On Wed, Jan 21, 2026 at 04:20 AM, hari kumar wrote:
>
> I must assume that you are referring somehow to the incident known as the
> 'Duclos letter". Am I correct? I am a little unclear of the relationship
> of this incident to Trotsky - since Trotsky's death was in August 1940... let
> me know if I have not in fact, addressed your question.
Hi Hari.
You have addressed it somewhat tangentially.
I didn’t mention the Duclos letter but it's also relevant to the discussion.
His letter disavowing Browder reflected the collapse of the Popular Front
policy in the immediate aftermath of WW II. Browder had downgraded the CP from
a party to a less threatening “political association” as a further conciliatory
gesture to the New Deal Democrats shortly after the 1943 Teheran Declaration by
Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt that an era of enduring peaceful coexistance
had begun and “w e leave here, friends in fact, in spirit, and in purpose.”
Browder could not have taken this action on behalf of the CPUSA without
Stalin’s approval. It was only after the Western allies immediately turned on
the Soviets and began the Cold War that Browder became the scapegoat for
promoting what was described as an illusory policy of.class harmony and
coexistence with capitalism.
My question to you was whether you would have supported Stalin’s Popular Front
policy from 1934-45. It was in response to your statement “a s M&E always said
- be open about your independence. Meaning - your communism”. I interpreted it
to be more in line with the discredited Third Period policy abandoned by the
Comintern in 1934. I suggested that the turn away from the Third Period policy
was a recognition that rather than being independent and open about their
communism, "CP militants necessarily had to be more circumspect about their
affiliation to avoid state repression and political estrangement from the the
mass of activists seeking reform rather than revolution in the unions and other
social movements. ” My mention of Trotsky was in reference to his sharp
criticism of the Popular Front. He and his supporters considered that the
interwar period was still revolutionary and that the Popular Front was a
capitulation to the “progressive” liberal and social democratic bourgeoisie.
Hence, my question to you of whether you would at the time have echoed
Trotsky's criticisms of Stalin.
My own view is this is a tactical rather than a principled question based on
your estimation of the historical period. " Outside of a revolutionary period,
it's more likely IMO to distance rather than attract even the most advanced
workers. At best, it will leave them indifferent. It is more a matter of
educating individual activists with whom you come in contact through common
struggle than appearing to promote a split ("independence") in an open forum
where most members, even those seeking its reform, still retain confidence in
their organization.”
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