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We must accept decisively and without any reservation the complete and unconditional right of the blacks to independence . . . The proletarian revolutionaries must never forget the right of the oppressed nationalities to self-determination, including full separation, and the duty of the proletariat of the oppressing nation to defend this right with arms if necessary. . .

Leon Trotsky#34

RevolutionIndependenceNationalismRights

About this quote

What does it mean?
Revolutionaries must support the right of oppressed nations to independence and separate if they choose.
In plain terms
Support oppressed groups' right to self-rule.
What can you take from it?
Self-determination is a key revolutionary duty.

Where it applies

  • political strategy
  • nationalism
  • revolution

Putting it to work

  • support self-determination
  • defend oppressed nations

Questions to consider

  • When is separation necessary?
  • How to balance unity and independence?

Another view

Separation can sometimes create new problems.

More from Leon Trotsky

  1. You may not be interested in the dialectic, but the dialectic is interested in you.

    Permalink to quote #33
  2. In a serious struggle there is no worse cruelty than to be magnanimous at an inopportune time.

    Permalink to quote #35
  3. The German soldiers, that is, the workers and peasants, will in the majority of cases have far more sympathy for the vanquished peoples than for their own ruli…

    Permalink to quote #32

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