Lenin and Trotsky

To understand the enormity of the contribution of Lenin and Trotsky you have to remember that at the start of the 20th Century nearly all of the mass Social Democratic parties called themselves Marxist! The leaders of the German Social Democracy were men like Kautsky and Bebel - the heirs of Marx and Engels themselves. This included the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (of which the Bolsheviks were just a fraction). In fact the Labour Party in Britain was an exception to the rule because it was not built up as a political organisation to fight for the emancipation of the working class. It was built instead to be the “political voice” of the trade union movement.

We all know what period the beginning of the 20th Century ushered in - capitalism started on its steady degeneration. Giant monopolies began to dominate the imperialist powers like Britain, France, Germany, the US, Russia, Japan and their colonies and spheres of influence. It was a time of rising tension between these countries who wanted to carve up the biggest share of the booty for themselves. This lead to two World Wars in the end and the plundering of colonial countries and what we call today “neo-colonies” in the South - a disaster for all mankind.

The question is, what was the response of the workers’ movement? What did the trade unions and the Social Democratic parties do under their “Marxist” leadership? Well, a large part of their leadership was just as corrupted as the leaders of today’s Labour and Social Democratic parties. When World War I broke out the leaders of the Social Democracy went lock stock and barrel over to the Imperialist camp and backed “their” capitalists!!! This includes almost all of the Mensheviks in Russia! The number of Internationalists who continued to fight for the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism in their own countries was reduced to a tiny handful. In Russia the Bolsheviks stood firm as an exception - principally under the leadership of Lenin. In Germany Rosa Luxemburg - another Internationalist - was so distraught by the betrayal that she even contemplated suicide.

The Great War was followed by a great revolutionary tide across Europe. Under this pressure the parties of the Social Democracy split into a reformist wing and a revolutionary wing. In Russia the Social Democracy also split - into the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks. The Mensheviks supported the provisional government and the continuation of the war. They were against the distribution of land to the peasantry. They stood with the capitalist class and landlords during the 1917 revolution. The Bolsheviks however patiently explained to workers the need to take power into their own hands - into the hands of the workers’ and peasants’ Soviets.

Lenin and Trotsky, having lead the working class to power, naturally made huge theoretical contributions along the way. Comrade, there is no substitute for reading their classics one by one. Lenin made huge contributions in his analysis of Imperialism, the State and how to build the Revolutionary Party. Trotsky also made huge contributions in his theory of permanent revolution and his analysis of the rise of fascism and Stalinism - the counter-revolution in Europe to name but two things. Their writings are a real treasure trove.