Writings of Leon Trotsky

1933-1934 1934-1935 1935-1936 1937-1938 1938-1939 1939-1940 These extremely vital writings by Leon Trotsky between the 1929 and 1940—his third and final exile from the Soviet Union-are now available in Britain from the Paperbacks Centre Union. PAPERBACKS CENTRE 28 Charlotte St C £1.43 £1.43 £1.25 £1.25 £1.25 £1.05 London W1 Writings of eat Tomy (1938-9) Leon Trotsky LIRIT OTSHY (see advert below)

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TRUMAN'S WAR & Workars Proze, Mond danuary 8, 1973 The "Truman • Doctrine' enunciated in March 1947 that 'it must be the policy of the United States of America to support free peoples who are resisting , attempted subjugation by armed minorities, or by outside pressure' , originally meant pouring in aid to the ruling classes of Greece and Turkey.

That same month Congress authorized the appropriation of $400m for aid to Greece and Turkey up to June 1948.

But capitalism was in danger of collapse throughout Europe. To preserve it required both economic aid (in the form of the Marshall Plan, discussed in last week's article) and military aid.

The idea of a . western military alliance had been mooted in 1946 by Winston Churchill and the Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs, Louis St Laurent.

In January 1948, a similar proposal was put forward by the Foreign Secretary in the British Labour government, Ernest Bevin.

On March 4, 1948 a military alliance of Britain, Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands was formed by the 'Brussels Treaty'. From July on the meetings of this alliance were attended by United States and Canadian representatives-for the very good reason that the member countries could not finance the military outlay involved.

On April 28, 1948, the idea of a single military alliance between western Europe, Canada and the United States was put forward in the Canadian House of Commons by Louis St Laurent.

It was immediately warmly welcomed in the British parliament by Ernest Bevin.

The outcome of all this was the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, set up by the North Atlantic Treaty of April 4, 1949. Its original members were the 'Brussels Treaty' countries plus the United States, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Norway and PoxThose other two freedomloving countries, Greece and Turkey, joined in September 1951. West Germany was recruited in May 1955, when NATO decided on a 'forward defensive policy'—i.e. that any war should be fought as far east as possible.

Immediately on the formation of NATO, the Truman administration authorized it to spend over a billion dollars on arms and military equipment. Military aid was also given to Iran., The first shipment of American arms reached Europe in April 1950. Britain and France undertook to rearm and General Eisenhower was appointed Supreme Commander of NATO forces.

But although, thanks to the collaboration of the Stalinists and the social democrats, things were going Truman's way in Europe, life was much more difficult in Asia.

The biggest blow was the final defeat of Chiang Kai-shek in China in 1948. This pill was all the more bitter to swallow since Stalin had done his best. ever since the Potsdam conference of 1945 to prop up the Chinese dictator and to persuade the Mao Tse-tung forces to accept his rule.

Prior to the loss of China, the United States had deliberately reduced the Japanese economy to the level of 19301934. This policy was now reversed and Japan deliberately built up as a powerful industrial force and military base.

The test of whether American imperialism could dominate the east as it dominated Europe was to come with the outbreak of the Korean war.

The attitude of Marxists to any armed conflict between states is not based on speculation as to who did or did not fire the first shot, but on the class nature of the states involved.

Accordingly, when the Korean war broke out on June 25, 1950—and when China entered the war later-Trotskyists unhesitatingly . supported the north and China against the imperialist puppet regime in the south and the imperialist United Nations forces.

The Korean war was central to the split between Trotskyism and the state capitalist (later, International Socialists) group of Mr Tony Cliff. The Cliff organization maintained from the start that there was no fundamental difference between China and the United States, nor between North Korea and the Syngman Rhee police regime of South Korea.

They refused support for victory to China and the north saying that this would be no better and no worse than a victory for the United States.

The origin of the war is important, however, from the point of view of understanding the interests of imperialism in such a war. There can be no doubt that it was extremely convenient for the American leaders.

Certainly, the story put out at the time that the south had been the victim of a totally unprovoked and unexpected attack from the north just does not stand up to investigation.

A United Nations Commission report issued on September 14 revealed that the possibility of war had been discussed between the Commission and the South Korean government in January 1950 and then again in February and May.

Syngman Rhee had appealed for more combat planes in May and Brigadier-General William L. Roberts, head. of the American Military Mission to South Korea, had also urged that more American airpower be supplied.

Rhee had a right to be hopeful that his wishes would be met. At the Seoul ceremony which established his regime in August 1948, General Douglas MacArthur had proclaimed: 'An artificial barrier has divided your land. This barrier must and will be torn down' (My emphasis.)

Rhee was also aware in May 1950 that top level British, American and Australian military authorities were holding conferences in the Pacific area. Left: US Marines under shellfire in Korea. Inset: General MacArthur, head of the American occupation forces in Japan and later Commander-in-Chief of United Nations forces in Korea.

These involved General MacArthur, head of the American occupation forces in Japan, General Omar Bradley, head of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, and US Secretary of Defence Louis Johnson.

Statements made by John Foster Dulles, chief Republican can advisor to the US Secretary of State, a matter of days before fighting broke out, are also highly significant.

This virulent anti-communist witch-hunter-who in 1939 had declared that talk of fascism launching world war was 'hysteria and who eatedly called during the wat or a settlement with the Axis powers-was appointed year after year by President Truman to membership of the various American delegations to the United Nations General Assembly.

It was he who perfected the manoeuvre which enabled the Americans to avoid the Soviet veto in the Security Council in order to get fiction of "legality' for their aggression in Korea.

On June 21-four days before war broke out- -Dulles told reporters that he expected positive' results from his Tokyo meeting with MacArthur.

At that meeting he declared: 'Our material might was exemplified by the atomic bomb, our moral might is exemplified by General MacArthur?

Next day, according to Associated Press, he predicted positive action' by the United States in south-east Asia.

Three days later, the war was on. The United States needed the lie about an expected attack to give some legality to the war and also to railroad the other western powers into involvement in it.

Perhaps it was just convenient that ships were ready and waiting to evacuate the families of the 500 American officers and 700 civilian technicians already in South Korea before the war began.

The conflict was, without a doubt, not a day too soon for the imperialists. In May 90 per cent of the electorate had voted in the South Korean elections. The main issue was the brutality of Syngman Rhee's police and, despite the latter's goon squads, his part secured only 45 out of the 210 seats.

The north was mounting an intensified increasingly effective campaign urging the people of the south to throw Rhee and unify with the north.

In Japan anti-American demonstrations and rallies were so popular they had to be anned by MacArthur and it he June 4 elections the right wing, pro-American Liberal Party saw its share of the vote drop from 45 to 36 per cent. The Socialist Party, which was opposed to the American base in Japan, emerged as the sec. ond largest party.

So, the outbreak of war: 1. Gave Chiang Kai-shek's supporters the opportunity to carry through an American pledge to defend Formosa from any attack from the Chinese mainland 2. Shelved the question of Japan andeace treaty with put off the withdrawal of occupation troops and the abandonment of American bases there. 3. Gave Syngman Rhee a sudden "respectability' and the support of the United States and the United Nations at the very moment when his hold on South Korea seemed to be ending.

The war also lifted US arms production from $13 billion a year in 1950 to $60 billion a year by 1953.

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