Fourth International

Fourth International
Четвёртый Интернационал · Public domain · source
Name	Fourth International
Native name	Quatrième Internationale
Founded	1938
Founder	Leon Trotsky
Headquarters	Paris, France (historic)
Ideology	Trotskyism, Marxism–Leninism (critique), International socialism
Position	Far-left
Predecessors	Communist International
Key people	James P. Cannon, Lev Sedov, Ernest Mandel

Fourth International.

The Fourth International was an international organization founded in 1938 by Leon Trotsky and associates as a revolutionary socialist alternative to the Communist International dominated by Joseph Stalin and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. It sought to coordinate Trotskyist parties and tendencies across Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa during the crises of the late 1930s and the Second World War, promoting permanent revolution and opposing both fascism and Stalinism. The International experienced early postwar growth, repeated factional disputes, and multiple schisms that produced rival internationals and national parties active into the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

History

The origins trace to the exile network of Leon Trotsky in Coyoacán, contacts with militants displaced by the Spanish Civil War and activists expelled from the Communist Party USA, culminating in the 1938 founding congress in Paris that involved representatives from France, Argentina, United Kingdom, United States, Belgium, and Sweden. During the Second World War the International adapted to clandestine work as member groups confronted occupation in Nazi Germany, collaborationist regimes in Vichy France, and counterrevolutionary forces in Argentina. Postwar reconstruction intersected with the emergence of the Cold War and decolonization movements in India, Algeria, and Vietnam, prompting debates with figures from the Socialist International and the Communist Party of Great Britain. Major turning points included the 1940s leadership disruptions after the deaths of Lev Sedov and others, the 1953 death of Joseph Stalin which reshaped global politics, and the late 1960s upsurge tied to the May 1968 events in Paris and the Vietnam War. Recurrent splits produced rival internationals such as the remnants organized around the Revolutionary Communist League (France) and the International Marxist Tendency.

Organization and Structure

Early structure featured a World Secretariat, a World Congress, and national sections; key organs operated from exile hubs in Mexico City, Paris, and later London. The International's formal bodies included the Executive Bureau, the International Secretariat, and a press apparatus producing periodicals like The Militant and International Socialist Review. Decision-making combined central commissions and national delegates representing parties in Argentina, United States, South Africa, India, and Australia. Finances relied on contributions from sections, fundraising campaigns among trade union members in United Kingdom and United States, and donations from sympathizers connected to intellectuals affiliated with New Left circles and university-based networks at institutions such as Columbia University and London School of Economics. Parallel networks coordinated clandestine cells during the Spanish Civil War and occupations.

Ideology and Program

The International advanced a Trotskyist program centered on permanent revolution, international proletarian revolution, and opposition to the theory of socialism in one country associated with Joseph Stalin. It critiqued the bureaucratic leadership of the Soviet Union under Stalin and defended political revolution in workers' states while supporting revolutionary movements in China and anti-colonial struggles in Algeria and Vietnam. Policy documents debated alliances with social-democratic formations such as the British Labour Party, positions on united-front tactics with the Communist Party of Great Britain, and analyses of imperialism referencing Vladimir Lenin's works. The International promulgated transitional program elements influencing pamphlets and manifestos circulated among activists in Spain, Chile, and Greece during periods of mass mobilization.

Factions and Splits

From the 1940s onward the International experienced recurring factionalism, producing prominent splits and rival organizations such as the International Committee of the Fourth International and the United Secretariat of the Fourth International which competed for legitimacy. Major disputes involved strategic differences with leaders including James P. Cannon, Ernest Mandel, Michel Pablo, and Max Shachtman over entryism, perspectives on the Soviet Union, and responses to the Korean War and the Algerian War of Independence. Schisms gave rise to national groupings like the Socialist Workers Party (United States), the Union of Communists (Russia), and the Workers Revolutionary Party (UK), as well as tendencies that later formed the International Socialist Tendency and the International Marxist Tendency. Legal battles, expulsions, and competing publications hardened divisions throughout the 1950s–1980s.

Activities and Influence

Sections and sympathizers participated in trade-union struggles in France and Argentina, anti-fascist resistance in occupied Europe, and anti-colonial campaigns in Algeria and Kenya. The International influenced student mobilizations during the May 1968 events, anti-war movements opposing the Vietnam War, and labor disputes such as the General Strike of 1968 in France. Its press and theoretical outputs reached intellectuals connected to New Left journals and informed debates at conferences involving representatives from Socialist International delegations and European Parliament critics. While never attaining mass electoral success comparable to social-democratic parties like French Socialist Party, its ideas shaped cadres within trade unions, radical student groups, and guerrilla formations in Latin America.

Notable Figures

- Leon Trotsky — founding theoretician and organizer linked to the Russian Revolution and the Red Army's early leadership. - James P. Cannon — leader of the Socialist Workers Party (United States) and key organizer in North America. - Ernest Mandel — influential theorist and leader in the United Secretariat of the Fourth International, active in Belgium and France. - Michel Pablo — strategist whose positions provoked major debates and splits; associated with Greek sections. - Max Shachtman — critic who led the Workers Party (United States) split and developed Third Camp socialism. - Lev Sedov — early organizer and Trotsky's son-in-law involved in wartime coordination. - C. L. R. James — thinker and activist who engaged with Trotskyist currents in Trinidad and Tobago and United Kingdom. - Ted Grant — founder of a tendency that influenced the Militant (Trotskyist) group in United Kingdom. - Nahuel Moreno — Latin American leader associated with Argentine Trotskyist movements. - Ruth Fischer — interwar communist figure who intersected with anti-Stalinist networks in Germany and France.

Category:Trotskyism