Leninism

Vladimir Lenin, who was the namesake of Leninism developed his advancement of Marxism in accordance with the material conditions of the 20th century

Leninism is the term used to describe the theoretical and practical methods advanced by Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks in the subject of organization, agitation and propaganda, revolution and maintenance of the dictatorship of the proletariat. As Lenin during his lifetime never advocated for his theories to become a legitimate extension of Marxism, the task to synthesise Leninism as a current of political thought was accomplished in 1924 by Joseph Stalin in his work The foundations of Leninism. It was later taught as a coherent unity with Marxism under the term Marxism-Leninism.

Definition

Stalin, being one of Lenin's staunchest defenders and advocates, has defined Leninism to be an advancement of Marxism from that of under Marx and Engels into the era of imperialism in the 20th century. It is the theory and tactics of the proletarian revolution in general, and the theory and tactics of the proletarian. What places Leninism as an advancement is that Marxism in the 19th century was pursued in the pre-revolutionary period when imperialism was not yet fully developed. Leninism was pursued in the 20th century when imperialism was already developed.

Historical Development

Despite the origins of Leninism being rooted in the Russian Empire, the tactics and theories developed by Lenin were meant not only for Russia, but for the borders beyond. Stalin traced the material conditions of Leninism to explain why Russia was the birthplace of Leninism.

1. Exploitation - Tsarist Russia before the revolution was already perpetrated with all manners of barbaric and inhuman oppression, be it from the capitalists, colonials and militarists. The omnipotence of capital and the despotism of Tsarism led to aggressive Russian nationalism in regards to the exploitation of non-Russian peoples and lands such as Turkey, Persian and China. Stalin equated this to be the total concentration of the worst of imperialism.
2. Western Imperialism - The interests of Tsarism and imperialism are interwoven for Tsarist Russia was a base for outside powers and was a major reserve for Western imperialism. It gave them entry to foreign capital which led to the control of the national economy such as the fuel and metallurgical industries over to them. Russia at the time was both a watchdog for imperialism in the east as well as an agent of imperialism by squeezing out of the population hundreds of millions by way of interest on loans obtained in Paris and London, Berlin and Brussels. Not only that, Russia was a willing participant of the Entente in the First World War which saw the deaths of approximately 14,000,000 Russians at the frontline safeguarding the profits of British and French capitalists.
3. Contradiction - Stalin states that the contradictions of imperialism were revealed the most plainly in Russia, not only in its repulsive and intolerable characteristics or that Western Imperialism was present in Russia, but that only Russia possessed a real force which was capable of resolving the contradictions in the most revolutionary way, the proletariat with the revolutionary peasantry as its ally.

Principles of Leninism

Self-Criticism

The ability for a vanguard party to engage in self-criticism, that is to identify the the mistakes and rectification of that particular mistake is one of the key principles of Leninism. In his book, Lenin identified the biggest weakness of progressive parties during the wake of imperialism. In criticising the parties of the Second International, he states that the earnest attitude to seriously consider their own actions towards the working people and learning from it represents the true mark of a serious vanguard party. The reasoning behind this stems from the responsibility of a vanguard party to truly represent the spirit and demands of the proletariat. The vanguard party bears the responsibility to not only fight for the masses but to also guide the masses. As such, without a proper criticism of the party's own mistakes, it will not be able to engage in such responsibility.

Value of Theory

In view of the ever changing material conditions of society and the world, it becomes easy and convenient to assume that there is no other way to carry the momentum of the working class forward than through practice. While it is true that practice and actions respond to the material conditions, Leninism (and by extent, Marxism-Leninism) views that theory is a fundamentally powerful and indispensable tool for the working-class if it can be linked with revolutionary practice. Lenin writes this well-known line:

Without a revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement

The Leninist focus on the importance of theory comes with the belief that as the material conditions of the world evolve, the role of correct theory will not only help guide the masses in understanding the functions and workings of the world but also direct them through practice in the correct direction in the present time and towards the future.

The Conditions for a Proletarian Revolution

Imperialism, forming the bedrock for the development of Leninism, lays at the front of Lenin's theory. It changes the preconception that a proletarian revolution would only be satisfied in individual capitalist countries, separate from one another. But with the advent of Imperialism as a world system, Leninism eliminates the notion that a proletarian revolution would necessarily begin in a country where it is most developed or having the largest number of proletarians.

Instead, Leninists proclaims that the revolution will begin where the imperialist link is the weakest, this would include countries where capitalism has not fully developed. We have seen this in socialist revolutions such as the 1917 Russian Revolution and the Chinese Revolution. This is the proof that socialist revolutions would no longer be confined to only successful and economically developed capitalist nations.

Stalin summarised three points to Lenin's thesis on the Proletarian Revolution:

1. The dominance of finance capital in advanced capitalist countries and export of capital among others is a fundamental element on the parasitic nature of monopolist capitalism. This in effect further admonishes the conditions of the working class, leading to them seeking proletarian revolution as their "only salvation."
2. The transformation of capital from a national system to a world system by exporting capital to colonies and other dependent countries, thus increasing their sphere of influence. One thing to be noted here is that this transformation and oppression of the majority of the world population benefits only the handful of so-called advanced countries which continues to exploit vast colonies. This would then eventually create a need for the oppressed peoples and colonies to wage their own struggles for liberation from imperialism.
3. War could never be eliminated under imperialism and that a coalition of the proletariat revolutions from both the West and the East to create a united world against the agents of imperialism would be inevitable.