The Ideological Collapse of Trotskyism - 7
BASMANOV
The ideological and organisational defeat of Trotskyism had been prepared by a lengthy ideological struggle waged
by Lenin, the party.
At the Thirteenth Conference of the Russian Communist
Party, in January 1924, it had been noted that Trotskyism
was "not only an attempt to revise Bolshevism, not only a
direct retreat from Leninism, but also a clearly expressed
petty-bourgeois deviation. There is not the slightest doubt
that this opposition clearly reflects the pressure of the petty
bourgeoisie against the position held by the proletarian
party and its policy". 1 Thanks to the consistent exposure of
Trotskyism, the working masses realised how harmful his
"theoretical" arguments and his practical actions were to
the Soviet state. The forging ahead of socialist construction
gave the lie to the claim that socialism could not be built
in the USSR. The more malevolent the actions of the Trot-
skyites became, now that they had finally the ground cut
from under their feet, the more obvious was the counter-
revolutionary content of their opinions and speeches.
The Communists of the Soviet Union unanimously con-
demned Trotskyism. Trotsky was roundly defeated at the
party meetings held in 1927. Less than 0.5% of the Com munists supported Trotsky's views.
This defeat of the Trotskyites was consolidated by the
decisions of the 15th Party Congress, which finally routed
Trotskyism both ideologically and organisationally and
expelled its most active supporters from the party. As the
congress noted, the Trotskyite opposition "took the path of
capitulation to the forces of the international and internal
bourgeoisie and objectively became a weapon of the third
column against the regime of the proletarian dictatorship".'
Trotsky had slid to positions close to those of Menshevism.
This was reflected in his disbelief in the revolutionary ability
of the working class, in his sceptical attitude to the possibil-
ity of an alliance between the proletariat and the peasantry,
and in the defeatist declarations on the impossibility of
socialist construction in the Soviet Union. Adherence to
Trotskyism and the propagation of his views were stated
to be incompatible with membership of the Communist
Party.
Trotskyite infiltration into the international working-class
movement was also thwarted. In March and April 1925 an
enlarged plenary meeting of the Executive Committee of
the Comintern emphatically stated that Trotskyism was not
only a Russian, but a world phenomenon, and declared: "To
realise Leninism in the Comintern, means to expose Trotsky-
ism in all the parties and to liquidate it as a tendency." The
plenum called on all parties to fight anti-Leninist
deviations on the same high level as the Communists
of Russia.
The Trotskyites tried to set up factions in several West
European countries. "All the worst elements in the labour
movement, the openly opportunist elements in the communist
movement, all renegade groups kicked out from the ranks of
the Comintern are now uniting on the Trotskyite platform
of struggle against the USSR, the CPSU and the Comin-
tern. . . " noted the Ninth Plenum of the Comintern Execu-
tive.
In the Comintern the Trotskyites pursued the same line
as in the CPSU — they aimed at undermining Leninism,
liquidating the principles of Bolshevik organisation, and
at dragging in opportunist views, foreign to the working
class, under the banner of Marxism.
The Fifteenth Congress of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks).
December 1917. Verbatim Report, Russ. ed., Vol. 1, p. 429.
International Press Correspondence, Vol. 5, No. 47, June 4, 1925,
p. 616.
' Ibid., Vol. 8, No. 12, March 1, 1928, p. 256.
In February 1928 the Ninth Plenum of the Comintern
Executive approved the decision of the 15th Congress of the
All-Russia Communist Party (Bolsheviks). ". . . Adherence
to the Trotskyist Opposition and solidarity with its
views, is incompatible with further membership of the
Communist International. '" This resolution of the Ninth
Plenum was fully approved by the Sixth Congress of the
Comintern.
As a result of determined and consistent struggle, the
ranks of the Communist parties were cleared of all overt
adherents to Trotskyism. The task set by the fifth enlarged
plenary meeting of the Executive Committee of the Comin-
tern concerning the liquidation of Trotskyism as a trend
within the communist movement was thus fulfilled.
The ideological and organisational defeat of Trotskyism
had a historic significance for the Soviet Union, for its
Communist Party and for the international communist move-
ment as a whole.
Pointing out the meaning of the defeat of Trotskyism,
William Z. Foster, a well-known activist in the Communist
Party of the USA wrote: "In this fight not only was the
fate of the Revolution in Russia at stake, but also that of
the world communist movement. A victory for the Trotsky
forces would have been a decisive success for the world
reaction." 2
The defeat of Trotskyism added ideological and organisa-
tional strength to the international communist movement.
The Communists' sense of responsibility for unity and soli-
darity increased both in separate parties and in the commu-
nist movement as a whole.
Communists applied in real life Lenin's directives on a
decisive, uncompromising fight against all forms of oppor-
tunism, as an essential condition of the development of the
new type of party. They learnt to expose the opportunist
and defeatist nature of pseudo-revolutionism, to cope with
instances of petty-bourgeois instability and to defend their
ranks from the influence of petty-bourgeois ideology. In 1926,
the seventh enlarged plenum of the Comintern Executive
noted that the fight against "ultra-Leftism", like the fight
against Right-wing opportunism, was an absolute prerequisite
for the successes of the communist movement. 1
The great work of enlightenment, which was carried out
by the Communist parties in exposing Trotskyism, led to
a higher level of theoretical knowledge among Communists,
and helped them equip themselves with an understanding of
the fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism and learn to apply
Marxist method to the practical problems of the revolu-
tionary struggle.
The anti-communist campaign of the defeated Trotskyites
that followed became a struggle of small groups that found
themselves outside the organised working-class movement.
The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Comunist Party of Uruguay, Rodney Arismendi, described these
groups as the wreckage of a sunken ship. This simile clearly
defines the present state of affairs.
International Press Correspondence, Vol. 7, No. 11, February 3,
1927, p. 224.
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