The Soviet Industrial Revolution: the Results of the First and Second Five-Year-Plans

The following are economic statistics from the Soviet Union’s First and Second Five-Year Plans with my commentary giving some context and helping you better interpret the numbers. The four periods depicted in these statistics are the following: 1) The last Czarist census of 1913. This represents the height of the economic development of the Russian Empire. The economyContinue reading “The Soviet Industrial Revolution: the Results of the First and Second Five-Year-Plans”

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia on the Great October Socialist Revolution

Great October Socialist Revolution the first victorious socialist revolution in history, accomplished in 1917 by the Russian working class in alliance with the poor peasantry under the leadership of the Communist Party (formerly, the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party [Bolshevik]), headed by Lenin. The name “October” comes from the date October 25 (November 7, newContinue reading “The Great Soviet Encyclopedia on the Great October Socialist Revolution”

J.V. Stalin on the Final Victory of Socialism in the U.S.S.R.

Ivan Philipovich Ivanov, staff propagandist of the Manturovsk District of the Young Communist League in the Kursk Region of the U.S.S.R., addressed a letter to Comrade Stalin requesting his opinion on the question of the final victory of Socialism in the Soviet Union. IVANOV TO STALIN Dear Comrade Stalin, I earnestly request you to explainContinue reading “J.V. Stalin on the Final Victory of Socialism in the U.S.S.R.”

Communist Party Alliance: Bourgeois Democracy and Proletarian Democracy

A talk given to the Stalin Society on 24th July 2005 By Wilf Dixon This title embraces far more than I realised when I first thought to suggest making it the subject of a talk here at the Stalin Society. As communists we have a responsibility to explain to workers, class conscious youth and allContinue reading “Communist Party Alliance: Bourgeois Democracy and Proletarian Democracy”

Soviet Democracy and Bourgeois Democracy

This pamphlet is a translation of an essay published in the symposium Soviet Socialist Society prepared by the Institute of Philosophy of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R. and published by the Gospolitizdat, Moscow 1949. The question of democracy, of how it is to be correctly understood, of the fundamental distinction between Soviet socialistContinue reading “Soviet Democracy and Bourgeois Democracy”

J.V. Stalin: The Prospects of the Revolution in China

Speech Delivered in the Chinese Commission of the E.C.C.I. November 30, 1926 Comrades, before passing to the subject under discussion, I think it necessary to say that I am not in possession of the exhaustive material on the Chinese question necessary for giving a full picture of the revolution in China. Hence I am compelledContinue reading “J.V. Stalin: The Prospects of the Revolution in China”

Revisionism in Russia: Trotsky Against the Bolsheviks – Part Two: 1914-1917

This is the second part of a study of the development of revisionism in Russia, and covers the period from the outbreak of World War I in 1914 to the victory of the socialist revolution in November 1917. Read part one here. The First Imperialist War In August 1914, the First Imperialist War began. AlmostContinue reading “Revisionism in Russia: Trotsky Against the Bolsheviks – Part Two: 1914-1917”

Andy Beckett: The Forgotten Story of Chile’s ‘Socialist Internet’

When Pinochet’s military overthrew the Chilean government 30 years ago, they discovered a revolutionary communication system, a ‘socialist internet’ connecting the whole country. Its creator? An eccentric scientist from Surrey. Andy Beckett on the forgotten story of Stafford Beer During the early 70s, in the wealthy commuter backwater of West Byfleet in Surrey, a smallContinue reading “Andy Beckett: The Forgotten Story of Chile’s ‘Socialist Internet’”

Communist League: On Terrorism

REPRINT FROM COMBAT – Journal of the Communist League – March 1975. TERRORISM OR REVOLUTION? The last decade has witnessed the emergence of a number of terrorist groups in various countries, together with the adoption of terrorist tactics by a number of national liberation groups. Britain for example, has experienced the bombing campaigns of theContinue reading “Communist League: On Terrorism”

Misunderstandings Regarding Proletarian Leadership and the Peasant Question in Marxism

“Present-day thinking on Marx and Engels’s strategy is often muddled by a curious misunderstanding. We tend to visualise a contrast between ‘developed’ countries like Germany, France and England on the one hand and ‘backward’ ones like Russia on the other. But how ‘developed’ were countries like Germany, France and England in 1848 or 1871? OnlyContinue reading “Misunderstandings Regarding Proletarian Leadership and the Peasant Question in Marxism”

V.I. Lenin on the Fourth Anniversary of the October Revolution

The fourth anniversary of October 25 (November 7) is approaching. The farther that great day recedes from us, the more clearly we see the significance of the proletarian revolution in Russia, and the more deeply we reflect upon the practical experience of our work as a whole. Very briefly and, of course, in very incompleteContinue reading “V.I. Lenin on the Fourth Anniversary of the October Revolution”

The CPSU(B), Gosplan and the Question of the Transition to Communist Society in the Soviet Union 1939-1953

by Vijay Singh Marxism recognises the primary role of the industrial working class in the democratic and socialist revolutions and in the transition to communist society. In the Communist Manifesto Marx and Engels indicated that of ‘all the classes that stand face to face with the bourgeoisie today, the proletariat alone is a really revolutionaryContinue reading “The CPSU(B), Gosplan and the Question of the Transition to Communist Society in the Soviet Union 1939-1953”

V.I. Lenin on the Revolution, Democracy, and Democratic Demands

“The proletariat cannot be victorious except through democracy, i.e., by giving full effect to democracy and by linking with each step of its struggle democratic demands formulated in the most resolute terms. It is absurd to contrapose the socialist revolution and the revolutionary struggle against capitalism to a single problem of democracy, in this case, the national question. WeContinue reading “V.I. Lenin on the Revolution, Democracy, and Democratic Demands”

Lin Biaoism and the Third World: How Idealism Distorts Class

by Espresso Stalinist An odd phenomenon is haunting the halls of Maoism – a chauvinist set of ideas loosely forged from the writings of Chinese military officer and politician Lin Biao. These ideas, to the extent to which they form coherent ideology at all, can roughly be termed “Lin Biaoism.” To be perfectly clear, IContinue reading “Lin Biaoism and the Third World: How Idealism Distorts Class”