Letters to Sumner [1]¶
Core Argument¶
These three letters from Leon Trotsky to Hilary Sumner-Boyd, secretary of the Revolutionary Socialist League, span May 1937 to June 1938 and document a crucial phase in the effort to forge a unified British section of the Fourth International. The core narrative thrust is organisational: Trotsky is orchestrating the practical and political consolidation of disparate British Trotskyist groups, while simultaneously waging a war of political clarity against the "masters of frame-up" — a reference to the Stalinist show trials and their apologists in the labour movement.
In the first letter, Trotsky expresses confidence in an inevitable victory over those who have slandered the revolutionary opposition. He identifies specific political opponents: "such political old wives as Brailsford and Fenner Brockway," figures in the Independent Labour Party and broader left who had capitulated to or failed to denounce the Moscow frame-ups. Trotsky argues that the truth will reveal itself "almost as automatically as a natural force," and that these figures will soon scramble to avoid being compromised. The letter is notable for its strategic optimism, linking shifts in the United States to favourable developments in England.
The second letter, from April 1938, is entirely practical. Trotsky announces the impending trip of James Cannon and Max Shachtman, leaders of the American Socialist Workers Party, to Europe and specifically London. He ascribes "great importance to this trip especially for things in England," and tasks Sumner-Boyd with establishing a technical committee to arrange meetings with all British groups "who belong or wish to belong to the Fourth International." The goal is to "normalise the situation among these groups" and "help the crystallisation of a genuine British section." Trotsky also notes a letter from Frank Maitland of the "Revolutionary Socialist Party," who claims his party's evolution is "totally in the direction of the Fourth International." Trotsky asks for confirmation of connections with this group, indicating the fragmented and fluid state of British Trotskyism.
The third letter, dated 29 June 1938, was suppressed for decades by the leadership of the US Socialist Workers Party, particularly James Cannon, for factional reasons. In it, Trotsky acknowledges receipt of the English edition of his Spain pamphlet, praising the "excellent introduction" written by Ralph Lee and Ted Grant of the Workers' International League. He commends the "good revolutionary idea to create one's own printing shop." The letter also mentions the death of Trotsky's son, Leon Sedov, and expresses Natalia's appreciation for Sumner-Boyd's condolences. The suppression of this letter is itself a political act: it documents Trotsky's positive engagement with the WIL, a group later purged from the Fourth International by Cannon's faction. The letters thus reveal not only Trotsky's organisational strategy but also the factional battles that would shape — and deform — the British Trotskyist movement.