Letters to Belgium

Keywords:Letters to Belgium⤷

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Introduction

The pieces translated and assembled here were selected from the large number of letters on Belgian affairs published in the French Oeuvres (first series, vol.3, pp.58-62; vol.8, pp.40-3, 192-8; vol.9, pp.66-9, 126-8; vol.10, pp.56-9; vol.15, pp.332-3; and vol.18, pp.271-2, Paris 1978-84, and second series, vol.3, pp.196-7, Paris 1989) and the Cahiers Leon Trotsky (no.16, December 1983, pp.102-3; no.20, December 1984, pp.102-3), but which were unavailable for inclusion in the English series of the Writings of Leon Trotsky at the time of its compilation. Our principle of selection has been based on how far they touch upon broad political ideas and Marxist analysis in general, and how far they shed light upon the narrative historical material we have printed in this issue.

To form a complete picture of Trotsky’s dealings with the Belgian movement, it is obviously also necessary to consult those letters and articles already in print in English. These include The Sino-Soviet Conflict and the Position of the Belgian Oppositionists, 30 September 1929 (Writings of Leon Trotsky 1929, New York 1975, pp.332-6); To the Executive Committee of the Belgian Opposition, 12 October 1930 (Writings of Leon Trotsky 1930-31, New York 1973, pp.47-8); An Open Letter to Vandervelde, 5 December 1932 (Writings of Leon Trotsky 1932, New York 1973, pp.340-2); The Belgian Opposition and Its Newspaper, 20 December 1932 (Writings of Leon Trotsky 1932-33, New York 1972, pp.39-40); Doubts, Hesitations and Fears, Autumn 1933 (Writings of Leon Trotsky 1933-34, New York 1975, pp.132-4); An Offer to Le Peuple, 9 January 1934, The “Belgian” Tradition in Discussion, 22 September 1934 We Should Join the Belgian Young Socialists, 19 November 1934; and After the Belgian Conference, 24 March 1935 (Writings of Leon Trotsky, Supplement 1934-40, New York 1979, pp.439, 527-30, 539-40, 570-1); Austria, Spain, Belgium and the Turn, 1 November 1934; and The Belgian Dispute and the De Man Plan, 2 March 1935 (Writings of Leon Trotsky 1934-35, New York 1971, pp.10l-4, 210-8); To the Editors of Action Socialiste Revolutionnaire, 23 August 1935; An Answer to Comrades in Anvers (Antwerp), November 1935; Tactical Questions and Splits, 18 November 1935; Suggestions for the Belgian Section, 27 March 1936; and Echoes of a Belgian Witch-Hunt, 23 September 1935 (Writings of Leon Trotsky 1935-36, New York 1977, pp.95-7, 190-6, 287-92, 432-3); Two Manifestations of the Same Tendency, 18 May 1937 (Writings of Leon Trotsky 1936-37, New York 1978, p.290); A Test of Ideas and Individuals Through the Spanish Experience, 24 August 1937 (The Spanish Revolution, 1931-39, New York, 1973, pp.269-81); Once More on Comrades Sneevliet and Vereeken, 24 May 1938; and To the Congress of the Revolutionary Socialist Party of Belgium, 22 June 1938 (Writings of Leon Trotsky 1937-38, New York 1976, pp.336-42, 367-9). Further correspondence and extracts from letters can be found in G. Vereeken, The GPU in the Trotskyist Movement, London 1976, especially on pp.104-5, 111-2, 270-2, 292-3 and 305-6.