150 years since the birth of V.I.Lenin: Theses and statements by Communist Parties

Several Communist and Workers' Parties from all over the world issue articles and statements on the occassion of the 150th birth anniversary of the great Bolshevik revolutionary, leader of the 1917 Great October Socialist Revolution and founder of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. 

Read below the articles and statements:

150 years since the birth of V.I.Lenin: Statement by the European Communist Initiative

The 22nd April 2020 marks the 150th birth anniversary of the greatest revolutionary in modern history, the ideological heir and continuator of Marx-Engels' work, leader of the 1917 Great October Socialist Revolution and founder of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. 

On this occasion, the European Initiative of Communist and Workers' Parties  issued the following statement:

Russian communists mark the 96th anniversary of Vladimir Lenin's death

Today marks the 96th anniversary since the death of the greatest revolutionary of the 20th Century, the continuer of Marx and Engel's theoretical work and architect of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. 

For this reason, hundreds of workers, men and women, members and supporters of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), as well as other communist groups and youth organizations, gathered at Moscow's Red Square, in order to lay flowers the Mausoleum of Lenin. 

The event was attended by a delegation of the CC of the CPRF headed by Chairman Gennady Zyuganov. 

Vladimir I. Lenin — Letter to Central Committee Members (November 6, 1917)

On the eve of the Great October Socialist Revolution Vladimir Lenin wrote a letter addressed "To Central Committee Members". In the letter, which was written on October 24th, 1917 (November 6th by the Gregorian calendar), V.I.Lenin points out the following: 

Comrades!

I am writing these lines on the evening of the 24th (November 6th). The situation is critical in the extreme. 

Moscow: Workers paid tribute to V.I.Lenin on the 95th anniversary of his death

Despite the freezing temperatures, a large number of workers, young men and women, Communist Party (CPRF) members and members of social movements visited Lenin's Mausoleum in Moscow's Red Square, in order to pay tribute to the great leader of the Great October Socialist Revolution, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, on the occasion of the 95th anniversary of his death. 

The ceremony was attended by leaders of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, regional parliaments, communists of the Moscow city and Moscow regional branches, representatives of public organizations.

Russian Communists honored Lenin's 148th birth anniversary in Moscow

Communists and people of the working class gathered on Sunday in Moscow's Red Square to celebrate the 148th birth anniversary of the legendary bolshevik revolutionary and founder of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Iliych Lenin.

Those who turned out for the occasion held onto communist flags and portraits of the Soviet leader, as they convened on Red Square in order to visit Lenin’s Mausoleum.

The deputy of the Communist Party of Russian Federation (CPRF) Vladimir Kashin attended the ceremony, along with other members of the party and the Komsomol (youth wing), supporters and activists from various civil organizations.

J.V. Stalin- Lenin: The Genius of the Revolution

Joseph V. Stalin -

Speech Delivered at a Memorial Meeting of the Kremlin Military School.

January 28, 1924. 

First Published on Pravda, No. 34, 

February 12, 1924.

Source: Works, Vol. 6, January-November, 1924, pp. 54-66, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow, 1954.

Reproduced from Marxists Internet Archives.

Comrades, 

I am told that you have arranged a Lenin memorial meeting here this evening and that I have been invited as one of the speakers. I do not think there is any need for me to deliver a set speech on Lenin’s activities. It would be better, I think, to confine myself to a few facts to bring out certain of Lenin’s characteristics as a man and a leader. There may, perhaps, be no inherent connection between these facts, but that is not of vital importance as far as gaining a general idea of Lenin is concerned. At any rate, I am unable on this occasion to do more than what I have just promised.

V.I. Lenin — The Defeat of One’s Own Government in the Imperialist War

Vladimir I. Lenin - The Defeat of One’s Own Government in the Imperialist War.

Published in Sotsial-Demorkrat No. 43, July 26, 1915.

Source: Lenin Collected Works, Progress Publishers, [1974], Moscow, Volume 21, pages 275-280. 

During a reactionary war a revolutionary class cannot but desire the defeat of its government.

This is axiomatic, and disputed only by conscious partisans or helpless satellites of the social-chauvinists. Among the former, for instance, is Semkovsky of the Organising Committee (No. 2 of its Izvestia), and among the latter, Trotsky and Bukvoyed,[2] and Kautsky in Germany. To desire Russia’s defeat, Trotsky writes, is “an uncalled-for and absolutely unjustifiable concession to the political methodology of social-patriotism, which would replace the revolutionary struggle against the war and the conditions causing it, with an orientation—highly arbitrary in the present conditions—towards the lesser evil” (Nashe Slovo No. 105).

V.I. Lenin writes about Engels: "A great fighter and teacher of the proletariat!"

  By Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

 

Written in autumn 1895, First published in 1896 in the miscellany Rabotnik, No. 1-2.

Source: V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, 4th English Edition, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1972 via Marxists Internet Archives.

What a torch of reason ceased to burn, 

What a heart has ceased to beat!

On August 5 (new style), 1895, Frederick Engels died in London. After his friend Karl Marx (who died in 1883), Engels was the finest scholar and teacher of the modern proletariat in the whole civilised world. From the time that fate brought Karl Marx and Frederick Engels together, the two friends devoted their life’s work to a common cause. And so to understand what Frederick Engels has done for the proletariat, one must have a clear idea of the significance of Marx’s teaching and work for the development of the contemporary working-class movement. 

V.I.Lenin- The Tasks of the Proletariat in the Present Revolution (The April Theses)

Vladimir I. Lenin - The Tasks of the Proletariat in the Present Revolution ("The April Theses").

Published on April 7, 1917 in Pravda No. 26.

Source: Lenin’s Collected Works, Progress Publishers, 1964, Moscow, Volume 24, pp. 19-26. via Marxists Internet Archives.

I did not arrive in Petrograd until the night of April 3, and therefore at the meeting on April 4, I could, of course, deliver the report on the tasks of the revolutionary proletariat only on my own behalf, and with reservations as to insufficient preparation.

The only thing I could do to make things easier for myself—and for honest opponents—was to prepare the theses in writing. I read them out, and gave the text to Comrade Tsereteli. I read them twice very slowly: first at a meeting of Bolsheviks and then at a meeting of both Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.

I publish these personal theses of mine with only the briefest explanatory notes, which were developed in far greater detail in the report.

Poetry for Lenin - By Vladimir Mayakovsky and Bertolt Brecht

Photo: In Defense of Communism.

On the occasion of the 93rd anniversary of Vladimir I. Lenin's death, we post three major poems by the giants of literature and poetry Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893-1930) and Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) dedicated to the great Bolshevik revolutionary and architect of the first socialist state in the world.  

The first one is Vladimir Mayakovsky's legendary poem "Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" published in 1924. 

The other twoo are poems by Bertolt Brecht, titled "The Unconquerable Inscription" (1934) and the "Cantata on the Day of Lenin's Death" (1935). 

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin: His revolutionary legacy remains alive and timely

By Nikos Mottas.

It was in the dawn of January 21, 1924, 93 years ago, when the heart of the greatest revolutionary in history, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, stopped beating. Lenin, the leader of the 1917 Great October Socialist Revolution and architect of the first socialist state in the world, was 54 years old.

The name of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin is identified with two dialectically connected issues. On the one hand, there is his revolutionary activity and practice as the leader of the 20^th century's most significant event- the 1917 Great October Socialist Revolution. On the other hand, there is his theoretical work which is the development of the revolutionary theory of Marx and Engels in the era of Imperialism. That extraordinary combination of revolutionary theory and practice makes Lenin a unique personality in history who, 93 years after his death, remains “alive” in the collective memory and hearts of the working class people across the world.

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin- "Left Wing" Communism, an Infantile Disorder (1920) Part I

"Left-Wing" Communism, an Infantile Disorder.

By Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

First Published in 1920.

Source: 

V. I. Lenin, Selected Works, English edition, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow, 1952, Vol. II, Part 2.

PART I.

IN WHAT SENSE CAN WE SPEAK 

OF THE INTERNATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION ?

    In the first months following the conquest of political power by the proletariat in Russia (October 25 [November 7], 1917), it might have seemed that the tremendous difference between backward Russia and the advanced countries of Western Europe would cause the proletarian revolution in these latter countries to have very little resemblance to ours. Now we already have very considerable international experience which most definitely shows that certain fundamental features of our revolution have a significance which is not local, not peculiarly national, not Russian only, but international. I speak here of international significance not in the broad sense of the term: not some, but all the fundamental and many of the secondary features of our revolution are of international significance in the sense that the revolution influences all countries. No, taking it in the narrowest sense, i.e., understanding international signifcance to mean the international validity or the historical inevitability of a repetition on an international scale of what has taken place in our country, it must be admitted that certain fundamental features of our revolution do possess such a significance.

Successful International communist seminar regarding Vladimir Lenin's work was organised by the KKE in Athens

The International Seminar, with the subject: "A century from the publication of the work of V.I.Lenin "On the slogan of a United States of Europe", took place today, Saturday 10th December, organised by the European Parliament Team of the KKE in Athens, responding to the call of the Plenary session of the Parties of the "European Communist Initiative".

"On the slogan for a United States of Europe"- Communist Parties to participate in international seminar in Athens

IDC / Info from 902.gr.

At least 20 Communist Parties from around the world will participate in the international seminar that will take place in Athens on Saturday 10 December. The seminar's subject is the 100th anniversary since the publication of V.I.Lenin's work "On the slogan for a United States of Europe" and is organised by the European Parliament team of the KKE. 

The seminar's major speaker is Kostas Papadakis, member of the CC of the KKE and KKE MEP. The General Secretary of the CC of the KKE Dimitris Koutsoumbas will also attend the seminar and will deliver a short greeting message.

The venue of the seminar is Stanley Hotel at Karaiskaki Square (1 Odysseos str). 

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin- The State and Revolution (1917) Part VI "The Vulgarisation of Marxism by Opportunists"

The State and Revolution.

By Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

First Published: 1918.

Source: V.I.Lenin, Collected Works, Volume 25, p.381-492.

The question of the relation of the state to the social revolution, and of the social revolution to the state, like the question of revolution generally, was given very little attention by the leading theoreticians and publicists of the Second International (1889-1914). But the most characteristic thing about the process of the gradual growth of opportunism that led to the collapse of the Second International in 1914 is the fact that even when these people were squarely faced with this question they tried to evade it or ignored it.

In general, it may be said that evasiveness over the question of the relation of the proletarian revolution to the state--an evasiveness which benefited and fostered opportunism--resulted in the distortion of Marxism and in its complete vulgarization.

To characterize this lamentable process, if only briefly, we shall take the most prominent theoreticians of Marxism: Plekhanov and Kautsky.

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin- The State and Revolution (1917) Part V "The Economic Basis of the Withering Away of the State"

The State and Revolution.

By Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

First Published: 1918.

Source: V.I.Lenin, Collected Works, Volume 25, p.381-492.

Marx explains this question most thoroughly in his Critique of the Gotha Programme (letter to Bracke, May 5, 1875, which was not published until 1891 when it was printed in Neue Zeit, vol. IX, 1, and which has appeared in Russian in a special edition). The polemical part of this remarkable work, which contains a criticism of Lassalleanism, has, so to speak, overshadowed its positive part, namely, the analysis of the connection between the development of communism and the withering away of the state.

1. Presentation of the Question by Marx

From a superficial comparison of Marx's letter to Bracke of May 5, 1875, with Engels' letter to Bebel of March 28, 1875, which we examined above, it might appear that Marx was much more of a "champion of the state" than Engels, and that the difference of opinion between the two writers on the question of the state was very considerable.

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin- The State and Revolution (1917) Part IV "Supplementary Explanations by Engels"

The State and Revolution.

By Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

First Published: 1918.

Source: V.I.Lenin, Collected Works, Volume 25, p.381-492.

IV. SUPPLEMENTARY EXPLANATIONS BY ENGELS.

Marx gave the fundamentals concerning the significance of the experience of the Commune. Engels returned to the same subject time and again, and explained Marx's analysis and conclusions, sometimes elucidating other aspects of the question with such power and vividness that it is necessary to deal with his explanations specially.

1. The Housing Question

In his work, The Housing Question (1872), Engels already took into account the experience of the Commune, and dealt several times with the tasks of the revolution in relation to the state. It is interesting to note that the treatment of this specific subject clearly revealed, on the one hand, points of similarity between the proletarian state and the present state--points that warrant speaking of the state in both cases--and, on the other hand, points of difference between them, or the transition to the destruction of the state.

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin- The State and Revolution (1917) Part III "Experience of the Paris Commune of 1871: Marx's Analysis"

The State and Revolution.

By Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

First Published: 1918.

Source: V.I.Lenin, Collected Works, Volume 25, p.381-492.

III. EXPERIENCE OF THE PARIS COMMUNE OF 1871: MARX'S ANALYSIS.

1. What Made the Communards' Attempt Heroic?

It is well known that in the autumn of 1870, a few months before the Commune, Marx warned the Paris workers that any attempt to overthrow the government would be the folly of despair. But when, in March 1871, a decisive battle was forced upon the workers and they accepted it, when the uprising had become a fact, Marx greeted the proletarian revolution with the greatest enthusiasm, in spite of unfavorable auguries. Marx did not persist in the pedantic attitude of condemning an “untimely” movement as did the ill-famed Russian renegade from marxism, Plekhanov, who in November 1905 wrote encouragingly about the workers' and peasants' struggle, but after December 1905 cried, liberal fashion: "They should not have taken up arms."

G. Marinos- The Leninist Theory on Imperialism, Guide for the struggle of the Communists

The Leninist Theory on Imperialism, Guide for the struggle of the Communists.

Certain issues related to Lenin's work "Imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism" on the occasion of its 100th anniversary this year.

By Giorgos Marinos*.

The complexity of the economic and political developments at an international and national level is borne out on a daily basis and requires a more serious, systematic effort to develop the theoretical work on the part of every communist party and to form a robust infrastructure that will have the capacity to support the independent ideological-political struggle of the communists, the struggle inside the trade unions, inside the labour-people's movement.

A permanent task for communists is the study of the development of the imperialist-capitalist system and its components, the capitalist states, the precise assessment of the position each state has in the imperialist system so that the formation of a revolutionary strategy and tactics is based on the real objective data that highlight that our era is the era of the passage from capitalism to socialism.