French Trotskyism 1927
Source: Contre le Courant, December 2, 1927 (organ of the Communist Opposition);
Translated: for marxists.org by Mitchell Abidor;
CopyLeft: Creative Commons (Attribute & ShareAlike) marxists.org 2010.
The following telegram was sent on December 1, 1927 to the 15th Congress of the Russian party. All comrades who want to associate themselves with this final appeal for unity are requested to send their name as soon as possible to one of the signatories of the telegram.
To the 15th Congress of the R.C.P. Kremlin Moscow
(Copy to Trotsky and Zinoviev)
At a moment when the threats of aggression against the Soviet Union are accumulating, when the Bolshevik unity of the Russian party is more necessary than ever, the struggle within the party is becoming increasingly relentless. Mass expulsions, the imprisonment of communists; violence is substituted for discussion in the ranks of the party.
In neither the USSR nor the International do the communist masses know the true point of view of the Opposition. The party base is thus unaware of the imminent peril of a split prepared by Stalin.
Whatever reservations we might have concerning the abnormal conditions under which the 15th Congress is being held we, members of the French party, most of us former members of the Committee of the Third International and founders of the party, in this serious hour we address a final appeal for unity to the Congress.
This is why we demand the admission of the Opposition to defend its point of view before the Congress, to establish a true democratic centralist regime in the party, and to reintegrate the Oppositionists into the party.
All sincere revolutionaries who understand the pressing need for unity in the party of Lenin will join in our appeal.
In refusing to hear our appeal the Congress will head itself towards a split for which it will bear the total and crushing responsibility.
We implore the 15th Congress not to take on this responsibility.
Henri Barré, Eugénie Barré, Béors, Berthier, Briard, Cadeau, Calzan, Lucie Colliard, Maria Cotton, Deglise, Delfosse, Delsol, Dionnet, Dubois, Engler, Gaston Faussecave, Marguerite Faussecave, Suzanne Girault, Germaine Goujon, Hasfeld, Lautard, Liliane Levy, Malterrre, Magdeleine Marx, Maurice Paz, Roy, Sallas, Sauvage, Albert Treint, Léon Girault