Manifesto WW2

8/13/2019 Manifesto WW2

1/35

Manifesto of the Fourth International on Imperialist

War and the Imperialist War

Imperialist War And TheProletarian World Revolution

Adopted by the Emergency Conference of the Fourth InternationalMay 19-26, 19!

The Emergency Conference of the Fourth International, the World Party of the Socialist

Revolution, convenes at the turning point of the second imperialist war The stage of

pro!ing for openings, of ma"ing preparations, and of relative military inactivity has !een

left far !ehind #ermany has unloosed all the furies of hell in a ma$or offensive to which

the %llies are replying in "ind with all their forces of destruction From now on the life of

Europe and all of man"ind will !e determined for a long time !y the course of the

imperialist war and !y its economic and political conse&uences

The Fourth International considers that now is the time to say openly and clearly how it

views this war and its participants, how it evaluates the war policies of various la!ororgani'ations, and most important, what is the way out to peace, freedom, and plenty

The Fourth International turns not to the governments who have dragooned the peoples

into the slaughter, nor to the !ourgeois politicians who !ear the responsi!ility for these

governments, nor to the la!or !ureaucracy which supports the warring !ourgeoisie The

Fourth International turns to the wor"ing men and women, the soldiers and sailors, the

ruined peasants and the enslaved colonial peoples The Fourth International has no ties

whatsoever with the oppressors, the e(ploiters, the imperialists It is the world party of the

toilers, the oppressed, and the e(ploitedThis manifesto is addressed to them. The general causes of the

present war

Technology is infinitely more powerful now than at the end of the war of )*)+ )*),

whereas man"ind is much more poverty stric"en The standard of living has declined in

one country after another -n the threshold of the present war, agriculture was in worse

condition than at the out!rea" of the last war The agricultural countries are ruined In the


2/35

industrial countries the middle classes are !eing ravaged economically, and a permanent

su! class of unemployed.modern pariahs.has !een formed The domestic mar"et has

narrowed The e(port of capital has !een reduced Imperialism has actually shattered the

world mar"et, !rea"ing it up into spheres dominated !y powerful individual countries

With the considera!le increase in the population of the earth, the world trade of )/* states

on our planet dropped almost one fourth in the single decade prior to the present war The

turnover in foreign trade of some countries has !een cut to one half, one third, and one

fourth

The colonial countries are suffering from their own internal crises, and from the crises of

the metropolitan centers 0ac"ward nations which yesterday were still semi free are today

plunged into slavery 1%!yssinia, %l!ania, China 2 Every imperialist country must have

its own sources of raw materials, a!ove all for war, that is, for a new struggle for raw

materials In order to enrich themselves further, the capitalists are destroying and laying

waste to everything created !y the la!or of centuries

The world of decaying capitalism is overcrowded The &uestion of admitting a hundred

e(tra refugees !ecomes a ma$or pro!lem for such a world power as the 3nited States In

an era of aviation, telegraph, telephone, radio, and television, travel from country to

country is paraly'ed !y passports and visas The period of the wasting away of foreign

trade and the decline of domestic trade is at the same time the period of the monstrous

intensification of chauvinism and especially of anti Semitism In the epoch of its rise,

capitalism too" the 4ewish people out of the ghetto and utili'ed them as an instrument in

its commercial e(pansion Today decaying capitalist society is striving to s&uee'e the4ewish people from all its pores5 seventeen million individuals out of the two !illion

populating the glo!e, that is, less than ) percent, can no longer find a place on our planet6

%mid the vast e(panses of land and the marvels of technology, which has also con&uered

the s"ies for man as well as the earth, the !ourgeoisie has managed to convert our planet

into a foul prison

Lenin and imperialism

-n 7ovem!er ), )*)+, at the !eginning of the last imperialist war, 8enin wrote9

:Imperialism has placed the fate of European culture at sta"e %lter this war, if a series ofsuccessful revolutions do not occur, more wars will follow the fairy tale of a ;war to end

all wars; is a hollow and pernicious fairy tale < Wor"ers, call this prediction to mind6

The present war the second imperialist war is not an accident5 it does not result from the

will of this or that dictator It was predicted long ago It derived its origin ine(ora!ly from

the contradictions of international capitalist interests Contrary to the official fa!les

designed to drug the people, the chief cause of war as of all other social evils


3/35

unemployment, the high cost of living, fascism, colonial oppression is the private

ownership of the means of production together with the !ourgeois state which rests on this

foundation

With the present level of technology and s"ill of the wor"ers, it is &uite possi!le to create

ade&uate conditions for the material and spiritual development of all man"ind It would !e

necessary only to organi'e the economic life within each country and over our entire

planet correctly, scientifically, and rationally, according to a general plan So long,

however, as the main productive forces of society are held !y trusts, ie, isolated capitalist

cli&ues, and so long as the national state remains a pliant tool in the hands of these cli&ues,

the struggle for mar"ets, for sources of raw materials, for domination of the world, must

inevita!ly assume a more and more destructive character State power and domination of

the economy can !e torn from the hands of these rapacious imperialist cli&ues only !y the

revolutionary wor"ing class That is the meaning of 8enin;s warning that without :a series

of successful revolutions< a new imperialist war would inevita!ly follow The differentpredictions and promises which were made have !een su!mitted to the test of events The

fairy tale of the :war to end all wars< has !een proved a lie 8enin;s prediction has

!ecome tragic truth

The immediate causes of the war

The immediate cause of the present war is the rivalry !etween the old wealthy colonial

empires, #reat 0ritain and France, and the !elated imperialist plunderers, #ermany and

Italy

The nineteenth century was the era of the incontesta!le hegemony of the oldest capitalist

power, #reat 0ritain From ))= to )*)+ true enough, not without isolated military

e(plosions.:0ritish peace< reigned The 0ritish fleet, mightiest in the world, played the

role of policeman of the seas This era, however, has receded into the past %s early as the

end of the last century, #ermany, armed with modern technology, !egan to move toward

first place in Europe -n the other side of the ocean an even more powerful country arose,

a former 0ritish colony The most important economic contradiction which led to the war

of )*)+ )*) was the rivalry !etween #reat 0ritain and #ermany %s for the 3nited

States, its participation in the war was of a preventive character.#ermany could not !epermitted to su!$ugate the European continent

The defeat hurled #ermany !ac" into complete impotence >ismem!ered, encircled !y

enemies, !an"rupted !y indemnities, wea"ened !y the convulsions of civil war, she

appeared to !e out of the running for a long time to come, if not forever -n the European

continent, first violin turned up temporarily in the hands of France For victorious

England, the !alance sheet of the war left in the last analysis lia!ilities9 increasing


4/35

independence of the dominions5 colonial movements for independence5 loss of naval

hegemony5 lessening of the importance of her navy through the development of aviation

Through inertia England still attempted to play the leading role on the world arena in the

first few years after victory ?er conflicts with the 3nited States !egan to assume an

o!viously threatening character It seemed as though the ne(t war would flare up !etween

the two %nglo Sa(on aspirants to world domination England, however, soon had to

convince herself that her specific economic weight was inade&uate for com!at with the

colossus across the ocean ?er agreement with the 3nited States on naval e&uality

signified formal renunciation of naval hegemony, already lost in actuality ?er

replacement of free trade !y tariff walls signified open admission of the defeat of 0ritish

industry on the world mar"et ?er renunciation of the policy of :splendid isolation< drew

in its wa"e the introduction of compulsory military service Thus all the sacred traditions

were dusted away

% similar lac" of correspondence !etween her economic weight and her world position is

characteristic of France too, !ut on a smaller scale ?er hegemony in Europe rested on a

temporary con$uncture of circumstances created !y the annihilation of #ermany and the

artificial com!inations of the @ersailles Treaty The si'e of her population and the

economic foundation supporting this hegemony were far too inade&uate When the

hypnosis of victory wore off, the real relationship of forces surged to the surface France

proved to !e much wea"er than she had appeared, not only to her friends !ut to her

enemies See"ing cover, she !ecame in essence #reat 0ritain;s latest dominion

#ermany;s regeneration on the !asis of her first rate technology and organi'ational

a!ilities was inevita!le It came sooner than was thought possi!le, in large measure than"s

to England;s support of #ermany against the 3SSR, against the e(cessive pretensions of

France, and more remotely against the 3nited States Such international com!inations

proved successful for capitalist England more than once in the past so long as she

remained the strongest power In her senility she proved incapa!le of dealing with those

spirits she had herself evo"ed

%rmed with a technology more modern, of greater fle(i!ility, and of higher productive

capacity, #ermany once again !egan to s&uee'e England out of very important mar"ets,particularly southeastern Europe and 8atin %merica In contrast to the nineteenth century,

when the competition !etween capitalist countries developed on an e(panding world

mar"et, the economic arena of struggle today is narrowing down so that nothing remains

open to the imperialists e(cept tearing pieces of the world mar"et away from each other

The initiative for the new redivision of the world this time as in )*)+ !elonged naturally

to #erman imperialism Caught off guard, the 0ritish government first attempted to !uy


5/35

its way out of war !y concessions at the e(pense of others 1%ustria, C'echoslova"ia2 0ut

this policy was short lived :Friendship< with #reat 0ritain was only a !rief tactical phase

for ?itler 8ondon had already conceded ?itler more than he had calculated on getting

The Aunich agreement through which Cham!erlain hoped to seal a long time friendship

with #ermany led, on the contrary, to a hastening of the !rea" ?itler could e(pect

nothing more from 8ondon.further e(pansion of #ermany would stri"e at the life lines

of #reat 0ritain herself Thus the :new era of peace< proclaimed !y Cham!erlain in

-cto!er )*B led within a few months to the most terri!le of all wars

The United States

While #reat 0ritain has e(erted every effort since the first months of the war to sei'e

!loc"aded #ermany;s vacated positions in the world mar"et, the 3nited States has almost

automatically !een driving #reat 0ritain out Two thirds of the world;s gold is

concentrated in the %merican vaults The remaining third is flowing to the same place

England;s role as !an"er for the world is a thing of the past 7or are matters in other

spheres much !etter While #reat 0ritain;s navy and merchant marine are suffering great

losses, the %merican shipyards are !uilding ships on a colossal scale, which will secure

the predominance of the %merican fleet over the 0ritish and the 4apanese The 3nited

States is o!viously preparing to adopt the two power standard 1a navy stronger than the

com!ined fleets of the ne(t two strongest powers2 The new program for the air fleet

envisages securing the superiority of the 3nited States over all the rest of the world

?owever, the industrial, financial, and military strength of the 3nited States, the foremost

capitalist power in the world, does not at all insure the !lossoming of %merican economic

life, !ut on the contrary, invests the crisis of her social system with an especially

malignant and convulsive character #old in the !illions cannot !e made use of, nor can

the millions of unemployed6 In the theses of the Fourth International, War and the Fourth

International pu!lished si( years ago, it was predicted9

3 S capitalism is up against the same pro!lems that pushed #ermany in )*)+ on the path

of war The world is divided It must !e redivided For #ermany it was a &uestion of

:organi'ing Europe< The 3nited States must :organi'e< the world ?istory is !ringing

humanity face to face with the volcanic eruption of %merican imperialism

The :7ew >eal< and the :#ood 7eigh!or< policies)D; were the final attempts to postpone

the clima( !y ameliorating the social crisis through concessions and agreements %fter the

!an"ruptcy of this policy, which swallowed up tens of !illions, nothing else remained for

%merican imperialism !ut to resort to the method of the mailed fist 3nder one or another

prete(t and slogan the 3nited States will intervene in the tremendous clash in order to

maintain its world dominion The order and the time of the struggle !etween %merican


6/35

capitalism and its enemies is not yet "nown perhaps even !y Washington War with 4apan

would !e a struggle for :living room< in the Pacific -cean War in the %tlantic, even if

directed immediately against #ermany, would !e a struggle for the heritage of #reat

0ritain

The potential victory of #ermany over the %llies hangs li"e a nightmare over Washington

With the European continent, and the resources of its colonies as her !ase, with all the

European munition factories and shipyards at her disposal, #ermany.especially in

com!ination with 4apan in the -rient would constitute a mortal danger for %merican

imperialism The present titanic !attles on the fields of Europe are in this sense

preparatory episodes in the struggle !etween #ermany and %merica France and England

are only fortified positions of %merican capitalism, e(tended !eyond the %tlantic If the

frontiers of England are located on the Rhine, as one of the 0ritish premiers put it, then

the %merican imperialists might well say that the frontiers of the 3nited States are on the

Thames In its feverish preparation of pu!lic opinion for the coming war, Washingtondoes not spare no!le indignation over the fate of Finland, >enmar", 7orway, ?olland,

0elgium With the occupation of >enmar", the &uestion of #reenland arose

une(pectedly as !eing :geologically< a part of the Western ?emisphere and containing !y

happy chance deposits of cryolite, indispensa!le in the production of aluminum 7or does

Washington overloo" enslaved China, the helpless Philippines, the orphaned >utch Indies,

and open sea routes Thus philanthropic sympathies for oppressed nations and even

considerations of geology are driving the 3nited States into war

The %merican armed forces, however, could intervene successfully only so long as Franceand the 0ritish Isles remain solid !ases of support Should France !e occupied and

#erman troops appear on the Thames, the relationship of forces would shift drastically to

the disadvantage of the 3nited States Washington is forced !y these considerations to

speed up all the tempos !ut li"ewise to ponder the &uestion9 has the opportune moment

not !een missed

%gainst the official position of the White ?ouse are launched the noisy protests of

%merican isolationism, which is itself only another variety of the very same imperialism

The section of the capitalists whose interests are !ound up primarily with the %mericancontinent, %ustralia, and the Far East calculate that in the event of the defeat of the %llies,

the 3nited States would automatically gain a monopoly for its own !enefit not only of

8atin %merica !ut also of Canada, %ustralia, and 7ew ealand %s for China, the >utch

Indies, and the -rient in general, it is the conviction of the entire ruling class of the 3nited

States that war with 4apan is in any case inevita!le in the near future 3nder the guise of

isolationism and pacifism, an influential section of the !ourgeoisie is wor"ing out a


7/35

program for %merican continental e(pansion and preparing for the struggle with 4apan

War against #ermany for the domination of the world, according to this plan, is only

deferred %s for petty !ourgeois pacifists such as 7orman Thomas and his fraternity, they

are only choir !oys in one of the imperialist clans

-ur struggle against 3nited States intervention into the war has nothing in common with

isolationism and pacifism We tell the wor"ers openly that the imperialist government

cannot fail to drag this country into war The dispute within the ruling class involves only

the &uestion of when to enter the war and against whom to level the fire first To count

upon holding the 3nited States to neutrality !y means of newspaper articles and pacifist

resolutions is li"e trying to hold !ac" the tide with a !room The real struggle against war

means the class struggle against imperialism and a merciless e(posure of petty!ourgeois

pacifism -nly revolution could prevent the %merican !ourgeoisie from intervening in the

second imperialist war or !eginning the third imperialist war %ll other methods are either

charlatanism or stupidity or a com!ination of !oth

The defense of the fatherland

%lmost a hundred years ago when the national state still represented a relatively

progressive factor, the Communist Aanifesto proclaimed that the proletarians have no

fatherland Their only goal is the creation of the toilers; fatherland em!racing the whole

world Toward the end of the nineteenth century, the !ourgeois state with its armies and

tariff walls !ecame the worst !ra"e on the development of productive forces, which

demand a much more e(tensive arena % socialist who comes out today for the defense of

the :fatherland< is playing the same reactionary role as the peasants of the @endee, who

rushed to the defense of the feudal regime, that is, of their own chains

In recent years and even months, the world has o!served with astonishment how easily

states vanish from the map of Europe9 %ustria, C'echoslova"ia, %l!ania, Poland,

>enmar", 7orway, ?olland, 0elgium The political map has !een reshaped with

e&ual speed in no other epoch save that of the 7apoleonic wars %t that time it was a

&uestion of outlived feudal states which had to give way !efore the !ourgeois national

state Today it is a &uestion of outlived !ourgeois states which must give way !efore the

socialist federation of the peoples The chain !rea"s as always at its wea"est lin" Thestruggle of the imperialist !andits leaves as little room for in dependent small states as

does the vicious competition of trusts and cartels for small independent manufacturers and

merchants

0ecause of its strategic position #ermany considers it more profita!le to attac" its main

enemies through the small and neutral countries #reat 0ritain and France on the contrary

deem it more profita!le to cover themselves with the neutrality of the small states and let


8/35

#ermany drive them through her !lows into the camp of the :democratic< %llies The gist

of the matter is not altered !y this difference in strategic methods 0etween the cog wheels

of the great imperialist countries the small satellites are !eing ground to dust The

:defense< of the huge fatherlands re&uires the overthrow of a do'en small and middle

si'ed ones

0ut even with regard to the large states, what is involved for the !ourgeoisie is not at all a

&uestion of defending the fatherland, !ut rather of mar"ets, foreign concessions, sources

of raw materials, and spheres of influence The !ourgeoisie never defends the fatherland

for the sa"e of the fatherland They defend private property, privileges, profits Whenever

these sacred values are threatened, the !ourgeoisie immediately ta"es to the road of

defeatism That was the way of the Russian !ourgeoisie, whose sons after the -cto!er

Revolution fought and are once again ready to fight in every army in the world against

their own former fatherland In order to save their capital, the Spanish !ourgeoisie turned

to Aussolini and ?itler for military aid against their own people The 7orwegian!ourgeoisie aided ?itler;s invasion of 7orway Thus it always was and always will !e

-fficial patriotism is a mas" for the e(ploiting interests Class conscious wor"ers throw

this mas" contemptuously aside They do not defend the !ourgeois fatherland, !ut the

interests of the toilers and the oppressed of their own country and of the entire world The

theses of the Fourth International state9

%gainst the reactionary slogan of :national defense< it is necessary to advance the slogan

of the revolutionary destruction of the national state To the madhouse of capitalist Europe

it is necessary to counterpose the program of the Socialist 3nited States of Europe as a

stage on the road to the Socialist 3nited States of the World

The struggle for democracy

7o less a lie is the slogan of a war for democracy against fascism %s if the wor"ers have

forgotten that the 0ritish gov ernment helped ?itler and his hangman;s crew gain power6

The imperialist democracies are in reality the greatest aristocracies in history England,

France, ?olland, 0elgium rest on the enslavement of colonial peoples The democracy of

the 3nited States rests upon the sei'ure of the vast wealth of an entire continent %ll theefforts of these :democracies< are directed toward the preservation of their privileged

position % considera!le portion of the war !urden is unloaded !y imperialist democracies

onto their colonies The slaves are o!liged to furnish !lood and gold in order to insure the

possi!ility of their masters remaining slaveholders The small capitalist democracies

without colonies are satellites of the great empires and glean a portion of their colonial


9/35

profits The ruling classes of these states are ready to renounce democracy at any moment

in order to preserve their privileges

In the case of tiny 7orway the inner mechanics of decaying democracy have once again

!een revealed !efore the whole world The 7orwegian !ourgeoisie made simultaneous use

of the social democratic government and the fascist policemen, $udges, and officers %t

the first serious impact, the democratic heads were swept away and the fascist

!ureaucracy, which immediately found a common language with ?itler, !ecame master of

the house With different national variations this same e(periment was previously

performed in Italy, #ermany, %ustria, Poland, C'echoslova"ia, and a num!er of other

states In a moment of danger the !ourgeoisie has always !een a!le to free from

democratic trappings the real apparatus of its rule as the direct instrument of finance

capital -nly the hopelessly !lind are capa!le of !elieving that the 0ritish and French

generals and admirals are waging a war against fascism6

The war has not halted the process of the transformation of democracies into reactionary

dictatorships, !ut on the contrary is carrying this process to its conclusion !efore our very

eyes

Within every country as well as on the world arena, the war strengthened immediately the

most reactionary groups and institutions The general staffs, those nests of 0onapartist

conspiracy, the malignant dens of the police, the gangs of hired patriots, the churches of

all creeds, are immediately pushed to the forefront The Papal Court, the focal point of

o!scurantism and hatred among men, is !eing wooed from all sides, especially !y the

Protestant President Roosevelt Aaterial and spiritual decline always !rings in its wa"e

police oppression and an increased demand for the opium of religion

See"ing to gain the advantages of a totalitarian regime, the imperialist democracies launch

their own defense with a redou!led drive against the wor"ing class and the persecution of

revolutionary organi'ations The war danger and now the war itself is utili'ed !y them

first and foremost to crush internal enemies The !ourgeoisie invaria!ly and unswervingly

follows the rule9 :The main enemy is in one;s own countryisillusioned, disunited, and

wea"ened, China was laid open to 4apanese invasion

8i"e every doomed regime, the Stalinist oligarchy is already incapa!le of learning from

the lessons of history %t the !eginning of the Sino 4apanese war, the Gremlin again

placed the Communist Party in !ondage to Chiang Gai she", crushing in the !ud the

revolutionary initiative of the Chinese proletariat This war, now nearing its third


19/35

anniversary, might long since have !een finished !y a real catastrophe for 4apan, if China

had conducted it as a genuine people;s war !ased on an agrarian revolution and setting the

4apanese soldiery aflame with its !la'e 0ut the Chinese !ourgeoisie fears its own armed

masses more than it does the 4apanese ravishers If Chiang Gai she", the sinister hangman

of the Chinese revolution, is compelled !y circumstances to wage a war, his program is

still !ased, as !efore, on the oppression of his own wor"ers and compromise with the

imperialists

The war in eastern %sia will !ecome more and more interloc"ed with the imperialist

world war The Chinese people will !e a!le to reach independence only under the

leadership of the youthful and self sacrificing proletariat, in whom the indispensa!le self

confidence will !e re"indled !y the re!irth of the world revolution They will indicate a

firm line of march The course of events places on the order of the day the development of

our Chinese section into a powerful revolutionary party

Tas's of the re"olution in (ndia

In the very first wee"s of war the Indian masses e(erted their growing pressure,

compelling the opportunist :national< leaders to spea" in an unaccustomed tongue 0ut

woe to the Indian people if they place trust in high sounding words6 3nder the mas" of the

slogan of national independence, #andhi has already hastened to proclaim his refusal to

create difficulties for #reat 0ritain during the present severe crisis %s if the oppressed

anywhere or at any time have ever !een a!le to free themselves e(cept !y e(ploiting the

difficulties of their oppressors6

#andhi;s :moral< revulsion from violence merely reflects the fear of the Indian

!ourgeoisie !efore their own masses They have very good grounds for their fore!oding

that 0ritish imperialism will drag them down too in the collapse 8ondon for its part warns

that at the first display of diso!edience it will apply :ail necessary measures


20/35

material interests of the !ourgeoisie determine their politics with the force of the laws of

gravitation

So long as the li!erating movement is controlled !y the e(ploiting class it is incapa!le of

getting out of a !lind alley The only thing that can weld India together is the agrarian

revolution under the !anner of national independence % revolution led !y the proletariat

will !e directed not only against 0ritish rule !ut also against the Indian princes, foreign

concessions, the top layer of the national !ourgeoisie, and the leaders of the 7ational

Congress, as well as against the leaders of the Aoslem 8eague It is the pressing tas" of

the Fourth International to create a sta!le and powerful section in India

The treacherous policy of class colla!oration, through which the Gremlin for the last five

years has !een helping the capitalist governments prepare for war, was a!ruptly li&uidated

!y the !ourgeoisie, $ust as soon as they ceased to need a pacifist disguise 0ut in the

colonial and semicolonial countries not only in China and India, !ut in 8atin %merica.

the fraud of the :People;s Fronts< still continues to paraly'e the wor"ing masses,

converting them into cannon fodder for the :progressive< !ourgeoisie and in this way

creating an indigenous political !asis for imperialism

The future of Latin )merica

The monstrous growth of armaments in the 3nited States prepares for a violent solution of

the comple( contradictions in the Western ?emisphere and should soon pose point !lan"

the &uestion of the destiny of the 8atin %merican countries The interlude of the :#ood

7eigh!or< policy is coming to an end Roosevelt or his successor will &uic"ly ta"e the

iron fist out of the velvet glove The theses of the Fourth International state9

South and Central %merica will !e a!le to tear themselves out of !ac"wardness and

enslavement only !y uniting all their states into one powerful federation 0ut it is not the

!elated South %merican !ourgeoisie, a thoroughly venal agency of foreign imperialism,

who will !e called upon to solve this tas", !ut the young South %merican proletariat, the

chosen leader of the oppressed masses The slogan in the struggle against violence and

intrigues of world imperialism and against the !loody wor" of native comprador cli&ues is

therefore9 the Soviet 3nited States of South and Central %merica

Written si( years ago, these lines have now ac&uired a particularly !urning actuality

-nly under its own revolutionary direction is the proletariat of the colonies and the semi

colonies capa!le of achieving in vinci!le colla!oration with the proletariat of the

metropolitan centers, and with the world wor"ing class as a whole -nly this colla!oration

can lead the oppressed peoples to complete and final emancipation, through the overthrow

of imperialism the world over % victory of the international proletariat will deliver the


21/35

colonial countries from the long drawn out travail of capitalist development, !y opening

up the possi!ility of arriving at socialism hand in hand with the proletariat of the advanced

countries

The perspective of the permanent revolution in no case signifies that the !ac"ward

countries must await the signal from the advanced ones, or that the colonial peoples

should patiently wait for the proletariat of the metropolitan centers to free them ?elp

comes to him who helps himself Wor"ers must develop the revolutionary struggle in

every country, colonial or imperialist, where favora!le conditions have !een esta!lished,

and through this set an e(ample for the wor"ers of other countries -nly initiative and

activity, resoluteness and !oldness can really materiali'e the slogan :Wor"ers of the

world, unite6emocracy remains patriotic $ust so long as the political regime assures it

its profits and privileges,< warned our theses si( years ago Russian Aenshevi"s and

7arodnilcs, who were patriots even under the c'ar.when they had their own >uma

fractions, their own newspapers, their own trade union functionaries, and hoped for further

advances along this road.now that they have lost all this, hold a defeatist position in

regard to the 3SSR

Conse&uently the present :unanimity< of the Second International is e(plaina!le !y thefact that all of its sections hope that the %llies will save them their posts and revenues in

the la!or !ureaucracy of the democratic countries and restore these posts and revenues in

the totalitarian countries The Social >emocracy does not go !eyond impotent daydreams

a!out the patronage of the :democratic< !ourgeoisie These political invalids are

completely incapa!le of struggle even where their own interests are involved This was

revealed most clearly in Scandinavia, which appeared to !e the most secure sanctuary of

the Second International and where all three countries were governed for a period of years

!y the so!er, realistic, reformist, and pacifist Social >emocracy Socialism was what these

gentlemen called the conservative royal democracy, plus the state church, plus the

niggardly social reforms made possi!le for a time !y limited military e(penditures

0ac"ed !y the 8eague of 7ations and protected !y the shield of :neutrality,< the

Scandinavian governments calculated on generations of tran&uil and peaceful

development 0ut the imperialist masters paid no attention to their calculations They were

compelled to dodge the !lows of fate 3pon the 3SSR invading Finland, all three

Scandinavian governments proclaimed themselves neutral so far as Finland was


23/35

concerned 3pon #ermany;s invasion of >enmar" and 7orway, Sweden declared herself

neutral so far as !oth victims of aggression were concerned >enmar" contrived to declare

herself neutral even in relation to herself 7orway, under the gun mu''les of her guardian

England, alone made a few sym!olic gestures of self defense These heroes are fully

prepared to live at the e(pense of the democratic fatherland, !ut feel disinclined to die for

it The war which they did not foresee has in passing overthrown their hopes for a

peaceful evolution under Ging and #od The Scandinavian paradise, final refuge of the

Second International;s hopes, has !een transformed into a tiny sector of the general

imperialist hell

The Social >emocratic opportunists "now !ut one policythat of passive adaptation 3nder

the conditions of decaying capitalism nothing remains open to them !ut the surrender of

one position after another, the whittling away of their already misera!le program, the

lowering of their demands, the renunciation of demands altogether, continuous retreat

further and further !ac" until there is no place left to retreat e(cept a rat hole 0ut eventhere the pitiless hand of imperialism drags them out !y the tail Such is a !rief history of

the Second International It is !eing "illed !y the present war for the second time and, one

must thin", this time forever

The Third (nternational

The policy of the degenerated Third International.a mi(tire of crude opportunism and

un!ridled adventurism.e(ercises an influence upon the wor"ing class which is, if

possi!le, even more demorali'ing than the policy of its elder !rother, the Second

International The revolutionary party !uilds its entire policy upon the class consciousness

of the wor"ers5 the Comintern is preoccupied with nothing !ut contaminating and

poisoning this class consciousness

The official propagandists of each of the !elligerent camps e(pose, sometimes &uite

correctly, the crimes of the opposing camp #oe!!els tells a good deal of truth a!out

0ritish violence in India The French and English press say a great many penetrating

things a!out the foreign policy of ?itler and of Stalin 7evertheless this one sided

propaganda !y itself represents the worst chauvinist poison ?alf truths are the most

dangerous "ind of lies

The entire present propaganda of the Comintern !elongs to this category %fter five years

of the crudest fawning upon the democracies, when the whole of :communism< was

reduced to the monotonous indictment of fascist aggressors, the Comintern suddenly

discovered in the autumn of )*B* the criminal imperialism of the Western democracies

8eft a!out face6 From then on not a single word of condemnation a!out the destruction of

C'echoslova"ia and Poland, the sei'ure of >enmar" and 7orway, and the shoc"ing


24/35

!estialities inflicted !y ?itler;s gangs on the Polish and 4ewish people6 ?itler was made

out to !e a peace loving vegetarian continually !eing provo"ed !y the Western

imperialists The %nglo French alliance was referred to in the Comintern press as the

:imperialist !loc against the #erman people< #oe!!els himself could have coo"ed up

nothing !etter6 The NmigrN #erman Communist Party !urned with the flame of love for

the fatherland %nd since the #erman fatherland had not ceased to !e fascist it turned out

that the #erman Communist Party held a social fascist position The time had finally come

when Stalin;s theory of social fascism too" on flesh and !lood

%t first sight the conduct of the French and English sections of the Communist

International appeared to !e diametrically opposite In contradistinction to the #ermans,

they were compelled to attac" their own government 0ut this sudden defeatism was not

internationalism, !ut a distorted variety of patriotism .these gentlemen consider their

fatherland to !e the Gremlin, on which their welfare depends Aany of the French

Stalinists !ehaved with un&uestiona!le courage under persecution 0ut the politicalcontent of this courage was !esmirched !y their em!ellishment of the rapacious policy of

the enemy camp What must the French wor"ers thin" of it

Revolutionary internationalists have always !een portrayed !y reaction as agents of a

foreign enemy The Comintern created a situation for its French and English sections that

made them provide the very grounds for such an accusation, and there!y forci!ly drove

the wor"ers into the patriotic camp or condemned them to confusion and passivity

The policy of the Gremlin is simple9 it sold ?itler the Comintern along with oil and

manganese 0ut the dogli"e servility with which these people allowed themselves to !e

sold irrefuta!ly testifies to the internal corruption of the Comintern 7either principles,

nor honor, nor conscience have !een left to the Gremlin;s agents.only a supple spine

0ut people with supple spines have never yet led a revolution

Stalin;s friendship with ?itler will not endure forever, nor even for any length of time

0efore our manifesto reaches the masses the foreign policy of the Gremlin may undergo a

new turn In that case the character of the Comintern;s propaganda would also change If

the Gremlin draws close to the democracies, the Comintern will once again dig out of its

warehouses the 0rown 0oo" of 7ational Socialist crimes 0ut this does not mean that itspropaganda will assume a revolutionary character In changing la!els it will remain as

servile as !efore Revolutionary policy demands that a!ove all the masses !e told the

truth 0ut the Comintern lies systematically We turn to the toilers of the world and say9

>o not !elieve the liars6

The Social Democrats and the Stalinists in the colonies


25/35

Parties fled up with the e(ploiters and interested in privileges are organically incapa!le of

carrying on an honest policy with respect to the most e(ploited layers of the toilers and the

oppressed peoples The physiognomy of the Second and Third Internationals, therefore, is

revealed with special clarity in their attitude towards the colonies

%cting as an attorney for the slaveholders and a shareholder in the profits of slavery, the

Second International has no sections of its own in the colonies, if we ignore casual groups

of colonial functionaries, predominantly French freemasons, and :left< careerists in

general who sit on the !ac"s of the native population ?aving renounced opportunely the

unpatriotic notion of rousing the colonial population against the :democratic fatherland,imitrov will accept no less %ra!s and 7egroes have found theft !estfriend in Stalin once again, not counting, of course, Aussolini and ?itler The #erman

section of the Comintern, with that !ra'enness characteristic of this gang of parasites,

defends Poland and C'echoslova"ia against the plots of 0ritish imperialism These people

are capa!le of and ready for anything6 With a new change in the Gremlin;s orientation

towards the Western democracies they will again respectfully solicit 8ondon and Paris to

grant li!eral reforms to theft colonies

In contrast to the Second International, the Comintern, than"s to its great tradition,

e(ercises un&uestiona!le influence in the colonies 0ut its social !ase has altered inaccordance with its political evolution %t the present time, in countries of a colonial

nature, the Comintern rests on the stratum which is the traditional !ase of the Second

International in the metropolitan centers The crum!s that drop from its super profits have

ena!led imperialism to create the sem!lance of a native la!or aristocracy in the colonial

and semicolonial countries Insignificant in comparison with its prototype in the

metropolitan centers, it stands out, however, against the !ac"ground of general poverty


26/35

and maintains a tenacious grip on its privileges The la!or !ureaucracy and aristocracy of

the colonial and semicolonial countries, together with the state functionaries, provide

especially servile recruits for the :friends< of the Gremlin In 8atin %merica one of the

most repulsive representatives of this type is the Ae(ican lawyer, 8om!ardo Toledano,

whose intimate services the Gremlin has rewarded !y elevating him to the decorative post

of chairman of the 8atin %merican Trade 3nion Federation

0y posing the &uestions of the class struggle point !lan", the war creates for these $ugglers

and weathervanes an increasingly difficult position, which genuine 0olshevi"s must

utili'e in order to sweep the Comintern out of the colonial countries forever

&entrism and anarchism

0y testing everything that e(ists and discarding everything rotten, war represents a mortal

danger to the outlived Internationals % considera!le section of the Comintern

!ureaucracy, especially in case of reversals for the Soviet 3nion, will unfailingly turn totheir own imperialist fatherland The wor"ers, on the contrary, will move more and more

to the left 3nder such conditions splits and crac" ups are inevita!le % num!er of

symptoms also indicate the possi!ility that the :left< wing of the Second International

Will !rea" away Centrist groupings of different origin will merge, !rea" up, create new

:fronts,< :camps,< etc -ur epoch will disclose, however, that it finds centrism intolera!le

The pathetic and tragic role played in the Spanish revolution !y the P-3A, the most

serious and honest of the centrist organi'ations, will always remain in the memory of the

advanced proletariat as a terri!le warning

0ut history is fond of repetitions The possi!ility is not e(cluded of new attempts to !uild

an international organi'ation on the pattern of the Two and a half International, or, this

time, the Three and a &uarter International Such !eginnings merit attention only as a

reflection of far more profound processes ta"ing place in the wor"ing masses 0ut it can

!e stated with certainty in advance that the centrist :fronts,< :camps,< and

:Internationals,< lac"ing any theoretical foundation, revolutionary tradition, or finished

program, will have only an ephemeral character We shall assist them !y mercilessly

critici'ing theft indecisiveness and halfheartedness

This s"etch of the !an"ruptcy of the old wor"ing class organi'ations would !e incomplete

if we failed to mention anarchism Its decline constitutes the most incontesta!le

phenomenon of our epoch Even !efore the first imperialist war the French anarcho

syndicalists succeeded in !ecoming the worst opportunists and the direct servants of the

!ourgeoisie In the last war most of the international anarchist leaders came out as

patriots In the heat of the civil war in Spain, the anarchists too" posts as ministers of the

!ourgeoisie The anarchist phrasemongers deny the state so long as it does not need them


27/35

In the hour of danger they, li"e the Social >emocrats, !ecome agents of the capitalist

class

The anarchists entered the present war without a program, without a single idea, and with

a !anner dirtied !y their !etrayal of the Spanish proletariat Today they are incapa!le of

introducing anything into the ran"s of the wor"ers save patriotic demorali'ation flavored

with humanitarian lamentations In see"ing a rapprochement with the anarchist wor"ers

who are really prepared to fight for the interests of their class, we will at the same time

demand that they ma"e a complete !rea" with those leaders who in war as well as in

revolution serve as the messenger !oys of the !ourgeoisie

The trade unions and the war

While the magnates of monopoly capitalism stand a!ove the official organs of state

power, controlling them from their heights, the opportunist trade union leaders scurry

around the footstool of state power, creating support for it among the wor"ing masses It isimpossi!le to perform this filthy chore so long as wor"ers; democracy within the trade

unions is maintained The regime in the unions, following the pattern of the regime of the

!ourgeois states, is !ecoming more and more authoritarian In wartime the trade union

!ureaucracy definitively !ecomes the military police of the army;s #eneral Staff in the

wor"ing class

0ut no 'eal will save it War !rings death and destruction to the present reformist trade

unions Those trade unionists who are in theft prime are mo!ili'ed for the slaughter They

are replaced !y !oys, women, and old men, that is, those least capa!le of resistance %ll

countries will come out of the war so ruined that the standard of living for the wor"ers

will !e thrown !ac" a hundred years Reformist unions are possi!le only under the regime

of !ourgeois democracy 0ut the first to !e van&uished in the war will !e the thoroughly

rotten democracy In its definitive downfall it will drag with it all the wor"ers;

organi'ations which served as its support There will !e no room for reformist unions

Capitalist reaction will destroy them ruthlessly It is necessary to warn the wor"ers of this

at once and loud enough for everyone to hear

% new epoch demands new methods 7ew methods demand new leaders It is possi!le to

save the trade unions in only one way9 !y transforming them into fighting organi'ations

which will set as their goal victory over capitalist anarchy and imperialist !anditry The

trade unions will play a paramount role in !uilding socialist economy, !ut the preliminary

condition for this is the overthrow of the capitalist class and the nationali'ation of the

means of production The trade unions can escape !urial !eneath the ruins of war only if

they ta"e the road of socialist revolution


28/35

The !ourth (nternational

The proletarian vanguard is the irreconcila!le enemy of imperialist war 0ut it has no fear

of this war It accepts !attle on the arena chosen !y the class enemy It enters this arena

with its !anners flying

The Fourth International is the only organi'ation that correctly predicted the generalcourse of world events, that anticipated the inevita!ility of a new imperialist catastrophe,

that e(posed the pacifist frauds of the !ourgeois democrats and the petty !ourgeois

adventurers of the Stalinist school, that fought against the policy of class colla!oration

!earing the name of the :People;s Fronts,< that pilloried the treacherous role of the

Comintern and the anarchists in Spain, that irreconcila!ly critici'ed the centrist illusions

of the P-3A, that continued to steel its cadres unceasingly in the spirit of the

revolutionary class struggle -ur policy in war is only a concentrated continuation of our

policy in peace

The Fourth International !uilds its program upon the granite theoretical foundations of

Aar(ism It re$ects the contempti!le eclecticism which now dominates the ran"s of the

official la!or !ureaucracy of the different camps, and which most fre&uently serves as a

cloa" for capitulation to !ourgeois democracy -ur program is formulated in a series of

documents accessi!le to everyone The gist of it can !e summed up in two words9

proletarian dictatorship

+ur program founded on $olshe"ism

The Fourth International stands completely and wholeheartedly on the foundation of therevolutionary tradition of 0olshevism and its organi'ational methods 8et the petty

!ourgeois radicals whine against centralism % wor"er who has participated even once in

a stri"e "nows that no struggle is possi!le without discipline and a firm leadership -ur

entire epoch is permeated with the spirit of centralism Aonopoly capitalism has !rought

economic centrali'ation to its ultimate limits State centralism in the guise of fascism

assumed a totalitarian character The democracies more and more attempt to emulate this

pattern The trade union !ureaucracy is ruthlessly defending its powerful machine The

Second and Third Internationals are !ra'enly utili'ing the state apparatus in their struggle

against the revolution 3nder these conditions the elementary guarantee of success is the

counterposing of revolutionary centralism to the centralism of reaction It is indispensa!le

to have an organi'ation of the proletarian vanguard welded together !y iron discipline, a

genuine selection of tempered revolutionists ready for self sacrifice and inspired !y an

uncon&uera!le will to victory To prepare the offensive systematically and painsta"ingly,

and when the decisive hour stri"es to throw the entire strength of the class on to the field


29/35

of !attle without faltering.only a centrali'ed party which does not falter itself is capa!le

of teaching this to the wor"ers

Shallow s"eptics delight in citing the degeneration of 0olshevi" centralism into

!ureaucratism %s though the entire course of history depended on the structure of a party6

%s a matter of fact, it is the fate of the party that depends on the course of the class

struggle 0ut in any case, the 0olshevi" Party was the only party that proved in action its

capacity for accomplishing the proletarian revolution It is precisely such a party that is

needed now !y the international proletariat If the !ourgeois regime comes out of the war

with impunity, every revolutionary party will suffer degeneration If the proletarian

revolution con&uers, those conditions that produce degeneration will disappear

In the conditions of triumphant reaction, mass disillusionment, and mass fatigue, in a

political atmosphere poisoned !y the malignant decomposition of the traditional

organi'ations of the wor"ing class, in the midst of heaped up difficulties and o!stacles, the

development of the Fourth International of necessity proceeded slowly Isolated and at

first sight much !roader and more promising attempts at unifying the left wing have !een

underta"en more than once !y centrists who disdained our efforts %ll these pretentious

attempts, however, crum!led to dust even !efore the masses had a chance to memori'e

their names -nly the Fourth International, with stu!!ornness, persistence, and increasing

success "eeps on swimming against the stream

,e ha"e withstood the test-

What characteri'es a genuine revolutionary organi'ation is a!ove all the seriousness with

which it wor"s out and tests its political line at each new turn of events Centralism is

made fruitful !y democracy In the fire of the war our sections passionately discuss all

&uestions of proletarian policy, testing methods, and !rushing off in passing those

unsta!le elements who $oined us only !ecause of their opposition to the Second and Third

Internationals Separation from unrelia!le fellowtravelers is the inevita!le overhead

e(pense in the formation of a genuine revolutionary party

The overwhelming ma$ority of our comrades in different countries have withstood the first

test of the war This fact is of inestima!le significance for the future of the Fourth

International Every ran" and file mem!er of our organi'ation is not only entitled !ut duty

!ound to consider himself henceforth an officer in the revolutionary army that will !e

created in the flame of events The entry of the masses into the revolutionary arena will

reveal at once the insignificance of the opportunist, pacifist, and centrist programs %

single real revolutionist in a factory, a mine, a trade union, a regiment, a warship, is worth

infinitely more than hundreds of petty!ourgeois pseudorevolutionists stewing in their

own $uice


30/35

The politicians of the !ig !ourgeoisie are far !etter at orienting themselves on the role of

the Fourth International than our petty !ourgeois pedants -n the eve of !rea"ing off

diplomatic relations, the French am!assador Coulondre and ?itler, see"ing during theft

final interview to frighten each other !y the conse&uences of the war, were in $oint

agreement that the :only real victor< would !e the Fourth International 3pon the

launching of hostilities against Poland, the ma$or press of France, >enmar", and other

countries carried dispatches saying that in the wor"ers; &uarters in 0erlin placards

appeared on wails, :>own with Stalin, 8ong 8ive Trots"y6< This means9 :>own with the

Third International, 8ong 8ive the Fourth International6< When a demonstration was

organi'ed !y the more resolute wor"ers and students of Prague, on the anniversary of

national independence, the :Protector< 0aron 7eurath issued an official declaration

placing the responsi!ility for this demonstration upon the C'ech :Trots"yites< The

correspondence from Prague that appears in the newspaper edited !y 0enes, the former

president of the C'echoslova" repu!lic, confirms the fact that the C'ech wor"ers are!ecoming :Trots"yites< )) %s yet, all these are only symptoms 0ut they indicate

unmista"a!ly the trend of development The new generation of wor"ers whom the war

will impel onto the road of revolution will ta"e theft place under our !anner

The proletarian re"olution

The !asic conditions for the victory of the proletarian revolution have !een esta!lished !y

historical e(perience and clarified theoretically9 1)2 the !ourgeois impasse and the

resulting confusion of the ruling class5 1K2 the sharp dissatisfaction and the striving

towards decisive changes in the ran"s of the petty !ourgeoisie, without whose support the!ig !ourgeoisie cannot maintain itself5 1B2 the consciousness of the intolera!le situation

and readiness for revolutionary actions in the ran"s of the proletariat5 1+2 a clear program

and a firm leadership of the proletarian vanguard.these are the four conditions for the

victory of the proletarian revolution The main reason for the defeats of many revolutions

is rooted in the fact that these four conditions rarely attain the necessary degree of

maturity at one and the same time In history, war has not infre&uently !een the mother of

revolution precisely !ecause it roc"s superannuated regimes to their foundation, wea"ens

the ruling class, and hastens the growth of revolutionary indignation among the oppressed

classes

%lready the disorientation of the !ourgeoisie, the alarm and dissatisfaction of the popular

masses are intense, not only in the warring !ut also in the neutral countries5 these

phenomena will !ecome intensified with every passing month of the war In the last

twenty years, it is true, the proletariat has suffered one defeat after another, each graver

than the preceding one, !ecame disillusioned with its old parties, and met the war


31/35

undou!tedly in depressed spirits -ne should not, however, overestimate the sta!ility or

dura!ility of such moods Events created them5 events will dispel them

War as well as revolution is made first and foremost !y the younger generation Aillions

of the youth, una!le to find access to industry, !egan theft lives as unemployed and

therefore remained outside of political life Today they are finding their place or they will

find it on the morrow9 the state organi'es them into regiments and for this very reason

opens the possi!ility for theft revolutionary unification Without a dou!t the war will also

sha"e off the apathy of the older generations

The pro*lem of leadership

There remains the &uestion of leadership Will not the revolution !e !etrayed this time

too, inasmuch as there are two Internationals in the service of imperialism while the

genuine revolutionary elements constitute a tiny minority In other words9 shall we

succeed in preparing in time a party capa!le of leading the proletarian revolution In orderto answer this &uestion correctly it is necessary to pose it correctly 7aturally, this or that

uprising may end and surely will end in defeat owing to the immaturity of the

revolutionary leadership 0ut it is not a &uestion of a single uprising It is a &uestion of an

entire revolutionary epoch

The capitalist world has no way out, unless a prolonged death agony is so considered It is

necessary to prepare for long years, if not decades, of war, uprisings, !rief interludes of

truce, new wars, and new uprisings % young revolutionary party must !ase itself on this

perspective ?istory will provide it with enough opportunities and possi!ilities to test

itself, to accumulate e(perience, and to mature The swifter the ran"s of the vanguard are

fused the more the epoch of !loody convulsions will !e shortened, the less destruction will

our planet suffer 0ut the great historical pro!lem will not !e solved in any case until a

revolutionary party stands at the head of the proletariat The &uestion of tempos and time

intervals is of enormous importance5 !ut it alters neither the general historical perspective

nor the direction of our policy The conclusion is a simple one9 it is necessary to carry on

the wor" of educating and organi'ing the proletarian vanguard with tenfold energy

Precisely in this lies the tas" of the Fourth International

The greatest error is committed !y those who, in see"ing to $ustify pessimistic

conclusions, refer simply to the sad conse&uences of the last war In the first place, the last

war gave !irth to the -cto!er Revolution upon whose lessons the la!or movement of the

whole world lives In the second place, the conditions of the present war differ profoundly

from the conditions of )*)+ The economic position of the imperialist states, including the

3nited States, is infinitely worse today, and the destructive power of war is infinitely

greater than was the case a &uarter of a century ago There is therefore sufficient reason to


32/35

e(pect this time a much more rapid and much more decisive reaction on the part of the

wor"ers and of the army

The e(perience of the first war did not pass without deeply affecting the masses The

Second International drew its strength from the still almost untouched democratic and

pacifist illusions of the masses The wor"ers seriously hoped that the war of )*)+ would

!e the last war The soldiers allowed themselves to !e "illed in order to spare their

children a new slaughter -nly than"s to this hope could men have withstood war for

more than four years Today almost nothing remains of the democratic and pacifist

illusions The peoples are suffering the present war without any longer !elieving in it,

without e(pecting anything more from it than new chains This applies also to the

totalitarian states The older generation of the wor"ers who !ore on their !ac"s the !urden

of the first imperialist war and who have not forgotten its lessons are still far from

eliminated from the arena In the ears of the ne(t to the oldest generation, which went to

school during wartime, the false slogans of patriotism and pacifism are still ringing Theinestima!le political e(perience of these strata who are now crushed !y the weight of the

war machine will reveal itself in full force when the war compels the toiling masses to

come out openly against their governments

ither socialism or sla"ery

-ur theses, War and the Fourth International 1)*B+2, state that9

the e(posure of the thoroughly reactionary, putrified, and ro!!er nature of modern

capitalism, the destruction of democracy, reformism and pacifism, the urgent and !urning

need of the proletariat to find a safe path away from imminent disaster put the

international revolution on the agenda with renewed force

Today it is no longer a &uestion, as was the case in the nineteenth century, of simply

assuring a more rapid and more healthy development of economic life9 today it is a

&uestion of saving man"ind from suicide It is precisely the acuteness of the historical

pro!lem that completely cuts the ground from under the feet of the opportunist parties

The party of the revolution, on the contrary, finds a wellspring of ine(hausti!le power in

the consciousness of the fact that it carries out ine(ora!le historical necessity

Aoreover, it is impermissi!le to put on the same plane the present revolutionary vanguard

with those isolated internationalists who raised their voices at the out!rea" of the last war

-nly the Russian party of the 0olshevi"s represented a revolutionary force at that time

0ut even the latter, in its overwhelming ma$ority, failed, e(cept for a small NmigrN group

around 8enin, to shed its national narrowness and to rise to the perspective of the world

revolution


33/35

The Fourth International in num!ers and especially in preparation possesses infinite

advantages over its predecessors at the !eginning of the last war The Fourth International

is the direct heir of 0olshevism in its flower The Fourth International has a!sor!ed the

tradition of the -cto!er Revolution and has transmuted into theory the e(perience of the

richest historical period !etween the two imperialist wars It has faith in itself and its

future

War, let us once again recall, speeds up enormously the political development Those

great tas"s which only yesterday seemed long years, if not decades away, can loom up

directly !efore us in the ne(t two or three years, and even sooner Programs which are

!ased on ha!itual peacetime conditions will inevita!ly remain dangling in midair -n the

other hand, the Fourth International;s program of transitional demands, which seemed so

:unreal< to nearsighted politicians, will reveal its full significance in the process of the

mo!ili'ation of the masses for the con&uest of state power

%t the !eginning of the new revolution, the opportunists will once again strive, $ust as they

did a &uarter of a century ago, to im!ue the wor"ers with the idea that it is impossi!le to

!uild socialism on ruins and devastation %s if the proletariat is free to choose6 It is

necessary to !uild on those foundations which history provides The Russian Revolution

showed that wor"ers; rule can raise even a very !ac"ward country out of deepest poverty

%ll the greater are the miracles open to the proletariat of the advanced countries War

destroys structures, railways, factories, mines5 !ut it cannot destroy technology, science,

s"ills %lter creating its own state, correctly organi'ing its own ran"s, drawing into the

wor" &ualified forces !e&ueathed !y the !ourgeois regime, and organi'ing productionaccording to a unified plan, the proletariat will not only restore within a few years

everything destroyed !y war, !ut will also create conditions for the greatest !lossoming of

culture on the foundation of solidarity

,/)T T+ D+

This manifesto is adopted !y the Emergency Conference of the Fourth International at a

moment when, after overwhelming ?olland and 0elgium and crushing the initial

resistance of the %iled troops, the #erman armies are roiling li"e a tide of fire towards

Paris and the Channel In 0erlin they are already hastening to cele!rate victory In thecamp of the %llies there is alarm, verging on panic ?ere we have neither the possi!ility

nor the need to engage in strategical speculations concerning the ne(t stages of the war

?itler;s tremendous preponderance is in any case now placing its seal upon the political

physiognomy of the whole world

:0ut isn;t the wor"ing class o!liged in the present conditions to aid the democracies in

their struggle against #erman fascism6< That is how the &uestion is put !y !road petty


34/35

!ourgeois circles for whom the proletariat always remains only an au(iliary tool of this or

that faction of the !ourgeoisie We re$ect this policy with indignation 7aturally there

e(ists a difference !etween the political regimes in !ourgeois society $ust as there is a

difference in comfort !etween various cars in a railway train 0ut when the whole train is

plunging into an a!yss, the distinction !etween decaying democracy and murderous

fascism disappears in the face of the collapse of the entire capitalist system

0y his victories and !estialities, ?itler provo"es naturally the sharp hatred of wor"ers the

world over 0ut !etween this legitimate hatred of wor"ers and the helping of his wea"er

!ut not less reactionary enemies is an un!ridgea!le gulf The victory of the imperialists of

#reat 0ritain and France would !e not less frightful for the ultimate fate of man"ind than

that of ?itler and Aussolini 0ourgeois democracy cannot !e saved 0y helping their

!ourgeoisie against foreign fascism, the wor"ers would only accelerate the victory of

fascism in their own country The tas" posed !y history is not to support one part of the

imperialist system against another !ut to ma"e an end of the system as a whole

,or'ers must learn military arts

The militari'ation of the masses is further intensified every day We re$ect the grotes&ue

pretension of doing away with this militari'ation through empty pacifist protests %ll the

great &uestions will !e decided in the ne(t epoch arms in hand The wor"ers should not

fear arms5 on the contrary they should learn to use them Revolutionists no more separate

themselves from the people during war than in peace % 0olshevi" strives to !ecome not

only the !est trade unionist !ut also the !est soldier

We do not wish to permit the !ourgeoisie to drive untrained or hall trained soldiers at the

last hour onto the !attlefield We demand that the state immediately provide the wor"ers

and the unemployed with the possi!ility of learning how to handle the rifle, the hand

grenade, the machine gun, the cannon, the airplane, the su!marine, and the other tools of

war Special military schools are necessary in close connec tion with the trade unions so

that the wor"ers can !ecome s"illed specialists of the military art, a!le to hold posts as

commanders

This is not our war0

%t the same time we do not forget for a moment that this war is not our war In

contradistinction to the Second and Third Internationals, the Fourth International !uilds its

policy not on the military fortunes of the capitalist states !ut on the transformation of the

imperialist war into a war of the wor"ers against the capitalists, on the overthrow of the

ruling classes of all countries, on the world socialist revolution The shifts in the !attle

lines at the front, the destruction of national capitals, the occupation of territories, the


35/35

downfall of individual states, represent from this standpoint only tragic episodes on the

road to the reconstruction of modern society

Independently of the course of the war, we fulfill our !asic tas"9 we e(plain to the wor"ers

the irreconcila!ility !etween their interests and the interests of !loodthirsty capitalism5 we

mo!ili'e the toilers against imperialism5 we propagate the unity of the wor"ers in all

warring and neutral countries5 we call for the fraterni'ation of wor"ers and soldiers within

each country, and of soldiers with soldiers on the opposite side of the !attle front5 we

mo!ili'e the women and youth against the war5 we carry on constant, persistent, tireless

preparation for the revolution.in the factories, in the mills, in the villages, in the

!arrac"s, at the front, and in the fleet

This is our program Proletarians of the world, there is no other way out e(cept to unite

under the !anner of the Fourth International6

Manifesto WW2

Documents

Transcript of Manifesto WW2