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Class, Party, and, State and The Eastern European Revolution
Evolution or Discussion on Eastern European States, 1946-1951
Introductory Note
The Yugoslav Revolution, the occupation of East Europe by the Soviet armed forces, and the profound social, economic and political changes in that area following the Second World War presented some complex theoretical problems that challenged the capacities of Marxists for explanation. It required a prolonged and probing examination of the novel features of the shifting situation before clarification was achieved and a correct line worked out.
All the materials in this compilation, with the exception of the article by Tom Kerry, have been taken from the discussion in the Socialist Workers Party and in the Fourth International which took place around the question of the sociological nature of Yugoslavia and the countries of the “buffer zone” between the capitalist West and the Soviet Union. These varied contributions provide a profile, of the different viewpoints in this controversy that eventually led to adopting the position that these countries: should be designated as “deformed workers states.”
The first article, “The Wohlforth Way: A Methodological Mutation!” by Tom Kerry, is reprinted here by way of introduction. This article was written in 1963 as part of a polemic ‘against a small minority grouping in the Socialist Workers Party led by Tim Wohlforth (this group was soon to leave the SWP and form what was to become the “Workers League”). We have included this article for its concise summary of the evolution of the discussion on Eastern Europe within the Socialist Workers Party and the Fourth International.
November 1969
Contents
The Wohlforth Way: A Methodological Mutation By Tom Kerry [Reprinted from SWP Discussion-Bulletin Vol. 24, No. 17, May 1963]
The Evolution Of The Buffer Countries (Resolution of the Seventh Plenum of the International Executive. Committee of the Fourth International, April 1949) [Reprinted from International Information Bulletin, June 1949]
Remarks By M. Stein Opening Political Committee Discussion On International Executive Committee Resolution On Eastern Europe (Political Committee Meeting, July 12, 1949) [Reprinted from SWP Internal Bulletin Vol. XI, No. 5, October 1949]
The Problem Of Eastern Europe By Joseph Hansen [Reprinted from SWP Internal Bulletin Vol. XII, No. 2, February 1950]
The Kremlin’s Satellite States In Eastern Europe; Yugoslavia, Marxist Theory And Our Perspectives By E. R. Frank (Bert Cochran) [Reprinted from SWP Discussion Bulletin No. 1, April 1950]
Evolution Of Eastern Europe By Pierre Frank (Report to the Third World Congress of the Fourth International, 1951) [Reprinted from Fourth International November-December 1951]
Class Nature Of Eastern Europe (Resolution of the Third World Congress of the Fourth International, 1951) Reprinted from Fourth International November-December 1951]
The Yugoslav Revolution (Resolution of the Third World Congress of the Fourth International, 1951) [Reprinted from Fourth International November-December 1951]