[Book] Ted Grant Writings: Volume One Index [Book] Ted Grant Writings: Volume One Preface Introduction Introduction to 'Pre-war period' Lessons of Spain Contribution by WIL to the discussion on the tasks of Bolshevik-Leninists in Britain Statement of WIL to the international congress of the Fourth International Against 'national defence' The robbers quarrel over Tientsin Workers want peace - bosses prepare for war! Down with the war! Introduction to 'Imperialist slaughter' Our war is the class war Not for imperialist slaughter How to win the class war No peace without socialism The workers' war is the class war! Workers must be armed against capitalism Introduction to 'The internal debate of WIL on revolutionary military policy' Arm the workers! Invasion: arm the workers! The interpretation of the EC majority A step towards capitulation Military policy - or confusion Introduction to 'A turning point: the attack on the USSR' Defend the Soviet Union - Fascism can only be defeated by international socialism An analysis of the social basis of the Soviet Union - and why we defend it Daily Herald - A public statement, not a private admission The next steps forward - Towards the rank and file of the Communist Party Why USSR is suffering reverses - Internationalism has been abandoned Statement on policy and perspectives A challenge to the Communist Party ILP and the Stalinist slander Stalin threatens new turn An open letter to ILP national conference Labour leaders hold workers back British refuse arms to Indians The road to India's freedom Labour lefts rehearsed debate with Tories! An open letter to the Yorkshire Miners' Association Right wing Tories fear our programme New allies of Communist Party The ILP - A ship without a compass Wainwright and Doriot: birds of a feather Open letter to Yorkshire miners Wainwright blunders again on the Chinese revolution Introduction to 'WIL's pre-conference documents and updates' Preparing for power Resolution on military policy WIL pre-conference appeal to the International Secretariat of the Fourth International Constitution of WIL (1942) Report of pre-conference, August 1942 Perspectives and tasks Report on ILP work to the International Secretariat Clear out Hitler's agents! Factory workers: be on your guard Thesis of Indian Fourth Internationalists All Pages Publications World War II Fourth International & Trotskyism World War II Page 4 of 57IntroductionThe Workers’ International League was founded at the end of 1937 in the middle of the preparations for the Second World War. Through the publications of the WIL we can see how this group of young comrades were preparing for the imminent war without making any concessions to pacifist or ambiguous positions. Their characterisation of the war as an imperialist war gave them the theoretical basis to resist the pressure of petty-bourgeois pacifism which was dominant in the ILP at that time. It also put them firmly against the CP’s “peace on Hitler’s terms”, then the complete somersault of a war of “democracy against fascism”.The WIL, from its inception, stood out for its active agitation and propaganda, and for the efficient organisation that allowed them to produce two monthly publications, The Searchlight, then Youth For Socialism, the theoretical magazine Workers’ International News, and also many pamphlets. The WIL became the main voice of British Trotskyism and it is thanks to this small organisation that the most advanced British workers had the possibility of reading and debating the ideas put forward by Trotsky—a task that the then bigger Revolutionary Socialist League was never able to accomplish.The documents of this section give a reduced sample of the ideological battle for the political rearmament of the movement that was taking place in such difficult conditions. We have decided to include the document produced by the WIL political bureau for the June 1938 “unification” conference of Trotskyist groups. Suffice to say that the principled position of the WIL was soon vindicated by the continuous crises of the RSL provoked by the hasty fusion of groups without a real political agreement. On these grounds, although standing as an independent organisation outside of the official section, the WIL appealed for membership to the founding congress of the Fourth International.Ted Grant’s lead articles for Youth For Socialism provide the theoretical grounds for the future evolution of the WIL and the adoption of Trotsky’s military policy. Prev Next