World revolution

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels already were of the opinion that socialism must be realized under international points of view: " The emancipation of the working class ( is ) neither a local nor a national, but a social problem, embracing all countries in which the modern society is, and how to solve the practical and theoretical, of the most advanced countries depends " (Marx, founding declaration of the International working Men's Association ).

Marx's most famous work, the " Communist Manifesto " which ends with the lines: " Proletarians of all countries, unite! ". Under Lenin, the idea of ​​world revolution was seen as a central theme, and then the third party, the Communist International ( Comintern ) was founded in March 1919. The task of this organization was to support the not yet united and victorious, but still existing world revolution of the years 1917-1926 at any price: " From the above principles it follows that the mutual approach of the proletariat and the toiling masses of all nations and countries to the common revolutionary struggle for the overthrow of the landlords and the bourgeoisie, the cornerstone of the whole policy of the Comintern in the national and colonial question has to be done. "(Lenin, original design Theses on the National and colonial Questions ).

Importance of the Soviet Union

After the October Revolution in Russia in 1917 Communists had tried in other parts of Europe to come to power. However, these attempts were ultimately unsuccessful. For example, there were in Germany 1918-1923 several, sometimes only local uprisings, such as the March fighting in central Germany in 1921. Hungary had the Hungarian Soviet Republic in the spring and summer of 1919. These revolts and regimes were in a relatively short period of democratic or reactionary forces depressed or eliminated.

After Lenin's death occurred in the Soviet Union to open power struggle between the Soviet leader Josef Stalin and the Minister of War and later leader of the Left Opposition, Leon Trotsky. The successor should determine the progress of the international policy of the Soviet Union. Stalin advocated a national course of the neutralization of the world bourgeoisie " and the diplomatic negotiation, which was underpinned with a thesis that the concept of Marx and Engels, but not by Lenin disagreed ( " socialism in one country " ): " In the past, the victory the revolution in one country to be impossible, because it was assumed that the victory over the bourgeoisie, a joint action of the proletarians of all advanced countries, or at least most of these countries was needed. Now no longer complies with this point of view of reality. Now you have to accept the possibility of such a victory " (Stalin, Foundations of Leninism ). Trotsky defended in accordance with his theory of permanent revolution, the theoretical basis of his life's work, the slogan of the world revolution, ' was based on the analysis of Marx that in an international production, each thought of the long- term survival of an autonomous economic organization is a figment of the imagination. Unlike Stalin, he held the socialism in the national context, especially in a backward peasant country like Russia to be impossible: " " Do you think, " replied me in the years 1905 to 1917 dozens of times Stalin, Rykov and all other Molotov ," that Russia is ripe for socialist revolution " Then I have always replied: No, I do not think so. But the world economy as a whole and especially the European economy is fully ripe for the socialist revolution. " ( Trotsky, The Permanent Revolution ).

Stalin, who was able to prevail in intra-party power struggle, kept pressing ahead with industrialization as more important than trying to rekindle a world revolution immediately. Stalin insisted that each country should perform as measured by the level of development of the proletariat its own time of the Revolution, as can be seen with the American journalist Roy Howard the interview ( Scripps - Howard Newspapers, issue of March 1 1936). During this conversation took place in approximately the following scene:

" What about the plans and intentions with respect to the world revolution? ", So the question Howards. Then Stalin claimed: " Such plans and intentions we never had ." On the perplexed Stammelei "Yes, but ... " Howard replied Stalin, everything was " the result of a tragic misunderstanding ," to which Howard, who had now caught up again somewhat, "One tragic misunderstanding? " Nachhakte. After that follows, slightly quirky and irrelevant discussion herein, which ended with the result that the suspect plans of a world revolution was a tragicomic misunderstanding in the Soviet leadership, Stalin continued to lecture: " export of revolution - this is nonsense. Each country performs its revolution itself, if it will, but if it will not, then there will be no revolution. Our country as the revolution wanted to do and she has done. "

Criticism

The similarity of the concept of the Marxist " world revolution " with the goal directions of several world religions ( Christianity, Islam ), (in principle) to enable all people to an optimum for all mankind state ( to " save " them), has the concept of the criticism registered to be (eg, by Eric Voegelin ), a concealed religious message, not a scientific prediction or possibility. ( See also millenarianism. )

Direct critic of the world revolution threw the postulate still mostly that - if taken seriously - world peace hazardous, since the (apparent) way had been there always abbreviated by force, or sharper: could never otherwise than through mass suppression can be achieved.

On the other hand, of the Stalinist Trotskyist page bigotry for the non-occurrence of the world revolution blamed, and other processes towards world revolution for predictable or other ways considered walkable.