Some brief reiteration: Firstly, Marx preached that the workers revolution that would herald Utopia would occur in Europe. The French prepare the way, The Germans commence it, The English finish it. The workers of the world reap the benefit.
Secondly: Marx preached that the revolution followed on from a Capitalist state of things. Without progressing thru the state of Capitalism and exhausting it, there could be no "Proletarian Dictatorship" . It was like trying to put a roof on a house before the walls were erected.
Thirdly: After the revolution the State as an institution must "wither" .Fading away. Why this "withering " must occur was never clearly developed by Marx, but all Marxists believed it must occur.
The vast majority of the discussion henceforth will revolve around these key issues, not because they have been chosen by myself as key issues. These are the issues continually discussed in Marxist debate after the occurence of the Revolution of 1917.
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PART 3 - THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE APPLICATION OF MARXIST DOCTRINE TO REALITY .
The revolution occured in 1917. The next decade was one of total upheaval. Up until the commencement of the revolution, Lenin believed that for a revolution to succeed it must follow the Dialectical pattern established by Marx. CAPITALISM/ Dictatorship of the Proletariat/ Socialism. He believed the Capitalist phase must be journeyed through. But with 1917 and events unfolding he seized the opportunity to grasp power despite the fact that Russia had never been "capitalist" and "industrial" .As the revolution got underway Lenin started to preach that the revolution could succeed if The Russian workers uprising triggered sympathetic revolutions in other countries that were industrialized.
In March 1917 Lenin stated: "The absolute truth is that without a revolution on Germany, we will perish".
And on 23 April 1918: " Our backwardness has thrust us forwardand we shall perish unless we are able to hold out until we meet with the mighty support of other countries".
This is what was expected to happen.The workers of other countries would join in the revolution as they saw the example set by Russian workers. The experienced workers of the western world would rally to then, once the revolution was over, assist their Russian brothers to overcome the fact that Russia had not traversed the Capitalist phase.
In 1917,1918 there seemed good indications that this uprising of the working class of Europe could indeed happen. As R N Carew Hunt puts it in "The theory and Practise of Communism" :....." It was possible to argue in 1917 that revolutionary prospects in the West were favourable.....since the latter stages of the war had led to disaffection among the working class of many of the antagonistic nations."
Hunt continues: " However, the 5th comintern congress of 1924 was obliged to recognize that the tide had ebbed and that capitalism had restabilized".
THe expectation of the World revolution failed to materialize. Events (as the 1920s began and advanced)continually disconfirmed that it was imminent. The fact was, in reality, there was no world wide union of "workers" there were only seperate nations. And none of the industrialized nations wanted a "proletarian revolution" . This was clearly demonstrated in the first post war election in Germany when the people elected a democratic moderate government by an overwhelming majority. The expectation of the "World wide revolution" was totally disconfirmed by the evidence of reality.
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What of the "Withering of the state" and the "Administration of things" by the working class after the revolution?
Note that Lenin said in "State and Revolution" (1918) : "The proletariat needs a state, that is what the opportunists tell you. But the proletariat needs only a Dying State. That is, a state organized in such a way that it immediately begins to wither away and cannot help withering away".
Lenin laid out various plans as to how the "Withering state" and the "Administration of things" would be organized post revolution. He had to lay this blueprint out, because Marx never did. Nowhere in Marx is it laid out how the utopia will be organized once the evil old order is destroyed!!
Some of Lenins notions are quoted from "State and Revolution" and "How to organize competition":
..."Officialdom is a parasite upon the body of Society.... a parasite stopping up the living pores....the proletariat will shatter the the old beaurocratic machine and create its own apparatus out of employees and workers. It will take measures against THESE turning into beaurocrats.Measures analized in detail by Marx and Engels: 1) Election to positions and recall at any time. 2) payment no higher than the wages of a worker. 3) immediate transition to a regime in which all will fullfill the roles of control and supervision, all shall, in rotation, be beuarocrats". (state and Revolution, 1918)
..."We must break the old, absurd, savage an despicable prejudice that only the rich and educated can administer the state, since every rank and file worker who can read and write can do this organizational work".
Certainly a rather naive view of things. The consequences?
Within three years of the revolution the country was levelled to absolute prostration. Total financial disaster. Civil war. And no world wide workers revolution in sight. By the 9th congress, of the year 1920 Lenin was compelled to announce : ...." For the work of organizing the state we need people who have state and business experience and there is nowhere we can turn for these people except the old class....We have to administer things with the help of the class which we have overthrown".
Trotsky, in "The Revolution Betrayed" paints the picture circa the early 20s:......" The city demanded grain and raw materials from the rural regions giving nothing in return...and the farmer buried his stores under the ground. The government sent worker detatchments to obtain the grain, and the farmer cut down his crops".
Further: ...." For 1921 The production of steel fell from 4.2 million tons to 183,000 tons....In 1922 the total harvest of grain fell from 801 million hundredweight to 503 million hundredweight....the country, and the government with it, stood on the very edge of the abyss."
The final part of this brief history will be posted next.......