Introduction to Marxism-Leninism [CFML: Chapter 1]
A. Overview of Marxism-Leninism
Leninism is Marxism of the era of imperialism and the proletarian revolution. To be more exact, Leninism is the theory and tactics of the proletarian revolution in general, the theory and tactics of the dictatorship of the proletariat in particular.
— J.V. Stalin1
- Marxism-Leninism as a scientific worldview rooted in dialectical and historical materialism.
- Theory of proletarian revolution, development in the era of imperialism.
- The unity of philosophy, political economy, and revolutionary practice.
In order to establish an understanding of Marxism-Leninism—in simple or complex terms—it is necessary to first begin with the simplest possible framework: a basic assessment of what Marxism-Leninism is, and what Marxism-Leninism isn’t.
What Marxism-Leninism is
One’s image of Marxism-Leninism, even at a basic level, will reflect the lens through which they investigate the subject. We will first examine it through three basic lenses in order to begin to understand the content and development of what Marxism-Leninism actually is.
The basic foundations of the philosophy of Marxism-Leninism are the theoretical and practical bodies of Marxism and Leninism: Marxism being the philosophy and works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, alongside their peers,2 and Leninism being that of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and his own.3
The first, Marxism, was established in the late 19th century as a philosophical and scientific assessment of world-historic development in the early period of capitalism.4 This led to the basic theory of revolutionary class conflict: the foundational theory informing the practice of developing international proletarian revolution.
Following this, Leninism was born in the early 20th century as the theoretical application of Marxist analysis to the age of capitalist imperialism.5 It is the advancement of revolutionary praxis from a “lower” to a “higher” level—that is to say, the development from anticipation of revolution to the organizational and structural work of building and leading revolution to victory.6 Following the establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1922, this philosophical orientation developed at an even higher level into the contradiction between Socialist Internationalism and building Socialism in One Country (SIOC).7
Thus, Marxism-Leninism may be understood philosophically as revolutionary Marxism applied to the conditions of late-stage capitalism and towards the initial stages of Socialist construction.
The basic foundations of Marxism-Leninism as a political theory were the rise and triumph of the Bolsheviks8 —guided by Leninist theory of capitalism in the age of imperialism—and the crisis of the 2nd International. The Bolsheviks developed specifically as the Leninist faction of the Marxist Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP).9 In this early form, Marxism-Leninism denotes one’s specific orientation within the factionalized milieu of revolutionary politics. The Bolsheviks (alongside some others) maintained a revolutionary position, rooted in traditional Marxism, with Bolshevism, or Leninism, specifically manifesting in their understandings of vanguardism and dual power (as opposed to the other Marxist factions of the period, e.g., the Mensheviks and the “reformists”).
Therefore, Marxism-Leninism can be understood politically as revolutionary Marxism developed through the tradition and lived experience of the Bolshevik revolution.
From the perspective of socio-economic development, the basic foundations of Marxism-Leninism were the development of capitalism into the age of imperialism in the early 20th century, and the unceasing crises bound up therein; namely the First World War and the global economic crisis that followed.
The earliest movements for Socialism arose from the dawn of industrial capitalism in the 18th century. The development of Marxism as a blueprint for understanding socio-economic evolution in general (and capitalism in specific) then arose in the 19th century, as industrial capitalism arose as the dominant economic form and began internationalizing. Such was the birth of the International Workingmen’s Association—also known as the First International—in 1864.10
This early foundation of Marxism is identified in the shifting of the prevailing relations of production away from feudal and handicraft relations, towards that of industrial wage labor. In this light, Leninism is understood as both the general blueprint for understanding the process of capitalist emergence, as it continued and reached new levels of development (manifesting in the emergent domination of imperialism), as well as the specific developments in the Russian Empire and eastern Europe at the turn of the 20th century.
It would then be in the 1920s, with the founding of the USSR, that Marxism-Leninism emerged as a unified framework synthesizing both of these “blueprints” or frameworks of thought towards the new task of Socialist construction, and became the specific (and official) ideological orientation of the Soviet Union. That is to say, introducing the reality of Socialist economic relations in their most basic form within the context of the imperialist world order which still exists into the present day.
Marxism-Leninism is understood, then, socio-economically as the synthesis of Marxism and Leninism towards the theoretical and practical tasks of developing Actually-Existing Socialism (AES) in the age of imperialism.
With these individual lenses in mind, a more coherent overview of the foundations of Marxism-Leninism becomes clear and a natural synthesis can be formed: Marxism-Leninism, as a body, is the unification of Marxism and Leninism, synthesized by the Bolsheviks, for the task of developing Actually-Existing Socialism (AES) in the era of imperialism.
As such, from its birth, Marxism-Leninism was understood to be the guiding ideology of the Soviet Union (USSR): that Marx and Engels (alongside their peers) had delivered to the working and oppressed peoples of the world a vision of a great new future under Scientific Socialism, and that the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin (alongside his peers), had then delivered it into reality for all oppressed peoples to see and emulate.
Digging deeper, Marxism-Leninism can be understood as the complete system of Scientific Socialism; encompassing not only the doctrine of the conditions of the liberation of the proletariat,11 but also the theory and tactics of the proletarian revolution in general, the theory and tactics of the dictatorship of the proletariat in particular.12
For, as Marx proclaimed:
Communism is the riddle of history solved, and it knows itself to be this solution… The entire movement of history, just as its actual act of genesis—the birth act of its empirical existence—is, therefore, for its thinking consciousness the comprehended and known process of its becoming.13
And V.I. Lenin observed:
Communism is emerging in positively every sphere of public life; its beginnings are to be seen literally on all sides… If special efforts are made to block one of the channels, the “contagion” will find another one, sometimes very unexpectedly. Life will assert itself.14
That is, that the emergence of Communism is, as per Marx, the riddle of history solved (particularly the history of class struggle), and, as per V.I. Lenin, akin to life itself. This basis of understanding, in its most essential and abstract form, is derived from G.W.F. Hegel’s Absolute Notion,15 which, for the sake of brevity, we will not belabor here.16
Marxism-Leninism is thus a living science, built upon the laws of the natural world, that exists for the purpose of recognizing and pursuing humanity’s inevitable world-historic endpoint: Communism, or extinction. That is to say, total liberation, or total annihilation.17 For, again, as Marx and Engels observed, this world-historic process of struggle between oppressor and oppressed finds its ultimate conclusion either in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes.18
Additionally, in practice, Marxism-Leninism may be described as the fundamental combination of theoretical and practical achievements of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, V.I. Lenin, and their peers. As the State ideology of the Eastern Bloc, as well as of the five remaining Actually-Existing Socialist (AES) countries in the world today, however, it would be a mistake to define Marxism-Leninism merely in these terms. Rather, with the advance of time, Marxism-Leninism has further evolved to include the contributions of countless other revolutionaries throughout history: J.V. Stalin (USSR), Mao Zedong (PRC), Kim Il-Sung (DPRK), Hồ Chí Minh (SRV), Kaysone Phomvihane (Lao PDR), Fidel Castro (Cuba), and millions more up to the present day,19 have all left enduring marks upon the body of Marxism-Leninism.
These developments must be accounted for in any reasonable exploration of the subject. It is this phenomenon specifically that makes Marxism-Leninism a living and immortal science: that there remains such variation of human experience, and such wide a degree of unique interactions with the natural world, that no singular dogma20 exists, at least at this time, that is capable of encapsulating the entirety of human diversity and experience. That is, that no rigid, pre-established formulation may yet be understood to infallibly encapsulate the entirety of all variation and contradiction at the level of peoples and movements; that Marxism-Leninism must rather be applied, or fitted to those discrete characteristics.
Greater clarity on the matter of dogmatism may be derived from a few key remarks by J.V. Stalin, who is recorded as having asserted to Mao Zedong (in part):
There is only Marxist-Leninist socialism… when building socialism, it is necessary to take into account the specific features of a particular country. But socialism is a science, which, like any science, necessarily has general laws, and as soon as you deviate from them, the construction of socialism is doomed to inevitable failure…21
And furthermore, as Xi Jinping writes:
Marxism points out the direction for the development and progress of human society. It is a powerful ideological weapon for us to understand the world, grasp its laws, pursue the truth, and transform the world. At the same time, Marxist theory is not a dogma, but a guide to action, and must develop with the changes in conditions…22
It is thus that historical trends, laws, and theories form the fundamental basis of Marxist-Leninist thought, but at all times act in service of its further development as a science; at no time is Marxism-Leninism beholden to any theory or dogma by mere virtue of it having been delivered from some higher authority. Rather, Marxism-Leninism rejects all such dogmatism, and adheres solely to that which is scientifically, materially, and historically constituted in the conditions of the subject.23
It then follows that Marxism-Leninism asserts itself as the ground from which other revolutionary formulae are grown; the fountain of revolution; the method, slogan, motivation, and goal of history itself. Marxism-Leninism is the shared aspiration and destiny of humankind. In its totality, we can describe Marxism-Leninism as the philosophy, science, and movement for human liberation.
While still incomplete in some ways, this elementary definition forms a sufficient foundation from which a more comprehensive understanding can be built.24
What Marxism-Leninism isn’t
Having briefly established what Marxism-Leninism is, it is now necessary to briefly address what Marxism-Leninism isn’t.
First and foremost, Marxism-Leninism does not predict that specific events or processes must occur in specific orders regardless of their context, but rather recognizes the trends of world history, and seeks to develop and apply scientific principles to such phenomena and their interrelations.
Marxism-Leninism does not posit mankind’s ultimate endpoint as Communism or extinction as a mere slogan or pseudo-religious mantra. Rather, it asserts itself as the only viable conclusion of applying scientific principles to the human condition, and the development of human society. It is thus first and foremost that Marxism-Leninism rejects metaphysical thought, dogmatism, and idealism; as Engels asserts, [b]ut where on the surface accident holds sway, there actually it is always governed by inner, hidden laws, and it is only a matter of discovering these laws.25 Such is the essential, scientific orientation of Marxism.
In its materialist foundations, Marxism-Leninism rejects, wholeheartedly, all notions of divine intervention into the world of humankind. If such a divine will may be said to exist in the world, as many do believe, then it may be said to exist outside of the realm of materialism, and therefore, outside of the scope with which Marxism-Leninism concerns itself.
While at times arising in the form of a more stringent atheism, this does not inherently mean that all Marxist-Leninists are necessarily anti-religious, or even atheists; rather, that such personal spiritual beliefs are not considered a valid substitute for scientific thought, or indicative of the general processes that compose material reality.26
In its full clarity, Marxism-Leninism encompasses both the world view of the proletariat as well as [a]t the same time … the method of the proletariat for taking cognizance of the surrounding world, and the method of revolutionary action of the proletariat. It is the unity of world view and methodology.27
Marxism-Leninism rejects the base impositions of idealism; that belief in the shaping of the material world by mere ideas. If belief alone were the cause of all phenomena, then it would have been enough for the Paris Commune to have only believed itself into existence, and to have believed itself immune to rifles and cannonfire.28 Yet all the more, we see that no such belief or thought, in and of itself and without material change, holds sway over the real world of steel and flesh. Thought and belief, that is, ideals, appear under the microscope of Marxist-Leninist thought to be worth consideration only insofar as it acts as a motivating force for material action. Even then, it is the action, not the ideal, which takes pride of place.29 That social practice alone is the criterion of the truth of one’s knowledge of the external world30 —only through physical engagement with the material world can true knowledge be ascertained—is the core of the Marxist-Leninist theory of knowledge.
B. The Importance of Marxism-Leninism
Both students and intellectuals should study hard. In addition to the study of their specialized subjects, they must make progress both ideologically and politically, which means that they should study Marxism-Leninism, current events and politics.
— Mao Zedong31
- Marxism-Leninism as the compass for revolutionary action and socialist construction.
- The foundation for class consciousness and political clarity.
- Marxism-Leninism as a weapon against revisionism, reformism, and bourgeois ideology.
Marxism-Leninism thus appears as the foremost guide, hope, and weapon of the working and oppressed peoples. As their guide, Marxism-Leninism provides a clear historical context and rubric towards humanity’s ultimate goal of total liberation. As their hope, Marxism-Leninism is the science that provides viability and demonstrability in its claims of guiding the revolutionary movement to liberation. As their weapon, Marxism-Leninism provides a clear path forward, and a clear set of tools, for the development of the revolutionary movement and the construction of Actually-Existing Socialism (AES) in the real world.
By its synthesis, through dialectical and historical materialism, of the theory and practice of the revolutionary movement, Marxism-Leninism is clear in its vision, both for human liberation, and for its methods of how to achieve it. The immortal science not only expresses the ideals of the working and oppressed masses, but, even more acutely, through this synthesis, provides a clear path for implementing real-world change. That is, that Marxism-Leninism provides the path not only to interpret the world in various ways, but, more importantly, to change it.32
As the guns of war rang out across the Somme in 1916, some 300,000 soldiers perished; by the end of the “Great War” in November 1918, some eight-or-so million soldiers in total, and another six-or-so million civilians, lay dead.33 Few, if any, of those deaths were necessary, and the war itself appeared as the apocalyptic birth of a new era out of the pre-existing conditions of liberal capitalism. That is, that it was the birth of a new (imperialist) era.34
The fathers of that new synthesis, of Marxism-Leninism, emerged there, at the moment of crisis, clear-eyed and iron-willed, to take up the cause of transforming the imperialist war into a class war.35 Those Bolsheviks, namely in Russia but elsewhere as well, became the standard-bearers of the first generation of Marxism-Leninism, and left behind no shortage of inspiration, instruction, and hope, for all future generations.
More than a century later, the world once again heaves under the emergence of yet another new era;36 this time with the Socialist-oriented leadership of the People’s Republic of China, which has proudly held high the banner of Marxist-Leninist tradition, in the commanding position. Alongside the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Republic of Cuba, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, these Actually-Existing Socialist (AES) countries, rooted in Marxism-Leninism,37 continue to show the path forward for the revolutionary masses of the world.