- by JH
- The Guardian
- Issue #2203
Iskra has continued their mission of providing a modern, accessible reprinting of Stalin’s writings with the two latest volumes 5 and 6 covering 1921-1923 and 1924 respectively.
As with all of Iskra’s books, a free online PDF of the volume can be found on Iskra’s website iskrabooks.org
These collected works are a great read for people interested both in understanding the situation within pre- and post-revolutionary Russia, as well as Stalin’s excellent explanations of foundational Marxist-Leninist principles which continue to shape questions of socialist struggle and organisation today.
Three texts are especially worth reading for anyone who wants to get more into Marxist-Leninist thought.
Our Disagreements:
This Pravda article from 1921 covers the debate over the approach to trade-unions between a faction including Trotsky and another including Stalin.
Trotsky had military experience as head of the Red Army. He wanted to apply the same methods to running trade unions in the USSR. Stalin and the opposing faction recognised that different approaches were needed for the two situations.
This broader faction Stalin belonged to viewed the promotion of worker’s democracy within the trade-unions as essential for developing both the trade-unions and their industries, as well as developing the workers state as a whole.
This article provides an interesting look at the actual Stalin that lived rather the mythologised power-hungry dictator he is painted as in mainstream depictions.
Rather than wanting to give the party supreme control over all matters, Stalin in fact pushed back against attempts to do so, choosing to promote a flourishing of real workers democracy.
The Immediate Tasks of the Party in the National Question:
In this article Stalin provides an outline of the differences between how a capitalist state and a socialist state approaches the treatment of minority populations. It also provides readers with an understanding of the scale of Russia’s ethnic populations and the scope of the programs that the Russian Communists began to implement.
Allowing minority groups to pursue their own self-development was fundamental to the formation of the USSR. Under this system, individual Soviets were able to develop their economies and pursue their goals as they pleased with the support of the broader USSR’s military and economic strength.
This also forms part of the basis to China’s approach, creating autonomous regions within the People’s Republic of China to enable the self-development of minority groups. Like the creation of separate Soviets under the USSR, these regions combine self-development with the assistance and support of the People’s Republic.
In a time when hatred towards minorities is being increasingly pushed by capitalists to divide workers both in Australia and abroad, this article is a must-read to show that a different system is possible. It shows that a socialist state can overcome the severe limitations of capitalism and can bring about safety and prosperity for everyone, not just the wealthy few.
Concerning the Question of the Strategy and Tactics of the Russian Communists:
Planning might not sound exciting thing, but here Stalin effectively shows how short-term and long-term planning is essential to the success of worker’s struggles and the fight of Communist Parties. As Stalin puts it “strategy can accelerate or [inhibit] the movement, direct it along the shortest path or divert it to a more difficult and painful path.”
Any activity towards socialism, from a Party Congress to a postering campaign needs both short-term tactics, and longer-term strategy. Tactics and strategy help to ensure our practice is focused and effective rather than haphazard and disordered.
Developing correct tactics and strategy require us to continually understand and assess our situation. The different struggles we are a part of may share the same goal, but we have to understand the specific characteristics of each struggle and the tactics each situation calls to win through.
