tain and Argentina becomes very real.
Ment.
orner means.
conditions and democratic rights here in Britain.
ship, this basic mistrust through from rank and file militants.
the Argentinian butchers. cannot support men mutary victory over britains developed. Leon Trotsky, who together with Lenin led the Russian Revolution in 1917, took this issue up on a number of occasions.
as their starting point the form of the government rather than the relation between classes and nations. For him, the countries and their economies had to each other.
veria ist countrv ike Britain and a dependent one. like Argentina, socialists always took the side of the dependent country ment.
ability of imperialism to keep them down.
He also thought that whatever benefits the dictatorship might gain, the overall effect would be to undermine it.
in relation to the conflict between Britain and Argentina. WITH THE DISPATCH of the British naval task force to the Falklands, the possibility of war between BriEven if this crisis does not result in a military clash, the question of what attitude socialists should adopt is being earnestly debated in the labour moveThe starting point is that war is simply politics by We can no more support Thatcher in war than we can support her attacks on our living Despite the awful jingoism of the Labour leaderhas come What confuses many is their deep felt hatred of Surely, they argue, This is not the first time that such a situation has He fought long and hard against those who took the basic issue was what relation He argued that in any conflict between an imwhatever its form of governHis starting point was the impact of such a conflict in world politics. For him a defeat for the imperialist power would stimulate and strengthen the struggle of all oppressed peoples and weaken the short term This is the general position of Socialist Challenge HERE we reproduce two nieces by Leon Trotsky. In the first extract, , written in 1938. he deals with an exactly analogous situation of a putative conflict between Britain and the then semi-fascist Brazil.
Getuilo Vargas held power at had legal, closed down labour movementi paoncanon. and arrested leaders.
His 1937 constitution had denied workers as a class all rights.
The second was writter in 1938 in response to the • IN BRAZIL there now reigns regime that every revolutionary can only view with named LeT assulle. however, that on the morrow, England enters into a military conflict Brazil.
I ask you, on whose side of the conflict will the working class be? I will answer sonally - in this case I will myself be on the side of "fascist' Brazil against *democra Great Britain Because in the conflict between them will not be a question of democracy or fascism.
If England should be victorious, she will put another fascist in Rio de Janeiro and will place double chains on Brazil.
If Brazil on the contrary should be victorious, it will give a mighty im pulse and democratic consciousness and will lead to the overthrow of the Vargas dictatorship The defeat of England will at the same time deliver a blow to imperialism and will give an impuise to the revolutionary movement of the British proletariat.
Truly one must have an empty head antagonisms and CONCES struggle between fascism and democracy.
Under all masks one know how distinguish exploiters slave owners and robbers From Writings of Leon Trotsky (1938-39), Pathfinder Press Italian in vastor of Ethiopia.
It argued against the leaders of the Independent Labour Party in Britain who had previously split from the Labour Party to the left and for a time had veer building a new Fourth International.
The ILP leader, Maxton, refused to support the Ethiopians against the fascist Mussolini on the grounds of the equally reactionary character the Ethiopian ruler, Haile Selassie (the Negus). He wanted to take a neutral stance.
fact relieves the proletariat of the duty of making a choice between two dic. tators.
They thus define the character of the war by the political form of the state. in the course of which they themselves regard this political form in a quite superficial and purely descriptive manner without taking into consideration the social foundations of both 'dictatorships'.
dictator also play a progressive role in for chandic.
Oliver Cromwell, Robespierre etc On the other hand right in the midst of the English democracy, Lloyd George exercised a highly reactionary dictatorship during the war.
Should a dictator place himself at the head of the next uprising of the Indian people in order to smash the British yoke , would Maxton then refuse this dictator support? Yes or no?
If not, why does he refuse this support to the Ethiopian 'dictator' who is attempting to cast off the Italian yoke?
If Mussolini triumphs, it means the reinforcement of fascism, the strengthening of imperialism, and the discouragement of the colonial peoples of Africa and elsewhere.
The victory of the Negus, would only at maian imperialism, mean a mighty but at imperialism as a whole, and would lend a powerful impulsion to the rebellious forces of the oppressed peoples must really be completely blind not to see this.
Leon Trotsky - supported by the workers movement. Demonstration in Buenos Aires in support of the demand for the return of the Falkland Islands to Argentinian sovereignty Socialist Challenge The last two weeks should have proven ARGUMENTS for SOCIALISM MALVINA CNTEDE PAL VIVE SOMOS PRESENT DEATH TO THE #ACMEMBER