariat, which must find support in the peasant masses and place itself in power if the revolution is to be victorious. However, a government resting on the proletariat and through it on the peasantry does not yet signify socialist dictatorship. Trotsky explicitly differentiated between democratic tasks—agrarian reform, eight-hour day, progressive tax—and the later socialist revolution, arguing the proletariat would be confronted by socialist problems only through a whole historical epoch, not a single blow.
Notably, Trotsky rejects Radek's claim that he agreed with the Mensheviks on the peasantry. His method was to brush aside the liberal bourgeoisie and fight for leadership of the revolutionary peasantry, a position on which he had no differences with Lenin. Lenin's paper Novaya Zhizn publicly associated itself with this perspective in 1905. Trotsky argues his position was verified in 1917. The chapter also clarifies a persistent misattribution: the slogan 'No Tsar – but a workers' government' was never written or uttered by Trotsky; it was a proclamation by Parvus. Trotsky's own 1905 leaflet was titled 'Neither Tsar nor Zemtsi, but the People!' The speech containing these arguments was approved by the Bolsheviks and Rosa Luxemburg, with Lenin acknowledging solidarity on the fundamental points of attitude toward the peasantry and liberal bourgeoisie, independently of the question of uninterrupted revolution.