The Fourth International has been a communist international
organisation working in opposition to both capitalism and Stalinism.
Consisting of supporters of Leon Trotsky, it has striven for an
eventual victory of the working class to bring about socialism. In
Paris in 1938, Trotsky and many of his supporters, having been
expelled from the Soviet Union, considered the Comintern to have
become lost to "Stalinism" and incapable of leading the international
working class towards political power. Thus, they founded their own
competing "Fourth International". Throughout the better part of its
existence, the Fourth International was hounded by agents of the
Soviet secret police, repressed by capitalist countries such as France
and the United States, and rejected by followers of the Soviet Union
and later Maoism as illegitimate - a position these communists still
hold today. The FI suffered a split in 1940 and an even more
significant split in 1953. Despite a partial reunification in 1963,
more than one group claims to represent the political continuity of
the Fourth International. The broad array of Trotskyist Internationals
are split over whether the Fourth International still exists and if
so, which organisation represents its political continuity.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_International
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Today's selected anniversaries:
238:
Gordian I and Gordian II were proclaimed Roman Emperors.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordian_I)
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordian_II)
1784:
The Emerald Buddha of Thailand was installed at the Wat Phra Kaew on
the grounds of the Grand Palace in Bangkok.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Buddha)
1849:
After capturing the fortress town of Mortara, forces led by Austrian
General Joseph Radetzky von Radetz routed Piedmontese troops at the
Battle of Novara.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Novara_(1849))
1963:
Please Please Me, the first album recorded by The Beatles, was
released.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Please_Please_Me)
1995:
Russian cosmonaut Valeriy Polyakov of the Soyuz programme returned
from the Mir space station after 437 days in space, setting a record
for the longest spaceflight.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaceflight_records)
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Wikiquote of the day:
Man’s destiny appears as a thread lost in an endless labyrinth... I
have tried to shed some gleams of light on the shadow of man startled
by his anguish. -- Marcel Marceau
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marcel_Marceau)