National liberation, socialism, and imperialism: Selected writings

by Vladimir Lenin

Back cover
Several of Lenin's basic theoretical essays on nationalism and the right of nations to self-determination are brought together in this volume. They analyze the national question specifically and historically in Russia, Europe and Ireland and discuss national oppression, colonialism, great power chauvinism and opportunism in the national question. The book underlines the relationship of nationalism to imperialism and shows how the struggle for democracy and national liberation with the fight for socialism.

Genres: Nonfiction, Lenin, Politics

189 pages, Unknown Binding

First published December 1, 1968

About the author

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, leader of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks), statesman and political theorist. After the October Revolution he served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until his death in 1924 and of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death in 1924.

Reviews

[Brian Bean · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The socialist revolution is not a single act, it is not one battle on one front, but a whole epoch of acute class contacts, a long series of battles on all fronts, i.e., on all questions of economics and politics, battles that can only end in the expropriation of the bourgeoisie. . . . In the same way as there can be no victorious socialism that does not practice full democracy, so the proletariat cannot prepare for its victory over the bourgeoisie without an all-round, consistent and revolutionary struggle for socialism."

[mohab samir · Rating 3 out of 5]

جاء الكتاب - كعادة كتابات لينين - دفاعاً عن الماركسية او الاشتراكية العلمية ضد المزيِفين من الاشتراكية الانتهازية والشوفينية والاصلاحية من حلفاء البرجوازية فى الخفاء فى وقت السلم وفى العلن فى وقت الأزمة . وكان هذا الدفاع هو القضية الأساسية عند لينين حيث رأى مدى قصور افكار الاشتراكية الطوباوية من جانب ومن جانب أخر يجد المحرفون والمشوشون على عقلية البروليتاريا الأوروبية ممن اغرتهم البرجوازية بالمشاركة فى السلطة او غيرها من الاغراءات فى مقابل طمس الحقائق واخفاء الجرائم ومسخ المفاهيم للجمهور . فكان ان رأى لينين دوره الرئيسى فى موقعه فى التصدى لهؤلاء ممن يعرقلون مسيرة التقدم نحو الثورة الاشتراكية الديمقراطية فى أوروبا .
جاء الكتاب هذه المرة ذو طابع إجتماعى وسياسى وهو عبارة عن مقالات وخطابات تشمل مسيرة عمل لينين الحزبية والدعائية من مطلع القرن العشرين وحتى وفاته فى عشرينيات القرن .
وكانت القضية الرئيسة فى اغلب هذه المقالات هى الدفاع عن حق الشعوب فى تقرير مصيرها ، القضية ذات التاريخ الممتد من نصف القرن الذى سبقه مع اشتداد حدة الافكار القومية الحديثة والتى تطورت فى زمن لينين الى افكار التحرر الوطنى عند الشعوب المستضعفة فى الصين والهند ومصر وغيرهم ممن يشملون غالبية سكان العالم . فأصبحت قضية الحق فى تقرير المصير محور جدل طويل لدى الأوساط الحاكمة واوساط الاكاديميين والمثقفين فى العالم الأول حيث كانت المصالح الإمبريالية والرأسمالية لها الأولوية . الى ان انتهت الحرب العظمى ١٩١٩ واعلن ويلسون هذا الحق بشكل انتهازى لا من اجل حرية الشعوب بل من اجل أن يجذب انتباه وتعاطف الشعوب مع الولايات المتحدة ومع دول الحلفاء الرأسمالية والإمبريالية المنتصرين فى الحرب ، ولكسب ولاء الكثير ممن لم يفهموا من نداءات الاشتراكية السوفييتية الا النداء بهذا الحق . وبالطبع اتضحت انتهازية الولايات المتحدة وحلفاءها الذين راحوا يتسابقون على المستعمرات التى ابعدتهم الحرب عنها وإعادة توزيع الغنائم فتضاعف نشر النفوذ واعلان الوصاية او الوضع تحت الحماية والتقدم لنشر الحضارة وغيرها من المفاهيم الاستعمارية المموهة المختلفة فى زمنها .
كان لينين كفؤاً لمواجهة اعداؤه وقد أظهر فهماً شاملاً عميقاً ومرناً للماركسية فهو يعرض للتجريد فى التنظير ولكنه يتحاشاه فى العمل والنقد هو سلاحه الفعال وإدراكه للحظة الزمنية والتاريخية لم ينطفئ الا برحيله .
ولا يجب ان نغفل اهمية كتابات لينين فى ابراز الصورة او الخريطة السياسية فى اوروبا والتعرف على ابرز القضايا المتواجهة على هذه الساحة السياسية مطلع القرن العشرين .

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I tracked down this book after reading Lenin, Hegel and Western Marxism. Prior to this, I had only read What Is to Be Done, Lenin's defense of vanguardism and revolutionary discipline. Stylistically, National Liberation, Socialism and Imperialism is similar. Lenin is brilliant at debating orthodoxy with various Marxist factions, attacking his opponents while staking out his own ideological position on the issues of the day. At this level, reading Lenin is a bit of a guilty pleasure, since his books, tracts, pamphlets and articles so clearly inform our perceptions of how revolutionary parties debate, whether through the political posturing of Totalitarian regimes or the comedic parodies from Monty Python's People's Front or Judea.

Still, this work is interesting and important in rethinking the popular perception of Lenin as a doctrinaire authoritarian. In National Liberation, Socialism, and Imperialism, Lenin writes forcefully and passionately for equality among nations, democratic representation, and the right of national movements to pursue liberation from imperialism. This position almost certainly informs later Soviet Union foreign policy, but it also sheds light on how and why many national liberation movements embraced communism because of Lenin's strong defense of national self-determination and equality among nations.

This is clearly a book that can be enjoyed on multiple levels as an historical document from the period just before and after the Bolshevik seizure of power, as a text that influenced national liberation movements throughout the twentieth century, and as a quintessential text of social revolutionary debate and rhetoric.

[Marc Lichtman · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of Lenin’s writings on what was known as the “national question.” Lenin advocated self-determination of oppressed nationalities in the world, including the right to form their own governments if desired. Russia, at the time, was not a country; it was an empire dominated by ‘Great Russians.” Likewise, at the time, you had another empire, Austria-Hungary, where the German-speaking Austrians dominated dozens of nationalities that today have independence.

Vladimir Putin is currently trying to reinstate the Russian Empire in his war against Ukraine. He hates Lenin but has a soft spot for Stalin, because after Lenin’s death, Stalin attempted to reinstate the domination of Russians, despite his Georgian ancestry. It was a move to satisfy the state bureaucracy, which was the layer his power was built on.

Lenin was worried about this happening, which can be seen in his last writings, in Lenin's Final Fight: Speeches and Writings, 1922-23.

[AHW · Rating 3 out of 5]

Luxemburg’s position wasn’t fully logically drawn out, but she was fundamentally right on the “national question”. Lenin was wrong.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only problem with this specific collection of essays is that they're mainly a response to other essays by other socialists, some as well known as Rosa Luxembourg and some I had never heard of. The content of these essays is mainly concerning specific problems in Europe in the early 1900s so if that is not your area of expertise you may feel a little lost as your reading.
Despite this the book is still filled with useful information that can be applied to today.