Marxists’ Internet Archive
Felix Morrow
(1906–1988)
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Biography
Felix Morrow was for many years a leading figure figure in American Trotskyism, best known for his classic Revolution and Counter-Revolution In Spain. He joined the Communist League of America in 1933 and after Max Shachtman’s minority split in 1940, served as editor of the Socialist Workers Party’s paper, the Militant, and its theoretical journal, Fourth International. He was one of 18 SWP leaders imprisoned under the Smith Act during the Second World War. In 1943 he formed a faction with Albert Goldman which challenged the SWP’s ‘orthodox’ catastrophic perspective. In one of the most instructive factional struggles in the history of the Trotskyist movement, Morrow and Goldman projected the likelihood of a prolonged period of bourgeois democracy in western Europe and emphasised the need for democratic and transitional demands against the maximalism advocated by the majority. Although he was expelled from the SWP in 1946 for ‘unauthorised collaboration’ with Shachtman’s Workers Party, he did not join Shachtman, and drifted out of politics.
Works:
Religion — Its social roots and role, 1932
The Bonus March, 1932
A Critical Analysis of the American Workers Party, May/June 1934 (series)
Soule’s Revolution, August 1934 (book review)
Declining America, November 1934 (book review)
God and Society, January 1935 (book review)
Letter to Socialist Party about Non-Partisan Labor Defense, March 1935 (letter)
The Spirit of the US Constitution, February 1936
For a Socialist Policy on Palestine, March 1936
Malcolm Cowley – Portrait of a Stalinist Intellectual, April 1936
The Civil War in Spain: Toward Socialism or Fascism? September 1936
How the Workers Can Win in Spain, October 1936
Proposed Solutions to the Spanish Crisis, January 1937
Spain’s Unions Join Pact Against Stalinist Repression, August 1937
Spanish Anti-Fascist Movement Slandered by Church Hierarchy, September 1937
Anglo-French Aid to Spanish Loyalists Is a Fraud and Deception, October 1937
Britain Takes Steps to ‘Solve’ Spanish Crisis by Recognizing Franco, November 1937
Revolution and Counter Revolution in Spain, 1938
Anarchism in Spain, January 1938 (book review)
The War in Spain, February 1938 (book review)
Labor in Northwest Rallies to Local 544 in Court Defy, August 1938
Munich Plan for Spain, October 1938
How Shall We Fight Anti-Semitism? December 1938 (series)
Barcelona Workers Face Supreme Test, January 1939
Roosevelt Condemns Jews to Be Permanent Pariahs, January 1939
All Races, Creeds Join Picket Line, February 1939
Barcelona and France’s Future, February 1939
British Officials Prepare to Dash Zionist Hopes, February 1939
Why the Defeats in Spain?, February 1939
British Overlords Sole Gainers in Palestine Conference Plan, March 1939
Fight Repressions in Spain, March 1939
The GPU Orders a Novel, March 1939 (book review)
The Only Way to Fight Against Fascism Is to Organize Workers’ Defense Guards, March 1939
Spanish C.P. Leaders Seek Peace with Madrid Junta, March 1939
‘The Way to Fight Against Fascism Is to Lie Down and Make Believe You Are Dead’, March 1939
Comrade Cross Invents a Problem (excerpt) A Reply to The Relationship Between Free Speech and the Proletarian Revolution
Alibis Don’t Help Liars, April 1939
Courts Invent Means to Break Strikes When Employers Cannot, April 1939
Federal Criminal Syndicalism Law Would Foist Military Rule on Labor, April 1939
C.P. Paint Brush Will Not Hide the Truth on Spain’s Betrayal, May 1939
New Hearings in Ludlow Referendum, May 1939
The New Leader, May Day and War, May 1939
War-Mad Liberal, May 1939 (book review)
Zionist Policy Played into Hands of Great Britain, May 1939
Empty Seats Greet Del Vayo’s ‘Explanation’ of Spanish Defeat, June 1939
Appeal Readers Can Help Us Build the Party, August 1939
ALP Takes Pro-War Line Under Cover of Attack on Stalinism, October 1939
An Answer to the Latest Hue and Cry Against the Marxist Position on the War, October 1939
Can One Justify the ALP War Position?, October 1939
The Socialist Party and Its Lovestone Allies Continue to Cover Up the ALP’s War Position, October 1939
The Socialist Party Meets the Problem of the ALP’s War-Mongering by – Saying Nothing, October 1939
War Cliques Split New York Labor Party, October 1939
Can Workers Accept Molotoff’s Explanation?, November 1939
Rumblings of Revolt Shake War Camps, November 1939
Stalin’s Fake ‘Left Turn’ Masks Reactionary Foreign Policy, November 1939
They Alibi for Social Patriots; Insult Leninists, November 1939
Thomas-Lovestone Groups Yield to the Pressure of “Democratic” Imperialists, November 1939
Lest We Forget the Lessons of Loyalist Spain, December 1939
Socialist Call Mobilizes World for Finland, December 1939
Conscription, Circa 1940 (PDF of original pamphlet)
The Call and Some of Its Friends on Finland, January 1940
Illinois Socialists Condemn Jingo Attacks on USSR, January 1940
Lovestone Shows Norman Thomas How to Do It, January 1940
A ‘Marxist’ Alibi for the Jingoes on Finland, January 1940
An Exchange with Lovestone on Finland, February 1940
The A.L.P. Fight – Stalinists Won a Hollow Victory, March 1940
How Stalin Serves Hitler, March 1940
How Stalin Serves Hitler – How Lenin Negotiated a Treaty, March 1940
Molotov Speech Shows Kremlin Seeks to Regain Middle Ground, April 1940
Stalin Moves into Baltic, June 1940
Communist Int’l Preparing to Abandon “Anti”-War Policy, July 1940
Democrats Offer Us Four More Years of Crisis, Unemployment, July 1940
Sidney Hook – Recruiting Sergeant, July 1940
Social Democrats Try Hard to Blur Lesson of France, July 1940
What Really Happened in France?, July 1940
Labor’s Answer to Conscription (extract), August 1940
CIO Opens Road to Militant Struggle, November 1940
Highlights of the C.I.O. Convention, November 1940
Progressive Stand of the CIO Convention, December 1940
The “Socialist” Critics of the CIO, December 1940
Congress Planning Anti-Strike Laws, January 1941
Lenin’s “Secret” Weapon, January 1941
Hitler’s “New Order” Doesn’t Work, March 1941
So This Is John L. Lewis’ Program for This Epoch of War and Fascism! May 1941
The Stalinist Policy in the Trade Unions, May 1941
Finland’s “Socialists” Now Serve Hitler, July 1941
Stalin’s Speech – Every Word Was Alien to the Leninist Program, July 1941
The Federal Prosecution of the Socialist Workers Party, August 1941
Biddle Finally Chooses Basis for Frameup, September 1941
Why Churchill Doesn’t Open a Western Front, September 1941
Churchill ‘Satisfied’ with Red Army Showing, October 1941
Cannon Answers ‘Sedition’ Charges, November 1941
The Defense Reviews Its Case, November 1941
Albert Goldman, Labor Defender, December 1941
The Minneapolis ‘Sedition’ Trial, January 1942
Effects of Monopoly on War Production, February 1942
Lenin’s Teachings on National Wars: An Answer to the Latest Stalinist Forgeries, April 1942
Inflation, May 1942
Burnham’s Role, Shachtman’s Apology, May 1942
Stalin Blames the German Proletariat, June 1942
China in the War, August 1942
Petty-Bourgeois Radicalism on the Struggle in India, September 1942
The Truth About the Cripps Mission, September 1942
The Apology of Shachtman, November 1942
The National Question in Europe: Our Differences with the Three Theses, December 1942
The Class Meaning of the Soviet Victories, March 1943
Wendell Willkie’s Program, May 1943
Washington’s Plans for Italy, June 1943
Roosevelt and Labor after the Third Coal Strike, July 1943
The CIO Answer to the Anti-Labor Drive, August 1943
Italy: The First Phase of the Revolution, August 1943
The Italian Revolution, September 1943
The First Phase of the Coming European Revolution, December 1943
Introduction to Albert Goldman’s In Defense of Socialism, 1944
Speech at New York Rally for Released Minneapolis Prisoners, February 1945
A Balance Sheet of the Discussion on Europe, March 1945
Marc Dauber (obituary), April 1945
What Was Roosevelt’s Real Role?, April–May 1945
- A Marxist Evaluation
- Did Roosevelt Curb Monopolists?
- Did Roosevelt Solve the Agricultural Crisis in America?
- What Did Roosevelt Do for Labor?
- Outcome of Roosevelt’s New Deal
The Political Position of the Minority in the SWP, May 1945
Allied Powers Divide Germany in 4 Spheres, June 1945
Big Three Differences in Germany, June 1945
British Renew Fraudulent Offer Rejected by India Three Years Ago, June 1945
Stalinists Paving Way for New Shift in Line, June 1945
Stalinists Make Official Change in Their Policy, June 1945
European Perspectives and Policy, July 1945
Was the German Working Class Responsible for Nazism?, July 1945
Some Arguments Heard Against the Slogan of the Republic in Italy, 30 July 1945
The Unity Question in the Socialist Workers Party, August 1945 (with Albert Goldman & R. Williams)
On the Tempo in Europe: To All Sections of the Fourth International, November 1945
What Should Be the Party’s Attitude Toward he UAW Arbitration Proposal of November 19, November 1945
Letter to Workers Party on Unity, November 1945
The Answer of the SWP Minority to the Letter from the PCR of Belgium (with Albert Goldman), 20 December 1945
Tactical Problems of the European Movement, January 1946
The Infantile Sickness of the European Secretariat, February 1946
Brass Hats Scheme to Keep Control of Atomic Energy, March 1946
Anglo-American Imperialists Haggle over Crumbs for Starving Millions, March 1946
Imperialist-Controlled Agencies Haggle as Starvation Spreads, March 1946
International Report – Minority Report to Plenum, May 1946
Bolshevik Politics versus Neo-Economism, October 1946
Resolution on the Russian Question, October 1946
Why Cannon Expelled SWP Minority Leaders, November 1946
Last updated: 26 February 2023