The Struggle Against Fascism in Germany
[1] In June 1928, the Comintern had decided that the "decay" of capitalism had entered into a "third period" and this would result in an escalation of class conflict and consequently opposition to the social democratic parties.
[4] Socialist construction in the U.S.S.R., the course of the Spanish revolution, the development of the pre-revolutionary situation in England, the future of French imperialism, the fate of the revolutionary movement in China and India - all this directly and immediately rests upon the question of who will be victorious in Germany...Communism or Fascism?
In March 1930, before the crucial German elections, he had issued an "Open Letter" to the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) about the increasing threat of fascism across Europe and the exigent need for a joint Socialist-Communist action.
[2] According to Russian historian, Sergei Kudriashov, Trotsky believed this was evident through the purges of the Old Bolsheviks, military commanders and transfer of material supplies to Germany with the Soviet-German pact.
[2] In his view, the Stalinist bureaucracy was compelled to enact some progressive measures to preserve its position in a worker's state whereas fascism was premised on the maintenance of private property.
[1] The defining element in Trotsky's theoretical framework was that the fascist government sought the liquidation of the proletariat as a social force and this was a primary motive for all totalitarian measures including homogeneity, racism, nationalism and cultural regimentation.
[3] He then continued to deliver strong criticism of German Communist leader Ernst Thälmann, the vacillating strategy of the Comintern over "national communism" and their support for the Nazi referendum "Red Plebiscite".
[2] He cited his correct forecast of the Soviet-German pact, shared economic agreement, the shifting position of the Comintern, Stalin's policy towards Eastern Europe and the inevitability of war between Germany and the USSR.
[5][3][10] On the other hand, political scientist Baruch Knez-Paz retained some criticism that Trotsky's analysis was derivative of the Marxist theoretical framework and hence limited by an "exaggerated imposition" of this approach towards the German context.
