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Trotsky initially sought to recapture communist parties around the world from Stalinist influence, but inevitably small dissident groups, expelled from 'mainstream' communist parties, began to form independent organisations, often practicing [[Entryism|entrism]] in non-communist left-wing parties in an attempt to take them over. In 1938 Trotsky formed the [[Fourth International]], an umbrella body for Trotskyist national groups which sought to provide a global leadership.
Trotsky initially sought to recapture communist parties around the world from Stalinist influence, but inevitably small dissident groups, expelled from 'mainstream' communist parties, began to form independent organisations, often practicing [[Entryism|entrism]] in non-communist left-wing parties in an attempt to take them over. In 1938 Trotsky formed the [[Fourth International]], an umbrella body for Trotskyist national groups which sought to provide a global leadership.
However, Trotskyist groups have almost always been very much a fringe element in the politics of the countries where they were active. The sole exception is [[Sri Lanka]], where a Trotskyist party called the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) formed part of a [[coalition]] government from 1964 to 1975.
There are many reasons for the failure of Trotskist groups. Within the left-wing movement, they were unable to overcome a strong current of loyalty to the USSR (as the first 'workers' state', and as a result of prestige gained by the USSR, (and by extension by other communist parties) because of its contributuion to the defeat of [[Hitler]]). What Trotskyists stood fro was fluctuating and obscure, and then only clear thing about their ideology was that it was not Stalinism. Trotskyist parties were, and are, extremely prone to schisms and violent sectarian feuding, splitting their small numbers of adherents into even tinier groups, which devote most of their energies to internecine feuding of minuscule differences in doctrine. Finally, like the orthodox Communist parties, Trotskyist doctrines were wildly out of tune with world events and people's aspirations. This was most clearly shown at the conclusion of the [[Second World War]]. Trotskyist beliefs had it that a global economic collapse was imminent and inevitable, and would be closely followed by either a worldwide communist revolution or the imposition of [[fascist]] dictatorships. The failure of this apocalyptic vision to materialise led many active Trotskyists to abandon their faith and to join more mainstream parties.