The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-02-03
Leninism or Trotskyism

7 yolution, does not fall victim to pa
mic and despair.
The left social revoIutionaries did
not fight badly in the October period
when they supported the Bolsheviki.
Who however, is not aware that these
brave" warriors were seized with
panic in the Brest period when the
attack of German Imperialism threw
them into despair and Mysteries? 1t is
a sad but indisputable fact that Com
rade Trotsky, who had fought well in
the October period, lost his courage
in the Brest period, the period Of tenn
porary failure of the revolution, to
such an extent that in this difficult
moment he was not steadfast enough
to resist following in the footsteps Of
the left social revolutionaries. There
is no doubt that the moment was a
very difficult one, that 1t was neces-
sary to display an iron self-p0ssession
so as not to be worn out, to give way
at the right moment and to accept
peace at the right moment, to protect
the proletarian army against the
thrust of the German Imperialism, to
preserve the peasant reserves and, af-
ter having in this way attained a
breathing space, to strike out at the
enemy with renewed force. But alas
Comrade Trotsky did not display such
courage and such revolutionary stead
fastness at this difficult moment.
In Comrade Trotsky's opinion, the
chief lesson of the proletarian revolu
ton of October is mot to run Off the
rails" This is wrong, for the asser-
ton of Comrade Trotsky contains only
small part of the truth as to the
lessons of the revolution. The whole
truth as to the lessons is to avoid
running off the rails" not only In
the days of the revolutionary attack,
but also in the days of retreat of the
revolution, when the enemy has gain
ed the upper hand and the revolution
is suffering defeat. The revolution
is not exhausted with October. Oc-
tober is only the beginning of the pro-
letarian revolution. It is bad to run
off the rails when the revolution is in
the process of development, it is
worse when it happens in the hour of
severe trial of the revolution, after
power has been seized. 1t is no less
important to hold fast to the power
on the day after the revolution, than
to seize it. Since Comrade Trotsky
ran off the rails in the Brest period,
the period of sever trial for our revo-
luton, when it was almost case of
yielding up the power, he ought to
understand his pointing out the mis-
takes made by Kamenev and Zinoviev
in October, is entirely out of place.
The Party and the Preparations for
October.
Let us now pass on to the ques-
ton of the preparations for October
If one listens to Comrade Trotsky, one
is tempted to think that the Bolshevist
Party during the whole period OF Oc-
tober only did just what turned up,
that it was devoured by internal dis
sensions, and that it hindered Lenin
in every possible way and that, had it
not been for Comrade Trotsky, no one
knows how the revolution might have
ended. 1t is rather amusing to hear
these strange statements of Comrade
Trotsky about the party, who in the
same preface" to volume III. states
that "the chief weapon of the prole-
tartan revolution is the party" that
without party, beyond the party, in
dependently of the party, by a substi-
tuition of the party, the proletarian re-
volution cannot win" from which ar
gument Allah himself could not I'M
derstand how our revolution could
have been victorious, since "its chief
weapon" was inadequate and yet no
victory is possible Independently Of
the party" 1t is not however, the
first time that Comrade Trotsky
serves us up such strange fare. We
must take it for granted that the en-
tertaining speeches about our party
belong to the usual peculiarities of
Comrade Trotsky. Let us glance
briefly at the preparations for October
according to the various periods.
(To be continued.)