We are publishing here two articles by Trotsky putting the socialist case against terrorism, which are still relevant today, with an introduction, The False Methods of Terrorism, by Peter Taaffe, written following 9/11 – the September 11 suicide attacks on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Building in the USA in 2001. (From The Socialist, 5 October, 2001).
Why Marxists Oppose Individual Terrorism, by Leon Trotsky, first appeared in Der Kampf (“Struggle”), the theoretical monthly of the Austrian Social Democratic Party, which at that time claimed to base itself on Marxism.
The second article, The Bankruptcy of Terrorism, also by Leon Trotsky, first appeared in the Polish social democratic paper, “Przeglad Socyaldemokratylczny”, in May 1909.
In addition we publish an excerpt from “Marxism Opposes Individual Terrorism” by Peter Taaffe, which relates the fundamental ideas dealt with in Trotsky’s articles to the rise of terrorism in the 1970’s, and was first printed in the British “Militant,” paper of the Militant tendency, the forerunner of the Socialist Party, in November 1975.
Finally, as bonus material, we append two articles written in 2000 about the life of Trotsky, and recommend some classics of Trotskyism:
Trotsky’s relevance today, by Peter Taaffe
The Assassination of Trotsky, by Lynn Walsh
The Class, The Party and the Leadership, by Leon Trotsky
The Rise and Fall of the Communist International
A final recommendation is to Trotsky’s Permanent Revolution, which is available on the marxists.org website.
You can follow the “Next article” links at the bottom of the page, to page through this material.
Socialist Party members are always available to discuss any questions you may have about these pamphlets. Why not contact us, or email us for an informal discussion, or ring the Socialist Party on 020 8988 8777
