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Against Trotskyism: A Reading Guide

Posted on December 24, 2009 by The Marxist-Leninist| 12 Comments
The entire edifice of Leninism at the present time is built on lies and falsifica
tion and bears within itself the poisonous elements of its own decay Leon Trotsky
, letter to Chkheidze, 1913.
The question of Trotsky is not merely a historical question. Firstly and most im
portantly it is a question of political line. There are significant political re
asons that Trotskyism has failed to ever lead a successful revolution. It is a f
act that Trotsky, on the one hand, and Lenin and Stalin on the other, put forwar
d two very different and opposing lines on almost every major question for the i
nternational communist movement. Rejected by the Communist Party of the Soviet U
nion and by the Soviet people as well, Trotsky then turned bitterly to the organ
ization of counter-revolution, both within the Soviet Union and internationally.
To help clearify these important points for the international communist movement
, The Marxist-Leninist has put together this reading guide. It has been incorpor
ated into the Marxist-Leninist Study Guide as well. The main texts here are (1)
M.J. Olgin s outstanding study of Trotskyism which deals well with the political d
ifferences between Bolshevism and Trotskyism, (2) an article by Nadezhda Krupska
ya (the wife of Lenin) on Trotsky s distortions of the history of the October Revo
lution, and (3) an eyewitness account by Harry Haywood, the great African Americ
an Communist leader, of Trotsky s ideological defeat by Stalin. Many supplementary
texts are provided as well. For more on the contributions of Stalin to the ICM,
see Long Live the Universal Contributions of Comrade Joseph Stalin.
It is the duty of the Party to bury Trotskyism as an ideological trend. Joseph Sta
lin

Beginning and Essential readings

Trotskyism: Counter-Revolution in Disguise by M. J. Olgin
The Lessons of October by Nadezhda Krupskaya
Trotsky s Day in Court by Harry Haywood

Supplemental readings

Disruption of Unity Under Cover of Outcries for Unity by V. I. Lenin

Once Again on the Trade Unions: The Current Situation and the Mistakes of Trotsk
y and Bukharin by V. I. Lenin
Trotskyism or Leninism? by J. V. Stalin
The October Revolution and the Tactics of the Russian Communists by J. V. Stalin

Concerning Questions of Leninism by J. V. Stalin

The Trotskyist Opposition Before and Now by J. V. Stalin
The Party and the Opposition by J. V. Stalin
Mastering Bolshevism by J. V. Stalin
On the Final Victory of Socialism in the U.S.S.R. by J. V. Stalin
Struggle of the Bolsheviks Against Trotskyism and the Anti-Party August Bloc fro
m the History of the CPSU (Bolsheviks) Short Course
Defeat of the Trotskyites from the History of the CPSU (Bolsheviks) Short Course

The Errors of Trotskyism: A Symposium

The Case of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite Terrorist Centre: Report of Court Proceed
ings
The Moscow Trial Was Fair by D.N. Pritt & Pat Sloan
Evidence of Leon Trotsky s Collaboration with Germany and Japan (.pdf) by Grover F
urr
Left in Form, Right in Essence: A Critique of Contemporary Trotskyism by Carl Da
vidson (October League)
On Trotskyism: Problems of Theory and History by Kostas Mavrakis
Trotskyism or Leninism? (Preface) by Harpal Brar (CPGB-ML)
Stalin and the Chinese Revolution Two lines on the Chinese Revolution: the line
of the Comintern and Stalin versus the line of the Trotskyist opposition by Harp
al Brar
How Trotskyism remembers the Spanish Civil War a polemic against the Socialist Wor
kers Party (Britain) by the CPGB-ML
Trotsky s struggle against Fascism, according to one of his latter-day admirers fr
om Lalkar
Revolution in Colombia: ISO Stands on the Wrong Side a polemic against the Inter
national Socialist Organization by the FRSO
Lessons from the RNC: Mass Mobilization and Militant Actions Advance the Struggl
e a polemic against Socialist Alternative by FRSO

This entry was posted in Soviet Union, Study Guide and tagged anti-revisionism,
Carl Davidson, counter-revolution, CPGB-ML, Freedom Road Socialist Organization,
FRSO, Harpal Brar, Harry Haywood, ISO, Joseph Stalin, Kostas Mavrakis, Leninism
, M.J. Olgin, Marxism-Leninism, Nadezhda Krupskaya, October League (Marxist-Leni
nist), Revolution, Socialist Alternative, Trotsky, Trotskyism.

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12 Responses to Against Trotskyism: A Reading Guide
Comrade Woo | December 24, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Recently released to the internet is Spain! The Unfinished Revolution, the account
of the International Brigade soldier and scholar of the Spanish Civil War Arthu
r Landis. Here is a megaupload link to the PDF file.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=34MNGPJP
You can also found a recently posted old news article about the Dewey Commission
from the journalist Carleton Beals. Search google for his The Fewer Outsiders th
e Better article.
Readers might also be interested in the various articles written by Furr. As mos
t of the claims of Trotskyists are indistinguishable from other anti-communists,
they go a long way into refuting Trotskyist claims about the USSR and Stalin.
nickglais | December 27, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Excellent compilation of materials to study Trotskyism thanks comrade
mukwa | December 27, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Thank you for posting the link to M.J. Olgin s book on Trotskyism. I think it is r
eally the best single reading on topic.
And it is easy to take the analysis presented and to use that analysis to unders
tand what the Trots advocate now.
Gearóid Ó Colmáin | May 4, 2010 at 11:32 am
It is impossible to estimate the damage caused to the international communist mo
vement by that perfidious caitiff called Trotsky. Well done on that useful colle
ction comrades.
Murray | May 9, 2010 at 5:35 am
Perhaps you should put up there Fidel s speech to the closing session of the trico
ntinental in 1966, where he chides the Trotskyists thoroughly as there are some
thoroughly unscrupulous Trots who try and claim socialist Cuba for their own acc
ord http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/cuba/castro/1966/19660216
Gearóid Ó Colmáin | May 22, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Dear Comrades,
please permit me to suggest that you include this book among your anti-Trot read
ing material.Soviet Policy and its Critics by JR Campbell.It is an extraodinary
little book which shows how Trotsky s writings as well as actions confused the lef
t into unwittingly supporting fascism.I strongly recommend it.
Keep up the excellent work.
The International Pan Islamic Communist Party of Proletarian Islam | May 31, 20
10 at 6:43 pm
This is a great Anti- Trotsky Reading and Study guide Trotskyism must be smashed
in all forms wherever it chooses to rear its sinister and ugly head.
Jan Victor | July 24, 2010 at 10:00 pm
LENIN SHOULD BE PRAISED AS WELL AS STALIN. TROTSKY SHOULD BE DENIED BY THE REVOL
UTIONARY PEOPLE
FreeSince09 | September 13, 2010 at 5:58 am
I have to ask what Trots have in their tendency to form factions and the ML s view
of factionalism and open discourse?
Jack Hannon | September 25, 2010 at 6:17 am
Trotskyism is as much destructive and damaging as Capitalism is.
It s an ideology that s created lot s of division in Marxism just like Capitalism has
creation lot s of division in society.
Therefore Trotskyism = Capitalism
Marcos | December 25, 2010 at 3:45 pm
If Trotskyism is counter-revolutionary, what do people here at ML make of the bu
reaucratization of the Soviet Union? Was that not counter-revolutionary? What ab
out the various communist parties around the world that deliberately suppressed
working class militancy? I can understand not agreeing politically with Trotsky
as far as organisation is concerned, but how can anybody still think that Stalin
did any good for the revolution? Truly baffling
ProfessorToad | January 2, 2011 at 5:30 am
****
If Trotskyism is counter-revolutionary, what do people here at ML make of the bu
reaucratization of the Soviet Union?
****
There is a tendency among people who recognize the mistakes of the Soviet Union
or the Comintern to assume that, if Stalin was wrong, Trotsky was therefore righ
t. This assumption of course doesn t hold up to scrutiny. The Soviet Union made mi
stakes; but in fact Trotsky would have made far greater ones.
An analysis of the 1930s in the Soviet Union which sees the problems as arising
from bureaucracy is, I think, not very convincing. Actually, the Soviet Union ma
de enormous strides in the 1930s in industrialization and even in living standar
ds.
The purges were not aimed at the old guard of the revolution. They were aimed at
the opposition, in all its forms: The Trotskyists, the Zinovievites, and the ol
d whites who had been reintegrated into society. There really was such an opposi
tion, of course, and it really did plot a coup. The purges were certainly an ove
rreaction to the threat in many respects, but they were an error of the left, no
t the right.
****
Was that not counter-revolutionary? What about the various communist parties aro
und the world that deliberately suppressed working class militancy?
****
This is the most interesting point to me. What about the various communist parti
es who were not actually communist? Many Trotskyists seek a solution in Stalinism
. But what about the many socialist parties which were not actually socialist? Do
not these two phenomena look very, very similar?
The Leninist explanation is that both the false socialist parties and the false
communist parties are a result of revisionism, of the influence of bourgeois ide
as on the workers movement.
Trotskyists seek another explanation because they don t quite understand revisioni
sm. I think every Trotskyist should read Lenin s Marxism and Revisionism.
You can also read Harry Heywood s Degeneration of the CPUSA to see how the Soviet
Communist Party under Stalin fought against revisionism in the CPUSA, and how th
ey stopped contributing to that battle after Stalin died.
It may help you to see how the Comintern was not politically monolithic. Of cour
se, nothing is politically monolithic, and any reasonably sizable organization h
as a political process and political struggle going on within it.
****
I can understand not agreeing politically with Trotsky as far as organisation is
concerned, but how can anybody still think that Stalin did any good for the rev
olution? Truly baffling
****
I don t find it baffling at all.
Mao considered that the Soviet Union under Stalin was the only real ally that Ch
ina had.
The Soviet Union bore the brunt of the war against Hitler, and in fact defeated
Hitler and brought socialism to much of Eastern Europe.
Soviet arms protected Cuba from U.S. invasion. When the Bay of Pigs was taking p
lace, the gusanos kept urging Kennedy to send in U.S. troops in addition to the
mercenaries. But Khrushchev announced that if a single marine landed in Cuba, roc
kets will fly.
Soviet arms also made possible the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale. Although there is
a powerful effort in the West to confuse the facts of this battle, in fact what
occurred is this: Cuban troops in Angola, using Soviet made planes and tanks, in
flicted a crushing defeat on the South African army, forcing them to the negotia
ting table. South Africa s withdrawal from Angola, the liberation of Namibia, and
multirace elections in South Africa were all to a large extent the products of t
his battle.
All of these examples show how a STRONG, INDUSTRIALIZED Soviet Union contributed
to world revolution in a way that the Soviet Union of 1929 never could have. On
e of the major points of contention between Stalin and Trotsky was in fact that
Stalin insisted that the Soviet Union could carry out a program of socialist ind
ustrialization, while Trotsky insisted it could not.
Imagine what would have happened if, in 1941, when the Germans invaded the Sovie
t Union, it had been the same rural country it was in 1929. Hitler would have wo
n the war. That is a contribution of course of millions of Soviet workers and pe
asants, but to the extent we can blame anything, good or bad, on a single person
such as Stalin, it was a contribution of Stalin.

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