French Turn - Citizendia

The French Turn was the name given to the entry between 1934 and 1936 of the French Trotskyists into the Section Française de l'International Ouvrière (SFIO, the contemporary name of the French Socialist Party). Entryism (or entrism or enterism) is a political tactic by which an organisation encourages members to infiltrate another organisation in an attempt to gain recruits Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. The Socialist Party ( Parti Socialiste, PS is the largest left-wing political party in France. The French Turn was repeated by Trotskyists in other countries during the 1930s. The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression.

1 In France
2 In other countries
3 Consequences
4 See also
5 Further reading

In France

The idea of the French Turn originated after the 6 February 1934 riots around the Stavisky Affair in 1934, which led to the downfall of the Daladier government. The 6 February 1934 crisis refers to an Anti-parliamentarist demonstration organised in Paris by Far-right leagues (antiparliamentarian The Stavisky Affair was a 1934 financial scandal generated by the actions of embezzler Alexandre Stavisky. Édouard Daladier (18 June 1884 - 10 October 1970 was a French Radical politician and Prime Minister of France at the start of the Second World Fearing that fascists would seize power like they had in Germany and Italy, the Socialist Party (SFIO) and French Communist Party (PCF) formed a "United Front. Fascism is a totalitarian nationalist and corporatist ideology Article 48 was an article in the constitution of the Weimar Republic of Germany ( 1919 &ndash 1933) that allowed the Chancellor to rule The March on Rome ( Marcia su Roma) was a Coup d'état by which Mussolini 's National Fascist Party ( Partito Nazionale Fascista The French Communist Party ( French: Parti communiste français or PCF) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of "

The Communist League, the French section of the International Left Opposition, remained at this time a small and predominantly middle-class organization. Left communism and the Left Opposition are distinct Left communism should not be confused with the Trotskyist tendency described below The middle class, in colloquial usage consists of those who have some economic independence but not a great deal of social Influence or power. Leon Trotsky saw a great opportunity in the United Front for an expansion of the Trotskyists' ranks. Leon Trotsky ( Russian:, Lev Davidovich Trotsky, also transliterated Leo, Lyev, Trotskii, Trotski, Trotskij While he saw no possibility of re-entering the Communist Party because of its lack of internal democracy, he believed that the Trotskyists could build a base in the SFIO, which had moved to the left under the leadership of Léon Blum. André Léon Blum (9 April 1872 30 March 1950 was a French politician usually identified with the moderate left and three times the Prime Minister of France. Trotsky formally proposed the "French Turn" into the SFIO in June of 1934.

The Communist League's leaders were divided over the issue of entering the SFIO. While Raymond Molinier was the most supportive of Trotsky's proposal, Pierre Naville vocally opposed the motion, and Pierre Frank remained ambivalent. Raymond Molinier (1904-1994 was a leader of the Trotskyist movement in France prior to World War II. Pierre Naville ( Paris, 1904 — Paris, 1993 was a French Writer and Sociologist. Pierre Frank (born 24 October 1905, Paris – died 18 April 1984, Paris) was a French After two months of formal discussion, the League voted to dissolve into the SFIO in August 1934. In the Socialist Party, they formed the Bolshevik-Leninist Group (Groupe Bolchevik-Leniniste, GBL). Naville split from the group. ^[1]

Upon entering the SFIO, the GBL began to build a base among the party's left wing. The Trotskyists' influence was strongest in the youth affiliate, Young Socialists, and the Parisian party brances. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city At the Mulhouse party congress of June 1935, the Trotskyists led a campaign to prevent the United Front from expanding into a "Popular Front," which would include the middle-class Radical Party. Mulhouse (Mulhouse myluz Alsatian: Milhüsa or Milhüse, pronounced; Mülhausen i A party congress is a general conference of a Political party. Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A popular front is a broad Coalition of different political groupings often made up of leftists and centrists who are united by opposition to another group The Radical Party ( Parti Radical, Rad also known as Parti radical valoisien) is a liberal and centrist political party in France Jean Rous of the GBL was elected to the SFIO's National Administrative Committee.

After the adoption of the Popular Front, Trotsky advised the GBL to break with the SFIO and begin forming a new revolutionary party. This created fresh divisions within the GBL's leadership. While Naville supported a split, Molinier hoped to develop connections with Marceau Pivert, one of the primary leaders of the SFIO's left wing. Marceau Pivert (1895&mdash1958 was a French schoolteacher Trade unionist Socialist militant and journalist This led to a confused and awkward departure by the Trotskyists from the Socialist Party in early 1936, which drew only about six hundred people from the party. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Molinier and Naville formed two separate parties, and their divisions were reinforced over how to relate to Pivert's new party, the Workers and Peasants Socialist Party (PSOP). The Workers and Peasants' Socialist Party ( Parti socialiste ouvrier et paysan, PSOP) was an ephemeral socialist organisation in France, formed

The French Trotskyists were dispersed when World War II began, but in 1944 they re-unified into the Internationalist Communist Party (PCI). World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Internationalist Communist Party ( French: Parti Communiste Internationaliste, PCI was a Trotskyist Political party in France.

In other countries

In other countries, the French Turn was repeated by Trotsky's other followers:

In the United States, the Workers Party of the United States entered the Socialist Party of America in 1936. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A number of parties have gone by differing versions of the name "Workers Party" The Socialist Party of America (SPA was a socialist Political party in the United States. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. They formed a faction around the newspaper Socialist Appeal. They drew their strongest support among members of the Young People's Socialist League, the SP's youth affiliate. Young People's Socialist League ( YPSL) is a democratic socialist youth group originally affiliated with the Socialist Party of America. The Trotskyists and their supporters were expelled from the SP in 1937 and in 1938 formed a new party, the Socialist Workers Party. Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Socialist Workers Party, or SWP, is a Communist Political party in the United States.

Factions of Trotsky's followers in Great Britain, who were organized as the Communist League in 1932, entered the Independent Labour Party and the Labour Party in subsequent years. See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands The Communist League was the first Trotskyist group in Britain. Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. See Independent Labor Party for the Political party in Burundi, Independent Labour Group for the Irish party and Labour candidates The Labour Party is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the They emerged from these parties in 1944 to form the Revolutionary Communist Party. Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Revolutionary Communist Party was a British Trotskyist Political party, formed in 1944 and active until 1949 and publishing the Socialist Appeal

Consequences

The French Turn remained a lasting issue of debate between Trotsky's often-divided followers after World War II. Some believed that the French Turn was a success, and they promoted the idea that entryism should be continued. Entryism (or entrism or enterism) is a political tactic by which an organisation encourages members to infiltrate another organisation in an attempt to gain recruits The main advocates of this view in the 1950s and 1960s were Michel Pablo, secretary of the International Secretariat of the Fourth International, and Gerry Healy, secretary of the International Committee of the Fourth International, which both supported entrism. The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 Michel Pablo ( Greek: Μισέλ Πάμπλο; August 24, 1911 - February 17 1996) was the pseudonym of Michalis The Fourth International ( FI) is a communist international organisation working in opposition to both Capitalism and Stalinism. Thomas Gerard Healy, known as Gerry Healy, ( December 3, 1913 - December 14, 1989) was a Trotskyist Activist. For the "International Committee of the Fourth International" that superseded the United Secretariat of the Fourth International in 2003 please see Reunified Pablo developed a special type of the turn which involved working underground in the Communist Parties: this was strongly opposed by the ICFI.

Others in the Trotskyist movement have who believed the French Turn to be either a failure or unprincipled and advocated the independence of Trotskyists from social-democratic and communist parties: Hugo Oehler developed this view at the time of the French Turn. Social democracy is a Political ideology of the left and centre-left Hugo Oehler (1903 - 1983 was an American Communist. Biography An active Trade unionist, Oehler joined the Communist Party USA The issue of entryism remains a point of contention among Trotskyists to this day.

Contents

In France

In other countries

Consequences

See also

Further reading