In 1915 during the midst of the First World War, Vladimir I. Lenin, the Marxist theorist and revolutionary who would later lead his Bolshevik forces to power and became the first leader of the Soviet Union, wrote a pamphlet entailed Socialism and War to enlighten other Socialists about what stance they should take in the World War. Writing in exile, Lenin’s pamphlet was a reaction to the events early in the war, which left him upset with the path taken by many Social-Democratic parties who voted to support their national governments in the war. Lenin, an ardent Marxist whose theories promoted in this essay as well as following writings formed the core ideology of what is now known as Leninism, used this essay to highlight the principles of socialism in regards to warfare, particularly in the context of the ongoing conflict which had, according to Lenin, evolved into an imperialist war amongst colonial powers driven by the goal of conquering and oppressing more colonies and other nations.
In describing the fundamentals of Socialist ideology pertaining to war in the context of the current hostilities, Lenin seems to focus particularly on the issue of just war and the conditions under which such a war can legitimately be waged. Deeply influenced by Marxist teachings, Lenin uses the approach to socio-economics promoted by Marx in The Communist Manifesto, termed historical materialism, to analyze the wars of the past century and provide an account for the conditions under which war can not only be legitimized, but be necessary for the good of society. It is according to these guidelines that Lenin, adhering to the orthodox line of Marxist thought, repudiated any and all people who participated in the World War on behalf of their national government, denouncing many of his contemporary Socialists who in his mind “distort the views of Marx and Engels in the interest of the bourgeois and the opportunists.”
It is no doubt that Lenin was in disapproval of the war. His essay called for all Socialists to root for the defeat of their own government in the ongoing conflict, so that the weaknesses and embarrassments of their national governments can be exposed and taken advantage of in the name of class struggle. Civil, revolutionary war was the main goal in the eyes of Lenin, and to this end he argued that the Socialist revolution was necessary for true, lasting peace to occur. But why in a time when so many Socialists and members of Social-Democratic parties across Europe were in favor of fighting for their respective nations does Lenin speak out so adamantly against such actions?
It is the ideological influences of Lenin, most notably Marx and Engels, that provides the background for Lenin’s revolutionary ideology. Looking at the essay more closely, one can clearly see the formation of Lenin’s argument. In proposing that the war is illegitimate, Lenin begins with a summation of Socialist principles regarding to the legitimacy of war. Before doing so, Lenin differentiates between Socialism and other contemporary anti-war groups, Pacifists and Anarchists. Socialists, Lenin writes, understand that while war between nations is barbaric and cruel, war between classes is necessary to abolish all class restraints, and is a legitimate and progressive conflict. Furthermore according to Lenin, Socialists understand the need to study wars as separate individual entities, a hallmark of Marx’s historical materialism theory.
In providing the background for what constitutes as legitimate, just war, Lenin uses many fundamental Marxist theories to rationalize his position and provide a basis for his own ideology. According to Lenin, there are two types of war, aggressive and defensive. For Socialists, a defensive war is a just war, and is a war of liberation or for the “defense of the fatherland.” Such wars are just because they are for the liberation of a people, and Lenin writes that Socialists everywhere should champion the right of oppressed nations and people to self-determination.
The First World War, as mentioned before, was in Lenin’s eyes an imperialist war being fought between nations over the right to plunder resources from colonies. He backs up this statement by making a connection between capitalism and imperialism, asserting that imperialism is in fact the highest form of capitalism. Lenin writes that capitalism has become too big for its national state boundaries, and has caused these “great powers” to look beyond their borders for sources of capital. This has left the nations of Asia and Africa to be divided up amongst the “lords of capital” as Lenin puts it.
Lenin further backs up his position that the current war is an imperialist one by providing empirical evidence. Using charts and tables, Lenin points out that of the major belligerents in the war, over the past forty years, they have colonized an area two and a half times the size of Europe, containing roughly 521 million people. Using the case of Belgium as an example, Lenin says that while Germany violated the neutrality of Belgium, the other nations are not waging war solely for the liberation of Belgium, they all have imperialistic ambitions to divide the spoils of the war, as Lenin provides evidence of this in the national government’s desires to divide Germany and her colonies after the war.
Lenin goes onto to further provide documentation as to the imperialistic nature of the war by using an analogy comparing the belligerents of the war to slaveholders fighting over the “just” distribution of slaves. “But picture to yourselves a slave-owner who owned 100 slaves warring against a slave-owner who owned 200 slaves for a more “just” distribution of slaves. Clearly, the application of the term “defensive” war, or war “for the defence of the fatherland” in such a case would be historically false, and in practice would be sheer deception of the common peopIe, of philistines, of ignorant people, by the astute slaveowners.” This is exactly the same way, Lenin claims, in which the imperialist powers are deceiving their peoples to strengthen their own slavery over their colonies. He says that for every four people living in the national boundaries of a great power, there are five people living under oppression within those countries’ colonies. In a rallying call to Russians, he says that for every 2 Great Russians who have full rights, there are three Russians viewed as aliens who must fight the imperialistic wars for their oppressors.
After providing evidence of his assumption that the war is imperialistic, Lenin then goes on to denounce those Social-Democrats who voted for war credits and have supported the war efforts of their respective governments, using the writings of Marx and Engels to validate his ideology and position in the war. Lenin denounces social-chauvinism, which he describes as advocacy of defense of the fatherland in the war, because it leads to the abandonment of class struggle. He calls those who promote this idea opportunists, people who are simply looking to exploit those below them from their advantage point in the war. In doing so, he says people who promote this idea are allying themselves with the bourgeois and subordinating the working class. Lenin is trying to call all Socialists to rally against the war, because it is unjust and against the principles of Socialism, saying that there is no room for reformist Socialism and people like Kautsky. Pointing to the teachings of Marx, he says it is the duty of all Socialist everywhere to turn the current war into a civil war, and to inform the masses of what they need to do support the revolution.
While Lenin’s work, an English translation of the Russian original, is in some areas difficult to follow because of differences in grammar and possible translation discrepancies, the message is still quite clear. The current war is an unjust war, one fought amongst the bourgeois capitalists for the right to oppress colonies, and it is the duty of Socialists everywhere to use this as an opportunity to act against their governments and exploit their weaknesses. Those who do not do so, in Lenin’s eyes, are not true Socialists and do not follow the true teachings of Marx and Engels.
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