Democracy, Bonapartism and Fascism: Class Struggle in the 1930s

The inter-war years were a time of deep crisis, class struggle and revolutionary opportunities.

The economic crisis produced a crisis of democracy itself. The ruling class, with nothing to offer, ran out of means to keep the workers at bay. As Trotsky explained, under the intensity of the class struggle and international conflict, "the fuses of democracy blow out".

What followed was a succession of Bonapartist regimes - i.e. military-police dictatorships - each paving the way for Hitler.

Tro...