The State and Revolution

The State and Revolution
Lenin · Public domain · source
Name	The State and Revolution
Author	Vladimir Lenin
Country	Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Language	Russian
Subject	Marxism, revolutionary theory
Publisher	Pravda (serial), Zvezda (book)
Pub date	1917
Pages	128

The State and Revolution

The State and Revolution is a 1917 political essay by Vladimir Lenin that analyzes the role of the state in revolutionary transformation and interprets the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the context of the Russian Revolution of 1917, the collapse of the Russian Empire and the rise of the Provisional Government. Written during the period between the February Revolution and the October Revolution, the work addresses debates within the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party and critiques reformist trends associated with figures like Eduard Bernstein and organizations such as the Second International. The book became a touchstone for Bolshevik policy during the consolidation of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

Background and Context

Lenin composed the work amid the aftermath of the February Revolution and the political crisis surrounding the All-Russian Constituent Assembly and the soviets. He drew on prior engagements with the Zimmerwald Conference, the disputes with the Mensheviks, and polemics against Karl Kautsky and Rosa Luxemburg. The essay responds to events including the return of exiles from Siberia, the tactical debates at the Prague Conference, and the wartime ruptures in the Second International following the Outbreak of World War I. Lenin situates his arguments against the backdrop of earlier texts such as The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, and engages with the theoretic lineage extending to Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and the Paris Commune.

Summary of Contents

Lenin opens by asserting that proletarian seizure of power requires the smashing of the existing state apparatus rooted in institutions like the tsarist autocracy and the bourgeois republics exemplified by the French Third Republic. He surveys the Marxist critique in works including Critique of the Gotha Program and Capital, and recounts the lessons of the Paris Commune as recounted by Karl Marx. Subsequent chapters trace the historical evolution of the state from antiquity through the medieval orders to modern nation-states such as the German Empire and the United Kingdom. Lenin then addresses the role of proletarian dictatorship, the planned dismantling of bourgeois institutions, and the construction of proletarian organs drawn from soviets similar to those formed during the July Days and the Kronstadt Rising. The final sections propose transitional measures for replacing bourgeois legislatures and bureaucracies with bodies modeled on the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and local soviets, while warning against political currents represented by Eduard Bernstein and Karl Kautsky.

Key Themes and Arguments

Central themes include the denunciation of parliamentary cretinism and the advocacy for revolutionary rupture with liberal republics typified by the French Revolution and defended by critics such as Jules Guesde. Lenin emphasizes the lessons of the Paris Commune as a prototype for proletarian rule, aligning with analyses found in The Civil War in France by Karl Marx. He argues for the principle of the dictatorship of the proletariat as a necessary transitional form between capitalist society and the classless society envisaged in Marxism–Leninism. Lenin critiques reformism associated with figures like Eduard Bernstein and theoretical revisions propagated by Karl Kautsky, and he contrasts his positions with radical dissidents such as Rosa Luxemburg. Methodologically, the essay integrates historical materialism drawn from Marxist theory and tactical prescriptions emerging from Bolshevik practice during the October Revolution, the seizure of key institutions like the Winter Palace, and subsequent measures taken by the Council of People's Commissars.

Publication History and Reception

Originally drafted in Petrograd and serialized in Bolshevik organs including Pravda, the essay circulated among revolutionary circles in 1917 and was later published as a pamphlet by party presses within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Early reception among the Bolsheviks was largely favorable, informing the program of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, while critics from the Mensheviks, the Socialist Revolutionary Party, and editors associated with the German Social Democratic Party contested its premises. International responses ranged from endorsement by parties aligned with the Third International to denunciation from the leadership of the Second International and intellectuals such as Max Weber and Georg Lukács. Debates over the text intensified during the Russian Civil War as policy decisions by the Red Army and measures like the War Communism period were evaluated against Lenin's prescriptions.

Influence and Legacy

The essay became foundational for Marxism–Leninism as institutionalized by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and informed revolutionary movements across the Third World and activist networks including the Communist International (Comintern). It shaped doctrine in states such as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, influenced leaders like Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Ho Chi Minh, and was cited during political transformations including the Chinese Communist Revolution and the Vietnamese struggle for independence. The work also provoked scholarly debate in institutions such as Harvard University and University of Oxford and among theorists including Antonio Gramsci, Leon Trotsky, and Erich Fromm. In late 20th-century reassessments after events like the Dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Fall of the Berlin Wall, The State and Revolution continued to be a reference point in discussions on revolutionary strategy, soviet institutions like the Supreme Soviet, and critiques by libertarian socialists and democratic socialists.

Category:1917 books Category:Works by Vladimir Lenin