Celebrating 50 Years of World Revolution
International Viewpoint1980sPaul LawsonTranscribed or corrected by hand from the printed page.
Celebrating 50 years of world revolution
by Paul LAWSON
'I never doubted that only the Fourth International could win the full socialist democracy that we fight for', said Charlie van Gelderen to the 150 people who came to pay tribute to him at a party last Sunday.
The party was paying tribute not only to Charlie's 50 years of activity in the Trotskyist movement, but to the other founders of the movement in Britain.
Many of these pioneers were recalled in a fighting speech by Harry Wicks, 78-year old veteran of British Trotskyism. Harry paid particular tribute to Starkey Jackson, secretary of the Trotskyist movement in the 1930s, tragically killed in the 2nd World War.
Harry also explained the role that Charlie van Gelderen had played in the struggle of the Trotskyists in the Labour youth organisation before the war.
Most of all, Harry Wicks paid tribute to Charlie's unceasing activity in fighting for Trotskyist ideas in the broad labour movement....
Hosted by Pam Singer and Stella Coyle with songs from Alan Freeman and Chris Gutherie, the participants followed the course of revolutionary struggle over fifty years.
Bringing greetings from the United Secretariat of the Fourth International, Livio Maitan explained how isolated the Trotskyists were in the early days. He recalled speaking at an Italian Communist Party meeting as a young man. 'But', said the workers there, 'if what you say is right, then Togliatti is wrong.' And even more decisively: 'and Stalin must be wrong'! When he said yes, all the workers thought he was crazy.
Steve Potter, national secretary of the IMG, spoke of Charlie's role in helping to build the Trotskyist movement in Italy and South Africa as well as in Britain. As a young serviceman during the war, Charlie helped to organise the first Trotskyist group in Italy, and still possesses his membership card—member number one of the Italian Trotskyist movement.
Charlie himself said that the Trotskyist perspective of revolution had been fulfilled—the past fifty years had seen revolutions all over the world. Some people argued that your revolutionary fervour declined with the years, he said, but his hadn't. 'So don't betray, don't give up the fight' was his message.
Nonetheless, he expressed his pleasure at the founding of Revolution Youth. 'It is on your shoulders', he said to the young comrades present 'that the struggle will be carried forward.'
(From Socialist Challenge.)