Marxism-Leninism

Summary

Named after the socialist thinker, writer, and organizer Vladimir Lenin and his further development of Marxist theory, Marxism-Leninism gradually became the self-described ideology of the USSR, also known as the Soviet Union, and many more self-described socialist states that came after.

Some of Lenin's key contributions to Marxist theory were the idea of the vanguard party and democratic centralism. Both of these ideas distinguished the Bolshevik Party from other Marxist and socialist parties and movements at the time.

The Vanguard Party was a concept that there should be a political party made up of trained, in socialist theory and practice, professional revolutionaries, and that this party would be a vanguard to the working class's struggle for liberation.

Timeline

1. 1902

   What Is To Be Done?

   Lenin argues for a revolutionary organization capable of coordinating political struggle under repression.

2. 1917

   October Revolution

   The Bolshevik Party leads an insurrection and takes state power in Russia.

3. 1919

   Communist International (Comintern) founded

   The Third International is created to unite communist parties worldwide under a revolutionary Marxist line, later becoming a central vehicle for spreading Marxism-Leninism.

4. 1921

   Communist Party of China founded

   The Communist Party of China is established and begins organizing around Marxist-Leninist politics.

5. 1921

   Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party takes power

   The Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party leads the Mongolian Revolution and forms a revolutionary government.

6. 1922

   USSR founded

   The Soviet Union becomes the first long-lasting state governed by a party claiming Marxist-Leninist politics.

7. 1930

   Communist Party of Vietnam founded

   The Communist Party of Vietnam is established, organizing anti-colonial and socialist struggle in Vietnam.

8. 1944

   Party of Labour of Albania takes power

   Albanian communists emerge from the anti-fascist liberation struggle and establish state power; they lose it in 1991.

9. 1945

   Vietnamese August Revolution

   The Viet Minh, led by the Communist Party of Vietnam, wins state power in northern Vietnam and proclaims the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

10. 1945

    Workers' Party of Korea founded

    The party that becomes the Workers' Party of Korea is established in northern Korea.

11. 1945

    League of Communists of Yugoslavia takes power

    Yugoslav Partisans led by the Communist Party win state power; socialist Yugoslavia dissolves in the early 1990s.

12. 1948

    DPRK founded

    The Workers' Party of Korea becomes the leading party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, also called North Korea.

13. 1949

    Chinese Revolution

    The Communist Party of China wins state power and proclaims the People's Republic of China.

14. 1949

    Socialist Unity Party leads East Germany

    The Socialist Unity Party becomes the ruling party of the German Democratic Republic; the state ends in 1990.

15. 1955

    Lao People's Revolutionary Party founded

    The Lao People's Revolutionary Party is established to lead Marxist-Leninist organizing in Laos.

16. 1959

    Cuban Revolution

    The July 26 Movement wins state power in Cuba, creating the revolutionary government that later consolidates into the Communist Party of Cuba.

17. 1965

    Communist Party of Cuba founded

    Cuba's revolutionary organizations consolidate into the Communist Party of Cuba.

18. 1967

    South Yemen revolution

    The National Liberation Front takes power in South Yemen; its socialist state later unifies with North Yemen in 1990.

19. 1975

    Laotian Revolution

    The Lao People's Revolutionary Party takes state power and proclaims the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

20. 1975

    Vietnamese reunification victory

    The Communist Party of Vietnam defeats the Republic of Vietnam government and extends revolutionary state power across the country.

21. 1975

    MPLA and FRELIMO take state power

    Marxist-Leninist liberation movements take power in Angola and Mozambique; both later move away from Marxism-Leninism.

22. 1978

    Saur Revolution

    The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan takes state power; its government falls in 1992.

23. 1979

    Grenadian Revolution

    The New Jewel Movement takes power in Grenada; the revolutionary government ends in 1983.

24. 1990

    Several socialist states end or change course

    East Germany, South Yemen, and socialist Mongolia end or transition away from Marxist-Leninist single-party rule.

25. 1991

    Soviet Union ends

    The USSR dissolves, ending the original Marxist-Leninist state project that began with the Bolshevik Revolution.

History

Marx's ideas gradually became, in the eyes of many people, synonymous with socialism itself. The words “Marxism,” “socialism,” and “communism” also started to be used interchangeably in some of the public discourse on the subject. There were some other perspectives, like anarchism, which will be explained later on; for now, we will discuss Marxism-Leninism.

A vanguard in battle formation is a small group at the front of the army that leads the rest of the army into battle. Democratic centralism was the concept that within the political party, all decisions made by the vote of the Congress would be binding on all members. Even if a member personally disagrees with the policy, they are expected to follow it, and if they do not, they could risk losing status or membership.

These two concepts were seen as ways to overcome the stagnation and reformism that were observed in other European socialist parties in other countries at the time. The Bolshevik Party was originally a faction of the RSDLP, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, but a split in the group occurred over key disagreements the other members, called the Mensheviks, had with key concepts of Lenin's theory, which was written on pamphlets and passed out in cities and read among party members who debated the ideas.

All of the disagreements were on tactics; both parties had the same goals, that of a socialist society that ended oppression of the working class. How that transformation of society was achieved was not just a matter of opinion to these people debating in these political parties; it was a matter of life and death. Seriously. It may seem so abstract to us to think about different ideological perspectives of the issue and wonder why it matters, but at this time, revolutionaries who advocated for the end of the Tsardom, an autocratic monarchical system where the Tsar and his family have absolute, unquestionable political power, were being sent to prison deep in the Siberian wilderness, or even killed.

This is where we can see why his ideas are labeled “Marxism-Leninism.” The emphasis on the scientific approach that Marx took in his analysis of capitalism and what socialism could be was almost like a tradition that was followed. Lenin looked at what the problems and setbacks of other European socialist movements were and theorized possible solutions to them, and this was not just in this specific case.

Lenin's writings, like Marx's, heavily emphasize the concept of theory, practice, theory, practice. Empirically observing the material conditions and present class conflict, coming up with a theory of how the oppressed class can be liberated, putting those ideas into action, then seeing what worked and what could be improved on, then reapplying that revised theory to the practice, and so on, and so on.

In the ideology of Marxism-Leninism, as previously stated, the scientific approach to creating a better society is emphasized, and ideally, practiced, as seriously as the science of any other field. With this in mind, many contemporary commentators on the subject will also use the term “socialist experiments” to describe these countries.

Marxist-Leninist socialism is most often characterized by a state-run economy, and this, contrasted to the liberal concept of freedom of individuals to own entire companies and exercise personal control over industries, has often been labeled as evidence of “authoritarianism” or a “dictatorship,” but to the socialists of the USSR, their society was even more free because of this state ownership. The reason being that these state-owned industries were owned by the state for the purpose of enforcing these industries to be democratically run, with the power of the state, which was described by many citizens and outside observers to be a workers' democracy, a democracy without influence from single individuals with enough wealth to influence the outcomes of the elections.