Manifesto of the Fourth International on Imperialist War and the Imperialist War

Imperialist War And The Proletarian World Revolution

Adopted by the Emergency Conference of the Fourth International May 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!or organi'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(ploited This 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

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 the 4ewish 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 of successful 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

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, i e , 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 different predictions 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 !e permitted 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

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

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 dividedC 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

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, Washington does 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 France and 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 missedC %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 %merican continent, %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 Eealand %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

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 pettyF!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" The struggle 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

#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 the efforts 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

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 country < %s is always the case, the wea"est ones suffer the most The wea"est ones in the present slaughter of the peoples are the countless refugees from all countries, among them the revolutionary e(iles 0ourgeois patriotism manifests itself first of all in the !rutal treatment of defenseless foreigners 0efore the concentration camps for war prisoners were !uilt, all the democracies constructed concentration camps for the revolutionary e(iles The governments of the entire world, particularly the government of the 3SSR, have written the !lac"est chapter in our epoch through their treatment of the refugees, the e(iles, the homeless We send our warmest greetings to our imprisoned and persecuted

!rothers and tell them not to lose heart From the capitalist prisons and concentration camps will come most of the leaders of tomorrow;s Europe and the world6 The war slogans of the Nazis ?itler;s official slogans in general do not warrant e(amination The struggle for :national unification< has long since !een shown to !e a lie, for ?itler is converting the national state into a state of many nations, trampling under foot the li!erty and unity of other peoples The struggle for :living room< is nothing !ut camouflage for imperialist e(pansion, that is, the policy of anne(ation and plunder The racial $ustification for this e(pansion is a lie5 7ational Socialism changes its racial sympathies and antipathies in accordance with strategic considerations % somewhat more sta!le element in fascist propaganda is, perhaps, anti Semitism, which ?itler has given a 'oological form, discovering the true language of :race< and :!lood< in the dog;s !ar" and the pig;s grunt 7ot for nothing did Frederic" Engels la!el anti Semitism the :socialism of idiots<6 The sole feature of fascism which is not counterfeit is its will to power, su!$ugation, and plunder Fascism is a chemically pure distillation of the culture of imperialism The democratic governments, who in their day hailed ?itler as a crusader against 0olshevism, now ma"e him out to !e some "ind of Satan une(pectedly loosed from the depths of hell, who violates the sanctity of treaties, !oundary lines, rules, and regulations If it were not for ?itler the capitalist world would !lossom li"e a garden What a misera!le lie6 This #er man epileptic with a calculating machine in his s"ull and unlimited power in his hands did not fall from the s"y or come up out of hell9 he is nothing !ut the personification of all the destructive forces of imperialism 4ust as #enghis Ghan and Tamerlane appeared to the wea"er pastoral peoples as destroying scourges of #od, whereas in reality they did nothing !ut e(press the need of all the pastoral tri!es for more pasture land and the plunder of settled areas, so ?itler, roc"ing the old colonial powers to their foundations, does nothing !ut give a more finished e(pression to the imperialist will to power Through ?itler, world capitalism, driven to desperation !y its own impasse, has !egun to press a ra'or sharp dagger into its own !owels The !utchers of the second imperialist war will not succeed in transforming ?itler into a scapegoat for their own sins 0efore the $udgment !ar of the proletariat all the present rulers will answer ?itler will do no more than occupy first place among the criminals in the doc" The preponderance of Germany Whatever may !e the war;s outcome, the preponderance of #ermany has already !een clearly shown 3n&uestiona!ly ?itler fails to possess any secret :new weapon < 0ut the

perfection of all the different e(isting weapons and the well coordinated com!ination of these weapons.on the !asis of a more highly rationali'ed industry.lends #erman militarism enormous weight Ailitary dynamics is closely !ound up with the peculiar features of a totalitarian regime9 unity of will, concentrated initiative, secrecy of preparation, suddenness of e(ecution The peace of @ersailles, moreover, has done the %llies a poor service %fter fifteen years of #erman disarmament, ?itler was compelled to start !uilding an army from nothing, and than"s to this the army is free of routine and does not have to drag along o!solete techni&ue and e&uipment The tactical training of troops is inspired !y new ideas !ased on the latest word in technology %pparently only the 3nited States is destined to surpass the #erman murder machine The wea"ness of France and #reat 0ritain was not une(pected The theses of the Fourth International 1)*B+2 state9 :The collapse of the 8eague of 7ations is indissolu!ly !ound up with the !eginning of the collapse of French hegemony on the European continent < This programmatic document declares further that :ruling England is ever less successful in its scheming designs,< that the 0ritish !ourgeoisie is :terrified !y the disintegration of its empire, !y the revolutionary movement in India, !y the insta!ility of its positions in China < The power of the Fourth International lies in this, that its program is capa!le of withstanding the test of great events The industry of England and France, than"s to the assured flow of colonial super profits, has long lagged !oth in technology and organi'ation In addition, the so called :defense of democracy< !y the socialist parties and trade unions created an e(tremely privileged political situation for the 0ritish and French !ourgeoisie Privileges always foster sluggishness and stagnation If #ermany today reveals so colossal a preponderance over France and England, then the lion;s share of the responsi!ility rests with the social patriotic defenders of democracy who prevented the proletariat from tearing England and France out of atrophy through a timely socialist revolution
: The program of peace<

In return for the enslavement of the peoples ?itler promises to esta!lish ;a :#erman peace< in Europe for a period of centuries %n empty mirage6 The :0ritish peace< after the victory over 7apoleon could endure a century not a thousand years6 .solely !ecause 0ritain was the pioneer of a new technology and a progressive system of production 7otwithstanding the strength of her industry, present day #ermany, li"e her enemies, is the standard !earer of a doomed social system ?itler;s victory would in reality mean not peace !ut the !eginning of a new series of !loody clashes on a world scale 0y overthrowing the 0ritish empire, reducing France to the status of 0ohemia and Aoravia, !asing herself on the European continent and its colonies, #ermany undou!tedly would

!ecome the first power in the world %long with her, Italy at !est might not for very long sei'e control of the Aediterranean !asin 0ut !eing the first power does not mean !eing the only power The struggle for :living room< would only enter a new stage The:new order< which 4apan is preparing to esta!lish, !asing herself on #erman victory, has as its perspective the e(tension of 4apanese rule over the greater part of the %siatic continent The Soviet 3nion would find itself hemmed in !etween a #ermani'ed Europe and 4apani'ed %sia %ll three %mericas, as well as %ustralia and 7ew Eealand, would fall to the 3nited States If we ta"e into account the provincial Italian empire in addition, the world would !e temporarily divided into five :living rooms < 0ut imperialism !y its very nature a!hors any division of power In order to free his hands against %merica, ?itler would have to settle !loody accounts with his friends of yesterday, Stalin and Aussolini 4apan and the 3nited States would not remain disinterested o!servers of the new struggle The third imperialist war would !e waged not !y national states and not !y empires of the old type !ut !y whole continents ?itler;s victory in the present war would thus signify not a thousand years of :#erman peace< !ut !loody chaos for many decades if not centuries 0ut neither would an %llied triumph result in any more radiant conse&uences @ictorious France could reesta!lish her position as a great power only !y dismem!ering #ermany, restoring the ?aps!urgs, 0al"ani'ing Europe #reat 0ritain could again play a leading role in European affairs only !y refur!ishing the game of playing on the contradictions !etween #ermany and France on the one side, Europe and %merica on the other This would signify a new and ten times worse edition of the peace of @ersailles with infinitely more malignant effects upon the wea"ened organism of Europe To this it must !e added that an %llied victory without %merican aid is impro!a!le, while the 3nited States this time would demand a much higher price for its assistance than in the last war The de!ased and e(hausted Europe.the o!$ect of ?er!ert ?oover philanthropy.would !ecome the !an"rupt de!tor of its transatlantic savior Finally, if we suppose the least pro!a!le variant, namely the conclusion of peace !y the e(hausted adversaries in accordance with the pacifist formula :no victors, no van&uished,< this would signify restoration of the international chaos that e(isted prior to the war, !ut this time !ased on !loody ruins, on e(haustion, on em!itterment In a short period of time all the old antagonisms would cut through to the surface with e(plosive violence and !rea" out in new international convulsions The promise of the %llies to create a democratic European federation this time is the crudest of all pacifist lies The state is not an a!straction !ut the instrument of monopoly capitalism So long as trusts and !an"s are not e(propriated for the !enefit of the people,

the; struggle !etween states is $ust as inevita!le as the struggle !etween the trusts themselves @oluntary renunciation !y the most powerful state of the advantage given !y its strength is as ridiculous a utopia as voluntary division of capital funds among the trusts So long as capitalist property is preserved, a democratic :federation< would !e nothing !ut a worse repetition of the 8eague of 7ations, containing all its vices minus only its illusions In vain do the imperialist masters of destiny attempt to revive a program of salvation which was completely discredited !y the e(perience of the past decades In vain do their petty !ourgeois flun"ies warm up pacifist panaceas which long ago changed into their own caricature The advanced wor"ers will not !e duped Peace will not !e concluded !y those forces now waging war The wor"ers and soldiers will dictate their own program of peace6 Defense of the USS Stalin;s alliance with ?itler, which raised the curtain on the world war and led directly to the enslavement of the Polish people, resulted from the wea"ness of the 3SSR and the Gremlin;s panic in face of #ermany Responsi!ility for this wea"ness rests with no one !ut this same Gremlin5 its internal policy, which opened an a!yss !etween the ruling caste and the people5 its foreign policy, which sacrificed the interests of the world revolution to the interests of the Stalinist cli&ue The sei'ure of eastern Poland . a pledge of the alliance with ?itler and a guarantee against ?itler.was accompanied !y the nationali'ation of semifeudal and capitalist property in western 3"raine and western White Russia Without this the Gremlin could not have incorporated the occupied territory into the 3SSR The strangled and desecrated -cto!er Revolution served notice that it was still alive In Finland the Gremlin did not succeed in accomplishing a similar social overturn The imperialist mo!ili'ation of world pu!lic opinion :in defense of Finland<5 the threat of direct intervention !y England and France5 the impatience of ?itler, who had to sei'e >enmar" and 7orway !efore French and 0ritish troops appeared on Scandinavian soil. all this compelled the Gremlin to renounce sovieti'ation of Finland and to limit itself to the sei'ure of the indispensa!le strategic positions The invasion of Finland un&uestiona!ly aroused on the part of the Soviet populace profound condemnation ?owever, the advanced wor"ers understood that the crimes of the Gremlin oligarchy do not stri"e off the agenda the &uestion of the e(istence of the 3SSR Its defeat in the world war would signify not merely the overthrow of the totalitarian !ureaucracy !ut the li&uidation of the new forms of property, the collapse of

the first e(periment in planned economy, and the transformation of the entire country into a colony5 that is, the handing over to imperialism of colossal natural resources which would give it a respite until the third world war 7either the peoples of the 3SSR nor the world wor"ing class as a whole care for such an outcome Finland;s resistance to the 3SSR was, with all its heroism, no more an act of independent national defense than 7orway;s su!se&uent resistance to #ermany The ?elsin"i government itself understood this when it chose to capitulate to the 3SSR rather than transform Finland into a military !ase for England and France -ur wholehearted recognition of the right of every nation to self determination does not alter the fact that in the course of the present war this right does not have much more weight than thistledown We must determine the !asic line of our policy in accordance with !asic and not tenth rate factors The theses of the Fourth International state9 The concept of national defense, especially when it coincides with the idea of the defense of democracy, can most easily delude the wor"ers of small and neutral countries 1Swit'erland, partly 0elgium, Scandinavian countries -nly a hopelessly dull !ourgeois from a godforsa"en Swiss village 1li"e Ro!ert #rimm2 can seriously thin" that the world war into which he is drawn is waged for the defense of Swiss independence These words today ac&uire a special meaning In no way superior to the Swiss social patriot Ro!ert #rimm are those !elieve that it is possi!le to determine proletarian strategy in relation to the defense of the 3SSR through reliance upon such tactical episodes as the Red %rmy;s invasion of Finland E(tremely elo&uent in its unanimity and fury was the campaign that the world !ourgeoisie launched over the SovietFFinnish war 7either the perfidy nor the violence of the Gremlin prior to this had aroused the indignation of the !ourgeoisie, for the entire history of world politics is written in perfidy and violence Their fear and indignation arose over the prospect of a social overturn in Finland upon the pattern of the one engendered !y the Red %rmy in Eastern Poland What was involved was a fresh threat to capitalist property The anti Soviet campaign, which had a class character through and through, disclosed once again that the 3SSR !y virtue of the social foundations laid down !y the -cto!er Revolution, upon which the e(istence of the !ureaucracy itself is dependent, still remains a wor"ers; state, terrifying to the !ourgeoisie of the whole world Episodic agreements !etween the !ourgeoisie and the 3SSR do not alter the fact that :ta"en on a historic scale the antagonism !etween world imperialism and the Soviet 3nion is infinitely deeper than the antagonisms that set the individual capitalist countries in opposition to each other < Aany petty !ourgeois radicals, who only yesterday were still ready to consider the Soviet

3nion as an a(is for grouping the :democratic< forces against fascism, have suddenly discovered, now that their own fatherlands have !een threatened !y ?itler, that Aoscow, which did not come to their aid, follows an imperialist policy, and that there is no difference !etween the 3SSR and the fascist countries 8ie6 will respond every class conscious wor"er.there is a difference The !ourgeoisie appraises this social difference !etter and more profoundly than do the radical wind!ags To !e sure, the nationali'ation of the means of production in one country, and a !ac"ward one at that, still does not insure the !uilding of socialism 0ut it is capa!le of furthering the primary prere&uisite of socialism, namely, the planned development of the productive forces To turn one;s !ac" on the nationali'ation of the means of production on the ground that in and of itself it does not create the well !eing of the masses is tantamount to sentencing a granite foundation to destruction on the ground that it is impossi!le to live without walls and a roof The class conscious wor"er "nows that a successful struggle for complete emancipation is unthin"a!le without the defense of con&uests already gained, however modest these may !e %ll the more o!ligatory therefore is the defense of so colossal a con&uest as planned economy against the restoration of capitalist relations Those who cannot defend old positions will never con&uer new ones The Fourth International can defend the 3SSR only !y the methods of revolutionary class struggle To teach the wor"ers correctly to understand the class character of the state imperialist, colonial, wor"ers;.and the reciprocal relations !etween them, as well as the inner contradictions in each of them, ena!les the wor"ers to draw correct practical conclusions in situation While waging a tireless struggle against the Aoscow oligarchy, the Fourth International decisively re$ects any policy that would aid imperialism against the 3SSR The defense of the 3SSR coincides in principle with the preparation of the world proletarian revolution We flatly re$ect the theory of socialism in one country, that !rain child of ignorant and reactionary Stalinism -nly the world revolution can save the 3SSR for socialism 0ut the world revolution carries with it the inescapa!le !lotting out of the Gremlin oligarchy !or the re"olutionary o"erthrow of Stalin#s $onapartist cli%ue %fter five years fawning on the :democracies,< the Gremlin revealed cynical contempt for the world proletariat !y concluding an alliance with ?itler and helping him to strangle the Polish people5 it !oasted with shameful chauvinism on the eve of the Finnish invasion and displayed no less shameful military incapacity in the su!se&uent struggle5 it made noisy promises to :emancipate< the Finnish people from the capitalists and then made a

cowardly capitulation to ?itler.this was the performance of the Stalinist regime in the critical hours of history The Aoscow trials had already revealed that the totalitarian oligarchy had !ecome an a!solute o!stacle in the path of the country;s development The rising level of the increasingly comple( needs of economic life can no longer tolerate !ureaucratic strangulation The gang of parasites is not, however, prepared to ma"e any concessions In struggling for its position it destroys everything that is !est in the country It should not !e thought that the people who accomplished three revolutions in twelve years have suddenly !ecome stupid They are suppressed and disoriented !ut they are watching and thin"ing The !ureaucracy reminds them every day of its e(istence !y its ar!itrary rule, oppression, rapacity, and !loody vengefulness Semistarved wor"ers and collective farmers among themselves whisper with hatred a!out the spendthrift caprices of ra!id commissars For Stalin;s si(tieth !irthday the wor"ers in the 3rals were forced to toil a year and a half on a gigantic portrait of the hated :father of the peoples< made out of precious stones.an underta"ing worthy of a Persian Her(es or an Egyptian Cleopatra % regime capa!le of indulging in such a!ominations cannot fail to arouse the hatred of the masses Foreign policy corresponds to domestic policy ?ad the Gremlin government e(pressed the real interests of the wor"ers; state5 had the Comintern served the cause of world revolution5 the popular masses of tiny Finland would inevita!ly have gravitated toward the 3SSR, and the invasion of the Red %rmy either would not at all have !een necessary or would have !een accepted at once !y the Finnish people as a revolutionary act of emancipation In reality the entire previous policy of the Gremlin repelled the Finnish wor"ers and peasants away from the 3SSR While ?itler has !een a!le to count upon the assistance of the so called :fifth column< in the neutral countries he invades, Stalin did not find any support whatever in Finland despite the tradition of the )*), insurrection and the long e(istence of the Finnish Communist Party 3nder these conditions the invasion of the Red %rmy assumed the character of direct and open military violence The responsi!ility for this violence falls wholly and indivisi!ly upon the Aoscow oligarchy War is the acid test of a regime %s a conse&uence of the first period of the war, the international position of the 3SSR, despite the window trimming successes, has already o!viously worsened The foreign policy of the Gremlin has repelled from the 3SSR !road circles of the world wor"ing class and the oppressed peoples The strategic !ases of support sei'ed !y Aoscow will represent a third rate factor in the conflict of world forces Aeanwhile #ermany has o!tained the most important and the most industriali'ed section of Poland and gained a common frontier with the 3SSR, that is, a gateway to the east Through Scandinavia, #ermany dominates the 0altic Sea, transforming the #ulf of

Finland into a tightly cor"ed !ottle Em!ittered Finland comes under ?itler;s direct control Instead of wea" neutral states, the 3SSR now confronts a powerful #ermany on the other side of its 8eningrad !order The wea"ness of the Red %rmy decapitated !y Stalin has !een demonstrated to the whole world The centrifugal nationalist tendencies within the 3SSR have intensified The prestige of the Gremlin leadership has declined #ermany in the West, 4apan in the East now feel infinitely more confident than !efore the Gremlin;s Finnish adventure In his meager arsenal Stalin could find !ut one and only one answer to the ominous warning of events9 he replaced @oroshiov !y an even emptier nonentity, Timoshen"o %s always in these instances the goal of this maneuver is to divert the anger of the people and the army away from the main criminal responsi!le for the misfortunes, and to place at the head of the army an individual whose relia!ility is guaranteed !y his insignificance The Gremlin has once again revealed itself as the central nest of defeatism -nly !y destroying this nest can, the security of the 3SSR !e safeguarded The preparation of the revolutionary overthrow of the Aoscow ruling caste is one of the main tas"s of the Fourth International This tas" is not simple or easy It demands heroism and sacrifice ?owever, the epoch of great convulsions upon which man "ind has entered will stri"e the Gremlin oligarchy with !low after !low, will !rea" up its totalitarian apparatus, will raise the self confidence of the wor"ing masses and there!y facilitate the formation of the Soviet section of the Fourth International Events will wor" in our favor if we are capa!le of assisting them6 &olonial peoples in the war 0y its very creation of enormous difficulties and dangers for the imperialist metropolitan centers, the war opens up wide possi!ilities for the oppressed peoples The rum!ling of cannon in Europe heralds the approaching hour of their li!eration If a program of peaceful social transformation is utopian for the advanced capitalist countries, then the program of peaceful li!eration for the colonies is dou!ly utopian -n the other hand, the last of the semi free !ac"ward countries have !een enslaved !efore our eyes 1Ethiopia, %l!ania, China 2 The entire present war is a war over colonies They are hunted !y some5 held !y others who refuse to give them up 7either side has the least intention of li!erating them voluntarily The declining metropolitan centers are impelled to drain away as much as possi!le from the colonies and to give them in return as little as possi!le -nly the direct and open revolutionary struggle of the enslaved peoples can clear the road for their emancipation

In the colonial and semiFcolonial countries the struggle for an independent national state, and conse&uently the :defense of the fatherland,< is different in principle from that of the imperialist countries The revolutionary proletariat of the whole world gives unconditional support to the struggle of China or India for national independence, for this struggle, !y :tearing the !ac"ward peoples from %siatism, sectionalism, and foreign !ondage, stri"eIsJ powerful !lows at the imperialist states < %t the same time, the Fourth International "nows in advance and openly warns the !ac"ward nations that their !elated national states can no longer count upon an independent democratic development Surrounded !y decaying capitalism and enmeshed in the imperialist contradictions, the independence of a !ac"ward state inevita!ly will !e semi fictitious, and its political regime, under the influence of internal class contradictions and e(ternal pressure, will unavoida!ly fall into dictatorship against the people.such is the regime of the :People;s< party in Tur"ey, the Guomintang in China5 #andhi;s regime will !e similar tomorrow in India The struggle for the national independence of the colonies is, from the standpoint of the revolutionary proletariat, only a transitional stage on the road toward drawing the !ac"ward countries into the international socialist revolution The Fourth International does not draw watertight distinctions !etween the !ac"ward and the advanced countries, the democratic and the socialist revolutions It com!ines them and su!ordinates them to the world struggle of the oppressed against the oppressors 4ust as the only genuinely revolutionary force of our era is the international proletariat, so the only real program to li&uidate all oppression, social and national, is the program of the permanent revolution The great lesson of &hina The tragic e(perience of China is a great lesson for the oppressed peoples The Chinese revolution of )*K= KD had every chance for victory % unified and transformed China would constitute at this time a powerful fortress of freedom in the Far East The entire fate of %sia and to a degree the whole world might have !een different 0ut the Gremlin, lac"ing confidence in the Chinese masses and see"ing the friendship of the generals, utili'ed its whole weight to su!ordinate the Chinese proletariat to the !ourgeoisie and so helped Chiang Gai she" to crush the Chinese revolution >isillusioned, 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

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<.including, of course, the air force in which it is deficient at the western front There is a clear cut division of la!or !etween the colonial !ourgeoisie and the 0ritish government9 #andhi needs the threats of Cham!erlain and Churchill in order more successfully to paraly'e the revolutionary movement In the near future the antagonism !etween the Indian masses and the !ourgeoisie promises to !ecome sharper as the imperialist war more and more !ecomes a gigantic commercial enterprise for the Indian !ourgeoisie 0y opening up an e(ceptionally favora!le mar"et for raw materials it may rapidly promote Indian industry If the complete destruction of the 0ritish empire slashes the um!ilical cord lin"ing Indian capital with the City of 8ondon, the national !ourgeoisie would &uic"ly see" a new patron in 7ew Lor";s Wail Street The

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 semiFcolonial 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 semiF 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

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, unite6< The responsi*ility of treacherous leaders for the war The victory of the Spanish revolution could have opened up an era of revolutionary overturns throughout Europe and so forestalled the present war 0ut that heroic revolution, which contained within itself every possi!ility of victory, was smothered in the em!race of the Second and Third Internationals, with the active cooperation of the anarchists The world proletariat !ecame poorer in its loss of another great hope and richer in the lessons of another monstrous !etrayal The mighty movement of the French proletariat in 4une )*BM revealed e(ceptionally favora!le conditions for the revolutionary con&uest of power % French Soviet repu!lic would immediately have gained revolutionary hegemony of Europe, created revolutionary repercussions in every country, roc"ed the totalitarian regimes, and in this way saved humanity from the present imperialist slaughter with its countless victims 0ut the thoroughly de!ased, cowardly, and treacherous policies of 8eon 0lum and 8eon 4ouhau(, with the active support of the French section of the Comintern, led to the collapse of one of the most promising movements of the last decade The strangling of the Spanish revolution and the sa!otaging of the proletarian offensive in France.these two tragic facts stand at the threshold of the present war The !ourgeoisie convinced itself that with such :la!or leaders< at its disposal it could go ahead with anything, even a new slaughter of peoples The leaders of the Second International prevented the proletariat from overthrowing the !ourgeoisie at the close of the first imperialist war The leaders of the Second and Third Internationals helped the !ourgeoisie unloose a second imperialist war 8et it !ecome their political grave6 The Second (nternational

The war of )*)+ )*), split the Second International at once into two camps separated !y trenches Every social democratic party defended its fatherland 7ot until several years after the war did the traitorous warring !rethren !ecome reconciled and proclaim mutual amnesty Today the situation in the Second International has changed sharply.on the surface %ll its sections without e(ception are politically on one side of the military lines, in the camp of the %llies9 some !ecause they are parties in the democratic countries, others !ecause they are NmigrN s from !elligerent or neutral countries The #erman Social >emocracy which followed a despica!le chauvinist policy during the first imperialist war under the ?ohen'ollern !anner, today is a party of :defeatism< in the service of France and England It would !e ine(cusa!le to !elieve that these case hardened lac"eys have !ecome revolutionists There is a simpler e(planation The #ermany of Wilhelm II offered the reformists sufficient openings for personal sinecures in the parliamentary !odies, municipalities, trade unions, and other places The defense of imperial #ermany was the defense of a well filled trough in which the conservative la!or !ureaucracy !uried its snout :Social >emocracy 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 the fact 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

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 even there 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

!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 political content 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 itC 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 dogFli"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 its propaganda 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

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,< the Second International has gained for itself the prerogative of supplying the !ourgeoisie with ministers for the colonies, that is, slave drivers 1Sidney We!!, Aarius Aoutet, and others2 )D, In a !rief period of time the Third International, which !egan with a courageous revolutionary appeal to all the oppressed peoples, has li"ewise prostituted itself completely on the colonial &uestion 7ot so very many years ago, when Aoscow saw an opportunity ahead for an alliance with the imperialist democracies, the Comintern advanced the slogans of national emancipation not only for %!yssinia and %l!ania, !ut also for %ustria 0ut for the colonies of 0ritain and France it modestly restricted itself to wishes for :reasona!le< reforms %t that time the Comintern defended the Indians not against #reat 0ritain, !ut against possi!le attac"s !y 4apan, and Tunis against the fangs of Aussolini 7ow the situation has changed a!ruptly Complete independence for India, Egypt, %lgiers6.>imitrov will accept no less %ra!s and 7egroes have found theft !est friend 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 in accordance 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 semiFcolonial countries Insignificant in comparison with its prototype in the metropolitan centers, it stands out, however, against the !ac"ground of general poverty

and maintains a tenacious grip on its privileges The la!or !ureaucracy and aristocracy of the colonial and semiFcolonial 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 to their 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 halfFheartedness 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

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 is impossi!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

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 general course 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 the revolutionary 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

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 testWhat 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 pettyF!ourgeois pseudoFrevolutionists stewing in their own $uice

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

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 minorityC In other words9 shall we succeed in preparing in time a party capa!le of leading the proletarian revolutionC In order to 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

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 The inestima!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

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 production according 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 the camp 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

!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

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