Letter to the International Secretariat, July 2, 1935

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The SAP and the Open Letter

To the International Secretariat

Dear Friends:

I must admit that the business concerning the manifesto for the Fourth International is beginning to worry me very much. At first I quietly accepted approaching the SAP as part of the venture. Now I realize that this was a mistake.

The manifesto is issued by organizations that really, i.e., actively, endorse the Fourth International. The SAP does not belong in this category. Like every other organization it will have the opportunity to express its opinion after the publication of our appeal. But we had absolutely no reason or inducement to show special consideration to this group in particular. It would be a crime to forget that after the publication of the August 1933 Declaration of Four, the SAP sabotaged the fight for the Fourth International in every way possible. The fact that the agreement of the four went to pieces right after it was formed naturally caused great damage to the struggle for the Fourth International. The only reason for this long interruption in the organizational struggle lies in the opportunistic ill-will of the SAP leadership together with the criminal de Kadt clique.

Two irretrievable years have elapsed. The war is knocking at the door. The Third International is forming an alliance with the Second International in an act of vile political treachery. Now we wish to unfurl the banner of the Fourth International again, and at this very moment we politely turn to that group that betrayed us once and is now carrying out an unprincipled and (in the last analysis) treacherous political course in France, the political focus of Europe today.

Of course, if one looks at approaching the SAP under the above characterized circumstances from a purely organizational point of view — as I tried to do some weeks ago — it can be regarded as a totally harmless organizational step. Fundamentally this is not so. The very need to bow once more before our treacherous former ally signifies — if one thinks it through — a lack of inner confidence and revolutionary self-assurance in our own ranks or in those of our closest allies.

If one has carefully thought through the historical situation, including the chicanery of the Comintern, if one is clear about the magnitude of our revolutionary mission, then there should not be a single day’s further hesitation in carrying out the most fundamental and imperative task: to speak out before the world proletariat, to say what is, and to call upon the best elements to build a new International! Making the fulfillment of this task dependent upon the already proven opportunistic ill-will of the SAP is a sad state of affairs that will cause some more unpleasant surprises.

Only helpless opportunists can say: the question is not so vital; the “masses” are not interested enough in the Fourth International as yet; we still have enough time for small-scale diplomatic maneuvers, etc. It is true that the masses know far too little (partly because of our own negligence) about the banner of the Fourth International; but what the masses need and what more and more elements understand — or at least feel — the need for is a correctly oriented, determined, courageous revolutionary leadership. And those who waver and hesitate on the question of the Fourth International are inevitably not up to the historical task on all other questions. When they write, their pens fumble; when they speak, their voices fumble; they have not cut their ties to the past. And the masses have an unmistakable instinct for the inner confidence of the spoken and written word. Various parts of the class can follow the wrong slogans, but they will never have confidence in uncertain, wavering leaders, who are constantly shifting their weight from one foot to the other. Of course, self-assurance alone is not enough: the political course must be correct. But politics in this new period of storm and stress must be guided by great political and social factors, and not by unimportant, petty considerations. In any case, in this period every vacillation, every instance of indecision, is a guarantee of certain ruin.

What has been said does not in any way exclude adaptation to existing reality. Quite the contrary: our most recent experiences in France prove that we should not shrink from the boldest measures in order to find our road to the masses.

It is one thing to keep in mind the real masses and their turns when considering a turn of our own, and something quite the contrary to court the gracious approval of experienced opportunists and professional dissemblers when taking an important step forward. Carrying out cautious work inside a mass organization, hiding, if necessary, disguising oneself from the parliamentary and trade union police of capitalism — all this not only is allowed, but is our duty. But only under one condition: that it is a real fight for the real revolutionary banner which is involved. And this banner must now be hoisted before the international proletariat by the most advanced elements, i.e., the vanguard of the vanguard. This banner is that of the Fourth International. Not the number alone, of course, but a program, a strategy, and a center for planning and leadership.

It seems that the proposal is to wait for the answer of the SAP until July 10. And then? The centrist fakers, who are only concerned now about delaying final bankruptcy as long as possible, will propose a different text or a whole number of amendments to us. What then? Should we have a new international discussion then about things that are clear to all of us — or at least should be clear? The SAP leaders, having sabotaged our fight for the Fourth International for two years, and with undeniable success, are now being given a chance to continue exercising their political function in a new form as best they can.

We have all (and I do not by any means exclude myself) made a serious mistake, which we will regret. In order not to allow the disastrous consequences of this mistake to be compounded, we have to put a stop to it at once. I make the following proposal:

a. If the SAP sends its signature by July 10, without any reservations (which is as good as excluded), we will publish the manifesto with the SAP’s signature at once.

b. If the SAP counterposes a different text to ours, we will publish our text at once without engaging in any further negotiations about the SAP text.

c. If the SAP proposes amendments to our text, we will give them the right to publish their reservations under their own name, but we will publish our text with our signatures without delay.

In other words: we will not allow any more delays, even for twenty-four hours.

If we had already published our document some weeks ago, it would have made a strong impression on the ranks of the SAP, would have accelerated the internal struggle, and would perhaps have attracted revolutionary elements of the SAP — if there are any — to us. Through waiting and endless negotiations we only cover the wavering of the SAP, assist the right wing against the left, and worst of all, we ourselves begin to waver. And any group, I repeat, which wavers or even seems to waver in this period is bound for destruction.

L. Trotsky

P.S. — The latest slogan of the SAP “for a new Zimmerwald” only shows the desire of these gentlemen to extricate themselves unnoticed from the bankruptcy of the IAG. We have not the slightest interest in supporting the new confusion directly or indirectly. That does not mean, of course, that we reject in advance taking part in possible meetings of different internationalist, left centrist, etc., groups, on an individual basis. Everything depends on the concrete circumstances. Thus, for example, our French section was quite right in taking part in the attempt of different groupings to offer resistance to the new chauvinistic wave. But we can only participate in such ventures in closed ranks and as pioneers of the Fourth International, with strong internal homogeneity. Otherwise we ourselves will fall victim to the confusion of the SAP and go from disaster to disaster.

L.T.