Chapter 28 Trotskyite

From 1929, Chen Duxiu accepted Trotskyism. In August, Chen contacted "Our Words" (Note: The first Trotskyite organization established in Shanghai in 1928 after Trotskyite students studying in the Soviet Union were repatriated), hoping to join the organization.But not only did the main members of our Word faction not welcome Chen and others, but they hated them very much, sarcastically saying: "These hopeless old opportunists have speculated on our Trotsky faction." After failing to join us, Chen Duxiu began to organize the Trotskyite organization by himself.After the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China found out, it issued a warning to Chen, requiring Chen to "write an article against the opposition within one month, and compile it into a branch directly under the Central Committee to participate in the life of the party."Chen believed that the CCP Central Committee’s request was a “crazy joke,” and he wrote back to “give a final warning” to the CCP Central Committee: “I am now officially telling you: there is absolutely no reason for you to expel anyone who expresses political opinions. Comrades... you should be responsible for the split in the party!" On November 15, following the opinion of the Communist International, the CCP passed a resolution to expel Chen Duxiu, Peng Shuzhi, Jiang Zekai, Ma Yufu, and Cai Zhende from the party.

On December 15, Chen Duxiu and others formally established the Trotskyist organization "Chinese Communist Party Leftist Opposition" (also known as "Proletarians") in Shanghai, which quickly grew to a hundred members.The Comintern then began to change its attitude towards Chen Duxiu, calling Chen and saying: "We have decided to give you the opportunity to attend the meeting of the Political Secretariat to review the decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to expel you from the party." He replied: "My problem is not a simple personal problem." If the Comintern "refuses to formally announce it to the branches of various countries for discussion" Trotsky's proposition, then the "irreconcilable differences" between him and the Comintern Opinions", "it is definitely not something that can be resolved by transferring me to Moscow."

The internal contradictions of the proletarian faction quickly became acute, and soon Peng Shuzhi had conflicts with Chen Duxiu.At that time, He Shimizu said that Peng was a "paper tiger," and Chen Duxiu said, "It's not a paper tiger, it's a rotten watermelon. The inside of the paper tiger is nothing more than empty. The rotten watermelon has a nice surface, and when you cut it open, it emits a stench." Afterwards, "Proletarians" Every time the Standing Committee meets, there must be fierce quarrels. In April 1930, Trotsky commissioned Chen Duxiu to unify the Chinese Trotskyist organization.Through Chen's efforts, from May 1st to 3rd, the unification conference was held in secret. Li Zhongshan of the "proletarian faction" took out a lynx fur coat, pawned more than 200 yuan, used it as a conference fund, rented a house on Dalian Bay Road in Shanghai, and let Wang Cihuai live in it with his wife and daughter. , to cover the meeting.For the sake of confidentiality and safety, during these three days, except for Chen Duxiu, all representatives had to live in the venue, and could only go out after the meeting.At the meeting, Chen Duxiu was elected secretary.

After the reunification conference, Chen Duxiu sent a telegram to Trotsky, telling him beamingly that his Chinese comrades were making a meaningful start, and that the Bolshevik-Leninist banner would soon be flying across the country. However, as soon as the conference ended, there were many internal contradictions.Because Chen Duxiu's article called the Red Army "bandits," the youth Trotskyites were worried about his article, thinking that he was already the general secretary and represented the views of the entire Trotskyist faction to the outside world. Therefore, it is best to let everyone know what he wrote before it is published. Check it out and post it after agreeing.Chen lost his temper and said: "Articles are like people, they must have individuality. If everyone agrees, there will be no individuality. Why do you write articles!"

Soon after the meeting ended, four people including Liang Ganqiao and Lu Yiyuan went to Nanjing to join the military reunification, and publicly issued a statement, claiming that communism does not conform to China's national conditions.However, because Ma Yufu did not become a "Central Committee member", he went to the Kuomintang's Longhua Police Headquarters to report, resulting in the arrest of 13 members of the Trotskyite, including all members and alternates of the Central Committee of the Trotskyist unified organization except Chen Duxiu, Peng Shuzhi, and Luo Han. Chen Duxiu was the only member of the Central Committee and the Standing Committee of the Trotskyist unified organization.At this time, it was only 20 days before the end of the Trotskyite inaugural meeting.Chen Duxiu lamented, "I don't know people!"

In the spring of 1932, Pu Qingquan and Song Fengchun, the "Central Committee members" of the original Trotskyist faction, were released on parole for medical treatment due to the epidemic in prison.Chen Duxiu called the two together with Peng Shuzhi and Luo Shipan to set up a provisional Central Committee.However, on October 15, 2010, four people including Peng Shuzhi went to the home of Secretary Xie Shaoshan for a meeting. The Zhongtong spies followed Pu Qingquan and arrested them all.Chen Duxiu did not attend the meeting due to illness and could have been spared, but because of the betrayal of Xie Shaoshan, the only person who knew his address, he was also arrested at night.Because of Xie's betrayal, five other key Trotskyites were arrested, including Zeng Meng, who edited the Trotskyist organ "Spark", which was printing the 13th issue of "Spark".So far, the Trotskyist Central Committee has been wiped out.Afterwards, because of meritorious confession, Xie Shaoshan was not prosecuted, and joined the "Zhongtong" and changed her name to "Xie Ligong".

From the second half of 1934 to the beginning of 1935, while Chen Duxiu was in prison, Liu Renjing and others dug out the documents of the Trotskyist Central Committee from 1931 to 1932 and criticized them as "outright opportunism". They asked Chen Duxiu to admit his mistakes, but Chen firmly refused. .As a result, the Trotskyist Central Committee expelled Chen from the Trotskyites.