The fourth international and the debate on the national question in Europe (1941–1946)

Abstract

The theme of this article is the debate of the Fourth International on “the national question” in Europe during the Second World War. Through the analysis of documents and articles published throughout this period by three of its sections (German, American and British), it was possible to reconstruct the different perspectives regarding the political tasks of the period, the role of the democratic demands and the relationship between the proletarian revolution and the national liberation. The main hypothesis of this work is that the political perspective of the direction of the Fourth International on the European process was influenced by the prospect that, even after the fascist defeat, there would not be a revival of bourgeois democracy, and therefore, the socialist revolution was latent. This approach involved not only political but also practical consequences for the young organization at the time to get involved into the mass movements and the working class.