Letter to Albert Weisbord, October 10, 1931

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Version published in The Militant

To Albert Weisbord

New York, N.Y.

(Copy to National Executive Committee, Communist League of America (Opposition))

Dear comrade:

I have received a number of documents and letters from you. I apologize for answering so late and in German at that; to write in English would be too long and too ungrateful a task. Now to the point.

I cannot adopt your standpoint. Your criticism of the League seems to me one-sided, artificial and terribly exaggerated. You throw the League and the Right wing together, which shows that you utterly disregard the fitness of things. You make fun of the publishing activity of the League and contrapose your “mass action” to it. Have you any mass activity behind you? Before one turns to the masses, one must construct a principle basis. One begins as a propaganda group and develops in the direction of mass action.

In addition, your international connections, sympathies and semi-sympathies speak against you. For even if I cannot claim to be an adept in present day American affairs, still I know well enough what the Landau group and the other similar groups in Europe mean. “Tell me with whom you go, and I will tell you who you are.”

The International Opposition has no use for two organizations in America. Your group is new, has only recently split off from the Right, differs from the Left Opposition on a number of questions and flirts with those elements which split themselves off from the International Left Opposition. Can you ask us to prefer you to the Communist League of America?

You declare yourself obedient to the International Left Opposition. Organizationally this is not the case. This can therefore be understood only in the sense of a general solidarity of ideas. But now you must ask yourself a question, how this will be expressed organizationally. In your letter to the League Conference, you propose a united front but without the leading comrades. This is the famous united front from below which the Stalinists practice (in words) toward the social-democrats and the trade unions. On top of this you attack the League for not applying the policy of the united front. This does not give the impression of being serious. If the solidarity of ideas with the Left Opposition really means anything to you, you must build a bridge back to the League in common. This by no means excludes internal criticism on the basis of a healthy revolutionary democracy.

Kadikoy, October 10, 1931

Version published in Class Struggle

Kadikoy, October 10

To the Communist League of Struggle,

Dear Comrades,

I have received several documents from you. I apologize that I answer with delay and then in the German language. To write English would be too for me much too big and too thankless a task. Now to business.

I cannot sympathize with your position. Your criticism of the League seems to me one-sided, artificial and terribly exaggerated. You throw the League in together with the Right, which means that you trample under foot the necessary proportion in politics. You deride the publishing work of the League, and you oppose it to “Mass action”. Have you any mass action whatsoever behind you? Before we turn to the masses we must build a principled basis. We begin with a propagandist group and develop in the direction of mass action.

Also your international connections, sympathies and half-sympathies speak against you. While I cannot claim to be so initiated in present day American affairs, yet I know well enough what the Landau group and other similar groups in Europe mean. Tell me with whom you go and I will tell you what you are.

The International Opposition cannot need two groups in America. Your group is new, has but recently split away from the Right, goes against the Left Opposition on many questions, and flirts with those elements that split away from the International Left. Can you ask us to prefer you to the American League?

You declare yourselves as adhering to the International Opposition. Organizationally this is not so. So it can be taken only in the sense of general solidarity of ideas. Now you must also put yourselves the question of how this is to be expressed organizationally. In your letter to the conference of the league you propose a united front, but without the leading comrades. This is the famous “united front from below” which the Stalinists practice (in words) towards the Social Democracy and the unions. At the same time we fight the league because it will not employ the policy of the united front. This does not really make a serious impression. Were you really to hold any community of ideas with the Left Opposition, you would have to bridge behind you to the league in common. This in no way excludes inner criticism on the ground of a healthy revolutionary democracy.

With Communist greetings, (Signed) L.D. Trotsky