Discussion

On the Revolutionary Theory and Practice of Leninism - Part 7: The National Question

The right of nations to self-determination is a fundamental democratic demand. Karl Marx took the stand that no nation can be free if it oppresses other nations. However, the parties of the Second International distorted this principle, supporting it in the abstract and within a limited scope, while refusing to support actual struggles for national liberation, especially in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Lenin reiterated, clarified and further elaborated this Marxist principle under conditions of imperialism, waging an uncompromising struggle against the opportunism of the parties of the Second International on the national question.

The opportunists of Lenin's day refused to recognize the importance of the struggle for national independence. While periodically issuing high-sounding resolutions recognizing the right of nations to self-determination, in practice they opposed the struggle for national liberation in the colonies on the basis that these struggles did not declare themselves to be struggles for "socialism". Lenin demonstrated that to take such a position was to objectively go over to the side of imperialism. With the outbreak of the First World War, most of these opportunists actually formed alliances with their own imperialist bourgeoisies, confirming Lenin's assessment of their politics.

At the beginning of the 20^th century the problem of national oppression was particularly intense in those countries that were outright colonies of the big capitalist powers, which is to say most of the countries outside of Europe and North America. Lenin quotes Hilferding's Finance Capital to illustrate this point: "In the newly opened up countries," he (Hilferding - ed.) writes, "the capital imported into them intensifies antagonisms and excites against the intruders the constantly growing resistance of the peoples who are awakening to national consciousness; this resistance can easily develop into dangerous measures against foreign capital. The old social relations become completely revolutionized, the agelong agrarian isolation of 'nations without history' is destroyed and they are drawn into the capitalist whirlpool. Capitalism itself gradually provides the subjugated with the means and resources for their emancipation and they set out to achieve the goal which once seemed highest to the European nations: the creation of a united national state as a means to economic and cultural freedom. This movement for national independence threatens European capital in its most valuable and most promising fields of exploitation, and European capital can maintain its domination only by continually increasing its military forces." (Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, Foreign Languages Press, 1975, pp. 146-147)

However, imperialist domination did not stop with the colonies; it also extended to those smaller capitalist countries which were nominally independent, such as Canada and the smaller countries of Europe. A small handful of oppressor nations had emerged - essentially Britain, France, Germany, United States, Russia and Japan - while the vast majority of the remaining nations suffered some degree of oppression as colonies, semi-colonies or dependent countries. As a result, a growing movement for national independence emerged in all of those countries, including Canada.

Lenin rejected the notion that the struggle against national oppression would divert workers from the struggle for socialism. On the contrary, Lenin maintained that the achievement of complete democracy for the working class and people, including the elimination of national oppression, is a strategic objective of socialist revolution in all countries. He said: "It would be a fundamental mistake to suppose that the struggle for democracy can divert the proletariat from the socialist revolution, or obscure, or overshadow it, etc. On the contrary, just as socialism cannot be victorious unless it introduces complete democracy, so the proletariat will be unable to prepare for victory over the bourgeoisie unless it wages a many-sided, consistent and revolutionary struggle for democracy." (The Socialist Revolution and the Right of Nations to Self-Determination, Foreign Languages Press, 1975, page 2)

Lenin viewed the struggle of the workers in the capitalist countries and the struggle of the peoples in the colonies as one struggle against the world-wide system of imperialism. Regardless of the motivation and goals of those leading the struggle for sovereignty and independence, their fight weakened the imperialist system and assisted the struggles of the working class in the imperialist homeland for its own emancipation. In other words, imperialism created conditions for a profound internationalism - the unity of the revolutionary workers in the capitalist countries with the oppressed peoples in the colonies. Lenin pointed out that neither struggle could be successful without such unity.

Of course, Lenin's contributions on the national question were not only theoretical. The Great October Revolution not only overthrew capitalism, but also overthrew the imperialist relations between the Russian nation and the oppressed nations within the former Russian empire. The construction of socialism was started on the basis of establishing a free and equal union of all the nations within the former empire, based on the right of all nations to self-determination, including the right to secession. The Soviet Union, which was established under Lenin's leadership, had two purposes: the collective self-defence of the new revolutionary states against imperialism and the defence of the smaller nations against the re-emergence of "Great Russia" as an oppressor state.

Today, the imperialist system has been in existence for over a century. A wave of national liberation struggles following the Second World War successfully eliminated the colonial status of most of the countries in the world. At the same time, imperialism has become more sophisticated and its methods of exploitation and oppression have changed in many ways since Lenin wrote on the subject. Under the banners of "globalization" and "trade liberalization", and using such institutions as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and World Trade Organization to impose enslaving credits and loans and unequal trade arrangements, the financial oligarchies in the most powerful capitalist countries are intensifying their exploitation and oppression of the peoples in almost every country. A greater percentage of the world's population suffers from hunger, malnutrition and disease than during any previous period in history. Today, the imperialist powers do not even pay lip-service to the rights of nations; economic, political and military blackmail is the order of the day. In other words, the right of nations to self-determination is as relevant and urgent today as it was during Lenin's time.