Posts Tagged ‘Stalin’
Lenin. Was he a Lousy Marxist theoretician, but a Master political tactician genius? I beg to differ.
Posted September 21, 2014
on:Lenin. Lousy Marxist theoretician, Master political tactician genius? For instituting what?
In his writing of “What to do” and “Two Tactics“, Lenine denounced the thesis that spontaneous mass revolution existed or could be relied upon for a meaningful revolution intended to destroy the previous institutional system of power.
Lenin insisted that only a “Revolutionary Party” can guide and execute a successful revolution, to lead and educate the proletariat.
As the Russian troops returned from the front in February 1917, being totally crushed and annihilated by the German forces, famine and precarious supplies… the Russians overthrew the Tzarist monarchy.
Most expatriate Russians returned to their homeland, each political party wanting to do their brand of revolution.
Lenin had spent 20 years abroad, and when he returned in 1917, he realized that the Russian masses were already in ebullition, and demanding bread, peace from wars and peace to all, lands for the peasants, control of the enterprises by the workers, emancipation and auto-determination for the various “nationalists’ and minorities.
Consequently, Lenin had to deal with a spontaneous revolution that was not engaged for liberalism or socialism, but for pragmatic interests.
He thus wrote “The state and the revolution” in order to launch his reversal position on spontaneous communities and to proclaim “All the power to the Soviets”
And Lenin started to expound on the spontaneity of the masses in his speeches as deep and invincible force that will eventually and surely allow socialism to prevail in Russia and all of Europe.
These positions were mostly tactical in nature since Lenin never believed on the spontaneity of the masses to grab power.
Lenin plays politics and view all his work from a political perspective, pragmatic, tactical and relying on a well-organized political party.
Lenin failed in his first attempt to grab power in February 1917 and was forced to flee to Finland
Kerenski and his Menchevik party were the master of Russia and composed the vast majority in the Soviets and parliament.
From February to October, Lenin studied Kerenski’s character and realized that he was indecisive and didn’t press on his decision.
Kerenski main worry was any counter-attack from the monarchist forces and totally neglected the activities of the minority bolchevik movement.
In October 16, 1917, Lenin sent messsages from Finland to prepare an insurgency before October 25, the date of the Second Soviets Congress.
As the leaders of his party failed to respond seriously to his messages, Lenin decided to move closer and returned to Petrograd in catimini.
He immediately met with the central committee and did his best to vote for the insurrection. The majority were against this decision. Even Trotsky was against the date and wanted the insurrection after the congress meeting.
Dzerjinsky, (the future chief of the secret services or Tcheka), backed Lenin and together managed to round a positive vote.
Kamenev and Zinoviev decided to submit their resignation from the central committee and refused to participate in the preparation of the insurgency operations.
Lenin relied on “professionals’ in preparing and staging insurrections. For example, the main leaders were Trotsky, Dzerjinsky, Antonov-Ovseenko, Lachevitch, Podvoiski and Nevski.
Part of the success of the insurrection was that the people ceased to believe that the government is serious of delivering on its two main promises:
1. Reaching a peace agreement with Germany and
2. Starting the agrarian reform for distribution of lands to the peasants
The other factor was how the bolcheviks managed to recruit the Revolutionary Military Committee as its main military force.
The Revolutionary Military Committee was established by Kerensky to defend Petrograd in the eventual progress of the German troops to enter the provisiory capital.
The Revolutionary Military Committee ordered the army garrison to obey its orders instead of the government or other institutions.
The insurrectionists entered the Winter Palace and detained the minsters of the government the night of October 24. Kerenski was up North trying to gather a few regiments.
On October 25, the Congress was held and the Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries stomped out and left the bolcheviks to form the central committee and form the government.
Marxism for Lenin is identified as a revolution to grab power.
And every other political move is plainly tactical to reach the objective of snatching the power.
Once lenine grabs the power, all his decisions are focused on centralizing his power.
Only the bolchevik dailies are allowed and the unity of his party prime over all other concerns.
Reconstituting a centralized state is the name of the game with its State structures emulated along the ‘western culture” that lenine consider as the most developed and most efficient of all institutions, particularly the German institutions.
For Lenin, compared to Germany in military and state structures, Russia is an “Asiatic Barbarian country”
The other specific trait of Lenin was to view Marxism as an international movement in order to liberate the colonized people. And the Russian revolution was meant to ignite revolutions all over the world, and that position was steady until 1920 as Lenin recognized that his revolution is facing radical difficulty to be a viable disseminator of revolution around the world.
After 1920, Lenin revert to the concept that of saving the revolution in Russia first and foremost. Stalin will stick to that stand until after WWII.
Within 4 years (1917-1920), Lenin who never had any State function in his life, consolidated his power on the State and his party.
What the Russian Communist party decided as “Orthodox Marxism” in its successive international congress was adopted and all other communist versions condemned as “heretics”, depending on the interest of the Russian party and the Secretary genera; of the period.
Lenin is remembered not a Marxist theoretician, but mostly as a political genius who implanted a Marxist State, regardless of the violence and dictatorial practices that were used and adopted to firmly establish the revolutionary and centralized state.
It is Stalin who will bear all the blame, though it was Lenin who codified and organized the brutal practices.
Many authors would like to define as a master political tactician with no strategy.
I beg to differ. The way he conducted the revolution, single-minded and stubbornly proves that his strategy was clear, well-defined and was the guiding rod to all his manipulations before and after the revolution.
He never deviated from his strategy and confronted the leaders of his party at every turn until he turned them round to his views,
If Lenin had no definite strategy, all his political tactics would have led to nowhere and his revolution would have withered in no time.
Note: Read the french book “Lenine” Helene Carriere d’ Encausse.
Reactions of world leaders to Pearl Harbor attack by Imperialist Japan on Dec. 7, 1941?
Posted May 31, 2013
on:Reactions of world leaders to Pearl Harbor attack by Imperialist Japan on Dec. 7, 1941?
On Dec. 7, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor (Hawaii) and destroyed half the US naval fleet. The two airplane carriers Lexington and Enterprise were saved: They were transporting airplanes to the islands of Guam, Wake and Midway. Admiral Kimmel decided that the fleet would be safer in Hawaii. since the plane carriers were not able to cover their movements.
All these countries had efficient decoding means of secret messages and orders, and Japan knew that the US has decided to protect its colonies in the Far East, particularly the Philippines, and to check Japan’s territory expansion.
The US had started in earnest, even before WWII started, to relocate many navy shipbuilding facilities to the west coast, particularly in Los Angeles.
Four weeks ago, Germany encouraged Japan to declare war on the US as it evaluated that Roosevelt is doing his best to fail all negotiations.
1. Churchill was following the development on the Russian front and harassing the British generals in Libya: “You are not audacious enough to engage Rommel…”.
This morning, after hearing the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Churchill is hopping like a kid and wants to immediately be connected to Roosevelt.
Sure, the Russians are inflicting 95% of all German casualties, but the US engagement in the war is a definite victory. Churchill is behaving years younger: “The destiny of Nazi Germany is now sealed, and Mussolini is done with. Japan will be reduced to dust…”
Churchill is already viewing himself as the pivot of the Great Alliance. De Gaulle beg to differ: Churchill will be at the beck of Roosevelt who will barely suffer Churchill’s decisions.
Churchill set sail on Dec. 12 to meet with Roosevelt: His strategy is to convince Roosevelt that the primary enemy is still Germany, and the Atlantic Ocean the main battlefield
2. Stalin does not show his jubilation and deep relief. His is anxious that the US military supplies will now be delayed in order to check Japan’s expansion in the Pacific. Stalin wants also to remind Roosevelt that Germany is the main enemy., and is harassing England to open a second front in the Balkans or in France to give Russia a breathing space…
3. De Gaulle learns the news on the radio in his British house of Ellesmere. He is saying to Dewavrin (nicknamed Passy): “Now the war is definitely won. The future is preparing two phases:
1. How to save Germany after the war by the allies, and
2. A potential global war between the US and the Soviet Union. The US might be defeated in that challenge if it fails to take the necessary timely measures.
4. Mussolini was ecstatic this time around: The invasion of Russia however disturbed Mussolini greatly, especially that Hitler warned him only half an hour before the incursion. Mussolini had said then: “I wish this time that the Russian would give him a good lesson. I should be fortifying the Italian borders against the inevitable German occupation of Italy. But it is too late: When among the wolves, all you can do is howl like them…”
Note: Extracts from the French book “1941: The world catches fire” by Max Gallo
Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969): Vietnamese
Many famous nationalist leaders were not nationalist by choice.
For example, the Algerian prince Abdel Kader (1808-1882) was not destined to lead the first popular revolt against the new colonial power of France: Abdel Kader was a mystic, Sufi, had done the pilgrimage to Mecca as a teenager with his father, and was deeply religious. The leaders of the tribes elected him to be their Caliph at the age of 24 in order to lead the war against the French troops. After two decades of wars and over 100,000 of French troops amassed to quell the revolt with atrocious mass massacres, and no external support by the Ottoman Empire or any European monarchs, Abdel Kader surrendered and later became the staunchest supporter of France: He worked hard to rally the Egyptians and clerics to the cause of the project of the Suez canal undertaken by the French government.
Another case is of Simon Bolivar (1783-1830) who reluctantly lead the revolution to freeing all south America from Spanish colonialism in 1826. At 19, he married a Spanish girl (from Madrid), two years older than him, and he was deeply in love and decided to lead a normal life, like his dad did on his vast plantations. Suddenly, Simon’s wife died four months later from fever and everything changed in his life. He returned to Europe, Spain and France, on another long trip before he decided to return to Caracas (Venezuela).
Ho Chi Minh or “source of light“, one of the many aliases he used in his clandestine life, was born Nguyen Sinh Cung in Annam or north Vietnam; France was already the colonial power of the current Far East Asian States of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.
Ho Chi Minh didn’t finish his high school in 1909 for lack of finance and his father, a low civil servant at the French administration, was fired for alcohol abuse. France had change the Vietnamese ideograms into Latin characters called “quoc ngu“. In 1905, Japan had defeated Russia and the Vietnamese were flocking to Japan for education. Ho Chi Minh decided to go west and boarded a French merchant cargo; he worked in the merchant marine for two years as cabin boy and kitchen helper.
In China of 1912, Sun Yat Sen forced the emperor to abdicate. Ho Chi Minh is in Marseille (France) in 1913; he is refused the application to attend the Colonial school forming administrators to France. WWI starts and 92,000 Vietnamese are enlisted in this western war as replacement to French workers in factories and digging trenches. Ho Chi Minh refuses to participate; he wrote to his Vietnamese mentor in France: “Destiny is reserving us surprises. Within 4 months destiny of Asia will change. The hell with those who decided to fight. We have to wait calmly for the war to end.”
In 1916, Ho Chi Minh is in London and acquiring technical skills in electricity and mechanics. The “Annamite patriots” are in Versailles in 1919 demanding to be freed from France colonialism. Ho Chi Minh understood that independence will be earned by violent means and join the French communist party, recently adhering to the Comintern organized by Lenin in the new Russia Bolshevik regime. Ho Chi Minh wrote: “ I like and respected Lenin because he was a great patriot who liberated his compatriots.”
Thus, Minh sided with the Lenin faction at the 3rd French International that gathered in Tour in 1919; he spoke saying: “The future of socialism is by allying to nationalist forces and taking greater interest in freeing colonized nations that are marching irresistibly toward independence.”
He is suffering famine in Paris but he publishes articles in French communist papers. From Moscow of 1923, Dimitri Manouilski, commissar of agriculture in Ukraine, summons Ho Chi Minh to attend 18 months at the new communist university, designed to training members in clandestine activities. Ho Chi Minh is then a member of the Peasant International executive bureau, the Krestintern and attends the 5th International Congress in Moscow and sides with Stalin, Zinoviev, and Kamenev against Trotsky (chief of the Red Army who was for an International revolution.)
In 1925, Ho is sent to Canton (China) to train and teach 300 Vietnamese communist refugees, among them is the future Prime Minister Pham Van Dong. The Chinese communists, lead by Zhu Enlai, Mao Tse tong, and Wang Jingwei enter Shanghai before their ally the nationalists of Tchang Kai-check who foment a massacre against the communists inside the city and expels them. Moscow is no longer supporting the Chinese Nationalists and Ho is recalled to Moscow. Ho is sent to Bruxelles, Berlin, and Paris. In 1929, Ho reaches Thailand from Vladivostok and unites various small Vietnamese communist parties into one and appoints Tran Phu as secretary-general.
Ho suffers jails in Thailand and China for more than a year and manages to reach Moscow after crossing 7,500 kilometers that lasted 6 months. Mao Tse Tong is firmly established in the Hunan and Jiangxi provinces. By 1933, Stalin started the purge: 30,000 army officers will be executed along with the communist leaders. Ho is feeling the heat and obtains the permission to Joining Mao’s forces and met with a young Vietnamese historian Vo Nguyen Giap (the military mastermind in defeating the US forces in 1973).
In Vietnam of 1940, the Japanese sealed a deal with the French army faction allied to Vichy and are controlling all the air bases and the ports. Ho returns to North Vietnam and settles in a grotto, having carried a typewriter while crossing the frontiers; he eventually forms the Viet Minh and organizes the peasants. Ho is actively contacting agents for arms and support. Ironically, only the US comes to the rescue, supposedly to defeating the Japanese in Far East Asia after japan bombarded Pearl Harbor (Hawaii) in December 1941.
The leader of the Trotskyist communist faction, Ta Thu Thau, infiltrated to the north from his bases in south Vietnam; the Viet Minh captured him several times and was released by orders of Ho Chi Minh. To making a long story short, Ho’s priority was a unified front in the north and decided to eliminate Ta Thu Thau saying: “He was a great patriot and we are crying him. However, whoever does not follow the line I traced will be broken down.” Ho tried hard to finding a peaceful resolution with the French and attended the conference in Fontainebleau during 1946 and spent several months revisiting cities and meeting old friends.
By 1951, Ho is receiving arms and financial resources from both China and Russia while the French troops are supplied by the USA. Ho finally defeats the 12,000 French army in Dien Bien Phu in 1954. In 1955, France abandons all of Vietnam to the US in order to focus its military resources against the Algerian national resistance.
Ho is now establishing the Viet Cong guerrilla and army to fighting the US troops in south Vietnam. He died in 1969 as his emissary Le Duc Tho started the peace conference in Paris with Henry Kissinger. The US will vacate Vietnam in 1973. Ho Chi Minh spoke fluently four foreign languages: Chinese, French, English, and Russian. The Chinese ancient philosopher Confucius was Ho’s spiritual master.
Note: This topic was mainly extracted from the French book “Lighthouses” by Jacques Attali