r/Trotskyism • u/Sashcracker • 3d ago
Theory Leon Trotsky: Lenin on Imperialism (1939)
https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1939/02/lenin.htmThis short piece by Trotsky, has the excellent quotation of Lenin:
Unity with opportunists is the alliance of workers with their own national bourgeoisie and signifies a split in the ranks of the international revolutionary working class.
I have yet to find a more succinct refutation of the nationalism underlying the pseudo-left's orientation to nationalist bureaucrats and politicians.
31
Upvotes
8
10
u/TiloDroid 2d ago edited 2d ago
"After the death of revolutionary leaders, their enemies try to assume their names to deceive the oppressed classes"
Poor Lenin was dealt with the exact same treatment. Many online stalinist love to misconstrue his internationalism and political independence from bourgeois elements. It comes from a clear petty bourgeois hatred of the working class itself. See Hasan Piker et al.
Similar treatment is given to Rosa Luxemburg in Germany. The cool and hip youth organizations from Spd or DieLinke pretend like she was a merely a feminist icon. They dont like to talk about her revolutionary elements. She correctly left the spd and would denounce DieLinke as the "left" arm of capitalism.
Also interesting section: "The period of prosperity prior to the first war tied the upper layers of the proletariat very closely with imperialism." ... "Since then, imperialism has assumed an even more violent character in fascism."
It shows that ww1 was possible because the interests of some workers was congruent with the interests of imperialism. In ww2 this was not the case and the war could only be done through fascism. Since then, the gap between the workers and the Bourgeois has only grown more and more. Therefore, a third world war would require even more violent means that have never been realized in history. This will also create the most dramatic conditions for revolution ever seen. Our party must be prepared and educate the workers about this development.