The Struggle- Hammer, Sickle, and the Number Four

Following the good reception I got to my thread https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=346850, I've decided to do a full TL about a Trotskyite Vietnam. The TL will begin in 1945, meaning five years after Trotsky's meeting with an ice ax. It is much more plausible than you probably think. OTL the Trotskyites were a mass movement in Vietnam, much more popular in the cities and amongst the proletariat, until they were brutally repressed by the Stalinists led by Ho Chi Minh.

The PoD is that Stalin forces the ICP (Indochinese Communist Party) to collaborate with the French even more than they did OTL (definitely not ASB considering his other actions during WWII).

There is one "House Rule": You are not allowed to speak about either the Bolsheviks, the Russian Civil War or Trotky's actions during the Civil War, unless it has direct relation to the TL. From my experience, this is the most polarizing issue on AH.com, and I want this TL to avoid descending into Flame War. So if you really want to say something about either of those topics, and you can't stop yourself, start a new thread.

Red August






The Vietnamese people have a rich history of being conquered by foreign powers, and of resisting those conquerors. For more than a millennium, beginning in 111 BCE, the Chinese ruled Vietnam. The people of Vietnam rebelled in many occasions. In the beginning of the first century, they were led by the [FONT=&quot]Trưng Sisters. In the third century [/FONT]Lady Triệu[FONT=&quot] managed to temporarily free the Vietnamese people. The Vietnamese gained lasting freedom under the leadership of [/FONT]Ngô Quyền. In 1407 the Chinese conquered Vietnam again, until it was freed by Lê Lợi in 1427.

In 1862 the French began to conquer Vietnam and its neighboring countries. Various movements fought against the French Imperialism, at first monarchists, then nationalists, which from the middle of the 20's came under the increasing influence of Communism, both Stalinist and Trotskyite.

Tạ Thu Thâu was born in 1906 to a poor rural family. Nevertheless, by working in the holidays as a servant he managed to go to school, where he proved to be a brilliant student, and in 1927 he went to France to learn in a University. In 1930 he was expelled back to Vietnam, because he protested against the execution of anti- French rebels.

In 1931 several Trotskyite groups; the "Communist League", the "Left Opposition" and "Indochinese Communism" united, but soon they split to two groups, both named after their publications: "La Lutte" (The Struggle), led by Ta Thu Thau, and the "October Group". Beginning in 1933, "La Lutte" participated in a united front (the only one of its kind in history) between them, the Stalinist "Indochinese Communist Party", founded in 1930 and led by Ho Chi Minh, and Left- wing Nationalists. The "October Group" did not join the united front, since that would have prevented them from criticizing the ICP, but supported it from the outside. The united front broke up in 1937 because of pressure from the PCF ("French Communist Party") and the great purges in the Soviet Union. While the Stalinists were strong amongst the peasants, the Trotskyites were much stronger in the cities; in 1939 the Trotskyite slate to the Saigon Municipal Council won 80% of the votes, while the ICP got one percent.

After the Molotov- Ribbentrop pact, the French cracked down on the both the Stalinists and the Trotskyites. However, while the communists, whose main powerbase was the peasants, managed to flee to the countryside, the Trotskyites, whose main powerbase were the urban workers, were decimated, and many of their leaders, including Ta Thu Thau, spent most of the war, both under the French and under the Japanese, in prison.
When the Japanese occupied Indochina in 1940 they kept the French colonial bureaucracy in place as a puppet. In March of 1945, the Japanese removed the puppet French government in Indochina and violently took direct control over Indochina. The ICP, under direct orders from Stalin, openly allied with French imperialism against Japanese imperialism.[FONT=&quot][1][/FONT] While they tried to justify it by pseudo- revolutionary phraseology of "United Front against Japanese Fascism", few believed their claims. This led to the discrediting of the Stalinists in the eyes of the Vietnamese people.
The Trotskyites, however, enjoyed resurgence. In 1944, the "October Group" regrouped under the name of "International Communist League". "La Lutte" was reestablished in May- June 1945. The two groups will cooperate closely in the coming, but will never re-unite. Generally the ICL will focus more on organizing workers councils, while "La Lutte" was focused more on seizing political power.

After atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki the Japanese surrendered on the August 15. This left a vacuum in Vietnam. The Stalinist, still the most powerful group in Vietnam took control over the northern parts of Vietnam, while in southern Vietnam the situation was more chaotic, but the Trotskyites begun to slowly assert control there. Workers, under the leadership of the Trotskyite 'Vanguard of the Proletariat" organized worker's councils, which took increasingly large parts of southern Vietnam, including Saigon.

During the Japanese occupation, they armed several nationalist anti- French groups such as the Cao Dai, the Hoa Hao and the Vanguard Youth. While the "Vanguard Youth" joined Ho Chi Minh, Cao Dai and Hoa Hao offered help to Ta Thu Thau. This was the hardest choice Ta Thu Thau dealt with in his life. He felt sick dealing with the collaborators with the Japanese, but on the other hand the Trotskyite were highly under-armed compared to the other groups in Vietnam, especially compared to Britain, France and the US. The weakening of the Stalinists and the political vacuum in Vietnam presented the working class of Vietnam a chance to take power, a chance that might not come again for a long time. In the end, a compromise was found. Cao Dai and Hoa Hao will transfer many, but not all, of their weapons to the Trotskyites, and will publicly apologize for collaborating with the Japanese, while Ta Thu Thau promised to not suppress them and allow them to continue to organize politically, and to integrate them into the regular army after the revolution.

In the beginning of the September, a coalition of Trotskyite and Nationalist forces took over Hanoi from the Stalinists by a combination of outside force and inside insurgency. Ho Chi Minh, who already alienated the peasants by his collaboration with French imperialism, had nowhere to run but north into Communist China. Ta Thu Thau declared a "Provisional Revolutionary Council".

In the 13 of September British and French forces landed in southern Vietnam. Facing minimal resistance, they quickly advanced, until they realized they were caught in a trap. Vietnamese forces cut them off from the sea, preventing them from retreating back to their transports, while mass forces encircled them, forcing them to surrender.

Most soldiers expected to be killed immediately, or be placed in horrible POW camps. Surprisingly, they were treated quite well. In October Vietnamese leaders, including Ta Thu Thau, and Allied (French, British and American) diplomats met in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The atmosphere was surprisingly cordial, and it was clear that the Vietnamese had neither the ability nor the wish to come into conflict with the west, while the west was increasingly concerned with the Soviet Union, and was willing to tolerate almost any regime hostile to Moscow.

The Treaty of Phnom Penh, abridged version:

1. The POW held by Vietnam will be returned to France and the United Kingdom. All Vietnamese political prisoners still held will be returned to Vietnam.
2. France will recognize and respect Vietnam's Independence. Vietnam will recognize and respect the Independence of Cambodia and Laos.[FONT=&quot][2][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3. The Allies will respect the democratic decisions of the Vietnamese people. Vietnam will provide compensation for every British or American property nationalized.[FONT=&quot][3][/FONT] [/FONT]


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[FONT=&quot][1][/FONT]This is the PoD. Historically, the Stalinists took a part in the revolution after the surrender of the Japanese, but when the French arrived they collaborated with them until 1946 when the "First Vietnam War" began.

[FONT=&quot][2][/FONT]Cambodia and Laos gained formal independence, but remained French puppets.

[FONT=&quot][3][/FONT] Considering the heavy economic exploitation by the French, it was seen as only fair that the Vietnamese will not be required to compensate the French. Besides, Vietnam couldn’t afford to compensate France even if it wanted too, and neither was France, just liberated from German occupation, in a position to demand that.

ArieNE said:

There is one "House Rule": You are not allowed to speak about either the Bolsheviks, the Russian Civil War or Trotky's actions during the Civil War, unless it has direct relation to the TL. From my experience, this is the most polarizing issue on AH.com, and I want this TL to avoid descending into Flame War. So if you really want to say something about either of those topics, and you can't stop yourself, start a new thread.

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Haha, I think that might be a little hint towards me.

It's interesting so far, looking forward to more. I assume that the disarming of the Cao Dai and Hoa Hao would have also included some of the more 'trustworthy' armed groups being absorbed into the Trotskyist organisational structure for their experience even if the official line is that they were completely disarmed? Also, it's interesting that British soldiers were taken prisoner. At this stage, huge numbers of rank and file soldiers were throwing their weight behind Labour and there's always been a historic Trotskyist backbone in the Labour Party (until they were expelled in the 80's/90's. How much interaction would there have been between the Vietnamese and the British troops?

Theyr'e not disarmed (for now) they just give some of the many weapons the Japanese gave them to the Trotskyites. OTL, they offered to do just that but Ta Thu Thau refused. If that's not clear I'll fix it.

From what I read about this guy, his greatest sins were the fact that he put honor before reason, and the sin of naivetey, in 1945 he trusted the Stalinists and they stabbed him in the back.

Already love it, will be following closely.

A couple minor grammatical errors but other than that, off to a great start.

Glad I've had a good start. The next update will be about the internal structure of Vietnam and about the 4Int.

I already plan on moving Natalia Sedova-Trotsky and Victor Serge to Vietnam. My question is: will Alexandra Kollontai defect from the USSR to Vietnam?

The Vietnamese Soviet Republic

As Ta Thu Thau arrived back to Saigon from Phnom Penh, he was met with a massive, cheering crowd of Vietnamese workers and peasants. The crowd was later said to number in the millions, but historians generally agree on a figure between 500,000 and 750,000. There, Ta Thu Thau declared the "Vietnamese Soviet Republic", and announced a Constituent Assembly. The assembly will include 100 members, who will be elected by party lists with the whole country a single electoral district.

The Provisional Revolutionary Council was tasked with deciding the exact rules for the elections. It was agreed that parties and individuals who collaborated with French Imperialism will not be allowed to compete, a rule specifically created to disenfranchise the ICP. But beyond that rule, every individual, male or female, above the age of 18 will be allowed to elect or be elected.

The elections were to be held in the first of November. Before the elections, some members of the ICP, who wanted to reconcile with the Trotskyites and participate in the elections, leaved and formed the "Vietnamese Communists" together with Left- wing Nationalists. They were lead by Ngueyn Ah Ninh, an "independent Marxist" who created the united front between Stalinists, Trotskyites and Left- wing Nationalists in the 30's. As time moved on they became a part of the Bukharinite "Right Opposition".

Cao Dai and Hoa Hao, who were not just political groups but also religions, decided not to run in the elections, in order not to come into conflict with the Trotskyites, who might have seen that as a violation of the separation between church and state.



The Main Parties in the Elections to the Constituent Assembly:

The Trotskyites:


The Struggle (La Lutte): lead by Ta Thu Thau

Economic Policy: La Lutte supports immediate collectivization of all industry and mines. They support collectivization of agriculture in theory, but in practice they propose very weak measures in the short term.

Social Policy: La Lutte is generally socially libertarian, supporting equal law for all.

Foreign Policy: La Lutte's foremost concern is keeping Vietnam and its revolution safe, so they support friendly relations with both the Capitalists and the Stalinists.


International Communist League (formerly the October Group): lead by Ho Huu Thuong

Economic Policy: Like La Lutte, the ICL support immediate collectivization of industry and mines, but they also support more workers control than "La Lutte". They support the collectivization of agriculture, and propose a "carrot and stick" approach to encourage peasants to form agricultural collectives.

Social Policy: The ICL is strongly social libertarian, supporting not only equal law for all, but also "affirmative action" to help women and ethnic minorities.

Foreign Policy: The ICL is more confrontational than "La Lutte", both against Capitalists and Stalinists, but they still recognize the limits of Vietnam's power.

Nationalists:

Vietnamese Communists: lead by Nguyen Ah

Economic Policy: The VC support nationalization of industry and mines, with much less workers control and much more state control than "La Lutte" and the ICL propose. Regarding Agricultural policy, they do not call for collectivization, instead calling for a model based on the NEP.

Social Policy: While officially supporting equal law for all, they are "de facto" social conservatives.

Foreign Policy: The VC is mostly isolationist.

Vietnamese Nationalist Party: lead by Nhat Linh

Economic Policy: The VNP support nationalization of industry and mines, but they generally support small, independent producers, both in the cities and the countryside.

Social Policy: The VNP are unashamedly socially conservatives.

Foreign Policy: The VNP support the Chinese Kuomintang, but beyond that they are Isolationists.

The urban workers supported almost exclusively the Trotskyites. The situation among the peasants and rural workers and craftsmen was more complicated. Generally, the poorer a peasant was, the more left- wing he voted. Independent Craftsmen, both in the city and in the countryside, voted massively to the VNP. There was also a large trend, exactly how large is unknown, of rural women secretly voting for the ICL, since it was the only party that came out strongly for the interests of women, both economic and social.


Results of the Constituent Assembly Elections (rounded):
The Struggle (La Lutte): 36%
International Communist League: 23%
Vietnamese Communists: 17%
Vietnamese Nationalist Party: 24%


The Trotskyites formed a coalition, "The Workers and Peasants Front", colloquially known as the "Red Front", while the Vietnamese Communists and the Vietnamese Nationalist Party formed the "Vietnamese Popular Front", colloquially known as the "Blue Front".

The last action of the Provisional Revolutionary Council before dissolving itself was the adoption of a flag, which combined a traditional Vietnamese flag with the Hammer and Sickle:



On the 5th of November the 100 delegates met in the Saigon Hotel de Ville (City Hall). The "Red Front" which had more than 50 delegates, could safely disregard the "Blue Front".

The Vietnamese constitution protected all the bourgeoisie liberties, but also much more. Wage slavery was abolished; free education and free healthcare were to be provided; and there would be a minimum wage and a generous pension plan for all.

Vietnam was divided into 60 Regional Soviets. Each Regional Soviet will contain a number of members based on the size of the region. The citizens of each Regional Soviet will send representatives to a unicameral parliament of 500 members, the "Assembly of Soviet Representatives", or as it was informally called, the Soviet Assembly. Representatives will be apportioned to each soviet according to population, with each getting at least one. Elections will be held every four years, and the representatives will be elected according to party lists, with each Soviet being a single electoral district. The Soviet Assembly will elect the "Soviet of Ministers" and a First Minister, who will be the "Head of Government". A President will be elected directly by the people once every eight years. If one candidate doesn't earn 50%+1 votes, a second round with only the two leading candidates will be held.

Besides the Regional Soviets, there will be also Workers Soviets. Each collectivized workplace, whether industrial, agricultural or white- collar will have a Soviet, elected by the workers, which will send delegates to Syndicates, which unite several workplaces of the same type according geography. The size of each syndicate will be around the same size, with the more workers in an industry, the more syndicates it will have (e.g.; Saigon Metalworkers Syndicate, Vietnam Academics Syndicate, Northeast Artists Syndicate). Each Syndicate will send a delegate to a nationwide congress, the "Congress of Workers", which will have a leading role in the economy. The Syndicates will also contain a representative from the state, which has the power to veto decisions of the syndicates and the soviets beneath it. Small- holding peasants and independent artisans will not be able to form soviets, and therefore will be unable to participate in the planning of society, part of the "carrot and stick" approach to encourage the 'petty- bourgeoisie' to collectivize and become a part of the proletariat.

In the 19 of November the constitution was complete and ratified. On the 23 of November Elections for the Regional Soviets were held, on the 24, elections for the Workers Soviets were held and on the 25 of November there were elections for the Soviet Assembly, which resulted in almost the same results as the elections for the constituent assembly.

[FONT=&quot]For the first few months, Vietnam looked inwards, building up its economy. But that stopped in the first of March. In a mass rally in Saigon, First Minister Ta Thu Thau invited the Fourth International to hold its Second World Congress in Saigon in two months, in the First of May, which they accepted. He extended this offer to all Trotskyite parties, including those who split from the Fourth International, Like the Workers Party in the US, led by Max Schachtman, or were never members in the first place.[/FONT]

Interesting. I shall be following this.

I wonder how relations with the Soviet Union will evolve? If there is a Sino-Soviet split, they could end up being rather good.

fasquardon

fasquardon said:

Interesting. I shall be following this.

I wonder how relations with the Soviet Union will evolve? If there is a Sino-Soviet split, they could end up being rather good.

fasquardon

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The relations with the SU will be abysmal and stay that way.
There won't be a Sino Soviet split, because: A. Mao is much less prestigious in this TL. And B. Khrushcev never denounces Stalin, since that would prove the trotskyistes right.

ArieNE said:

The relations with the SU will be abysmal and stay that way.
There won't be a Sino Soviet split, because: A. Mao is much less prestigious in this TL. And B. Khrushcev never denounces Stalin, since that would prove the trotskyistes right.

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There were significant internal reasons to denounce Stalin, I'm not sure that Khrushchev would care that much that some Trotskyites were running the show in a backwater ex-colony. It's not like Tito being in power in Yugoslavia stopped him OTL and Yugoslavia (and Tito as a source of an opposing ideology) was much more important.

fasquardon

Yes, but by 1956 the trots won't run the show 'just' in Vietnam . Soviet propaganda will also feature trots as the main villain. That said, there will be an end to "High- Stalinisim" and a de-stalinization that won't include official denouncement.

ArieNE said:

Yes, but by 1956 the trots won't run the show 'just' in Vietnam . Soviet propaganda will also featur trots as the main villian.

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Hmmm. Sounds interesting.

fasquardon

The Second Congress of the Fourth International

The first May Day in the Vietnamese Soviet Republic will later be considered by historians as the end of the 'Revolutionary Period' of Vietnam. Industry and mines were all collectivized, the banks were nationalized and conglomerated into a single 'Bank of Vietnam', and the soviets proved they can run the economy, both in the micro, in the form of the individual workplace soviet, and in the macro, in the form of the Congress of Workers (with the help of the state appointed "National Planning Committee"). Trade deals with the west allowed to ease a bit the harsh rationing policy, and opened the door a bit for an industrialization program. Collectivized farms were given a priority in the acquisition of modern machines and fertilizers, which along with a lower taxation rate caused many peasants to voluntarily collectivize their lands. Health and education services slowly but steadily expanded across the country. Following the example of Lenin, abortion, birth control and homosexuality was legalized.



In 'May Day' workers were given a day off and the streets were draped with red flags and huge banners of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky. In Saigon the day was especially festive, for in that day delegates from all over the world gathered for the Second Congress of the Fourth International. For the delegates themselves, the arrival in Saigon was a shock. Many of them were accustomed to heavy persecution from governments, whether capitalist or fascist, and to attacks from Stalin's hounds. The movements they represented were for the most part quite small. They were unprepared to the sight of masses cheering for them as they walked towards the 'Hotel Continental', where the congress was being held.



Around three hundred delegates cramped in the 'Hotel Continental' Conference Room meant for about two hundred people. The discussion was fiery. Besides the two Vietnamese parties, the most influential parties in the Congress were the two American parties: the SWP led by James Cannon and the Workers Party led by Max Shachtman. The divide between them would come to be the main divide across the whole International. The SWP and its supporters, the "Orthodox Trotskyists" or "Cannonites", maintained that the Stalinist USSR was a 'degenerated workers state' and that the remaining workers conquests of the October revolution (like nationalized means of production) should be supported when attacked by the imperialist capitalist states. The "Third Camp Trotskyists" or "Shachtmanites" maintained that the USSR was no longer a "degenerated workers state" but rather a new class society, "bureaucratic collectivism", in which the state owns the means of production and the bureaucrats "own" the state (with a minority holding a "State Capitalist" analysis). They maintained that none of the achievements of the October Revolution remained, and that the expansion of Stalinism into Eastern and Central Europe proved that the USSR was imperialist, and that it should not be supported against western imperialism, supporting "revolutionary defeatism" on both sides of the 'Cold War'.


Numerically, the "Orthodox Trotskyists" were stronger, but the "Third Camp Trotskyists" had several advantages. The first was support from the Vietnamese ICL, which had immense prestige from the revolution ("La Lutte" and Ta Thu Thau stayed neutral). The second advantage was public support from Natalia Sedova, Trotsky's widow, who arrived together with Victor Serge from Mexico. The support from Sedova managed to silence the claims that Shachtman deviated from Trotsky. The third was Shachtman's skills as an orator and debater.



Most of the afternoon was dedicated for speeches from the delegates to the Congress to the citizens of Saigon. A story that spread like wildfire amongst the people of Saigon endeared the delegates in front of their eyes. It was told that during lunch, the delegates refused to eat the luxurious food they were given, demanding instead to eat no more than the average worker's ration.


The debates in the Second Congress were fierce but comradely. The elated feelings after the revolution that all the Trotskyists felt remained, but they were dispelled in the third day. A delegate accidently entered into the room of Mark Zborowski, a personal friend of Lev Sedov, Trotsky's late son. Thinking it was his room, he opened the drawer, where he found letters in Russian. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that the letters were meant for the NKVD. Zborowski was captured and interrogated. It was discovered that he spied on the Trotskyists since the beginning, and that when Lev Sedov became ill, Zborowski convinced him to go to a private clinic and then disclosed the location of the clinic to the NKVD, where they might have murdered him[FONT=&quot][1][/FONT]. Zborowski also had a crucial role in getting Ramon Mercader into Trotsky's inner circle. Besides that, he also caused divisions in the Trotskyists movement, especially isolating Victor Serge.


In response to the Stalinists infiltration, it was decided to set up two intelligence organizations. The first would be the "Vietnamese Intelligence Service" or "VIS", the second was the "Intelligence Bureau of the Fourth International", or "IB- 4". While the "VIS" functioned as a traditional intelligence service, the main focus of the "IB- 4", in the beginning, was to provide much needed counter- intelligence service to the parties of the Fourth International. It was also decided to found the "International Cadres of the Fourth International", or the "ICFI". The ICFI, headed by Victor Serge, trained agents in Marxist theory, agitprop, urban insurrection and guerilla warfare, and deployed those agents across the world, especially wherever a revolutionary struggle was taking place. Novels and movies about ICFI and IB- 4 agents will later become one the main genres of fiction in countries affiliated to the Fourth International.

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Much love for Victor Serge, I see. His memoirs are full of some fantastic anecdotes and analysis and I recommend them to anyone. His novels are excellently written as well. He always seemed to me to be a very genuine revolutionary.

GiantMonkeyMan said:

Much love for Victor Serge, I see. His memoirs are full of some fantastic anecdotes and analysis and I recommend them to anyone. His novels are excellently written as well. He always seemed to me to be a very genuine revolutionary.

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I think that everyone in here has a little-known historical figure who he idolizes. Mine is Victor Serge. I basically modeled the ICFI on Serge's work in Germany for the Comintern.

great update, would love to see an update on the inner workings of the new vietnamese assisted 4th int too.

Red Cesar said:

great update, would love to see an update on the inner workings of the new vietnamese assisted 4th int too.

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No problem, I will do a mini- update about the 4int. Then I will do an update on the international reaction to "Red August", then an update on Ceylon/ Sri Lanka, then several ones on India.

The Fourth International and its Parties

National Parties:

The form taken by the national Trotskyist parties will be finalized only in the end of the 50's and the beginning of the 60's. But the groundwork, the rough sketch, of the finalized form will already be present in the end of the 40's. Different parties in the same country were encouraged, though not forced, to unite[FONT=&quot][1][/FONT]. This was exampled by the return of the Workers Party into the Socialist Workers Party in the US. Each party is ruled by the principles of democratic centralism, "freedom of discussion, unity in action"; factions are allowed to operate and spread their distinct ideas, both inside and outside ideas, as long as they don't interfere with the actions decided by the majority.



The structure of the national parties is compared to that of a shamrock; the roots are the workers (and in less advanced countries also the peasants), regardless of political affiliation. The stem is the party members. And the three leaves correspond to the three fronts of the socialist struggle as laid out by Engels: the political front, the economic front, and the ideological front.


The political front includes the elected officials who are a part of the party, whether they are members of the national parliament or city council members, but not only. The political front might also include a paramilitary organization, depending on the country and the state of its rule of law. Even the American SWP had a few goons armed with pipes to defend party meetings and beat up fascists, while the Indian section, the BLPI (Bolshevik- Leninist Party of India), had during the years proceeding to the civil war what can only be described as a small army. The political front also includes the party activists, except for those in the labor movement, who are a part of the economic front.


The economic front includes the party activists in the labor movement. Generally the Trotskyist parties avoid setting up their own unions, instead preferring to work inside the existing trade unions. However, as the relationship between the capitalist countries and the "Trotskyist" countries deteriorate mainstream unions will expel the Trotskyists, who will be forced to set up their own unions. However the economic front is more than "just" unions. It also provides services to its members as an alternative to the capitalist system, like financial services, vacation houses, after school child- care, and even some cooperative workshops, owned by the party, but managed by the workers.


The ideological front is sometimes ignored, but it is just as important as the other two. Each party, even the small ones which include less than a hundred members, has a party newspaper. Even medium sized parties get funds from the Fourth International to publish their newspapers daily. The large parties also publish a monthly journal focusing on Marxist theory and history, in a language which the average worker could understand. Beside periodicals, the parties also publish books and pamphlets, both classics like the 'Communist Manifesto' and 'Das Kapital', but also contemporary books and pamphlets written by party members.



The national parties are required to have a conference once a year. Each Party branch sends delegates to the conference based on its size. The party conference has the final word on matters of political orientation and position, and elected the various party officials. The Central Committee has the power to decide on positions between conferences, to elect positions that by their nature are secretive and their holders could not be revealed to the public, and to elect the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee is responsible for the day- to day operations of the party. Both the Central Committee and the Executive Committee have the power to call a special conference.


Of course these complex structures could only operate in countries where they are free to do so, or where the government is too weak to stop them from operating. In totalitarian countries they must operate discreetly, in secret cells.


The Fourth International:

One of the responsibilities of the party conference is to elect delegates to the tri- annual Congress of the Fourth International. According to the rules laid out by the Second Congress, each party sends delegates according to its size, but every party, no matter the size, gets at least one delegate, and no country gets more than thirty delegates. The Congress elects the Central Committee which convenes at least twice a year but more if necessary. It also elects the governing committees for the various institutions of the International. Those Institutions are:


The Secret Agencies:

Intelligence Bureau of the Fourth International or the IB- 4: Super Secretive, hush hush.


International Cadres of the Fourth International or the ICFI: It is said (most likely apocryphally) that the delegates to the Second Congress chose this name when it was late and they were tired, and only in the morning did they notice that the title contains the word "International" twice. They couldn't think of a better name so they left it that way. Silly name aside, this is one of the most important parts of the 4Intern; some would say the most important part. The ICFI trains agents and deploys them wherever there is a chance for a revolution. ICFI agents are highly prestigious, and books and movies about them are a staple of all Mumbai Pact countries culture, while they are frequently the villains in the movies of Brussels Pact[FONT=&quot][2][/FONT] countries. Think of them as a combination of James Bond and Robin Hood.


The Coordination Organizations:

Fourth International Cooperation Committee: They are responsible for coordinating between parties in the International. They are also responsible for organizing the Congress and other international events of the 4Intern.


International Revolutionary Labor Organization: Responsible for coordinating between 4Intern aligned labor activists and unions. It also organizes the annual "International Workers Conference".



International Socialist Youth Federation: Coordinates between the youth wings of the parties of the 4Intern. It also holds a bi- annual conference and a tri- annual "International Revolutionary Youth Festival".


International Organization of Women Workers: Coordinates between working class socialist- feminist activists.


International Organization for Oppressed, Discriminated or Threatened Ethnicities:
The new name of the "International Front against Colonialism and Racism", it coordinates between activists and organizations aligned with the 4Intern that fight against racism and national oppression.


Fourth International Publishing House:

Bulletin of the Fourth International: Recognized even by the rivals of the 4Intern as one of the best newspapers in the world, this weekly newspaper does in- depth coverage of issues across the world. It also contains select articles from the party newspapers.


International Journal of Marxism: An interdisciplinary, international, academic journal of history, economics, sociology, philosophy, anthropology and more. In 1962 it will be broken up into specialized journals, with a bi- annual special interdisciplinary edition.


Red Books: Prints various Marxist- Socialist books, both classic and contemporary.


Fourth International Translation Service: Charged with translating the works published by the other sections of the "Fourth International Publishing House" into as many languages as possible, in 1971 they would even translate the 'Communist Manifesto' into Inuit. The perpetual joke is that they will not be satisfied until dogs, cats and the dead will be able to read the 'Communist Manifesto". As if to prove reality imitates art, in 1982 they published the 'Manifesto' in Hieroglyphs, and later that year started translating 'Das Kapital' into Hieroglyphs.

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GiantMonkeyMan said:

Much love for Victor Serge, I see. His memoirs are full of some fantastic anecdotes and analysis and I recommend them to anyone. His novels are excellently written as well. He always seemed to me to be a very genuine revolutionary.

Click to expand...

Yep, willing to confront the horrors of the civil war while still seeing the potential hope that a red victory promised. Aside from that this timeline is very interesting. I would never have imagined the possibility of a trotskyst vietnam before you mentioned it in the other discussion thread. Gladly follow you to see where this story takes us.

A Mini- Update on Sri Lanka

In February 4, 1948, The "Dominion of Ceylon" gained "independence", while in practice it continued to be dominated by the British. The higher posts of the Ceylonese Army and Navy continued to be dominated by British officers.

In the general elections the right wing UNP won amongst wide- spread allegations of voter fraud by the British. On of its first actions was to pass the "Ceylon Citizenship Act", which practically disenfranchised the Indian Tamils (the Tamils who emigrated from India in the last decades), most of whom voted to the left, especially to the dominant party of the left, the Trotskyist "Lanka Sama Samaja Party".

In response, the "Lanka Sama Samaja Party", led by N. M. Perera, called a general strike and halted the country. After the British dominated Army shot peaceful demonstrators in Colombo, Ceylon's capital, the country descended into chaos. In August 20 the "Lanka Sama Samaja Party" was in complete control of the capital. After a few months the fighting was over across the country, the British Army an Navy thrown out, and the "Soviet Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka" became the second country to have a Trotskyist Revolution.

Flag of the Sri Lanka SSR: