Course on
Anti-Imperialism, War and Peace, Week 1a
1848 in Berlin
1850 Address to
the Communist League
When history is on the move the changes run all over the
place. The job of the communists is invariably to urge history on, and to push
all the players, including the bourgeoisie, to play their parts to the utmost
extent.
The phrase "permanent revolution" belongs first to
Marx and not to Trotsky. It comes from the March, 1850 Address given by Karl
Marx to the Central Committee of the Communist League, of which "permanent
revolution" are the last two words. See below for a link to a downloadable
file of this great document.
"Permanent revolution" only means a qualitative
change that will be defended.
It does not mean that the revolution is irreversible.
Nor does it mean that the revolution has to be repeated
constantly like the punishment of Sisyphus.
The March, 1850 Address to the Communist League is an
internationalist document. At the time, the newly formed communist
organisations were active all over Europe, in a time when monarchies were
falling and feudalism was on the way out in many countries.
Read the document with care and attention!
Please download and read the text via the following
link:
Further
reading:
On War, Chapter 1, What is War?, 1827,
Clausewitz (7916 words)
No comments:
Post a Comment