Jk :LBXIER TO I,E FAE:>C;i fcqrleeu

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1 Jk :LBXIER TO I,E FAE:>C;i fcqrleeu «v S IA U \ } OUAt tttm U O Ji'lT JL? xabrfletliayal M al'allh 1I7D 'l'/.a 111 mimal'rosl'i iuivolu XlTET.? STAUH*3 BETRAYAL OF T IE Ilix 12.1,ATIOHAL REVOLUTION.? ki'irl Dear Comrades* ^ ioday I am leaving France and this eirr»lltt Tahee alves me at last the possibility of explaining n.yself openly before you^ So long as I remained on French soil, I was doomed to silence. Two years ago the "le ft11 government of Daladier, in its honeymoon weeksj, allowed me to settle in - ranee with the same ^rights* as other foreigners. But actually I was forbidden to live in Paris and at once found myself under ( s far eng ) police supervision, ioon after the 6th February 1 934, the minister of the Interior, Aloert Sarraut, after A im m ^^T ^ss campaign, signed trie decree for my deport ation from.trance, however no foreign which would agree to let me in^ rw i the decree of deport ation could not be out.into effect, I was instructed by the ^urete t 'd 's r ls il ^ v). national* to settle in a small village In a certain Province where T V\ was under constant) police supervision, i'hus, during the last year of my stay in irance, I was «ut off from the outer would more completely than when I was onthe Turkish island, Frinkipo, under the supervision of Kemal Pasha s police, ^nd so the visa the Radical Government turned ljt a I am rifit f i r i n g fnfl against the government of the i'hlrd li.pubuo. m e most "a,noora.ie" -inisters as woll as the most reactionary ones nave as ttielr task t.ic u-irdinq of capitalist slavery. I belong to a revolutionary party which Has as its aim the overthrowing of Capitalism. *rom tais irr.conellabl. difference the struggle ^aaiall its coneoiuence. f-la lm t ljrl-- inevitably flows), there no reasons for complaints* If,however. I ^ u W ^ s e l f to dr.* your attention to such an minor) ( - * * «. de**il> as the conditions of my life in rranee, it is only bccauso this episode is most closely connected r. rrm1«i«+ International which has ndw bwcome with the policy of the Communist ^ t e r n a w y h 1 «<t or ic&a road of fche proletariat, the most impor ant obstaole on < +) Two years ago "L^umanite" daily repeated: "xhe f*sc s * i Iratsky in order to organise Daladier Invited the soeial-fasoist irctoky

2 with.is aid a military intervention against the U-jJR". There were ** -» net?,few honest, although naive and ignorant, people who believed this n'nserse, just as in the«&pring o 1917 millions of Russian peasants, soldiers, and even workers believed Kerensky when he said that Lenin and Trotsky were "agents of Kaiser wilhelm". Thejj ignorant and deceived people*"-*?^ net to be blamed, - they must be enlightened, -aut those enligatened so undrelsa who consci usly spread lies and slanders in order to deceive the workers, they can and must be accused, ihe leaders of the so-»alled Com:, unis t(?!) Party, Cachin, ihorez, Vailiant- Couturier, i)ucles and Co. -ave shown themselves to be such conscious scoundrels Is we all know these gentlemen have now concluded an anti-fascist "People's iront" with the "fascist" Daladier. The otalinists, who call themselves C o m m u n i s t s, have definitely ceased to talk about an intervention by irench Imperialism against tbs US3K. on the contrary, now they see In the military alliance of irench Capitalism and -oviet jureauerac? a guaranty of peaoe. Acting on atalin's or crs, Caciiin, There* and Co. are now summoning the Irench workers to support their «n national militarism. I. e.. the weapon of class oppression and colonial e n s l a v e m e n t.. s i c k l y and mercilessly have these calumniators unmasked themselves* Only yesterday they called me an a U y of i^ladler. an agent of the irench bourgeoisie} hut today they gave actually con- cluded an lliance with Cala ler, uerrlot. and ^ v a l and have narncssed themselves to the coach of fcench Imperialism. And now these gentlemen have aiready started to say (sec for example the newspaper of the Belgian Stalinists) that the policy of.rox- * y and the B.lshevlk-lenlnlst. Is doing a service not to *err ot or.. r»*nch but to German Daladier hut to Hitler, that Is. not to *-e Imperialism. Ihls new calumny sounds( however( as a too old an f a m i l i a r ^ during the I m p e r i a l i s t..ar these g.ntl.m n, socl 1- * ifl.. j.ulin^tir(?) parc patriots,.tenaudel..andevelde, o e v e r a w ^ ofsupportlng" Crman militarism against.rench democracy^ -! stood on the position of Revolutionary Internationalism. ^ far t h i ^ s o n the government cf briand-,.alvy deported me in But the valiant karcel Cochin, at tais very - me. list government conve^d money from his lmperlall "" ^ p r o o a g a n d a p u r p o s e s I f a c t- ) 1 111,J "

3 war.) «i All tnese facts were often published in the press and can be easily cheeked and proved. Cachin, by the way, has never tried to repudiate them. Larcel Cachin is now a&ain doing the TjrtXS social-patriotic work which dishonoured him during the Imperialist V»ar. i'he other 1 aders of the French Cem.unist (?!) Party are following Cachin. These are net revolutionaries but officials. They are carrying ojit th*! orders of their commanders. Only one, Andre...arty, has shown in his time the qualities of a real revolutionary; ftis past deserves ^ N M 0 esteem. 13ut the environment of the Comintern has managed to demoralise him too. In order to justify taeir social-patriotic turn these gentle men are (pointing, vfctcu'i-g ) to the necessity of defending the UoSB". Idle dsrfrett'is false tiirou,h and tarou.,h. It Is suffioisntly well known that even the Idea of "national defence" Is only a mask by mean, of which the exploiters cover their robbers' appetites and oloody skirmishes for booty, transforming In this way their own nation Into oannon fodder. Jut If we llprxisus have always affirmed that the imperialist bourgeoisie ean never and will never defend the real Inter- ests of Its o n nation, how ean we now believe that It Is able t defend the real Interests of the USSR? Can we doubt for even on. moment that at ths first favourable.pportunity *renoh Imperialism Will pat into motion all its forces * * * * * * socialised property and reestablish C7«* i tm p only traitors to tae working class can I militarism, supporting directly or indirectly, openly or the irench bourgeoisie and its diplomacy. «such trailers appear Stalin and his xrench lackeys. I. cover up their betrayal they arc quoting and refeitin^ Lenin, - just as leba(7). Jfcul longuet. and ot,er o ^ t unlsts ar, quoting and refer*ng to harx. " I g n i t e " almost u o l the letter of lenln to the.merloan,,r k.r s. telling how. n at the beginning of, 8 reeeived a I r. n o h ^ l c e r - r c y a l - who -,d his ervl.es against the Germans, who had^started a new o campaign a ualn t us. The aim of this sudden evidence is not^to tiob ^u-t on the contrary to throw das explain this question.jmt on mv<*rvr- ft* of the workers. ( *; j w.i i

4 will soon convince ourselves by examining tiie full evidence.) It wojild have b~en, of course, an absu/dity to deny tfc the Soviet Government the r i0ht to ptilise i/tfc antagonisms in the camp of the Imperialists, or in case of necessity to give this or that concession to the Imperialists, workers on strike also utilise the competition between capitalist enterprises, give concessions to the capitalists, and efren okpitirt&frdybcforc them when taey cannot wina. 3ut does it follow from this that the Trade Union leaders have the ri^ht to collaborate amicaoly witn the capitalists, ( pointing them in bright colours) and their servants? Nobody can e ^ i t h o s e strikers who are forced to give &n» tarsi fawn. But to eal"3r ^ euhauac-itt^.who is paralysing the class struggle of the proletariat in the name of peace and friendship with the capitalists, o ± id not only our right but our duty. Ihe difference between tne Brest-x-itovsk policy of Lenin and the Franco-Soviet policy of otalln is the same as the difference between the policy of a revolutionary Trade unionist who^, after a partial defeat^is forced to give concessions to the class enemy, and the policy of an opportunist who voluntarily becomes an ally and lackey of the class enemy. Lenin (received, gum I>ii nm IxiLcj.-Y1qWi'"iW* ) the reactionary French officer. the same purpose. Inna. w a U used toftrecelvev him in those days with lubersackff) had tniertaken to blow up the bridges aa. the way of our retreat in order that our military supplies should not fall into the hands of the G«r ana. Only a~ k a y l-headed anarohist perhaps will see treason in suoh a ^ d ^ In those^sam. days the, o ffi.ia l agents of iranoe had visited me and offered g * e M W artillery and provisions. <*e perfectly well understood that their aim was to drag us into a war with Germany. But the German armies had attacked us in actual reality, and we were weak. «i h U in these circumstances, n4+nt.v staff? we have the right^to take "help" from the irench military o ta ff. Unquestionably I it was precisely such a proposal that 1 brought before the Central Committee of tne Party on the 22nd * ebruary.,»18. Ihe written agst text of this proposal was printed in the official minutes of* the Central Commutes. tublished in.csccw in,92?. iure is the proposal*

5 n<4«a.party of the socialist proletariat which is in power anl whieh is waging a war with Germany, we, tnrou_h the government institutions, are taving all measures to arm and equip in the best possible way our ^evolutionary army with all ^rf(j r«h.i11 / irwunw, necessities], and for this reason vve hive tp themwherever possiole, consequently also from the c ap italist^ govei'nments. our ir'arty rota ins the complete independence of its foreign policy, giving no political whatsoever to the capitalist governments, and in every separate case examines their propositions from the view-point j! iteefulncssjj enin was not present at this meeting of the Central Joc^ittee. lie sent a note. Here is its <*e*rr!ri «hext: " I beg to add my vote for taklng potatoes and weapons fr o > the rcboers ef In&lo-fcrench Imperialism. { rrotoeol, page 24 6) ~uch was the way the Central Committee of the j^olsneviics regarded the utilisation >f capitalist antagonisms: practical a/reementa with the Imperialists v"take the potatoes*) are wholly permissible; but absolutely impermissible is a polltic^ l soildar isation with the "Imperialist robbers. Itle crime of Stalin does not consist in entering into this or that practical agreement with the class enemy; these agreements may K e correct or wren* bat in prineiole taey cannot be rejected, fae erlne consists In t h i.j a t Stalin tau approve* of a p o l l o y o f ^ l n.p e r - lalist governme.t.h l.h stands in vll gant lefer*. of the *w *± n 6-«nd ^ robbing Versailles Peace Treaty, stalln has net yet taken any potatoes fro. the imperialist roboers but has a lr e.,d ^ a o H t e r l * e d ^ 11j ^ J with the.. The i'renca bourgeoisie can. of ooarso^sttengtnen its army, 1 a lav esjf1without tne which already oppress H U c n s of colonla apjtova 1 7 i O t a l in )' i f the iroaott bourgeoisie needed m is * * rovai it i rnv * * a n d s '" ;'o r a l i 5 e t li e o la S i atru6-: l e t [ i e diploma cue laudem to irenoa irench proletariat, siy signing militarism. Stalin acted not as a striker who is forced temporarily to yield to the capitalist, hut as a atrue-oreaker wno paralyses tne * ' " "...i I 1, struggle of the workers. x n i The betrayal by Stalin and the leadership of the Comintern Is, U l n a b l. by ta. character of the now ruling strata in ta...

6 -Ijt is a privileged and uncontrolled oureaucr cy which is Arising above * > " the people an^l is oppressing tne people, 'j.arxism teach s: existence determines consclouncsss The doviet bureaucracy is afraid mere than anything else of criticism, movement, riskj it is conservative, it greedily guards its privileges, Strangling tae working class within the USSR, it long ago lost its belief in the.torid ^evolution. It p raises to build up "socialism in o. e country" if tae tcil rs (nuulil" Lc, 1 AuWiin) silent, endure, and suhmit. n or tne safeguard ci' tne USSR tne bureaucracy puts its hope in its political daxterity, in the diplomacy of Litvinov, in the military alliances with Irance and Czochoslavakiu, but not in the re *olutionary p ro letariat. On the contrary^ it is afraid that tfte trench and Czech workers se-.j frighten its new allies by their wsoautious actions, it puts as its task; to -*tar3 the class struggle of the proletariat in tae "allied" countries. Thus the source of Stalin's betrayal is tne national conservatism of the boviet bureaucracy, a direct hostility to the world proletarian revolution. XXXaX The consequences of Stalin a betrayal have 3hcran themaelvea at once In tne cynical change of policy of the trench Sommunlst tarty, which ^ d i r e c t e d by Stalin s agents and not by le-ders elected by the jrranoh w fkers. yesterday these _entlemen prattled about 'revolutionary defeatism" ia case of war. Today they have come round to tae point of view of "national defence"...aafesoardlng peace. The, repeat word by ward the formulas of capitalist diplomacy. Alas. all. pass iv e ly a ll. im pe.lauat rcb,ers are for peace ^ c l u d e alh anaea. In, or ease t * armies, manufacture poisonous gases, cultivate deadly b a.llll 6nly 4 c lu s lv e ly.1i! i 3 ^» * 3 f ^ Soviet 13 lance Is a guaranty for peace" Is taking on himself t «, f r the Soviet -overrment out also for tae FrenchSteak* sibility not only for che oovi. +hl, r^r tae /^ases and bacteria of this ^change. for the trench General Staff, for staff. i - 4 «'p-r(»n<*h Government w ill find itseif?_l "L'Humanite" writes: iae irencn. ii + i S n empty phrase of p» Lixui the control of tne trench v.orlcers". u»t this la T aer. and whan did tha op.ressed proletariat "control the demagogues. armv? w can foreign policy of the bcurgeclsle and the actions of \, * it as long as all the po er Is In the hands of tne the proletariat do it as long

7 bourgeoisie? In order to direct trie army tne bourgeoisie must be ** ' overthrown ad povier captured, i'uere is no other way,.but tne new (policy, means to refuse tnis only road, i<hen a.garty of the proletariat proclaims dchat in. the event of war it intends to "control" ( that is, to support) its national militarism, nd not to overthrow it, this rarty transforms itself by this action into a domestic anirrul of Capitalism, There is not the slig est ground to fear sucm / ar ^ is^ not 8. revolutionary tiger but^a tame^donkey. can be hunger^ car* is* w hi p, -^^cait ct^a-t in eye s,- all t^ie same ii;. ill carry its 1 ad of patriotism, it will pe-i.aips from time to time pitifully bray, "ror uod's sake, disa.m the fascist ^ e a g u e s ". a i v in reply to the br-y it will r r w r r r ^ n additional crack the whip, And well deservedl JkaX XA The Comintern (represented, pi w* ow uutf") the entry of tne US SB. into the Xea5tie of iiations and the conclusion of the franco-soviet greatest victory of the proletariat and peace. In what tnen tne real tlae e^mrwntrts of this victory? The programme of tne Comintern adopted in 19 8 says that "tne madn aim of the (League of Nations) is to put a stop to the irresistible growth of the revfelutionary crisis and to vsufiocate, &tr±±c) tne means of oloackade a..d ar. naturally,ttn such circums tances X Tin dr- m rh --fr-nndltl ini ). the representatives of the USSR could not enter the league of Nations, that is, the General Staff of the world imperialist counter-revolution,».hat has changed since then?»vhy has the USSR found it necessary to enter the league of JNations? tvho*s^victory is nere? leaders of t.e Comintern have been cheating the workers. here also the The trench bourgeoisie would never entnr into an a^te^ment with the USSR if it continued tfc see in it a revolutionary ^factor* me nr n»v f ex t-.tin* a a farr) Only the extraordinary weakening o the world revolution ma e it possible to include the USSR in the A system, jnnn'ftr-ol 1(in*) of combating imperial^'*'*- camp Of course, had not Soviet industry made #such solid* progress, had not Soviet* tanks and boviet av4a-u-on been in existence, nobody would -ake the USSR f into account, intu cuusi'tts'ruli-otrr)

8 »,But, the USSR o: n be taken int^ccm^d-rstnjn in differ nt way^. ^ad the ^ remained the fortress of tue international revolution, had the Cr>n-intern led a victorious offensive, tne ruling, classes of.trance, inglan^, and Italy -ould not hesitate to -uafttffli1loc. «( pc.i*j.i:"ff} hitler to war against tne ijdsr. But at present, Rafter, s ia c t,_ial ni <u <e of) the crushing of the revolution in China, Germany, Austria, opain, rafter, ^ssus^sjf) the successes of European iasoism, (after, Dnarmaa affr* the coll pse of the Comintern and the national regeneration of tne Sovie^ bureaucracy, the bourgeoisie of trance.lngla. d, and -*-taly is re-ezyt^b to Hitler: ><hy take tne risk of opening a crusade against tae USSR? ( y$4--jah»--ot37rpfrlt^^ strangling the revolution. 'Zhi. bills, b.y 111 Hi'Sn f) Stalin is successfully X It is worth trying to come to tei..is with* julxxa _ 9 The.crane o-soviet Alliance is not a -guarantee «r peace - what impudent nonsense - out a deal _i caae of war, The advanta^ss of this deal i'or the USSR are, to say tne least, questionable,^, r a n e e is ' obliged" to come to the assistance of tne U~^R only in. t nit 9ft*c.when her partners of Locarno, that is England and Italy, will a^xee to^thist^xais means; in case i x en^n^mpcrlaj.isa iw-ti fir.d$it more advantageous to come to terms with uitier at tne expense of tne USSR K ) ill, t ftw 1~ir1~iro]TTjit, England and Italy will always a s s is t v'tfi wfrlrt tiiiifif in legalising this "betrayal"-^ ^ ^ u i m a n i t e " is carefully (concealing, sagia- ba itagr) tais clause safeguards irsneu Imperialism. But precisely this is the /hole pointj~%he agreement bin^s the U.SB, but it does not bind France* XXjUU Let Ub however assume that after all its blunders and crimes there was really nothing elie left for tae Soviet bureaucracy to do than to conclude this double-meaning and unreliable military AAiance with France. In this case there was nothing else left to the soviets but to ratify the treaty of o t a li^ la v a l. But tne position in.ranee is entirely different. The xrench proletariat must not allow ^ bourgeoisie to hide behind the back of tne Soviet bureaucracy. The.glumes «**** u.. 04-s^rert/j tq prepare to f cilitate the new mobilisation i of the Ireneh p/op.e; to exploit

9 the of the soviet proletariat. Iiad tne Communist and Socialist deputies voted in parliament for the franco-soviet Alliance, they would by this act have demonstrated once more their betrayal of the proletariat! A struggle against was is unthinkable without a struggle against one s own imperialism# A- struggle against imperialism is unthinkable without a struggle against its. agents and allies, tae reformists and otalinists* j^hat^ is iv»i sasajpy is a merciless purge from the workers organisations, political and trada-unionist, of all social-patriotic traitors to the working class wnatever their nac.e -is: x,eon nlum of Ihorea, ^ouhaux or ~oimousson. There is only on? group in Franc ecj^imfr *that) honestly, consistently, and courageously stan<&up for tne principles of tne proletarian revolution: it la tne group of i M Bolshevik-Leninists. Their organ is the weekly. "La Verite". Every* thinking worker* must acquaint himself with this paper. The Jiolsnevik-leninista have clearly and precisely formulated the tasks of the proletariat in the struggle against war in a special pamphlet, "War and the Fourth International". with and t o / ^ l i b e r a t e l ^ t S ) tne questions To ao^aint^himsclf in this pamphlet is tne duty of every advanced proletarian who tainks lor nimself and for his elass. the betrayal by the Stalinists togetner with tae ;ld betrayal ^5 the reformists demands a complete renewal ot all proletarian organisations. A new revolutionary party is wanted. A new, a Fourth international is wanted- To serve in this great h is to ric ^ task forms the content of the activity of the international organisation of the bolsh^vik-leninists. XJUdLl The b e t r a y a l t? Stalin did not strike oh as a bolt from tne blue.!.e have forecasted it since 1924 when the Soviet bureaucracy renounced the theories of karxand Lenin in favour of the theory of socialism in One Country". Intriguants and Philistines said that our struggle with Stalin was a "personal" struggle. ft*. even tne blind must be convinced tnat tnis struggle is w,ged xx.x for tae fundamental principles of Internationalism and Revolution.

10 .During tsiie la«rt years we have said hundre is of tirr.es: Sacratch a stalinist and you will fi; d an opportunist. iiow taere is no r " need toi even scratch, xhe stalinists actually stand on tae extreme \J- V X ^ right flank of the workers^movement and in so far as taey continue to covcr themselves wita the authority of the aixvixixiiixxxji October Revolution, they are immeasurably more harmful than the old traditional opportunists. ~ The hatred of the Stalinists yo the -^olshevik-lenlnists ("Trotskyists") is the hatred of a cons rvative bureaucrat ^T^a real revolutionary. Tne bueaucraoy, trembling for its power and income, does not (stop r>e**re, h>rs4tat»-to any meanness and vileness in its struggle with the bolshevik-leninis ts. Before committing his latest open betrayal, Stalin carried out a nev, the hundred and first, raid on the left ing in the USoR. lie instigated a series of false trials against oppositionists, concealing tneir autnentic opinions and ascribing to cuem actions which they bo^e^'never coiumitted. Thus Zinoviev, the former Chairman of tae Comintern, -as sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment only because after a series of waverings and repentances he was compelled to admit the disastrous nature of Stalinist policy. Xhe Soviet bureaucracy has made an attempt, through an agentprovd^ateur, to connect me with the terrarlts, Kirov's assassins. At the beginning of this year Stalin arrested my son, a young scienttaken ist, a loyal Soviet worker, who has^ttfcd absolutely no p o r t ^ j j L l in political struggles. The aim of the rrest - a raercil: ss^ter r or not only against ^elshevlk-leninists, but also agafctst members of their families. The Bureaucracy (knows, friw**) no mercy when i- sees tne approaohing(dios?ho its domination and its privileges. In tnis sphere tae Stalinists find constant support from the capitalist police of the whole world. 4uite recently, in April, Stalin sent th leaders of the Russian Comsoraol to Paris to persuade tae French revolutionary youth to o over to a patriotic position. These young bureaucrats organised inside the socialist Party a separate -talinlst faction..whose main slogan is "Expulsion of the Trotskyist^". It is unnecessary to add that for this destructive work the Stalinists did not and do not spare money: IfXfen* altnough they are poor in ideas, taey have no

11 shortage of ea h. A oat revolutionaries do not surrender under terror, on the t contrary, they reply with a redouoled offensive. Stalinism is at present the main ulcer of the world working elas3 movement. ihis ulcer rr,ust be removed, cut out, and cauterized with aot irons. The prol* tari~ t must again be united under the banner of karx and Lenin. A-Aj*k.X-A. i^ear Comrades'. I have not told you by far all that 1 intended to, and nou bi/ far -is 1 intended to, iiut i am compelled to hurry; any hour now a police-officer will arrive to conduct me and my wife, a true tcomrade, friend) of my struggle and ay (exiles, wanderings, migrations^, to the borders of France. I am leaving with the warmest love for the trench nation and an ineradicable belief in the great future of the Jbreneh proletariat; but v.ith an equally strong hatred of the hypocrisy, greediness, and cruelty of French Imperialism. 1 oelieve that the ( toiling folk, workers) will sooner or later(re turn to roe, offer me) tne hospitality which tne bourgeoisie refuses me. 1 would consider thecgreatest n&ppiness for myself to be the possibility of participating in the decisive battles of the French proletariat in the near future, working men and working women of iraneei As long as my pnysical strength will permit me, I am ready at any minute by word and(ac.ion, deed) to answer your revolutionary eall. Perrrit me heartily and brotherly to shake your hands and conclude this letter with that exclamation which for almost forty years ftxsxfc*x»x**sx is directing my tnought and actio s: Long Live the international Proletarian involution. L. Trotsky. 1 jith June, 1

12 v i m m to ^ 2 ; STALIN13 BETRAYAL AM) THE INTERNATIONAL REVOLUTION? THE BETRAYAL S Y ^ A L I N AirB T4E I N m ^ T I ' Q I ^. RETOLUTI'OTJ.? ^ ^ ^ * ' - i W f t f j f 3 S ^ f y r f f ^ u P n t* ^ Dear Comrades» / / / / / / Today I am leaving France and this ejr^umstance gives me at last the possibility of explaining myself openly before you^^o long as I remained on French soil, I was doomed to silence. 4v Two years ago the "left" government of Daladier, in its ^oneymoon weeks#, allowed me to settle in ^rance with the same '"rights*' as other foreigners. But actually I was forbidden to live in Paris and at ^ once found myself under ^str mg-, g'-natn'nt?1 police supervision. Soon after the 6th February, 1, the minister of the Interior, Albert Sarraut, after a '^T ^p ress campaign, signed the decree for my deport ation from France. Iiowever.no foreign government could be found asnw. <x o-kjl* which woulq agree to let me in^ ^ «oause of -th4rg the decree of deport ation could not be put into effect. I was instructed by the Surete / C /1 'O ", r v T Eational* to settle in a small village in a certain Province where i was under - yt&s**#, constant^ police supervision. Thus, during the last year of my stay in France, I was xrut off from the outer world more completely than when I was on^he Turkish island, Frinkip, # under the supervision of Kemal Pasha s police. And so the visa of the Radical Covernmert turned into a trap.,. I am nave no. intention to complain against the government of the i'hird Republic. Ike most "denoera tic" -misters as well as the most reactionary ones have as their task the guarding of capitalist slavery, I belong to a revolutionary partj which as its aim the overthrowing of Capitalism. From this irreconcilable difference the s t r u g g l e d «U it, consequences f i e ^ - t n e T t ^ i y t s r inevitably fl o w #. There no reasons for complaints! ^ I f.however, f e l l o ^ m y s e l f to draw your attention to suoh an, mtnor) (ptlat, AetoiU as the conditions of my life in Trance. it is only because this episode is most closely connectea,it h the policy of the Communist International(V,hich has no* b.come the most tmp.rt.nt obstacie on th. Two year, age "L-Humanit.^daily repeated: "The fascist Daladier invited the,o c ia l- fa,c i,t Trotsky in order to organise

13 his aid a military intervention against the USSR". There were v> net a few honest, although naive and ignorant, people who believed this nonsense, just as in the Spring of 1917 millions of Russian peasants, soldiers, and even workers, believed Kerensky when he said that Lenin and Trotsky were "agents of Kaiser Wilhelm", '^hejf ignorant ana deceived people are not to be blamed^ - they must be enlightened, -but those enlightened scoundrels* who consciously spread lies and slanders in order to deceive the workers, they can and must be accused. The leaders of the so-oalled Communist(?!) Party, Cachin,Thorez, Vaillant- Couturier, Duclos and Co. have shown themselves to be such conscious scoundrels Is we all know.these gentlemen have now concluded an anti-fascist "People s Front" with the "fascist" Daladier, The Stalinists, who call themselves Communists, have definitely ceased to talk about an intervention by French Imperialism against the USSR. On the contrary, now they see in the military alliance of French Capitalism and soviet Bureaucracy a guaranty of peace. Acting on Stalin's orders, Cachin, Thorez and Co. are now summoning the French workers to support tneir own national militarism, i. e., the weapon of class oppression and colonial enslavement.quickly and mercilessly Ihave these calumniators unmasked themselves^.finly yesterday they called me an ally of Daladier, an agent of the French bourgeoisie; but today they 'gave actually concluded an alliance with Daladier, Herriot, and Laval,and have harnesses themselves to the coach of U'ench Imperialism. And now these gentlemen have already started to say (see for example the newspaper of the Belgian Stalinists) that the policy of Trotsky and' the Bolshevilc-Leninists is doing a service not to herriot or Daladier,but to Hitler, that is. not to French but to ^ m a n Imperialism. familiar This new calumny sounds, however as a too old and too During the Imperialist *ar these gentlemen, soeialpatriots, Renaudel, Vandejvelde, Severa*w(^1. Larcel Cachin, accused.. of"supporting" German militarism against French democracy, because I stood on the position of Revolutionary internationalism. Precisely for t t l f 7 i. c n the government of Briann-Malvy deported me from irance ln,,, 6.* But the valiant.arcel Cachin. at this very time, on orders from his imperialist government,conveyea money.0 Mussolini fcr Italy s participation tm the propaganda purposes^ U1

14 ^ *Vv/ fo- <f-p 3 d i u< tfc y -CO 0 w a r A l l tnese i&cos were often published in the press and can be easily checked and proved, Cachin, by the way, has never tried to repudiate them. liareel Cachin is now as^ii doing the &fwnj social-patriotic work which dishonoured him during the Imperialist War. The other leaders of the French Communist (?!) Party are following Cachin. These are not revoluxionaries but officials. They are carrying out the orders of their commanders. Only one, Andre Marty, has shown ir. his time the qualities of a real revolutionary; &is past deserves esteem.f But the environment of the Comintern has managed to demoralise him too. In order to justify their social-patriotic turn these gentle* men are < pointingcsscbsss* to the necessity of "defending the USSR". This 4eas««is false through and through. It is sufficiently well known that even the idea of "national defence" is only a mask by mean*, of which the exploiters cover their robbers' appetites and bloody skirmishes for booty, transforming in this way their own nation into cannon fodder. But if we J arxists have always affirmed that the imperialist bourgeoisie can never and will never defend the real interest, of its ovn nation, how can we now believe that it is able to defend the real interests of the USSR? Can we doubt for even one moment that at the first favourable opportunity French Imperialism will put into motion all its forces th' socialised property and reestablish tfie^ri 5 UCia if-"*--- - th^n only traitors to the working class can. supporting directly or indirectly, openly or ^ V e French bourgeoisie and its diplomacy. *s such traitors appear Stalin and his french lackeys. To cover up their betrayal they are quoting and refer^ng * Lenin, - just as P» 1 Faure, longuet, and /v, va-r»tf " L 1 - iimanite almost j - are quoting and refer^ng to tarx. L umanx quotes the letter of lenin to the American workers, telling now e t the beginning of, 8 received a French ^ff icr-r,eyalist w h. ^ f - - a- ed hisiervices against the Germans,who had^started a new o e< campaign against us. The aim cf tnis sudden evidence is not explain this question, but on the contrary to thro, ^ of th, workers ^ J UlT * 1"

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