The collapse of the Fourth International – a reading guide Share TweetThe following is a reading list dealing with the key political mistakes made by the leadership of the Fourth International following the end of the Second World War and during the post-war period. The texts cover the key issues of the post-war period: the economic boom, the new international relationship of forces that had arisen from the war, the role of the Soviet Union, the nature of the new regimes in Eastern Europe and the colonial revolution. Taken together, they provide a thorough analysis of the entire epoch.As explained in the accompanying document – which will be discussed at the upcoming congress of the Revolutionary Communist International – at the end of the war, the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) in Britain, led by Ted Grant, found itself in opposition to the leadership of the Fourth International. This expressed itself in sharp differences on a number of different questions, including post-war economic perspectives, the question of Bonapartism and democracy, and the character of the new regimes that had emerged in Eastern Europe, in particular in Yugoslavia.The leadership of the Fourth ended up making one mistake after another, which destroyed the International that Trotsky had painstakingly built in the 1930s. Their political weakness led the leaders of the Fourth into one split after another. Through their antics, they succeeded in blackening the name of Trotsky and Trotskyism for generations. Ted Grant, on the other hand, through his application of the Marxist method, managed to understand and analyse the events as they unfolded. His writings, unlike those of the leaders of the Fourth, have stood the test of time. Today, they represent a treasure trove for those trying to understand the post-war period.Key historical texts Economic Perspectives - Proposed line of amendment to International Conference Resolution, Ted Grant and the RCP leadership, November 1946, 3,700 wordsAmendment to the Fourth International 1946 World Conference perspectives document, pointing out that a boom had begun in Europe. The Changed Relationship of Forces in Europe and the Role of the Fourth International, Ted Grant, 1945, 10,000 wordsOn ‘counter-revolution in democratic form’ and the role of Stalinism and Social Democracy in stabilising capitalism at the end of the war. Democracy or Bonapartism in Europe - A Reply to Pierre Frank, Ted Grant, 1946, 9,900 words A reply to Pierre Frank's argument that Europe had only had Bonapartist regimes since the 1930s. Stalinist land programme wins peasants – Chiang’s conscripts roped to prevent escape, Ted Grant, 1949.Ted Grant explains how Mao was winning the civil war in China, and how Stalin would have “a new Tito on his hands”. Open Letter to the British Section of the Fourth International, Ted Grant, 1950, 3,400 words. Written by Ted Grant after he had been expelled from the Fourth International, this document details the process by which the RCP was destroyed. Stalinism in the Postwar World, Ted Grant, 1951, 12,000 words.In this article, Ted Grant outlines the role that Stalinism played in both the West and the East after the war. Will There Be A Slump?, Ted Grant, 1960, 8,700 words. In this key document, Ted Grant outlines the reasons behind the post-war boom and why it would end. Programme of the International, Ted Grant, 1970, 20,800 words.This was the document to prepare the now rebuilt organisation for the setting up of a new international, the Committee for a Workers’ International. It explains the process that led up to the founding of the Fourth, including the history of the previous internationals. It reiterates the criticism of the leaders of the Fourth, in particular the Mandelites (from Ernest Mandel), on questions such as guerrillaism, studentism, Keynesianism and Stalinism. More recent key texts The origins of the collapse of the Fourth International – and the attempts of the British Trotskyists to avoid it, Fred Weston, 2004, 2,700 words The theoretical origins of the degeneration of the Fourth, interview with Ted Grant, 2005, 2,500 words. What the International Marxist Tendency really stands for – Reply to the Lambertists, Fred Weston and Alan Woods, 2006, 31,000 wordsA document which thoroughly deals with the ideas put forward by the Lambertists (Pierre Lambert), one of the trends which originated from the collapse of the Fourth International, in particular their continued refusal to recognise the development of the productive forces in the post-war period. Additional important material Behind the Stalin-Tito Clash - Yugoslavs too Independent, Ted Grant, 1948, 2,900 words. An explanation of the background and nature of the clash between Stalin and Tito. The Menace of Fascism, Ted Grant, 1948, 20,900 wordsA summary of the Marxist position on fascism in the 1920s and 1930s, as well as in the immediate post-war period. Reply to David James, Ted Grant, 1949, 7,500 wordsOn Stalinism and James’ claim that Mao was an “unconscious Trotskyist”. Against the Theory of State Capitalism - Reply to Comrade Cliff, Ted Grant, 1949, 23,000 words.A reply to Cliff's theory about -the Soviet Union- being ‘state capitalist’. Hungary and the Crisis in the Communist Party, Ted Grant, 1956, 2,600 words.On the political revolution against Stalinism in Hungary, 1956. The Colonial Revolution and the Deformed Workers’ States, Ted Grant, 1978, 11,800 words.On the revolutions in the colonial world (China, Cuba, Syria, Ethiopia, etc), and why they took on a deformed character. Audio/Video What is the International Marxist Tendency, Fred Weston, Revolution Festival 2023 The history of the IMT, Fred Weston, International Marxist University 2022 Key documents produced by the leadership of the Fourth International after Trotsky's death The European Revolution and the Tasks of the Revolutionary Party, US Socialist Workers' Party, 1944, 8,700 wordsCongress document of the US SWP, in which the party denied the possibility of a boom and argued that democracy had been “outlived”. The New Imperialist Peace and the Building of the Parties of the Fourth International, Fourth International, April 1946, 16,000 words.Pre-congress resolution by the leadership of the Fourth, to which the RCP refers in its amendment. From the ABC to Current Reading: Boom, Revival or Crisis?, Mandel, 1947, 3,700 words.Ernest Mandel's criticism of the British section's congress document, where he denies the possibility of any boom.