Written in 1933 this article is a testimony to Trotsky's deep insight into the nature of Fascism, which in Germany had only just come to power. In a disastrous turn the Comintern, which had by then completely degenerated from a genuine revolutionary Marxist international into a mere tool for the reactionary Stalinist Soviet bureaucracy, had developed the "theory" of the so-called “Third Period”, according to which the ultimate crisis and collapse of Capitalism was imminent. On the basis of this theory they claimed it was the duty of the Communist Parties to distance themselves from all "reactionary" elements, i.e. all reformist and social-democratic workers. In 1931, the Stalinists went so far as to form an unofficial de facto "united front" with the Nazis to bring down the Social Democratic government in Prussia! Similar ultra-left policies were adopted throughout the sections of the Comintern.
As Trotsky had correctly warned, this turn divided the mighty German workers' movement and effectively left the German working class paralyzed and unable to fight the Nazis who, as Hitler boasted, "came to power without breaking a window pane". This was a great setback for the German workers. Hitler launched an all-out assault on all working class organisations and thousands of workers were jailed or murdered. Having understood nothing from this disaster, the Stalinists underplayed the significance of Hitler coming to power. In September 1933, the Rote Fahne, organ of the German Communist Party proclaimed: "Last night was Herr Hitler's greatest day, but the so-called election victory of the Nazis is the beginning of the end." This disastrous line was summed up in the slogan "After Hitler, Our Turn!"
Trotsky waged a relentless struggle against the Stalinists and their ideas which were leading the working class from one defeat to another. In this article, which is only a small part of his many excellent writings on the development of Fascism, Trotsky explains how the victory of Fascism is a major defeat for the working class, whose consciousness would necessarily be thrown back. The dictatorship, the crushing of the workers’ organisations and the removal of democratic rights in Germany would not lead to the disappearance of illusions in Bourgeois Democracy amongst the German workers. On the contrary, it would strengthen these illusions. In fact, he explained, the democratic illusions during Fascism would be a basis for the re Fascism would be a basis for the revival of Reformism on a mass scale. This is exactly what happened after the Second World War.
"Doctrinaires think schematically," Trotsky said, while the "Masses think with facts. The working class perceives events not as experiments with this or that ‘thesis,’ but as living changes in the fate of the people. The victory of fascism adds a million times more to the scale of political development than the prognosis for the indefinite future which flows from it. Had a proletarian state grown out of the bankruptcy of democracy, the development of society, as well as the development of mass consciousness, would have taken a great leap forward. But inasmuch as it was actually the victory of fascism that grew out of the bankruptcy of democracy, the consciousness of the masses was set far back – of course, only temporarily."
On this basis, Trotsky argued, Marxists should not be afraid of utilising democratic slogans in order to connect with the rising revolutionary movement. In fact, he pointed out that anything else would remove the Marxists from any such movement. The tasks of the Marxists in such a situation is not to denounce the democratic demands of the people, but to show that we are the most consistent Democrats unlike the Reformists and the Bourgeois Democrats who will disappoint the workers again and again. This should by no means imply that we are abandoning the struggle for Socialism. On the contrary we see these two struggles as intrinsically intertwined. The struggle for Democracy in the age of capitalist decay will inevitably also grow into the struggle against capitalism.
Trotsky's article has many lessons for Iranians.
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