Marxism-Leninism

File:Stalin-Lenin-Kalinin-1919.jpg

Stalin, Lenin, and Trotsky in 1919.

Marxism-Leninism is the version of Marxism developed by Vladimir Lenin and his successors. As such, it formed the ideological foundation for the world communist movement centering on the Soviet Union. In the twentieth century, all nations calling themselves communist and most communist parties in other nations were founded on Marxist-Leninist principles. The core ideological feature of Marxism-Leninism is the belief in the necessity for a vanguard party to lead the working class in the violent overthrow of capitalism, to be followed by a dictatorship of the proletariat as the first stage of moving toward communism.

Communist parties subscribed to the teachings and legacy of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels (Marxism), as interpreted by of Lenin. The term Marxism-Leninism was most often used by those who believed that Lenin's legacy was successfully carried forward by Joseph Stalin, although Trotskyist and Maoists are also technically Marxist-Leninists. The term was also used by Soviet Communists who repudiated Stalin, such as the supporters of Nikita Khrushchev. Contemporary Marxist-Leninist regimes today include Vietnam, Laos, and Fidel Castro's Cuba. China and North Korea have each made sought to distance themselves somewhat from Marxism-Leninism but have not repudiated the basic principles of the Communist revolutions that created these governments. Several non non-governmental political movements also still consider themselves as Marxist-Leninist today.

History of the term

Karl Marx

File:Lénin.jpg

Vladimir Ilych Lenin

Although Lenin himself never used the term "Leninism," his interpretation of Marx's teaching became the impetus for the founding of Soviet Union and the numerous Marxist-Leninist parties inspired by the Russian Revolution. Lenin's ideas diverged from classical Marxist theory on several important points (see Marxism). Bolshevik communists—the followers of Lenin— saw these differences as advancements of Marxism rather than a divergence from it. According to Lenin, these changes were made necessary by the advent of Imperialism, which enabled capitalist nations to exploit cheap labor in colonial counties and pass on enough of the resultant wealth to keep industrial workers from attaining the revolutionary conscious which Marx predict would soon arise. Because of this, Lenin taught, the first Communist revolution would not necessarily occur in industrialized Europe as Marx said it would, but in that nation in which a disciplined "vanguard" would seize power and create the "proletarian dictatorship."

“

We need the real, nation-wide terror which reinvigorates the country and through which the Great French Revolution achieved glory.

”

After Lenin's death, his ideology and contributions to Marxist theory were termed "Marxism-Leninism," or sometimes only "Leninism." Marxism-Leninism soon became the official name for the ideology of the Comintern and of communist parties around the world. During the period of Stalin's rule in the Soviet Union, Marxism-Leninism was proclaimed the official ideology of the state.

To what degree Stalin's practices actually followed the principles of Marx and Lenin is still a subject of debate among historians and political scientists. Trotskyists in particular believe that Stalinism contradicted authentic Marxism and Leninism, and they initially used the term "Bolshevik-Leninism" to describe their own ideology of anti-Stalinist and anti-Maoist communism.

After the Sino-Soviet split, the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China each claimed to be the true intellectual heir to Marxism-Leninism. In China, the claim that Mao had "adapted Marxism-Leninism to Chinese conditions" evolved into the idea that he had updated it in a fundamental way applying to the world as a whole. Consequently, the term "Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought" (commonly known as Maoism) was increasingly used to describe the official Chinese state ideology as well as the ideological basis of parties around the world who sympathized with the Communist Party of China. Following the death of Mao, American Maoists associated with the Revolutionary Communist Party (USA) subsequently coined the term Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, arguing that Maoism was a more advanced stage of Marxism. Many parties today believe that the current leadership of China has abandoned Maoism.

Following the Sino-Albanian split, a small but substantial portion of Marxist-Leninists, such as Alliance Marxist-Leninist and to a lesser extent Ray O. Light Group, in the US, began to downplay or repudiate the role of Mao Zedong in the International Communist Movement in favor of the Party of Labor of Albania and a stricter adherence to Stalin.

In North Korea, Marxism-Leninism was officially superseded in 1977 by Juche, in which concepts of class and class struggle, in other words Marxism itself, play no longer play a significant role due in part to all remnants of capitalism and private ownership having been eradicated. However, the government is still sometimes referred to as Marxist-Leninist—or, more commonly, Stalinist—due to the Leninist-Stalinist nature of its political and economic structure.

The other three communist states existing today—Cuba, Vietnam and Laos—still hold Marxism-Leninism as their official ideology, although they give it different interpretations in terms of practical policy.

Distinction from classical Marxism

The most crucial difference between "classical" Marxism and Marxism-Leninism has to do with the issue of majority rule during the dictatorship of the proletariat. In classical Marxism, the working class was supposed to develop a revolutionary consciousness as a result of increasing capitalist exploitation. According to Marx's Labor Theory of Value, the ever-increasing oppression of the working class would result the development of an overwhelming revolutionary sentiment. The ruling class, however, would only repress this democratic urge toward socialism, resulting eventually in a violent revolution. A "dictatorship of the proletariat" would be imposed by the workers themselves. Thus, in Marx's view, the dictatorship of the proletariat was never intended to be a lasting state, nor would it be unpopular except among the ruling classes and their "lackeys."

Lenin speaks to a crowd.

“

To tolerate the bourgeois newspapers would mean to cease being a Socialist. When one makes a Revolution, one cannot mark time; one must always go forward-or go back. He who now talks about the 'freedom of the Press' goes backward, and halts our headlong course toward Socialism. — V.I Lenin

”

Lenin perceived that the industrialized nations were not developing the revolutionary consciousness that Marx foresaw. In his booklet, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, he theorized that the Imperialist nations had temporarily circumvented the process Marx envisioned, by exploiting the cheap labor and raw materials of their colonies. The result was that the capitalists could afford to provide their workers with just enough benefits to prevent them from becoming revolutionary. As a result, Lenin insisted that only a "vanguard party" of the proletariat, comprised primarily of intellectuals rather than the workers themselves, must develop the necessary revolutionary consciousness to overthrow the capitalists. In order to do this, they would need to use "any means necessary" to seize power and establish the proletarian dictatorship. After the Russian Revolution, Lenin saw that "reactionary forces" were so ingrained in Russian society that a "Red Terror" would need to be organized by the Bolshevik state in order to root out such counter-revolutionary attitudes as the "bourgeois press" and religious "superstition."

This version of Marx's the "dictatorship of the proletariat"—in which a small Communist party, backed by ruthless police power, determined what was good for the workers whether they liked it or not—was intended by Lenin to be only a temporary measure. As the forces of "bourgeois democracy," religion, and other counter-revolutionary movements proved intransigent, Stalin would make Communist dictatorship into a permanent institution, justifying the totalitarian regime of the Soviet Union, lasting more than 70 years.

Marxism-Leninism in the Soviet Union

Marxism-Leninism in the Soviet Union was a selected mix of the prolific writings of Marx and Lenin, in addition to inclusions made by Soviet political authorities, many published under the name of Stalin himself. The additions made by subsequent Soviet ideologists was explained as the “creative application” of Leninist theory the new situations arising in the world, just as Lenin himself had done in responding to the challenge of a non-revolutionary proletariat in the context of Imperialism. Marxism-Leninism was thus both the official ideology of the Soviet Union, and the most influential strain of Marxism.

Marxism-Leninism changed slightly with each successive era of Soviet Communist Party leaders. For example Marxism-Leninism of the Khrushchev era was strongly against the establishment of personality cults like that of the Stalin era, which it described as alien to Leninism. It is largely accepted that Marxism-Leninism was ended in the Soviet Union by the openness of criticism and rejection of basic tenets of the ideology during Gorbachev's policies of Perestroika and Glasnost. (Brown 2004)

Current usage

File:Lenin-Engels-Marx (01) 2006-10-06.JPG

classical authors of the M-L:Lenin, Engels and Marx

Most communist parties today continue to regard Marxism-Leninism as their basic ideology, although many have modified it to adapt to new political conditions. However, several parties, especially those previously associated with Eurocommunism, have distanced themselves from Leninism and in many cases omitted it from their official documents. Some have started identifying themselves as "Marxist and Leninist" rather than "Marxist-Leninist."

In party names, the appellation "Marxist-Leninist" is normally used by a communist party who wishes to distinguish itself from some other (and presumably 'revisionist') communist party in the same country. Most often, parties who place the term "Marxist-Leninist" in their official name are those originating from the anti-revisionist tradition, such as Maoist or Hoxhaist groups.

See also

• Marxism
• Communism
• Socialism
• Vladimir Lenin
• Stalin
• Karl Marx
• Soviet Union

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Brown, Archie. The Demise of Marxism-Leninism in Russia. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. ISBN 9780333651247
• Brzezinski, Zbigniew. Ideology and Power in Soviet Politics. New York: Praeger, 1962. OCLC 504448
• Crossman, R. H. S., and Arthur Koestler. The God That Failed. New York: Harper, 1950. OCLC 265859
• Evans, Alfred B. Soviet Marxism-Leninism The Decline of an Ideology. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 1993. ISBN 9780275947637
• Lenin, Vladimir Ilʹich. Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism A Popular Outline. Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1965. OCLC 4316462
• Luxemburg, Rosa. The Russian Revolution, and Leninism or Marxism? Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1961. OCLC 406891
• Michael, Franz H. China and the Crisis of Marxism-Leninism. Boulder: Westview Press, 1990. ISBN 9780813379111
• Serge, Victor. From Lenin to Stalin. New York: Monad Press; distributed by Pathfinder Press, 1973. OCLC 621858

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Marxism-Leninism  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Marxism-Leninism"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.