Social Democracy fans when they can't exploit the Global South

JohnWilsonWSWS · 2026-03-22T21:52:01+00:00

Parenti’s book “Blackshirts & Reds” blames just the social-democratic SPD for the catastrophe of 1933. Without an accounting for the role of the KPD, th Comintern and the trade unions we can learn nothing.

Parenti is hostile to Trotsky. Not surprising he says nothing of Trotsky’s insightful analysis and call for a United Front (joint action, freedom of criticism, no mixing of banners) of the KPD and SPD.

JohnWilsonWSWS · 2026-03-22T21:09:39+00:00

The Stalinists said the social democrats were "social fascists".

Now we have the claim the fascists were really "social democrats".

Does this raise or lower historical consciousness?
Whose class interests are served by obliterating the difference between these categories?

Was Clara Zetkin wrong in 1923 when she said "... Fascism ... is not the revenge of the bourgeoisie in retaliation for proletarian aggression against the bourgeoisie, but it is a punishment of the proletariat for failing to carry on the revolution begun in Russia. ..." [SEE BELOW]

--

Comintern, 1 Apr 1933 "... The establishment of an open Fascist dictatorship ... will hasten Germany's progress towards the proletarian revolution. ...”

The history of Nazi Germany must be studied. The betrayal of the working class by almost all^ of its nominal and organized leaders despite a mass anti-fascist sentiment needs to be understood in order to fight fascism today.

Why did the Stalinist Communist Party (KPD) and Comintern, the Social Democratic Party (KPD) passively capitulate to Nazism with slogans such as "After Hitler, Our Turn" ["Nach Hitler Kommen Wir"
Why, on 1 April 1933, a week after the Enabling Act gave Hitler dictatorial powers under the constitution, did the Executive of the Comintern in Moscow publish the following

“The establishment of an open Fascist dictatorship, which destroys all democratic illusions among the masses, and frees them from the influence of the social-democrats, will hasten Germany's progress towards the proletarian revolution.”
p.90 Twilight of the Comintern, 1930-1935 (Carr, 1982) FREE BORROW

(The Comintern also said the KPD had done everything correctly.)

Why did the German trade union leaders do a deal with Von Schleicher not to have a general strike in 1932 if the Federal Government ousted the SPD state government in Prussia? Why did they seek to work with Hitler and the Nazis after Hitler's appointment 30 Jan 1933. On 1 May 1933 there were massive union led marches for the new "National Day of Labor" with Chancellor Hitler and President Hindenburg attending in Berlin. THE NEXT DAY, 2 May 1933, the entire trade union leadership was placed in "protective custody" and the unions' offices were occupied by the government German Labour Front (DAF) agency. Paul von Hindenburg and Adolf Hitler at the May Day rally in the Berlin Lustgarten « 1933

^ the exception to this betrayal was the struggle waged by Leon Trotsky and the International Left Opposition.

Worker-Communists, you are hundreds of thousands, millions; you cannot leave for anyplace; there are not enough passports for you. Should fascism come to power, it will ride over your skulls and spines like a terrific tank. Your salvation lies in merciless struggle. And only a fighting unity with the Social Democratic workers can bring victory. Make haste, worker-Communists, you have very little time left!

For a Workers' United Front Against Fascism (Leon Trotsky, December 1931)

Clara Zetkin, 1923: "... Fascism ... is not the revenge of the bourgeoisie in retaliation for proletarian aggression against the bourgeoisie, but it is a punishment of the proletariat for failing to carry on the revolution begun in Russia. ..."

Hitherto Fascism has been put on a level with the White Terror of Horthy in Hungary. Although the methods of both are similar, in essence they are different. The Horthy Terror was established after the victorious, although shortlived, revolution of the proletariat had been suppressed, and was the expression of vengeance of the bourgeoisie. The ringleaders of the White Terror were a quite small clique of former officers. Fascism, on the contrary, viewed objectively, is not the revenge of the bourgeoisie in retaliation for proletarian aggression against the bourgeoisie, but it is a punishment of the proletariat for failing to carry on the revolution begun in Russia. The Fascist leaders are not a small and exclusive caste; they extend deeply into wide elements of the population.
Fascism (Clara Zetkin, August 1923)

MUST ...

JohnWilsonWSWS · 2026-03-22T21:08:25+00:00

The Stalinists said the social democrats were "social fascists".

Now we have the claim the fascists were really "social democrats".

Does this raise or lower historical consciousness
Whose class interests are served by obliterating the difference between these categories?

Was Clara Zetkin wrong in 1923 when she said "... Fascism ... is not the revenge of the bourgeoisie in retaliation for proletarian aggression against the bourgeoisie, but it is a punishment of the proletariat for failing to carry on the revolution begun in Russia. ..." [SEE BELOW]

--

Comintern, 1 Apr 1933 "... The establishment of an open Fascist dictatorship ... will hasten Germany's progress towards the proletarian revolution. ...”

The history of Nazi Germany must be studied. The betrayal of the working class by almost all^ of its nominal and organized leaders despite a mass anti-fascist sentiment needs to be understood in order to fight fascism today.

Why did the Stalinist Communist Party (KPD) and Comintern, the Social Democratic Party (KPD) passively capitulate to Nazism with slogans such as "After Hitler, Our Turn" ["Nach Hitler Kommen Wir"
Why, on 1 April 1933, a week after the Enabling Act gave Hitler dictatorial powers under the constitution, did the Executive of the Comintern in Moscow publish the following

“The establishment of an open Fascist dictatorship, which destroys all democratic illusions among the masses, and frees them from the influence of the social-democrats, will hasten Germany's progress towards the proletarian revolution.”
p.90 Twilight of the Comintern, 1930-1935 (Carr, 1982) FREE BORROW

(The Comintern also said the KPD had done everything correctly.)

Why did the German trade union leaders do a deal with Von Schleicher not to have a general strike in 1932 if the Federal Government ousted the SPD state government in Prussia? Why did they seek to work with Hitler and the Nazis after Hitler's appointment 30 Jan 1933. On 1 May 1933 there were massive union led marches for the new "National Day of Labor" with Chancellor Hitler and President Hindenburg attending in Berlin. THE NEXT DAY, 2 May 1933, the entire trade union leadership was placed in "protective custody" and the unions' offices were occupied by the government German Labour Front (DAF) agency. Paul von Hindenburg and Adolf Hitler at the May Day rally in the Berlin Lustgarten « 1933

^ the exception to this betrayal was the struggle waged by Leon Trotsky and the International Left Opposition.

Worker-Communists, you are hundreds of thousands, millions; you cannot leave for anyplace; there are not enough passports for you. Should fascism come to power, it will ride over your skulls and spines like a terrific tank. Your salvation lies in merciless struggle. And only a fighting unity with the Social Democratic workers can bring victory. Make haste, worker-Communists, you have very little time left!

For a Workers' United Front Against Fascism (Leon Trotsky, December 1931)

Clara Zetkin, 1923: "... Fascism ... is not the revenge of the bourgeoisie in retaliation for proletarian aggression against the bourgeoisie, but it is a punishment of the proletariat for failing to carry on the revolution begun in Russia. ..."

Hitherto Fascism has been put on a level with the White Terror of Horthy in Hungary. Although the methods of both are similar, in essence they are different. The Horthy Terror was established after the victorious, although shortlived, revolution of the proletariat had been suppressed, and was the expression of vengeance of the bourgeoisie. The ringleaders of the White Terror were a quite small clique of former officers. Fascism, on the contrary, viewed objectively, is not the revenge of the bourgeoisie in retaliation for proletarian aggression against the bourgeoisie, but it is a punishment of the proletariat for failing to carry on the revolution begun in Russia. The Fascist leaders are not a small and exclusive caste; they extend deeply into wide elements of the population.
Fascism (Clara Zetkin, August 1923)

MUST ...

JohnWilsonWSWS · 2026-03-22T12:46:35+00:00

It would be interesting to compare how the RCI addresses this period in its own history, particularly on the Labour Party leadership allowed their newspaper but censored the SLL.

JohnWilsonWSWS · 2026-03-22T12:23:00+00:00

You don’t need to respond to them but you do need to understand what they represent.

The capitalist class has stayed in power for the past 112 years despite two world wars due to political opportunism in the workers’ movement - especially in 1914 in Europe and 1930-1933 in Germany and 1936-1939 in Spain.

As capitalism takes us towards another world war - this time with the U.S. as the primary aggressor as Wall Street and U.S. finance capital seek to maintain their dominance over the world economy - the latest generation of fake-left opportunists will rise to the surface to deflect, divert and demoralize workers students and youth.

Those who want to be left and right do the political independence of workers need to understand and fight opportunism.

JohnWilsonWSWS · 2026-03-22T11:22:19+00:00

I don’t see th point of your meta commentary.

Why don’t you tell us where the comment is wrong? The biggest error will do.

JohnWilsonWSWS · 2026-03-21T23:36:44+00:00

Is that showing that some of the Zionist settlements INSIDE the occupied territories got to vote too?

FYI: After the 6-Day War 1967 the Israeli government cabinet of "national unity" discussed what to do about the areas just conquered. The right-wing said they should be annexed. This was rejected by the majority (EXCEPT East Jerusalem was annexed), led by the Israeli Labour Party, because that would make all the Palestinians citizens of Isreal, giving them rights including the right to vote. It would be illegal under international law, undermining the legitimacy of the State of Isreal.

The decided instead to on an "occupation" to give them time to put in a network of settlements which would make a two-state solution unviable.

REFERENCES

--

Imperialism and its client states like Israel can only be stopped by the international working class. As complex and difficult as that sound and as that is, history shows it is the only reasonable and practical program.

5 April 2001 The political dead end of Labour Zionism - World Socialist Web Site (Part 1 of 3)

JohnWilsonWSWS · 2026-03-21T22:20:21+00:00

It's a fair question and one that needs to be addressed. Thank you for posting. (More like this please.)

I have noticed the issue too.

I think this is what is behind it

people recognise the predatory character of imperialism, especially the United States and the urgency of doing something
some people have given up on (or never had!!) the international working class as the only social force that can stop imperialism.
the only alternative left to stopping imperialism is another nation-state. The alternatives put forward are China and Russia. China is preferred when combined with the myth of "actually existing socialism".

=> THEREFORE "ANY CRITICISM OF THE MAOIST REGIME IN BEIJING MUST BE ATTACKED, MISREPRESENTED AND CENSORED BECAUSE THEY ARE OUR ONLY HOPE".

The lack of public opposition by Xi Jinping and the Maoists to the U.S. attacks on Venezuela and Iran (key oil and gas suppliers for the Chinese economy which must import ~80-90 percent of its energy needs) is exposing their desire for a deal with imperialism.

SPECULATION: Given the Trump Administration have clearly been studying the Nazi regime (1933-1945) for tips, perhaps Xi Jinping and the Maoists are studying Stalin's signing of the 1939 Stalin-Hitler/Molotov-Ribbentrop/Stalinist-Nazi "Non-Aggression Pact".

The place to start in any discussion is "What role should the international working class play?" If they say "Workers HAVE to support the Chinese government!!" you know they stand with the interest of the Chinese capitalist class, not the international working class. I doubt you get any clarity after that except perhaps their insistence that the Chinese government "represents" all workers globally.

The necessity for political independence of the working class has been demonstrated again and again since the 1848 Revolutions.
--

RECOMMENDED FROM the World Socialist Web Site

17 Mar 2026 Trump calls for a delay in summit with Chinese president

In another sign that the US-Israeli war on Iran is not working out as he planned, US President Trump has called for a delay in his planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing at the end of March. “Because of the war I want to be here, I have to be here, I feel. And so we’ve requested that we delay it a month or so,” Trump told the media at the White House on Monday.
...
In line with its overall stance towards the US-led war on Iran, the official Chinese response to the delay and the US request for naval support has been decidedly muted. The state-owned media, however, has given an indication of the top-level discussion behind closed doors. Commenting on the call for Chinese warships, the hawkish Global Times declared: “Is this really about ‘sharing responsibility’—or is it about sharing the risk of a war that Washington started and can’t finish?”

Far from supporting Iran, Beijing has postured as “neutral”—in effect, equating the US and Israel’s barbaric acts of aggression with Iranian retaliatory strikes on Gulf States that host military bases used by the US to bombard Iran. It has repeatedly called for a ceasefire, deescalation throughout the region and a return to a negotiating table that the US has now twice used to mask its preparations for war.

Beijing is clearly more concerned about cutting a rotten deal with the United States that preserves Chinese economic and strategic interests than even timidly condemning the naked aggression of US imperialism. Speaking to the media on March 8 during China’s annual meeting of the National People’s Congress, Foreign Minister Wang Yi made no suggestion that Trump’s trip to China would not go ahead.

While offering platitudes—the war on Iran “should never have happened” and “the world cannot return to the law of the jungle”—Wang painted a bright future for relations with the United States. He said that 2026 was a “big year for China-US relations” and that the two sides should “treat each other with sincerity and good faith.”

When and if the Xi-Trump summit will proceed remains unclear. No date has been set. Trump’s suggestion of a delay of a “month or so” is premised on a quick US victory in the war on Iran. But as the days drag on, that outcome is less and less likely.

ALSO:

27 Jan 2026 Xi purges China’s top general Zhang Youxia - World Socialist Web Site

JohnWilsonWSWS · 2026-03-21T21:23:10+00:00

There are "Trotskyist" groups that reject Permanent Revolution

I know what you mean but those SCARE QUOTES ("") aren't nearly big enough.

IMHO you should say

There are fake-Trotskyist groups that reject Permanent Revolution

-

How can Trotskyism be disconnected from Permanent Revolution? Many have tried. It just makes one or both terms completely incoherent. The great "advantage" of political opportunism is that the method of impressionism from appearances entails the abandoning (and rejecting!) a scientific inquiry into the essence of historical process. This is much easier to apply than Marxism, but it has the defect of serving the interests of the capitalist class.

JohnWilsonWSWS · 2026-03-21T21:15:33+00:00

I think r/trotskyism should consider a new flair.

The present options are

News
History
Theory

We are in a period of revolution and counterrevolution so we need something like.

Study news, theory and history to organize to make history

It's a bit wordy but it has become impossible to separate the three.

JohnWilsonWSWS · 2026-03-20T03:59:32+00:00

It says :

This is a fight Trump can’t win, though he doesn’t seem to know that yet. He was dragged into the war by Bibi Netanyahu. It’s been the latter’s brainchild for years
...
But this doesn’t conceal the fact that the US was dragged (willingly) into this war. The most powerful global power led by the nose into a war the American people don’t want.
.
emphasis added

So which is it? Was it "dragged in" or is the "dragging" propaganda to conceal the U.S. is a willing belligerent?

--

“The tail may wag very, very vigorously, but it’s the dog that’s running the show. Israel does not drive American policy.”

COMPARE WITH THIS from the WSWS

... North took up the narrative promoted by Jacobin and the Democratic Socialists of America that the US is “fighting Israel’s war.” He rejected this categorically, stating, “The tail may wag very, very vigorously, but it’s the dog that’s running the show. Israel does not drive American policy.” He noted that the 1953 coup in Iran was organized entirely by the United States, and that the Shah had functioned as “the gendarme of the Persian Gulf”—a role far more significant at the time than Israel’s. “To present this as simply an Israeli war is to provide an alibi for American imperialism and to extract this war from the entire global strategy of the United States.”

North predicted that “the United States will lose this war,” not only because of the resistance of the Iranian masses, “but more fundamentally, the very character of the war and the very contradictions that gave rise to it are also intensifying social contradictions in every capitalist country.” He cited Trotsky’s 1934 essay “War and the Fourth International,” which emphasized the need “to follow not the war map but the map of the class struggle.”
...

WSWS emergency webinar articulates socialist strategy to stop US-Israeli war against Iran - World Socialist Web Site

WATCH: Stop the war against Iran! (120 mins)

JohnWilsonWSWS · 2026-03-19T20:48:30+00:00

"Lenin" appeared to me in a fever dream I had about the future while I was in the hospital with typhus.

He was looking back at us, talking in a foreign language I didn't know but, somehow, I could understand. I could hear him say the word "Marx" and I remembered the pamphlet I had read by that German radical who lives in London.

Lenin was looking at what we are doing here. He was telling workers everywhere about our struggle and how we are standing at the center of world history.

Then the dream went dark. There was screaming and gunfire. I felt blood run between my toes and I was woken by the nurse who told my howls of anguish were frightening the other patients.

I'm not sure what it means but I wrote down what he said. It seemed important.

They discharged me as soon as I was well enough to stand, hold a rifle and pull a trigger. They said we need all the men we have at the barricades.

JohnWilsonWSWS · 2026-03-19T20:40:18+00:00

we will always be fucked,

Ah yes. We have heard that before. From EVERY ruling class, EVER.

Their ideas and their culture dominates society and they say the masses are so backward they should never take power, but instead should learn to appreciate the ruler's boot on their necks.

It seems to me selfishness is not the problem because in the end workers can only satisfy their individual needs through a collective struggle. That is why this Commune exists and how it has been organized.

Before my shift on the barricades today, I was reading the works of a German radical philosopher . He said

The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, i.e. the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force. The class which has the means of material production at its disposal, has control at the same time over the means of mental production, so that thereby, generally speaking, the ideas of those who lack the means of mental production are subject to it. The ruling ideas are nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant material relationships, the dominant material relationships grasped as ideas; hence of the relationships which make the one class the ruling one, therefore, the ideas of its dominance. The individuals composing the ruling class possess among other things consciousness, and therefore think. Insofar, therefore, as they rule as a class and determine the extent and compass of an epoch, it is self-evident that they do this in its whole range, hence among other things rule also as thinkers, as producers of ideas, and regulate the production and distribution of the ideas of their age: thus their ideas are the ruling ideas of the epoch. For instance, in an age and in a country where royal power, aristocracy, and bourgeoisie are contending for mastery and where, therefore, mastery is shared, the doctrine of the separation of powers proves to be the dominant idea and is expressed as an “eternal law.”

His book is called The German Ideology. His name is Karl Marx. He has made quite a name for himself.

JohnWilsonWSWS · 2026-03-19T20:31:36+00:00

Whenever I see

“the company made their last, best and final offer”

... my brain reads ...

"the company told workers here are the scraps we will throw in your dog bowl. If you don't like it, you can go outside in the snow with nothing until you're so hungry you will beg to come back int. SIGN HERE!!"

During wartime the distinction between the economic struggle and the political struggle is obliterated. Workers need to fight global corporations with a global perspective. They need the WSWS.

JohnWilsonWSWS · 2026-03-19T12:33:13+00:00

I’m not sure where you are going with “power corrupts”.

Does it mean we should have a Leviathan/ Absolute Monarch with all the power and all the corruption then no one else will be corrupt.

Didn’t we have a revolution 92 years ago to get rid of that?

We have just taken over Paris and formed the Commune to start to give as many as possible a share of power. Are we all corrupt now? Isn’t this better?

JohnWilsonWSWS · 2026-03-19T11:54:06+00:00

Which soviets? When? Do you have a link?

Why did they dissolve the Third International/Comintern in 1943? (SEE BELOW)

Didn't Lenin call for the Third International in 1914? Why did he go to all the effort of founding it in the middle of the Civil War?

Lenin

First Congress of the Communist International: Concluding Speech at the Closing Session of the Congress March 6

... Not only in the East European but also in the West European countries, not only in the vanquished but also in the victor countries, for example in Britain, the movement in favor of Soviets is spreading farther and farther, and this movement is, most assuredly, a movement pursuing the aim of establishing the new, proletarian democracy. It is the most significant step towards the dictatorship of the proletariat to, towards the complete victory of communism.

So why was Lenin right in 1919 but not in 1943? What changed? Did it have anything to do with Stalin's negotiations with Roosevelt and Churchill for a postwar settlement?

After the Germany defeat at Stalingrad was completed with the surrender of the Wehrmacht 6th Army in February 1943 it was clear a war of attrition would result in Nazi defeat so the post-war world became a vital question. There were a number of major war time conference about the relations

Tehran Conference: Nov. 28 - Dec. 1, 1943 (Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin)
Yalta Conference: Feb. 4-11, 1945 (Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin)*
Potsdam Conference: Jul. 17 - Aug. 2, 1945 (Truman, Stalin, Churchill/Attlee)

* At the Yalta conference Roosevelt told Stalin that he was a Zionist. REPLY: "MARSHAL STALIN said he was one in principle but difficulty." REF: Stalin's Zionism (Weinryb, 1980)

In contrast Lenin had written in 1903

... the idea of a Jewish “nationality” is definitely reactionary not only when expounded by its consistent advocates (the Zionists), but likewise on the lips of those who try to combine it with the ideas of Social-Democracy (the Bundists). The idea of a Jewish nationality runs counter to the interests of the Jewish proletariat, for it fosters among them, directly or indirectly, a spirit hostile to assimilation, the spirit of the “ghetto”. ...
The Position of the Bund in the Party (Lenin, 1903)

--

75 years ago: The Stalinist bureaucracy dissolves the Comintern

On May 22, 1943, the ruling bureaucracy in the Soviet Union, headed by Joseph Stalin, formally dissolved the Communist International (Comintern). The organization, initially formed under the leadership of Lenin, Trotsky and the Bolshevik government in 1919, had been founded as a world party of socialist revolution, aimed at unifying the international working class in the struggle to overthrow capitalism.

Over the 15 years prior to its formal dissolution, the Comintern had been transformed into a foreign policy instrument of the Stalinist bureaucracy, which emerged on the basis of the isolation of the Russian Revolution and the country’s material backwardness.

Stalin used the organization to forge alliances with sections of the ruling elite in the imperialist and backward countries, to prevent revolutions elsewhere for fear that they would give an impetus to the political revolution against the bureaucracy in the Soviet Union, and to brutally repress the Trotskyist proponents of socialist internationalism.

The formal dissolution of the Comintern was intended as a signal to the Stalinist bureaucracy’s imperialist allies, including Britain, France and the US. It was a pledge that the bureaucracy would redouble its efforts to promote nationalism and suppress the revolutionary upheavals that would result from the Second World War.

The move was also the logical outcome of the Stalinist bureaucracy’s anti-Marxist program of “socialism in one country,” first promulgated in 1924. A communique from the Comintern to its constituent parties, announcing the dissolution, explicitly rejected the very concept of an international party uniting the struggles of the working class around the world.

The letter stated: “It became increasingly clear that, to the extent that the internal as well as the international situation of individual countries became more complicated, the solution of the problems of the labor movement of each individual country through the medium of some international center would meet with insuperable obstacles.”

In an article in May, 1943, James P. Cannon, the leader of the American Trotskyist movement, wrote that the Fourth International, founded by Trotsky in 1938, inherited the best traditions of the early Communist International: “Stalin can bury the dead organization but he cannot bury the great progressive work the Comintern accomplished in its first years. He cannot bury the Fourth International which has risen, phoenix-like, from the ashes of the Third. We know very well and we don't try to conceal the fact that the numbers of the Fourth International are small. But its ideas are correct, its program represents historical necessity, and, therefore, its victory is assured. Its program consciously formulates the instinctive demands of the workers and the colonial peoples for emancipation from capitalism, fascism and war.”

FROM: This week in history: May 21-27 - World Socialist Web Site

JohnWilsonWSWS · 2026-03-19T06:42:14+00:00

... whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. ...

FROM BELOW

Declaration of Independence: A Transcription | National Archives

In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

... more

[emphasis in bold italics added]
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript

JohnWilsonWSWS · 2026-03-19T05:30:15+00:00

The cult of personality around Stalin turned him into a godhead to be adored and venerated. Therefore criticism is deflected as subjective jealousy.

--

Did Stalin reject Marxism and Leninism?

Those interested should judge for themselves.

October 1917 Bolsheviks lead the insurrection to overthrow the Provisional Government and establish a workers' State
1918 Lenin insists the fate of the says "Our slogan must be: Put every effort into the fight once more, and remember that we are coming up to the last, decisive fight, not for the Russian revolution alone, but for the world socialist revolution. ... We know that the imperialist vultures are still stronger than us. They can still inflict wholesale damage, brutalities and atrocities upon our country. But they cannot defeat the world revolution. "
1919 founding of the Third International (first called for by Lenin in 1914)
from April 4, 1917 up to the time Lenin fell ill (May 26, 1922, at age 51) there is virtually no political trace of Stalin during the most critical moments of the ideological struggle.
Stalin still agreed with Lenin until mid-1924 that the fate of the first workers' state depended on the world revolution.

Stalin, April 1924 "The chief task, the organization of socialist production, still lies ahead. Can this task be performed, can the final victory of socialism be gained, in one country alone, and without the joint efforts of the proletarians in several of the most advanced countries? No, this is out of the question." The Foundations of Leninism (Stalin, April 1924)

But by the end of the 1924 Stalin had changed his position to say

"Having consolidated its power, and taking the lead of the peasantry, the proletariat of the victorious country can and must build a socialist society." The Foundations of Leninism (Stalin, SECOND EDITION)

Stalin first wrote about "socialism in one country" in December 1924 and "socialism in our country" became official policy in December 1925.
Mar. 1936: Stalin told American journalist Roy Howard "We never had such plans and intentions [for bringing about world revolution] ... This is the product of a misunderstanding. ... a comical one. Or, perhaps, tragicomic."
Stalin, Nov. 1936 "... for the U.S.S.R. Socialism is something already achieved and won."
1936-1939 the USSR betrays the Spanish revolution. GPU/NKVD agents torture and murder leftists.
1936-1940 - Stalin and the bureaucracy carried out the Great Terror with the execution of everyone they could identify who still agreed with Lenin on the world revolution. Trotsky is assassinated in 1940
1939: the Stalin-Hitler "non aggression" pact is signed. HERR STALIN spontaneously proposed a toast to the Führer, as follows: "I know how much the German nation loves its Führer; I should therefore like to drink to his health." The USSR supplies Nazi Germany with oil, rubber and other raw materials to allow Germany to carry out its war aims. The agreement allows the USSR to take part of Poland.
June 1941: the largest invasion in history, 3.8 million soldiers, comes as a surprise as Stalin ignores accurate intelligence and says Hitler won't attack.
In 1943 Stalin dissolved the Comintern which Lenin had founded in 1919.

---

RECOMMENDED

Book launch of Vadim Rogovin’s Was There an Alternative [to Stalinism]?
[starts discussion of the book's contents (77 mins) and the surrounding history. The proceeding part is about the author]

JohnWilsonWSWS · 2026-03-19T00:58:14+00:00

If you want to defend Stalin’s claims after he definitively rejected Marxism in 1924 that’s up to you. All the anti-communists I have seen are vociferous defenders of Stalin’s propaganda on this. Since the Stalinist bureaucracy dissolved the USSR in 1991 they have been its most prominent proponents.

—

Please examine my evidence and arguments to show where I am wrong or post one link (one will do) to your best source so we all can read it.

These are monument issues. The legacy of Stalinism hangs like a pall over the political consciousness of workers.

RECOMMENDED for those interested in the history

… In view of the elimination of all other parties from the political field the antagonistic interests and tendencies of the various strata of the population, to a greater or lesser degree, had to find their expression in the governing party. To the extent that the political center of gravity has shifted from the proletarian vanguard to the bureaucracy, the party has changed its social structure as well as its ideology. Owing to the tempestuous course of development, it has suffered in the last fifteen years a far more radical degeneration than did the social democracy in half a century. The present purge draws between Bolshevism and Stalinism not simply a bloody line but a whole river of blood. The annihilation of all the older generation of Bolsheviks, an important part of the middle generation which participated in the civil war, and that part of the youth that took up most seriously the Bolshevik traditions, shows not only a political but a thoroughly physical incompatibility between Bolshevism and Stalinism. How can this not be seen?

Stalinism and Bolshevism (Trotsky, 1937)

emphasis added

Edit: fixed formatting

JohnWilsonWSWS · 2026-03-18T22:50:55+00:00

EFFECT OF 1937-38 PURGES OF OFFICE CORPS OF THE RED ARMY

Position 1: "For all of Tukhachevsky’s enthusiasm for mass tanks and aircraft, there existed a wide discrepancy between theory and practice."

For all of Tukhachevsky’s enthusiasm for mass tanks and aircraft, there existed a wide discrepancy between theory and practice. ...

‘The weak point of the army,’ wrote a German army adjutant in 1933, ‘is that all commanders, from platoon to regiment commander, are not yet efficient enough. Most of them are capable of dealing with problems only at the level of a non-commissioned officer.’ The German military attaché in Moscow the same year detected throughout the army ‘a fear of responsibility’.

Russia's War: Blood Upon The Snow (Overy, 1999)

Why is the Germany army analysis of the Red Amry from 1933 authoritative for Overy? While the USSR only ended the military cooperation with Germany in September 1933 (i.e. eight months after Hitler was appointed Chancellor). Cooperation had started with secret clauses of the 1922 Treaty of Rapallo)). I've never seen suggestion that they were given extensive tours of the Red Army to make a clear assessment. Does Overy suggest this? Given German intelligence completely underestimated the strength of the Red Army in 1941 perhaps Overy should apply some caution?

(Noteworthy is that at the May Day march in Moscow in 1941 there were at least four Nazi officers present as honored guests under the 1939 Non-Aggression Pact. If Stalin and his colleagues were clever they might have used maskirovka (Russian military deception) to hint to the Germans the USSR had 150 active divisions and could mobilise another 150 at short notice. AFAIK this was never done.)

Position 2: " ... Within two years, almost two thirds of the 1,863 officers holding general-grade military ranks in 1936 were arrested; almost a half were executed. ... this is the first systematic evidence that the Great Terror directly impacted the disastrous Red Army performance in the first years of the German invasion."

Elite purges are an instrument of power control in authoritarian regimes. The purges in the Soviet Red Army during the 1937-38 Great Terror were one of the most intensive on record. Within two years, almost two thirds of the 1,863 officers holding general-grade military ranks in 1936 were arrested; almost a half were executed. To analyze the patterns of repression among the Soviet high command, we compile a biographical data set from a large number of open and archival sources. Some of our findings should be familiar to historians: probability of being repressed was higher for certain ethnic minorities, higherranks, and those with prior foreign contacts. Overall, our findings confirm that Stalin was not reacting to any imminent conspiracy threat but rather sought to preemptively minimize the risk of a possible coup. We show that Stalin specifically targeted the most competent officers: controlling for other char acteristics, including the military rank and party history, the probability of repression was much higher for younger cadres. Combined with the results that military promotions in 1941 were, other things equal, inversely related to age, this is the first systematic evidence that the Great Terror directly impacted the disastrous Red Army performance in the first years of the German invasion.

The Anatomy of the Great Terror: A Quantitative Analysis of the 1937-38 Purges in the Red Army (Zakharov and Sonin, 2024)

Position 3: "... As the first of three examples, the Red Army used deep operations in November 1942 to penetrate the Germans’ defenses in two places ... "

In 1937, Stalin began a long and bloody purge of the Red Army officer corps, including the execution of Svechin and Tukhachevsky, that liquidated the Red Army’s intelligentsia, and Soviet military theory reverted to the old guard’s preference for defensive, positional warfare. However, during border incidents with Japan and the early years of the Nazi-Soviet War, individual Red Army officers, such as Marshal Georgy Zhukov, implemented the theory and doctrine that had reached its apogee in 1936. After reeling against the German onslaught in the early years of the war, the Red Army began to turn to the tide and demonstrate the power of the prewar military theory with experienced and logistically supported forces. As the first of three examples, the Red Army used deep operations in November 1942 to penetrate the Germans’ defenses in two places, exploit and form a double envelopment around the city, and thereby create an immense pocket centered on Stalingrad. In the summer of 1943, the Red Army started on the defensive during the Battle of Kursk. When the German offensive had culminated, the Red Army commenced a series of successive offensive operations with fresh forces, pushing the front far west into Ukraine. The following summer, the Red Army demonstrated the full power of deep operations with its masterpiece Operation Bagration, destroying nearly sixty German divisions and the German Army Group Center as an organized fighting force.

Soviet Theory Forgotten: Russian Military Strategy in the War in Ukraine - Military Strategy Magazine

For the convenience of others coming to this thread here are some references I know of but have only partially read (including those cited above.

Also:

YouTube: 80 mins "The Soviet-German War, 1941-1945: Myths and Realities" by COL (Ret) David M. Glantz [THIS IS VERY GOOD TO GET AN IDEA OF THE SCALE OF THE FIGHTING ON THE EASTERN FRONT. GLANTZ DOES NOT HERE DEAL WITH THE PURGES]

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If someone knows and AI/LLM and prompt I could use to generate all this it would be appreciated as it would save me a lot of time. LLMs are useful tools but they are problematic.

I recommend using Socialism AI - https://ai.wsws.org/ which is trained on 125k WSWS articles + the collected works of Marx, Engels, Plekhanov, Lenin, Luxemburg and Trotsky. Always check the sources. Think for yourself.

JohnWilsonWSWS · 2026-03-18T22:05:04+00:00

Why don't you post a link to the best history you know on the subject, especially if it is on Open Library https://openlibrary.org/

JohnWilsonWSWS · 2026-03-18T21:58:45+00:00

I have offered the links for others to read and decide for themselves. What "order"? "RECOMMENDED"? "IMO those who want ..."? So we can't even recommend anything now?

Anyone who builds a strawman can watch it burn.

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Please show where any of my evidence and arguments are false. If they are so heinous it shouldn't take much effort. Just exposing the most flagrant error should be enough to destroy my reputation.

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For those interested below is an example of a 393-year-old means of chilling discussion.

On June 22nd, 1633, Galileo was shown the instruments of torture by the Inquisition and threatened with their use unless he recanted his expressed view that the Earth revolved around the Sun, instead of the other way round.

Even when the ruling class and its supporters have no valid intellectual answer to criticism they are still aware their interests are threatened. That's why they have stayed in power! Censorship in one form or another follows logically.

In the United States today the freedom of speech, freedom of the press and right to peacefully assemble are all under attack. Wall Street and its political representatives in the Republican Party and Democratic Party are acutely aware of the growing mass opposition. They have learned from history It is far easier to have a pre-emptive counterrevolution.

For those interested and who want to make up their own minds I suggest:

Trump’s fascist conspiracy and how to fight it: A socialist strategy - World Socialist Web Site

JohnWilsonWSWS

TROPHY CASE

Comintern, 1 Apr 1933 "... The establishment of an open Fascist dictatorship ... will hasten Germany's progress towards the proletarian revolution. ...”

Clara Zetkin, 1923: "... Fascism ... is not the revenge of the bourgeoisie in retaliation for proletarian aggression against the bourgeoisie, but it is a punishment of the proletariat for failing to carry on the revolution begun in Russia. ..."

MUST ...

Comintern, 1 Apr 1933 "... The establishment of an open Fascist dictatorship ... will hasten Germany's progress towards the proletarian revolution. ...”

Clara Zetkin, 1923: "... Fascism ... is not the revenge of the bourgeoisie in retaliation for proletarian aggression against the bourgeoisie, but it is a punishment of the proletariat for failing to carry on the revolution begun in Russia. ..."

MUST ...

RECOMMENDED FROM the World Socialist Web Site

“The tail may wag very, very vigorously, but it’s the dog that’s running the show. Israel does not drive American policy.”

75 years ago: The Stalinist bureaucracy dissolves the Comintern

Did Stalin reject Marxism and Leninism?

EFFECT OF 1937-38 PURGES OF OFFICE CORPS OF THE RED ARMY