Leon Trotsky and the Struggle for Socialism in the Twenty-First Century

by David North

Leon Trotsky remains the towering figure in the history of revolutionary socialism in the twentieth century. A careful study of his writings is essential for the elaboration of the strategy and tactics of socialist revolution in our epoch, that of imperialist clashes coalescing into a new world war and a worldwide assault on the condition of the working class. As a young man, Trotsky led the St. Petersburg Soviet during the 1905 Revolution, and formulated the enduring international theory of Permanent Revolution. Alongside Lenin, he led the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, and organized the five-million man army to defeat the imperialist onslaught from 1918 to 1921. In October 1923, Trotsky and his supporters founded the Left Opposition to combat the growing bureaucracy in the Communist Party and the state, exemplified by Stalin. Trotsky’s greatest achievement was the founding of the Fourth International (FI) in 1938, after the Third International under Stalin facilitated the coming to power of Hitler in Germany, without a fight by the multi-millioned German working class. A principled internationalist, opposed to Stalin’s “socialism in one country,” Trotsky wrote in the founding document of the FI that “the historical crisis of mankind is reduced to the crisis of the revolutionary leadership.” Written over a forty-year period, the essays in this book are devoted to bringing the rich historical lessons to a new generation of workers and young people, in order to resolve the “historical crisis of mankind.” Table of Preface Leon Trotsky & the Development of Marxism An Intellectual Pygmy Denounces Trotsky The Classical Marxism of Leon Trotsky Trotsky’s Victory over Seventy-five Years of the Fourth International 1938–2013 Why the GPU Assassinated Trotsky Lenin, Trotsky, and the Marxism of the October Revolution Trotsky and Trotskyism in the Contemporary World Eighty Years of the Fourth The Lessons of History and the Struggle for Socialism Today Leon Trotsky’s Four Fateful Years in 1929–1933 Trotsky’s Last 1939–1940 Trotsky and the Self-Determination of Ukraine Leon Trotsky and Revolutionary Strategy in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries Greetings to the Fifth Anniversary Meeting of the Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists Forward to May Day 2023! Build a mass movement of workers and youth against war and for socialism! Index

298 pages, Paperback

Published June 23, 2023

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important collection of essays that outline different aspects of Trotsky's political perspective, the fight for the Fourth International and against Stalinism, and the continued relevance of Trotsky's life and work for the twenty-first century.

Notable essays include: a reply to British reactionary buffoon Theodore Dalrymple's attack on Trotsky; an essay on a new Trotskyist organisation that has emerged in the former Soviet Union; an exposition of Trotsky's positions on the self-determination of Ukraine, and its relevance for the ongoing war; and an outline of the important investigation into Trotsky's assassination carried out by the International Committee of the Fourth International.

One of the most important sections is a lengthy essay written in 1982 that focuses on some of the key strategic experiences of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International, explains the development of Trotsky's thought, and why young socialists must assimilate this history. Among other things, this provides an introduction to the theory of permanent revolution, Trotsky's analysis of the rise of fascism, and his use of the dialectical method.

The essay "Trotsky's Last Year" is particularly profound in showing Trotsky at the height of his powers as a political leader and theoretician, in his fight to build the young Fourth International, and to analyse the changes in the world political situation brought on by World War II, all while Stalin seeks to kill him.