DON DAVIS reviews a new collection of writings by Leon Trotsky.
The War Correspondence Leon Trotsky The Wars 1912-1913. Edited George Weissman and Duncan Williams. Published by Monad Press NY. Price £4.95. Available in left wing bookshops here, in about six weeks.
THE Balkan Wars of 1912-13 are little known today. they left 500,000 casualties, redrew the map of By. 1912, Ine Turkish domination of now Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, and was coming to an ena. toman Empire, decaying within. was challended hv the im. perialist powers of Europe and the young Balkan nations In Ine riST balkan Bulgaria, Serbia, and banded together to drive Turkish forces out of the Balkan sula. However, the war turned into mutual looting pillage by the oligarchies of the different Balkan states.
of Balkan by But south centuries-long Bulgaria, Romania UTC Germany, War, Greece sought pense of the others Peninquickly ine young and dent on the undertake the they went liberal Egged on by Britain, France, Austria-Hungary, Russia, the ruling classes of each increase their holdings and territory at the ex- family Balkan capitalist classes were too weak and depenLeon y'eat powers to land retorm, in dustrialisation, and other reforms needed to modernise the backward, agrarian Balkans. Instead, contented themselves with ripping each other off at the cost the lives of thousands workers and peasants.
The big European powers eventually imposed a settement on the Balkans that perpetuated landlordism, agrarian backward. ness. and oppression of many different nationality groups, as well as instability.
Within less than eighteen months, the great powers themselves war, dragging Balkans and all of Europe into the biggest bloodbath of history up to that time.
Leon Trotsky, still in his early thirties but already well known in the European socialist movement, arrived in the Balkans in October 1912 as the correspondent of the Kiev daily newpaper Kievskaya Mysl.
The central leader of the 1905 uprising Russian workers in Petrograd, had escaped Russia in 1906. He settled in Vienna, where he supported his and his own socialist newspaper by writing for other newspapers The War Correspondence of Trotsky: The Balkan Wars, 1912-13, Is a collection UCATT - the building workers' union asbestos. were mineral tiles very irritating. On top were of always laid conveniently •but cut into sections then pushed, Shoved. squeezed ir between grid frames and lillu • position.
Most self-employed use kids as helpers, do the and fibre glossing.
Myself first. married an invalid, are young. more lllan dispatches he Balkans, Mysl.
Most Russian cheered on the Balkan countries of in their war against the sensationalising atrocities similar atrocities and other Muslims living Balkans. This desions of the • Tsai been defeated in Russo-Japanese war ot 1905 looking to Turkey and the Balkans as a possible arena for expansion. the Federation Trotsky, along with the young Balkan socialist wnom ne was in different view.
Russian intervention into
fairs ot the Balkans. that the underlying blems of the region could be solved only by a united Balkan federation. ach nationality group woul run its own affairs while uniting ir a federation large enough to allow the development of modern industry and strong withstand imperialist penetration. Unuke many the war correspondents did it do enough?
ever they need a breadwinner. But they have none.
Husband and father cannot and never more, will provide.
Agony of body has been my experience. But worse still looking at my wile and are the agonies of mind.
I have to look at a wife that I cannot make love to; one part of the illness.
Life is, for me, as good as over. No pints of beer no spiced foods or curries;
coffee, no bacon and eggs. No smoke filled rooms in pubs and cinemas. Only memories of a job that I curse I ever ut of four one is dead at 60, are seriously il men. But the storv doe not even end with us about those labourers who swept the floors. After us, the scaffolders who stripped the wrote the for Kievskaya press newspapers of Turks, Turkish suppressing against Turks In reflected the navine Asia in the the ment. wds He prisoners veterans such Rakovsky.
parties sive history, I ContaCL. look ?
While opposing redoing reader argued pro.
1905-06 dable.
enough to contemporary Reproduced who take USA.
dust scaffolding; the other trades working beside us;
sparks, joiners, heating ventilation engineers.
What of them What about the buildings themselves? Asbestos forever.
UUCo These ceilings peoples heads guide air flows, tiles have to be removed regularly for service repairs above ceilings Shops, schools, hospitals, • Gods help the ero wiere.
ple who work in the premises when in time the asbestos begins to deteriorate.
Fixers are now falling victim. They still will unti proper safety precautions are taken.
As I have mentioned, you do not have to be a fixer to suffer the risks. Every trade on the building site, working near or in conjuc.
tion with ceiling contrac tors, should protest and demand strict safety pre Socialist Challenge their articles from government releases, Trotsky, battled with the Bulgarian censor to get out his accounts of the massacres Muslim villages in the First Balkan War. And he sharply at. tacked Russian liberals who, in their zeal to justify the war against Turkey, condoned the censorship.
describing these events Trotsky demonstrates the writing which helped gain him fame Mussian socialist move.
brings heroic fighters, profiteering politicians war, combat and socialist leaders as his friend Christian The book is not a comprehen.
but a collection of many short articles. Instead of the can pick out articles of special interest, like those on the Turkish Revolution of 1908-09 o1 the Persian (Iranian) Revolution of pages ot notes maps, a glossary, and an index nelp make une events understan combination of Trotsky's vivid writing and Marx. ist analysis make the collection readable and enlightening from The Militant, CANVOCA cautions.
Ceiling
contractors and their fixers must be put in place not only for their own good but for the good of every innocent Lesan They have totally reneged on their responsibility in the health and safety line.
Their rat race, money grabbing approach must be halted The material they use on site must b queried and treated highly dangerous to every trade on site This will not only help construction workers, particularly the fixer at pre sent, but will impose and even prevent environmental hazards to completely future.
Building Worker paper o the rank and file in the coi struction industry can be ob tained for 25p p&p from 22:
Peckham, London SE15 2NG • 10 September 1981 Page 15
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eastern Europe, and provided a bloody prelude to World War
rolls reiisil wool not
laid elecided recently to in- quire into ex-work mates
LAND EMON