Marxism and Bolshevism

Today is the 67th anniversary of the death of Leon Trotsky. Together
with Lenin, Trotsky was one of the great Marxist theoreticians of the
20th century, who dedicated his life to the emancipation of the working
class. Not only did he work for the overthrow of capitalism, but also
for the overthrow of Stalinism, a monstrous totalitarian regime which
held the Russian working class in submission. As a consequence, Stalin
sought during the Purge Trials to murder the entire leadership of the
Bolshevik party, and ordered the assassination of Leon Trotsky. After
the failed attempt in May 1940, Stalins assassin eventually succeeded
in murdering Trotsky on the 20th of August in Mexico city. Today we
publish Natalya Sedov Trotskys original account of the assasination.

One year ago today the Marxist theoretician Ted Grant died after more than seventy years of political activity. His death marked the end of an era, but not the end of the struggle for the ideas he always defended.

This year is the 90th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. We celebrate this key anniversary by publishing an article on the need for young people and trade unionists to study theory. Theory, after all, is the generalised experience of past struggles. How better can we prepare for the future? By learning the lessons of the past.

It will come as a great shock to all comrades to
hear the tragic news of the premature death of comrade Phil Mitchinson, the
deputy editor of the Marxist journal Socialist
Appeal and leading member of the International Marxist Tendency.
Regrettably Phil suffered a severe heart attack late last night, was rushed to
hospital, but staff were unable to save him. He was 38 years of age.

Here we provide a four minute speech by Ted Grant in which he expressed
the confidence that by basing ourselves on the fundamental ideas of
Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky we can build a powerful international
Marxist movement. There can be no greater task than this. You can watch
the video here, here or here.

Ted Grant – the founder of Socialist Appeal and the International Marxist Tendency – dedicated his entire life to defending genuine Marxist ideas and fighting for revolution. In this obituary, Alan Woods remembers Ted Grant as a theoretician, a revolutionary, a comrade, and a friend.