Myasnikov on the Trotskyists

We take the following letter from Myasnikov from our French sister paper, the "Ouvrier Communiste":

The most important subject of the Opposition's newsletter, No. 6, is the Declaration of the Opposition, to which Trotsky has given his approval. What is the basis and political meaning of this declaration? In order to understand this question well, one must consult No. 1 of the Bulletin, in which Trotsky says:

"I name three classical questions which provide the decisive yardstick for judging the tendencies in world communism: 1. the policy of the Anglo-Russian Committee, 2. the course of the Chinese revolution, 3. the economic policy of the Soviet Union and its connection with the history of the building of socialism in an isolated country These are the scientific touchstones by which a proletarian who is concerned with social questions can immediately judge the various currents of world communism."

So every time you want to examine the trends, you will have to disturb the peace of the dead, stir up the old questions: the Anglo-Russian committee, the course of the Chinese revolution and finally turn to Stalin's five-year plan, which influences the economic policy of the opposition. So in these three points we have an instrument of scientific and decisive accuracy! As difficult as the questions that are asked may be, we can judge how this or that direction, group or faction is behaving. group or faction behaves. It is therefore sufficient to ask past questions — the matter is settled, the dispute ended. If a group has committed no heretical sin on these three questions, it is unquestionably a Marxist group.

Stalin & Co. interpreted these points like the famous Opposition, surpassing even Trotsky. Forgetting the past, they approached Stalin and when the light of the three points is thrown on him, one believes that there is no better Marxist in the world.

Forget the past? the Trotskyists don't want to forget it. What an irreconcilable people, these Trotskyists! The Trotskyists have decided how they do not want to forget the past. Have they decided to wage a merciless battle? But no! On the contrary, with a heavy sigh of remorse, they have sent their declaration of submission.

It is a simple declaration of surrender without a shadow of intention of platform or program. They have no noticeable differences of opinion with the party, they do not want to form a faction, but they want to submit completely to party discipline. They bring to the fore all the important questions on which the opposition agrees with the Bolshevik Party, without concealing their differences:

"We think — they say — that the differences of opinion which still remain, and whose correctness the future will decide, cannot justify our exclusion from the party camp. They can be completely absorbed into the program and into the party, they are like an answer to the questions which the development of the construction of socialism entails. Furthermore, we see how dangerous the existence of communist factions inside or outside the party is. Furthermore, we refuse to follow the application of factional methods of struggle. And finally, we are prepared to submit to party discipline and its statutes, which guarantee each member the defense of his communist views."

In a word, Trotsky makes his faction return to a program that he does not consider Marxist. He denounces the factions as dangerous and yet recognizes the Leninbund for considering itself as a faction:

"We must realize that the Leninbund is a faction of the party and not a party; from this flows a determined policy in relation to the Bolshevik party."

The history of the Russian labor movement will not have known a more restrained opposition, but neither has it known one so stripped of its ideals. The declaration of the Trotskyists is a capitulation where the oppositionists still regard themselves with a certain pride. But this pride will not last long, according to the Russian proverb: "If you cannot stay on a horse by holding on to its mane, don't hope to be able to stay on it by holding on to its tail." It would be enough for Stalin to graciously let some members of the Opposition into his cabinet, free some other prisoners, lift Trotsky's exile and give him back his homeland — and their pride would fall, and they would crawl on their bellies like Zinoviev. Later, Stalin will blow up a minor disagreement with the capitulators to the size of a platform and bring it under paragraph 58 of the Code. It is probable that these oppositionists, these high functionaries, who have already suffered so much agony in their prisons and in exile, will then make themselves "indispensable" in order not to expose themselves once more to the danger of having to leave their beloved surroundings and perish of homesickness away from their bureaucratic activities.

If Stalin should hesitate for a moment before opening the gates of his cabinet and the prisons, we will soon see a declaration appear that has fewer differences and less "pride". What we are saying is for the great personalities, but there are not only great personalities in the Trotskyist opposition, there are also many workers. They do not want to follow their leaders. After some hesitation, they will join the "Workers' Group". Here is the infallible end of the Great Men's Opposition at the end of its cranky path. Down with the opposition of the Great! Long live the opposition of the proletarians of the Workers' Group!