1934 – 1974 – 2024 90 Years OKDE

THE FORMATION OF THE TROTSKYIST MOVEMENT AND OKDE’S STRUGGLE IN METAPOLITEFSI[1]

We fight:

for a Revolutionary Left
for the reconstruction of the 4th International

2 days of Events – Athens Law School

Saturday 12/10, 19:00: Screening – Musical evening

Sunday 13/10, 10:00: “The contribution of Trotskyism to the labor movement”

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Organization of Internationalist Communists of Greece (OKDE) and the establishment of the Trotskyist movement in Greece. During these nine decades, the militants of OKDE have not missed any of the small and large struggles of the labor movement, being the oldest and most historic organization of the Revolutionary Left in Greece.

1920 – 1940: OKDE, the guardian of revolutionary Marxism in Greece

The roots of Greek Trotskyism can be found in the 1920s, within SEKE (Socialist Labor Party of Greece – precursor of the KKE – Communist Party of Greece), in the revolutionary trend (P. Pouliopoulos, P. Giatsopoulos, S. Maximos, G. Nikolis etc.) which fought from the first moment for the formation of a revolutionary party. In 1924 the “Bolshevic-zation” congress took place and SEKE was renamed as KKE and joined the 3rd International.

Despite this effort, it wouldn’t take long for the Stalinist degeneration of USSR (Soviet Union) to bring about its consequences to the KKE. In 1927 the members of the left opposition got removed from the party and the Stalinist leadership unfolded uncontrollably its reformist – counter-revolutionary politics (tactics of the “Left Democracy”, theories of socialfascism, the “Two-stage theory” etc.) which was irreversibly completed with the 6^th plenary of the CP central comity, in 1934 (Not in a congress and before the 7^th congress of Comintern) .

Under the leadership of Pantelis Pouliopoulos, the revolutionaries built the Left Opposition in Greece. Through the journal “Spartakos” they unleashed a fully featured polemic against the Stalinist bureaucracy. They tried to portray the economical and political state of the country and chart the duties of the greek proletariat. They defended the traditions of Leninism and the necessity of revolution. The connected with the International Left Opposition and adopted Leon Trotsky’s analysis (Permanent Revolution, USSR’s nature, etc.). They will decisively contribute to the labor movement of the Interwar period. The contribution of Pantelis Pouliopoulos with his book “Democratic or Socialist Revolution in Greece?” was a turning point, which made for the best Marxist analysis of greek capitalism for many decades.

By the unification of the Group Spartakos and members of the “Archive of Marxism” (oppositional team in the KKE, until the dawn of the 1930 decade, it made up for the second most mass oppositional organization globally right behind the one in USSR) in 1934 OKDE will be found (later OKDE will be department of the 4^th International).

The Trotskyists decisively participated in the Uprising of May 1936 in Thessaloniki (many of their members participated in strike committees), in the analysis of the nature of World War II and the need to defend the USSR, in the “Dekemvriana” (the December 1944 uprising at Athens), in the Greek Revolution of 1943-49. They paid a heavy toll in blood with hundreds of victims, assassinated by the bourgeois state, the Stalinists and the fascists. In 1946, the Trotskyists unite in the KDKE (Communist International Party of Greece, Greek section of the 4th International), with the newspaper “Ergatiki Pali” (Workers’ Struggle) as a political instrument. The OKDE and later the KDKE despite the pressures, persecutions and repression which received in difficult times (the occupation and the civil war, the post-civil war semi-dictatorship state, the 67’-74’ military dictatorship) will manage to preserve alive the principles of revolutionary Marxism as well as the perspective of the socialist revolution in Greece until and in our days.

Pantelis Pouliopoulos

A leading intellectual revolutionary

Pouliopoulos is one of the most important revolutionary personalities in Greece and worldwide. He was born in Thebes in 1900 and studied Law at the University of Athens. In 1920 he was sent to the Asia Minor (Anatolia) front, where he developed anti-war action, organizing communist groups. In 1924 he became the first General Secretary of the KKE, at the age of only 24. In 1925-26 he was persecuted by the Pagalos dictatorship for the “Macedonian” issue. He will be acquitted after a monumental five-hour plea in court. A little later he will be exiled to Folegandros.

Returning from prison, he clashed with the Stalinist turn and bureaucratization in the KKE. He will be the undisputed leader of the Left Opposition and will play a leading role in the founding of the OKDE in 1934. In 1938, he was arrested again by the Metaxas’ dictatorship and was sent to Akronafplia prison. He remained in prison until 1943, when he was executed along with 105 other fighters by the Italian fascists.

He was a profound theorist of Marxism. He worked tirelessly on dozens of studies, articles, books (Democratic or Socialist Revolution in Greece?) and brochures, translated important works of the classics (the Capital, Trotsky’s Betrayed Revolution) for the revolutionary orientation of the proletariat.

1965 – 1974: the rebirth of the Extreme and Revolutionary Left

The role of the Trotskyists

The post-war development of Greek capitalism was based on the savage exploitation of the Greek proletariat. The emergence of a new generation of fighters who had not experienced the defeat of the civil war, with the wave of revolutions and uprisings that swept the planet (1965-75) gave impetus to the movement. At the beginning of the 1960s, the ” Extreme and Revolutionary Left” reappeared. Once again in the history of the labor movement, the “leadership” of the KKE is being questioned.

The militants of the KDKE play an active role in the builders’ strikes of 1960-61, in the “Movement of 115 Unions”, in Iouliana – (uprising of July ’65), etc. Since 1959, they have published the Marxistiko Deltio (Marxist Bulletin), which along with the monthly newspaper ‘’Worker’s Struggle’’ are published and distributed illegally. They work for the reconstruction of the labor movement, with action in builders, lithographers, press and wood federations, shoemakers, bookbinders, machinists, etc. The KDKE decisively contributed to the dissemination of the analyses and decisions of the 4th International on post-war capitalism, the causes and perspectives of the crisis of Stalinism, the revolutions in Cuba, Algeria, Vietnam, etc. He clashed decisively with the reformist policies and practices of the Stalinists (EDA/KKE).

The Trotskyists were in the first line of the struggle against the junta (dictatorship of colonels), the capitalism and imperialism which gave birth to it. Many got arrested, convicted with heavy penalties, got imprisoned, exiled and were brutally tortured.

Finally, the contribution of the Trotskyists in the Uprising of November 1973 was critical. Especially the Labor Committee will make up for the organizational and political center of the Uprising of the Polytechnic, contributing decisively in the radical clash with junta.

Metapolitefsi: a new era for the labor movement.

The struggle of the Extreme Left against the compromise-politics of reformism

The fall of the junta marked a change in the clash balance of forces. The labor movement came to the fore with a series of struggles, while the bourgeoisie was forced to retreat. The entry, however, of Greek capitalism into the long wave of depression and, later, neoliberalism will call these conquests into question.

The reformists (KKE, KKE-interior) functioned as the left crutch of the system in the context of their integration into the urban setting. The famous phrase “Karamanlis or Tanks” depicted the Greek version of the “Historical Compromise”, the cooperation of the classes that the reformists would serve consistently throughout the Metapolitefsi period. In fact, they will try to attack the Extreme and Revolutionary Left so as to stop the radicalization of the broad masses.

The Extreme Left rejected and questioned the politics of class cooperation. It clashed with the Karamanlis government, which tried to gnaw away at the gains of the working class, and with the compromise policy of the reformists. It was in the vanguard of Metapolitefsi struggles. It played a leading role in the factory movement, having a great influence on the great strikes of the period 1974-1981. Through these struggles, Greek society will conquer a series of historical rights and democratic freedoms: the 8-hour/5-day work was established and generalized, the labor/communist organizations were legalized, the monotonous writing system was established, the social position of women was significantly improved, etc. Thus, the Extreme Left will be an important element of the class correlation, in favor of the workers, that was formed from the Uprising of Polytechnic until today.

The contribution of OKDE in Metapolitefsi

Since the fall of the junta, OKDE, as a continuation and reconstruction of KDKE, is putting all its efforts into the political, programmatic and practical equipping of the proletariat and the broad vanguard with the appropriate tools to challenge the power of the bourgeoisie. With its analysis, it offered a rich work for orientation on critical issues, such as:

– The long wave of depression of the global capitalist economy since the mid-70s. The crisis of Greek capitalism and its gradual evolution into today’s bankruptcy.

– The defense and promotion of “which socialism we are fighting for”, especially after the traumatic experiences of ” actually existing socialism”. The OKDE is the first organization (and still to this day almost the only one) that took a clear position in favor of Socialist Democracy, a major programmatic conquest of the current of the 4th International, an integral part of the struggle to restore the glory of Socialism to the working class and the youth.

– The cultivation of companionate relations within the movement and a culture of dialogue and unifying action, based on the principles of the United Front and Labor Democracy. In the Metapolitefsi period they will be among the leading forces that will persist and ultimately enforce this policy and practice.

– With the theoretical production and especially the “Worker’s Struggle Publications” it will continue the effort for the development of Marxist thought and the education of the working class on scientific socialism/Marxism.

– The understanding of the causes of the degenerative course experienced by the 4th International, especially after 1990 and the conscious and persistent effort to reconstruct the fourth international current at the global level.

OKDE made its mark by participating in the struggles, intervening in the movement, contributing to the formation of the struggles of the working class. It made up for a point of reference and contributed to the development of self-organization and radicalization of the masses. Indicatively, we mention:

– The radical struggles and the factory movement of the first period of Metapolitefsi. The militant clashes, led by the construction workers, of May 25, 1976, where the role of the revolutionaries caused furious mudslinging (“leftists” etc.) from the two KKEs. The defense of extreme-left fighters and organizations in the conflicts against law 330/76.

– The struggles of the student and youth movement (school and university occupations 1979, 1987, 1990–91, 2006–07, 2024 etc.).

– Labor struggles against neoliberalism. OKDE takes the lead in occupying the Ministry of Northern Greece (1990) and in breaking the ban on the TIF (Thessaloniki International Fair) demonstration (1993).

– All matches from the mid-90s to the present day – e.g. clashes against the “competition of shame” (1998), numerous labor struggles and creation of new unions, anti-globalization and anti-war movement (active participation of OKDE in the Greek Social Forum movement), December 2008, struggle of the 300 immigrants, etc. And of course in the “prolonged social war” of 2010-12, culminating in OKDE’s action in the “squares” movement, in the conflicts of February 12, 2012, in the defense of the subsequent struggles (ERT, cleaners, struggle of the teachers against the evaluation, defending “NO” in the referendum of July 2015, against privatization and dictatorship-like bans during the pandemic period, against the abolition of the asylum, mergers/closure of schools and the establishment of private universities, etc.). It organized a series of labor struggles in workplaces, fighting for wage increases and collective agreements, against layoffs and flexible working relationships, etc.

Poverty, War, Repression, Environmental Destruction, Political Decay

The only solution, Socialism!

Nine decades since the founding of OKDE, the theoretical work, principles and political practice that revolutionary Marxists/Trotskyists heritage to the labor movement acquires special weight today. Their struggle, the sacrifices, the courage with which they faced the anger of the bourgeoisie show us the way to respond in the most decisive way. Only by grasping the red thread of the struggles can we put a stop to the destruction that threatens humanity.

The crisis of the global capitalist system has reached uncontrollable proportions, while the bourgeoisie and its reactionary staffs attempt once again to preserve their profits, loading it in our own expense. The working, the poor and the unemployed -we- are paying with our own blood, with the launch of high prices, poverty and inequality, to maintain the parasitism of a handful of capitalists. At the same time that the peoples are watching on the rack the genocide of the Palestinian people by the murderous state of Israel and the Western Imperialists (USA-NATO-EU), the imperialist rivalries, the attempt to encircle Russia and China by the Western Imperialists and the billions invested in armaments bring the danger of war very close, threatening humanity with annihilation.

All over the planet Bonapartist regimes – dictatorships with a parliamentary veil are being installed. The neoliberal cannibals of the market rule with constant political and parliamentary coups, permanently trample the popular will, brutally suppress and criminalize movements and struggles in all countries.

In Greece, the Mitsotakis regime condemns society to the high prices wave, poverty and disintegration: already 1 in 4 households are on the line of poverty, the salary is barely enough for half of the month and the permanently unemployed exceed 1 million. They are selling off everything to contractors and private individuals – predators (Education, Health, Transport, etc.) with tragic consequences, while constantly indulging in a series of scandals. They are responsible for a bunch of “executive State” crimes, such as fires, floods and the train collision that left 57 casualties in Tempi, and they remain unpunished. They are imposing a barbaric New System of Exploitation of workers, abolishing a number of historical rights, such as the 5-day/8-hour labor, the Sunday holiday and the right to strike, essentially rewriting labor law along the lines of “the law is the employer’s right”. They are turning the country into a vast NATO base, sending arms to the fascist regime in Kiev, drawing our country deeper and deeper into the war. At the same time, they are building a black Emergency State in their attempt to plaster the class struggle and crush the battles of workers and young generation.

WE HAVE THE POWER!

with class Unity and Struggle – with a REVOLUTIONARY Left

OKDE is fighting with all its strength, armed with its theoretical and practical experience, for a socialist society, which will work to serve the real needs of the majority and not a handful of capitalists or bureaucrats. This is the only real solution to the historical decline and rot of capitalism. What is missing today from our struggles is a revolutionary force that will not settle for the first difficulty, will not cultivate illusions about easy solutions. OKDE fights for the unity of struggles and workers, the restructuring and reconstruction of the labor and trade union movement. The elaboration of a Salvation Program for the exit from the capitalist crisis and the imposition of a Workers’ Government, for a socialist society, centered on man and his needs, with democratic planning of all major issues and choices (energy, environment, international relations etc.)

We call upon all workers, the poor and the downtrodden to contribute to this endeavour. To create centers of resistance everywhere, in every workplace, school, faculty and neighborhood to put an end to capitalist brutality. We must fight through the lines of OKDE to build the party of the Socialist Revolution, the necessary tool to win our struggles.