by Duncan B.
During
the years of the struggle for socialism in Russia, Lenin wrote many works that
continue to inspire and guide us today.
The Communist Party of Australia (M-L)
urges its members and supporters to study Lenin’s works. Study of Lenin’s works
helps us to understand the principles of Communist Party organisation, the
nature of the capitalist state and imperialism, and the correct tactics of
revolutionary struggle.
Below, we refer briefly to just some of
the most important of Lenin’s many works.
Where to Begin? (1901),
and What is to be Done? (1902)
In these works Lenin advanced his
ideas as to the form a revolutionary party should take, bearing in mind the
atmosphere of repression that existed in Tsarist Russia.
Lenin discussed in What Is To Be Done? the need for a form
of party organisation which could resist the activities of the Tsar’s secret police.
Lenin concluded that an organisation of professional revolutionaries was best
suited for the conditions in Russia at that time. While conditions in Australia
are not the same as in Tsarist Russia, the CPA (M-L) seeks to use the
principles elaborated by Lenin to develop forms of party organisation that are
suited to Australian conditions.
Lenin also advocated the need for an
all-Russian revolutionary newspaper. Lenin saw the role of such a newspaper as
not being limited solely to the dissemination of ideas, to political education
and the enlistment of political allies, important as these may be. He wrote in Where To Begin? “A newspaper is not only
a collective propagandist and a collective agitator, it is also a collective
organiser.”
Lenin likened the revolutionary
newspaper “to the scaffolding around a building under construction, which marks
the contours of the structure and facilitates communication between the
builders, enabling them to distribute the work and to view the common results
achieved by their common labour.”
For nearly 50 years, Vanguard has strived to fulfil the role
of a revolutionary newspaper as described by Lenin, and has supplemented this
through the website www.vanguard.net.au and the blog at vanguard-cpaml.blogspot.com.au,
as well the re-appearance of the theoretical journal Australian Communist.
Imperialism the Highest Stage of
Capitalism (1916)
Lenin studied imperialism
in depth before the First World War. He listed the main features of imperialism
and gave a definition of imperialism that holds true today.
Lenin defined imperialism thus “Imperialism
is capitalism in that stage of development in which the dominance of monopolies
and finance capital has established itself; in which the export of capital has
acquired pronounced importance; in which the division of the world among the
international trusts has begun; in which the division of all territories of the
globe among the biggest capitalist powers has been completed”.
An understanding of Lenin’s theory of
imperialism helps us to understand the nature, function, and contradictions
within imperialism. It equips us with the knowledge to improve our political
work in rousing the people to challenge and defeat US
imperialist domination of Australia
The
State and Revolution (1917) and The State (1919)
When
we look around the world, we see many different forms of the state at various
times in different countries – monarchies; parliamentary democracies; fascist
dictatorships and every form in between.
Whatever
form the state takes, even the most “democratic”, the reality is that armed force
is the basis of that state – armed force which can be used against the
oppressed class.
As Lenin succinctly put it in The State, “The forms of domination of
the state may vary: capital manifests its power in one way where one form
exists, and in another way where another form exists – but essentially the
power is in the hands of capital, whether there are voting qualifications or
not, or whether the republic is a democratic one or not – in fact the more
democratic it is the cruder and more cynical is the rule of capitalism.”
Lenin wrote in The State And Revolution, “Imperialism – the era of bank capital,
the era of gigantic capitalist monopolies, the era of the development of
monopoly capitalism into state-monopoly capitalism – has demonstrated with
particular force an extraordinary strengthening of the “state machine” and an
unprecedented growth of its bureaucratic and military apparatus, in connection
with the intensification of repressive measures against the proletariat in both
the monarchical and in the freest, republican countries.” Understanding the
nature of the capitalist state enables us to organise accordingly and
eventually overthrow capitalism.
Left
Wing Communism, an Infantile Disorder (1921)
Lenin’s “Left-Wing” Communism, an
Infantile Disorder is an important aid to help Communists to avoid “left”
errors. Lenin wrote Left-Wing Communism to counter “leftist” trends
developing in the Communist Parties in Germany Britain
Lenin criticised the “Lefts” over two
issues that are very relevant in Australia today – working in reactionary trade
unions, and participation in bourgeois parliaments. Lenin condemned the “Lefts”
ideas in no uncertain terms. He wrote, “If you want to help “the masses” and to
win the sympathy and support of “the masses”, you must not fear difficulties,
you must not fear the pinpricks, chicanery, insults and persecution on the part
of the “leaders”… but must imperatively work wherever the masses are to be
found. You must be capable of every sacrifice, of overcoming the greatest
obstacles in order to carry on agitation and propaganda systematically,
perseveringly, persistently and patiently, precisely in those institutions,
societies and associations – even the most ultra-reactionary – in which
proletarian or semi-proletarian masses are to be found. And the trade unions
and workers’ cooperatives (the latter sometimes, at least) are precisely
organisations where the masses are to be found.”
He wrote, “Everyone will agree that an
army which does not train itself to wield all arms, and methods of warfare that
the enemy may possess, behaves in an unwise or even a criminal manner. But this
applies to politics even more than it does to war.” Pursuit of “leftist” ideas
isolates the Communist Party from the masses and leads to defeat of the
revolution.
Lenin
wrote extensively on many other subjects. It is well worth studying Lenin’s
writings on philosophy, revolutionary strategy and tactics and the many other
topics he wrote on, so that we are better equipped to build an independent
socialist Australia
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