The Revolution Betrayed: a Marxist masterpiece
Continuing our commemoration marking the 75th anniversary of the death of Leon Trotsky, we publish here an introduction by Alan Woods to Trotsky’s masterpiece: the Revolution Betrayed.
Soviet Union
What is Stalinism?
The events of the Russian Revolution1917 are the greatest in all of human history. For the first time in history, the exploited masses fought back and won. And yet within 10 years, the Soviet Union had degenerated into a bureaucratic and totalitarian regime, with Stalin at its head. How did this process occur? And what is Stalinism?
Against the theory of state capitalism
In 1949, Ted Grant, founder of the Militant Tendency and Socialist Appeal, wrote a polemical response to Tony Cliff on the class nature of the Soviet Union, arguing against Cliff’s theory of “State Capitalism”. Ted’s response provides an in-depth Marxist analysis on a range of questions, from the transition from capitalism to socialism, to the key issues of the state and the nature of Stalinism.
The Rise and Fall of the Communist International
To celebrate this year’s centenary of Ted Grant, founder of the Militant Tendency and Socialist Appeal, we are re-publishing a series of Ted’s key writings. We begin with Ted’s pamphlet “The Rise and Fall of the Communist International”, which analyses the founding of the Third International and its decline under Stalin.
Seventy years since the Battle of Stalingrad – How the Soviet Union defeated the Nazis
Saturday 2nd February marked the 70th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, with the surrender of German troops, a key turning point in the Second World War and a shattering blow to Hitler. Alan Woods analyses this historic event and the way in which it shows the superiority of the planned economy.
The Moscow Trials: A lesson from history
The Moscow Trials, which lasted from 1936 to 1938 will go down as the greatest frame-up in history. Their aim was to liquidate the entire
remaining Bolshevik old guard and act as the means by which Stalin
could consolidate his power as head of the bureaucratic caste that ruled the Soviet Union. Seventy-five years on, Jim Brookshaw – a former member of the British Communist Party – looks back at what happened and asks: why?
The Fall of the Berlin Wall: 20 years on
Today we mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall by publishing an article from the current edition of Socialist Appeal which analyses why the events of 1989 have not had the outcome which the West expected. You can also download an audio file on the subject by clicking here .
Religion in the Soviet Union
This article analyses the relationship between the Soviet state and the Russian Orthodox Church. There was a clear dividing line between Lenin’s approach to this question and the zig-zag policy later adopted by Stalin. First published in Workers International News, October 1945.
The Rise and Fall of the Communist International
Founded after the Russian Revolution, the Third Communist International was a mighty force in the fight for world revolution. But under Stalin, it was transformed into a tool of the Soviet bureaucracy, and then abandoned altogether in 1943.