Writings of Leon Trotsky [1933-34]

Collection of articles and writings by Trotsky written between 1933 and 1934. In this period Trotsky lived in France. 1933 also marked a crucial stage in the political orientation of Trotsky and the movement he led. The failure of the German Communist Party to put up any serious struggle against Hitler’s seizure of power earlier in 10#933 and the failure of the Communist International to correct their policy as a result combined to persuade Trotsky that it was no longer possible to regenerate the Comintern on a Leninist basis. Consequently Trotsky and his supporters called for the creation of a new International and new revolutionary parties throughout the world, and work to build them became the central task to which he devoted the remaining years of his life.

This volume includes sixty pamphlets, articles and letters on: the Reichstag fire trial, the French fascist bid for power, an obituary on Lunacharsky, Hitler’s pacifist mask, the class character of the Soviet state, the nature of centrism, Rakovsky’s capitulation to Stalin, tactical problems of party-building in Britain, France, and Belgium, and a detailed analysis of war in the era of imperialism.