This files contains a complete, organized and simplified summary of PART III of Prof. Dr. Zemni's extensive syllabus for his course 'History of Political Ideologies'. I got a 19/20 on this course making and using all parts of these summaries! This is ideal if you're looking for extra clarity, help ...
PART III - The early 20th century – a world in turmoil
1. The Soviet Union
Russian revolution = one of the major occurrences in the early twentieth century.
- The soviet revolution meant that
- communism became during a large part of the 20th century a competitor to
capitalism and after WW2, to liberal democracy.
- Also an ideology that spread across the world and played an important role in
some nationalist movements across the so called 3rd world countries.
- Although it collapsed, up until today socialist ideas do play an important role in
politics and policies.
1.1. The genesis of the Soviet System
Was Russia feudal or capitalist?
- For Marx
- The class consciousness of the worker’s movement could only grow because of the
emergence of capitalism
- So, socialists ideas were only possible in capitalist societies, not feudal.
- BUT, Russia at that time was still largely feudal
- The peasants were more important than the workers in terms of societal
organization.
- Russia was one of the late countries in Europe to abolish feudalism officially.
Lenin
If we first need to pass a capitalist phase before going to communism/socialism:
How to change and what is the nature of this change? Two currents
- Cf. PLECHANOV
- Bolsheviks (majority) – Mensheviks (minority)
[→ look into the syllabus - teacher did not address these in detail !!!]
How to evolve from feudalism to socialism?
- Main question: “what’s need to be done?”
- How to evolve from a more or less feudal system in Russia (with a tiny sector of capitalism), to
socialism?
- The place that a person occupies in the production process generates spontaneous
forms of ideology and resistance → not strong enough
- SO, the workers will want to have better conditions for work and live
, - they will come to the streets for those demands = trade unionist demands
(economical demands that give them a better life in society).
- BUT, not enough
- The workers will remain in that economic level of asking for certain benefits front he
capitalists
- The consciousness of the workers will not necessarily lead to a socialist
consciousness (>< Marx).
- SO, to go to a socialist system:
- Vanguard party → stimulate political consciousness within the worker’s movement.
- → Role of the party: The party should be there to reformulate the demands of the
workers to the political level
- + not comparable to Western European parties
- Where everyone can simply join and become a member → NO
- To be a member of the party → have to be trained
- → a party of cadres
- = “well trained and educated in socialist ideology and have also very tough discipline
to follow and obey the rules of the leaders in trying to establish that socialist
consciousness into the worker’s movement”.
- Lenin chose the democratic centralism approach
- = an authoritarian party structure
- discipline within the party + communications, rules and decisions are taken
at the top and communicated downwards to the cells who then have to
follow and obey → vertical
- Cells work on their own - no horizontal communication
- To spread this socialistic ideology → only vertical communication -
NO horizontal bcs.
- if the police were to shut down one cell, it would be
impossible for them to find other cells.
What needs to be done during and after the revolution?
- The state is the problem - sustains capitalism/the amanation of capitalism
- There is no way to reform it from within → only option: destruction of the State
- (Signal to the social democrats in Europe saying: “you are wrong, you are
betraying the ideas of socialism, you cannot reform the State”)
- First stage: (after power is taken over/the revolution)
- Need a state that is controlled by the proletariat → the dictatorship of the
proletariat.
- Transitional phase towards real socialism and communism/abolition of the
state
- !!! Not a step back in human freedom or emancipation BUT a step
forward because:
- Democracy as existed “democratism” → minority has all power and the vast
majority is kept out
- BUT in a proletarian dictatorship → majority has the power
Then, revolution itself (not history course, not relevant)
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