Lenin: The Great Strategist of the Class War/Introduction
INTRODUCTION
IF I were asked to tell in a few words what is the most pronounced feature of this pamphlet by A. Lozovsky on "Lenin; the Great Strategian of the Class-War," I should say this: It is a desire to extract from the experiences of Lenin's life as many lessons as is humanly possible for the advancement of the class struggle and for the promotion of the proletarian victory thruout the world.
A. Lozovsky has been prompted to write on Lenin, it seems to me, not merely by a desire to perpetuate Lenin's memory. No. Lenin's name will live in the world as long as toiling masses struggle against exploitation, and as long as oppressed nations and persecuted races tread the path of revolt against their masters in a fight for freedom and human equality. The motive that produced this little book is much more immediate, direct and practical than a mere wish to perpetuate the memory of a great leader. It is an earnest attempt to make Lenin in his death as nearly useful to the working class as he was in his life, and a study of this pamphlet will show that its author has acquitted himself of his task with more than ordinary excellence.
What is it that we are primarily interested in about Lenin? We, I mean those that are part and parcel of the labor movement and of the proletarian class struggle and that are fighting for the dawn of a new day. What do we want to know about Lenin and for what purpose?
Lenin was the founder of a great party, the Communist Party of Russia. He was the leader of the first successful proletarian revolution. He was for over six years the head of the first Workers' and Peasants' Government in the world. He was also the founder and recognized leader of the Communist International. For us, working class militants in the cause of labor, there is a world to learn from the experiences of Lenin as to how to educate, organize and arouse the masses to action against their capitalist exploiters. What we all want to know is, how did Lenin do it? What theories did he hold? What tactics did he pursue? What means did he employ? In short, what is the essence of Leninism?
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Leninism is the theory and practice of working class struggle. It is the accumulated experience of the battling armies of the proletariat against capitalism reflected by the mind of a genius. It is the century-old hatred of the oppressed against the oppressors embodied in a man of iron will and a great, beautiful heart. It is the proletarian urge to power expressed, formulated and led by the greatest leader the working class ever had.
To understand thoroughly Lenin and Leninism one needs to be familiar with Russia, its history, the martyrdom of hundreds and thousands of Russian revolutionaries, and the long, bitter years of oppression suffered by the toiling masses of Russia. Lenin is inseparable from the class struggle of the Russian masses.
But his greatness and the importance of his work have gone far beyond the boundaries of his native land. At this moment there is not another name in the whole world which means so much for millions upon millions of human beings. It is as if the deepest longings and most intimate dreams of the oppressed in every corner of the globe, in "civilized" Europe as well as in backard Africa, as much in America, as in Asia, have gone forward into the endless spaces of the universe and have found their point of concentration, their unifying genius in the life and teachings of Lenin.
Was there ever a human being more truly international, more a leader of the people of all countries and all nations, than Lenin?
Take his attitude toward the late imperialist war. How did he look upon it? How did he react towards it?
He loved the Russian masses with all the great powers of his human soul. Is anyone in doubt about that? If one's understanding of the most deeply buried feelings of the masses is any test of one's love for them, then who in Russia's history has surpassed Lenin in such understanding? And if one's sympathy for the sufferings of the masses, sympathy of the purest kind, of a most intense and burning nature, is any sign of one's love and devotion to the masses, then who in the life of Russia is greater in this respect than Lenin?
And yet Lenin was one of the most consistent opponents of the idea of the workers defending "their" fatherland. He was unalterably opposed to the Russian masses shedding their blood for the greatness of Russia. Why? Because to him "Russia" was not an abstraction, but a real living thing. Because his great realistic mind was able to pierce through the glittering superficialities of patriotism and fatherland and to reach out after the substance of things. And in doing so he finally reached the truth that if the name Russia stands for the tens of millions of its toiling masses, if the greatness of Russia is the same as the well-being, peace and security of the workers and peasants, then the true way of serving the greatness of Russia was to combat the late war and to destroy those forces which were instrumental in bringing the war about.
This was the Lenin-way of being patriotic and loyal to one's nation and country.
As these lines are being written, new war clouds are becoming visible on the Far-Eastern horizon. The capitalists of Japan are preparing to resist the encroachment of the capitalists of America in the division of imperialist spoils in China. The capitalists of America are preparing to impose their will by the force of arms. What does it mean? It means that. we are drifting with progressively greater speed into a war with Japan. In fact, we are already engaged in war.
Look at what we are now doing in China. Ali the manoeuvres of our bankers and officials in China in support of one warring general against another, all the movements of our warships in the Chinese waters, are nothing else than war against the capitalists of Japan for more power and influence over China for the capitalists of America.
Again the air will be filled with "patriotism," love of country, loyalty to the fatherland, etc. Again the workers of the United States will be called upon by their masters to come to the defense of the honor, greatness and even freedom of America. The capitalist press of the country, these giant factories for the production of sham and camouflage to dope the working masses, will again start out on a systematic campaign to befog and befuddle the minds of the masses into the belief that "their" country is in danger of being attacked by a foreign enemy.
And when this begins to happen we shall be badly in need of some antidote to the poisonous influences of war propaganda. And what better means is there for such purpose than the wholesome, nourishing and sustaining food of Leninism?
When in trouble, go back to Lenin. When in doubt, consult Lenin. This should become the maxim of every worker and poor farmer in the United States. For there is no surer guide to what the oppressed masses must do to protect themselves against the conspiracies of the capitalists than the teachings and directions of Leninism.
Is it war that you are called upon to sacrifice your life for? If it is, here is what Lenin will tell you. First, inquire, ask questions. Who is it that calls you to war? For what purpose? In defense of whose interests?
And when you find, as you are bound to, that the war is championed by the capitalists, that you are called upon to defend the profits and power of your bosses and exploiters, that it is a war of imperialist robbery and plunder, you will say what Lenin said: Not a cent and not a man for the aggrandizement of our class-enemies! Instead of waging war for capitalism, we shall start war against capitalism, for the overthrow of the power of our bosses and for the establishment of our own rule.
And, then, you might ask some more questions. You might want to know how best to fight your economic battles, how to resist wage cuts, open shops drives, unemployment. You will find, for instance, that one of your main problems in the coming months will be how best to strengthen your unions, to rejuvenate them with a new spirit of militancy and hopefulness. What must you do? What can you do?
Turn to Lenin, he'll tell you. He has built a party and led a movement which already conquered for the toiling masses one sixth of the earth's surface. He ought to know how you do those things. Ask him and he'll tell you.
Then, if you go deep enough into the problems of the working class, you will strike the problem of all problems, the question of how you can do away with capitalism altogether. And you will want to know the best way, the surest road, the shortest cut to your final goal. And again we say, ask Lenin, study Leninism.
As with all knowledge that is really worth having, there is no royal or short road to the study of Leninism. Many books have been and will be written on Lenin and on Leninism, which is merely another name for the great art and science of the Social Revolution. Those working class militants, who are truly ambitions to serve their class against capitalism, will no doubt find the time and energy required for a thorough study of Leninism. And as a beginning or introduction to such a course of study we know of no better work than this pamphlet by A. Losovsky.
Losovsky's pamphlet should be carefully read and studied by every trade-union militant who is active in the labor movement. For there are few better ways of assimilating the experiences of great—one is temped to say the greatest—revolutionay leader and turning these experiences to good account in one's own immediate work, than by studying the life work of Lenin. And for this one would want no more efficient and kindlier guide than this little book.
When you are thru with the reading of it, you grasp, perhaps for the first time, the true stature of the Russian giant. His marvelous knowledge of economics and the social sciences generally, his great analytical mind, his almost superhuman sense for detecting the deep, quiet processes that are constantly taking place within the broad masses, his flexibility of mind, his burning hatred of capitalist oppression and his iron determination to fight the bloody thing to a finish—all these qualities of Lenin take living shape under the pen of Lozovsky, who has succeeded in presenting us with a most illuminating picture of the great Strategian of the Class Struggle.
We cannot all become Lenins, it is true, but many a workingman and workingwoman can succeed in approximating the great leader to one degree or another if sufficient effort is lent in that direction in a conscious and determined way.
Our class is badly in need of leaders—loyal, capable and efficient fighters in the proletarian struggle for power. Never in the history of society has an oppressed class struggling for freedom confronted an enemy as clever, tricky, resourceful, unscrupulous and brutal as is the ruling class of today, the capitalists. This fact imposes a duty upon every working class militant to study and learn the art and science of social revolution, to familiarize himelf with the tactics and methods of Leninism which have been proved to be the only way to the overthrow of capitalism and the complete liberation of the working class.
Chicago, September, 1924.