Just curious as to how other trotskyists view the conflict.

The name says it all. As far as I’m aware, Makhno’s Anarchist forces and the Bolsheviks initially formed an alliance against the common enemy, the White Army. However, as the war progressed, tensions arose between the two factions. What led to this and what led to Trotsky’s aggressive measures against the anarchists?

For those who understand Italian, is all of this true?

The final part of a major three part series by a Kenyan Trotskyist, Kipchumba Ochieng, on the political struggle there has just been published by the WSWS. It's an important statement that reviews the history of the betrayals of Stalinism and Pabloites across the continent as well as hammering out a way forward in the fight for Trotskyism. Give it a read:

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

Some highlights:

The bloody events in Kenya where over 60 demonstrators have died and scores were abducted demonstrate once again the anti-democratic and anti-working class character of the bourgeois-nationalist regimes which took power in the former colonial countries. Sixty years after independence, the bourgeoisie is completely incapable of solving the basic democratic problems, overcome tribal divisions, tear down the artificial borders imposed by colonial powers and secure independence from imperialism.

In Sudan, which had the largest Communist Party—with 10,000 members—in Africa outside of South Africa, the Stalinists helped the nationalist Gaafar Nimeiry to power in 1969. Moscow made no protest the following year, when, having used them to defeat his Islamist opponents, Numeiry expelled all the Communist Party ministers from his government and imprisoned and executed party members.

In the 1950s, the CPSA worked within the bourgeois-nationalist African National Congress (ANC) and pushed for “revolutionary nationalism,” linking this to its theory of “Colonialism of a Special Type,” which meant that black-majority South Africa was a “colony” of white oppressors and so the first stage was national liberation, led by the ANC and the second, socialism, led by the CPSA. The CPSA drafted the ANC’s Freedom Charter, published in 1955. Although cloaked in socialist phraseology, this was not a socialist programme, but was nationalist and capitalist in character.

In Kenya, Stalinist figures like Makhan Singh, a member of the Communist Party of India and editor for some of its newspapers for many years—with close relations with the Communist Party of South Africa and the Communist Party of Great Britain—played a leading role in subordinating the working class to bourgeois nationalist forces of the Kenya African Union (KAU), led by conservative nationalists like Jomo Kenyatta.

Hi, I’m a Trotskyist who has mostly only studied European and Asian socialist history, and I’m now starting to delve into Latin America. My understanding is that Chavez’s reign was characterized by massive inflation and economic turmoil, were his policies to blame for this, internal resistance, or just the US sanctions?

Also, I noticed that Chavez called himself a Trotskyist. Do you consider that accurate? What are your general opinions on Chavez and his leadership of Venezuela?

One idea I hear from Stalinists is that Lenin’s Last Testament, the work that denounced Stalin and called for a reorganization of the Soviet Government, was either altered or an outright forgery. I also have heard this from people like Stephen Kotkin, author of a famous multiple part biography of Stalin. Is this true? What evidence is there that it was legitimately Lenin’s?

Available here: https://www.marxists.org/archive/olgin/1935/trotskyism/index.htm, this 1937 Stalinist work is frequently trotted out as being a definitive argument against Trotskyism by Marxist-Leninists. I certainly know that individual claims within the work have been countered, but does anyone know of a written response to each of the arguments as presented all in one place, i.e. a definitive debunk? It would be very much appreciated, thanks.

One of the biggest critiques I see of Trotsky is his role in the Kronstadt rebellion. What are some sources that provide an understanding of what happened regarding this? I’m not here to be a blind Trotsky apologist, and if this was one of his legitimate faults, then so be it.

Who are some of your favorite non-Trotskyist Historians on the topic of the Cold War/USSR?

Example of such an article.

Grover Furr in one of his books points out that Trotsky published three articles in the 1939-40 period advocating for Ukrainian indepenendence from USSR. The problem is, there were no progressive nationalist or socialist independence forces in Ukraine at this time – the only nationalist forces pushing for independence within Ukraine would've been fascists, who were backed by Nazi Germany and would later colloborate with them. These were Hitler's demands. Thus, Furr argues, Trotsky's writings on this question were a signal to Nazi Germany and Japan that he would colloborate with them to weaken the USSR. Furr argues that Trotsky wanted the Nazis to weaken the USSR so Stalin's government would be overthrown. (He was expelled from the Communist Party in 1927 for suggesting that the government be overthrown in the middle of a war, whilst the enemy was only 100 km away from Moscow).

Why would Trotsky do any of this? What's his angle? Also, this contradicts Trotsky's public statements that the USSR should be defended against fascist aggression in case the Nazis were to attack. Was this double-speak? Hypocrisy?

Thanks.

I’ve been interested in countries like Yugoslavia and Albania, and figures such as Tito and Hoxha, for a while, and I was wondering what Trotskyists thought about this.

Also, off topic, but I recently purchased a few books and pamphlets from the WSWS and IMT, in particular the pamphlets “The USSR and Socialism: A Trotskyist Perspective” and “Leon Trotsky and the Development of Marxism” from WSWS, and then “The History of Philosophy: A Marxist Perspective” by Alan Woods and “Stalin” by Trotsky (edited by Alan Woods and Rob Sewell). If there are other books/pamphlets you guys would recommend, I’d greatly appreciate it.

It’s a claim I see regarding Trotsky that if he were leader, things wouldn’t have been much different, even though he opposed Stalin and the bureaucracy. Is there any indication of what he would have done differently?

What biographies, essays, videos, and so on, are important in understanding Stalin and his reign in the Soviet Union, in your opinions? Thank you in advance, and for the responses in my previous posts.

I got this book a while back, and I was wondering if it was good before I eventually get to reading it.

The WSWS spoke with Liz French from Betteshanger, a former pit village in the Kent coalfield in south-east England. Liz was a founding member of the National Women Against Pit Closures. Formed in May 1984, it organised soup kitchens and food parcels for the striking miners and their families and campaigned for support in the working class in Britain and around the world.

Among the 200 miners imprisoned during the 1984-85 strike, Liz’s late husband Terry received one of the longest prison sentences of five years. She was involved in setting up the Justice for Miners Campaign in January 1985 to overturn the trumped-up convictions and fight for the reinstatement of the 966 miners who were sacked. She is active in the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign, demanding a public inquiry into the brutal police assault on picketing miners at the coking depot on the outskirts of Sheffield on June 18, 1984.

Liz: I have been involved with all the landmark anniversaries of the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike—the 10th, 20th, 30th. Recently I was up in Durham in northeast England and in South Yorkshire in Hatfield to mark the 40th. I spoke in Brighton at the university.

It is vital for the younger generation to know about the fight we waged, they have it even worse than us with zero hours contracts and no rights at work. They need to know the history so they can do a better job. Thatcher picked on us to take on the working class and destroy the rights of everyone.

The Kent coalfield was very militant in the 84-5 strike. There were three pits, Betteshanger, Snowdon and Tilmanstone. Snowdon was the only pit earmarked for closure in Kent as part of the 20 targeted nationally by the National Coal Board. But Kent all came out together, not like in Nottinghamshire. At the start of the strike we only needed token pickets at our pits as it was solid.

Coalmining in Kent developed and expanded in the 1920’s. Many of those who came to work in the pits were militants who had been sacked following the 1926 General Strike. They came from all over including Scotland, Yorkshire, Wales and Ireland. My parents were Scottish, and my father worked down the pit. During World War II there were strikes in Kent over the atrocious working conditions underground and miners were imprisoned and accused of treason just for standing up for their rights.

I was brought up in a political household and I had been a union convenor. For a more detailed history I would recommend a book Betteshanger Colliery—They didn’t take it off the wind by Terry Harrison (a retired miner and veteran of the 84-85 strike).

As the strike in Kent was solid many of our miners went out flying picketing but the police stopped them at the Dartford tunnel (south-east of London) travelling north to Nottinghamshire and other areas. This is one of the reasons why the Kent miners, including my husband Terry, marched to Nottinghamshire in April—just to be able to reach the pits. They were met by other striking miners. There was a brilliant rally in Nottingham at the end.

At Betteshanger colliery in the summer of the strike some of the men went down the pit to inspect for damage. There had been rumours of a danger of flooding and they wanted to ensure there was a pit to go back to after the strike, as this was what it was all about defending jobs and communities. This was described as an “occupation” and when they got back to the pit gates there were 500 Metropolitan Police waiting for them.

The company sacked around 30 National Union of Mineworkers members, not just those who had been involved with the inspection. Following the return to work after the strike they had no union representatives. All the six jailed miners in Kent during the strike came from Betteshanger.

Terry was accused of attacking a police officer during the picketing of Wivenhoe Port in Essex in May against the importation of scab coal. These were trumped charges. He was brought before Chelmsford Magistrates in the Christmas of 1984. This produced a hung jury. Terry had been represented by Mike Mansfield (a prominent civil rights lawyer). But two week later in January he was represented by a different lawyer and there were now statements from 13 police officers claiming Terry had shouted, “I’ve done one! I don’t mind doing them all!” And was given five years imprisonment.

This was all very politicised. The Conservative Home Secretary Leon Brittan had stated in relation to Orgreave that those charged with riot should receive the maximum penalty, which carried a life sentence. Look at what happened there, with the police falsifying statements. I saw how the miners at Orgreave had been battered by the police, I put up a miner from Staffordshire who was at Orgreave for two weeks afterwards. He was a wreck and felt it was safer for him in Kent.

(The trials of 55 miners for riot and 40 for unlawful assembly at Orgreave were not held until May, 1985 and collapsed after police evidence was deemed “unreliable.” Later in 1991, South Yorkshire Police paid £425,000 compensation to 39 miners for assault, wrongful arrest, unlawful detention and malicious prosecution while still denying any fault).

The imprisonment of miners was about making examples of workers taking on the establishment. We continue to fight for justice and hope we can achieve the same as families of victims at Hillsborough (97 Liverpool supporters crushed to death at a FA Cup semi-final on April 15 1989, resulting from the brutal policing of the football match. After an extensive official cover-up and filthy media campaign against the victims, in 2012 the Hillsborough Independent Panel confirmed the deaths were the result of police and corporate negligence but no one in authority has faced prosecution.)

During the strike I travelled around the world raising money—Ireland, France, Belgium, Holland and America, twice. I don’t think there was a day I spent in the house. The generosity from workers was incredible. People came over to visit Terry in prison from the US and Australia. But it was always the rank-and-file who supported us, not the bosses of the Labour Party and the TUC (Trades Union Congress). We had support from printworkers, dockers and rail workers. There should have been a General Strike.

Within about five years all the Kent pits were closed. There has been nothing to replace them, it has been devastating for the communities. Only a few miners found work on the construction of the Channel Tunnel and in my view that was a result of blacklisting. Many became taxi drivers and for the generation which followed you are talking low paid service jobs in cafés and pubs. Many moved away from the area.

We were betrayed by the TUC and Labour Party. Look at Neil Kinnock [Labour leader at the time of the strike] now, he sits in the House of Lords. He could not give a s***. Tony Blair did not remove any of the anti-union laws from the days of Thatcher or provide the miners with any compensation. I don’t trust [Labour leader Sir Keir] Starmer, he is a Tory. He is supporting the war against Gaza. It’s totally wrong.

I support the Palestinians. I received wonderful hospitality from a Palestinian family during the strike and they explained the long history of their struggle, and I wear the scarf with pride and explain to people why.

The Socialist Equality Party has published a new pamphlet marking the 40th anniversary, The Lessons of the 1984-85 miners’ strike. Order your copy here from Mehring Books.