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The Creation of Soviets
| Author(s) | Leon Trotsky |
|---|---|
| Written | 12 December 1930 |
What are the perspectives then? … As far as I can tell from your last letter, all the organizations and groups are drifting with the current, that is, they are participating in the movement to the extent that it drags them along. Not a single one of the organizations has a revolutionary program of action or a well-thought-out perspective. …
It seems to me that the slogan of soviets is suggested by the whole situation, if by soviets we mean the workers' councils that sprang up in Russia: at first, they were powerful strike committees. Not one of the early participants imagined that the soviets were the future organs of power. … Of course, soviets cannot be created artificially. But during each local strike that includes a majority of the trades and takes on a political character, it is necessary to encourage the creation of soviets. This is the only form of organization, under the circumstances, that is capable of taking the leadership of the movement and of imposing on it the discipline of revolutionary action.
I tell you frankly, I am very much afraid that the historians of the future may have to accuse the Spanish revolutionists of not having known how to take advantage of an exceptional revolutionary situation.