Lenin CW-Vol. 23.pdf - From Marx to Mao

A CARICATURE OF MARXISM59have not even reached, or have only just reached, the capitaliststage of development. We stated this in section sixof our theses, but P. Kievsky, because of lack of attention,or inability to think, did “not notice” that we included thissection for a definite purpose, namely, to refute caricaturedistortions of Marxism. Only the advanced countries of WesternEurope and North America have matured for socialism,and in Engels’s letter to Kautsky (Sbornik Sotsial-Demokrata)29 Kievsky will find a concrete illustration of the realand not merely promised “idea” that to dream of the “unitedaction of the proletarians of all countries” means postponingsocialism to the Greek calends, i.e., for ever.Socialism will be achieved by the united action of the proletarians,not of all, but of a minority of countries, thosethat have reached the advanced capitalist stage of development.The cause of Kievsky’s error lies in failure to understandthat. In these advanced countries (England, France,Germany, etc.) the national problem was solved long ago;national unity outlived its purpose long ago; objectively,there are no “general national tasks” to be accomplished.Hence, only in these countries is it possible now to “blow up”national unity and establish class unity.The undeveloped countries are a different matter. Theyembrace the whole of Eastern Europe and all the coloniesand semi-colonies and are dealt with in section six of thetheses (second- and third-type countries). In those areas, asa rule, there still exist oppressed and capitalistically undevelopednations. Objectively, these nations still have generalnational tasks to accomplish, namely, democratic tasks, thetasks of overthrowing foreign oppression.Engels cited India as an example of such nations, statingthat she might perform a revolution against victorious socialism,for Engels was remote from the preposterous imperialistEconomism which imagines that having achievedvictory in the advanced countries, the proletariat will “automatically”,without definite democratic measures, abolishnational oppression everywhere. The victorious proletariatwill reorganise the countries in which it has triumphed.That cannot be done all at once; nor, indeed, can the bourgeoisiebe “vanquished” all at once. We deliberately emphasisedthis in our theses, and Kievsky has again failed to