A report on the early Trotskyist movement in then Czechoslovakia, which had a large Communist movement, as it published its first paper, related to other currents, and attempted to cohere into a single organization.

‘The Left Opposition in Czecho-Slovakia’ by J. from International Internal Bulletin, International Communist Left Opposition. No. 3. May, 1931.

After various intermediary organizational stages, the Communist Left Opposition in its present composition was founded at the time of the V Party Congress of the C.P.Cz. in March, 1929. The Prague group around Comrade Lenorovits formed its nucleus. The preparatory activities of the Czechoslovak Opposition began under extremely unfavorable circumstances. It was not the first Opposition to set itself the task of defending the ideas of the Left in Czechoslovakia, although the first to continue on a consistent path. In the period that concluded the bloc between the Moscow and the Leningrad Oppositions, there was formed in Prague and in several places in the province a not uninfluential group under the leadership of Dr. A. Pollak and F. Michaletz, which collapsed after an unprincipled bloc with the ultra-Right also-Trotskyists, Hula-Goerlich-Farschizek, at about the time of the Zinoviev-Kamenev capitulation. The particular period of the collapse appears to us hardly accidental. This is proved by the subsequent development of its component parts: some capitulated to the party, others to the Rights (Michaletz), still others before the tasks of the Communist movement in general (Pollak). The bloc with outspoken reformists, the miserable collapse of this opposition and the evolution of its leaders of necessity had to undermine considerably the confidence of many Communist workers in the ideas of the Left Opposition. This, along with the pseudo-left course of the party leadership after the notorious “Red Day” and the not unimportant mistakes of the Opposition itself caused the obstreperous road of development at its start.

At present, the Czechoslovak Left Opposition has active groups in Prague and Bratislavia (capital of Slovakia) and different points of support in the other parts of the country. It is composed in its majority of industrial workers who have fought for years and are still fighting in the front ranks of the party and the revolutionary labor movement. This social composition lends our activity its special imprint. Aside from factional activity within the party and the Communist organizations (in one of the largest working class districts of Prague one of these organizations lies completely in the hands of our comrades), aside from yet extremely insufficient factional activity among the Rights and in the trade unions, quite a lively activity is being unfolded in the factories and among the unemployed. In the last few months our comrades have systematically appeared at the Communist Unemployed meetings with the slogan of economic collaboration with the Soviet Union and have caused the official speakers quite often a great deal of embarrassment. The bureaucrats were forced to open up the “ideological” struggle in the press. One of their articles has been answered by Comrade Trotsky in a letter to the Czechoslovak workers, which is now being given an effective distribution.

The Prague branch has further decided the regular publication of factory papers for four of the greatest metal works (with a personnel of several thousand workers). The contributions are made almost exclusively by the workers of the various factories and deal with the acute questions and struggles in the factory (at present a wage movement is in process), as well as with the slogans of the Left Opposition (through contributions about the economic collaboration with the Soviet Union in connection with the unemployment question; about the party crisis, etc.). The initiative of the Opposition in face of the complete incompetence of the party apparatus in regard to factory work exercises a great influence on the Communist workers. Our comrades plan the creation of Opposition nuclei in the factories by means of this activity, which will naturally not be opposed to those of the party, but which will seek ties with the Communist workers through the Opposition’s united front tactic.

The Opposition is still examining the correct methods for its activity and the correct relationships in the different regions. It is a question which is posed before every Loft Opposition group at the beginning of its development: torn away from the great organism of the party it is threatened on one side by the danger of standing on the sidelines of the struggle of the revolutionary labor movement as a passive, critical, sectarian observer. No less dangerous, however, is the tendency on the other side, to lose sight of the tasks of the Left Opposition faction and to imitate by uncontrollable as to its final effect, the methods of a mass party. The correct road cannot be reached without internal conflicts and struggles.

Lately the Opposition has taken a decisive step forward: in September of the past year the first number of its bi-lingual monthly organ, Iskra (The Spark), appeared, the contents of which have been described by other Opposition organs. The first success became immediately apparent: a group of “inner party” Oppositionists is at present seeking contact with our organization. By means of the regular publication of a newspaper, by a consistent approach to the problems of the Czechoslovak Communist movement, by close collaboration in the struggle of the International Opposition and an energetic front against the Rights, especially against the Neurath-Michaletz group, which in order to deceive its workers, who are making their way to the Left, are very cautiously flirting with “Trotskyism”, the Czecho-Slovak Left will be able to develop much faster than up to the present. Aside from the further improvement of the paper, the next task of the Opposition consists of a consolidation of all its groups and fractions and fractions into a regulated, centralized organization, in the immediate convocation of a national conference and the preparation of its platform.

J.

The U.S. Trotskyist movement began official, semi-regular internal bulletins to host political debate and discussion as the Communist League of America in 1930. In 1931, an International Bulletin was also produced running through 1934 to separate out the international debates. After the formation of Workers Party of the United States bulletins continued. With the entry of the Workers Party into the Socialist Party in the ‘French Turn’ internal bulletins were discontinued. In a reflection of the different size and resources of the CP, the CLA-WP-SWP bulletins were largely mimeographed rather than printed. A new set of Bulletins for internal discussion of the newly formed SWP in January of 1938 were produced, as well as another International Bulletin for discussion of the founding of the Fourth International. As a whole, these bulletins, unlike the internal bulletin of the CP, focus on long-form debate and internal discussion of Party resolutions and policy with the movement’s top leaders and thinkers contributing. Often, before congresses or plenums, special bulletins would be printed to host the relevant debate. The International Bulletins contain many of Trotsky’s and other international voices’ first English-language translations. Often those voice used pseudonyms, Crux is Trotsky. An invaluable resource for students of US Communism, Trotskyism, and the larger US workers’ movement.

PDF of original bulletin: https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/document/swp-us/idb/cla-iib/03-1931-may-international.pdf