Definition of “Leninism” Proposed by Stalin

The term “Leninism” was first used by the Mensheviks in 1904 to attack Lenin. After the October Revolution, the Mensheviks, the Socialist Revolutionary Party, and some others misinterpreted and belittled Leninism in different ways, accusing it of being idealistic, without international character and without new theoretical developments. In addition, after Lenin’s death, the top leadership of the Russian Communist Party (B) was faced with various theoretical and practical problems, consequently, there were serious differences in the line, guidelines, and policies of socialist construction. It was, therefore, urgent to sort out the precious theoretical heritage left by Lenin and find ways and means to solve these problems in order to eliminate the differences. Thus, the understanding of what Leninism is became the focus of an intense debate. In this debate, Stalin, with his unique insight, scientifically clarified the definition and basic issues of Leninism, which later became the leading interpretation of Leninism in the Russian Communist Party (B).

Stalin proposed that “ Leninism is Marxism of the era of imperialism and the proletarian revolution. To be more exact, Leninism is the theory and tactics of the proletarian revolution in general, the theory and tactics of the dictatorship of the proletariat in particular. This interpretation of Leninism, in his opinion, lies, first of all, in the fact that it points out the historical roots of Leninism and determines that Leninism is the Marxism of the imperialist era, which precisely corrects the erroneous view of certain critics of Lenin who did not understand the historical roots of Leninism and argued that Leninism arose after the imperialist war; secondly, in that it points out the international nature of Leninism, contrary to the social democrats, who argued that Leninism applied only to the Russian national context; and finally it lies in pointing out the organic connection between Leninism and Marxism, identifying Leninism as the Marxism of the imperialist era, contrary to some critics of Leninism, who saw it not as a further development of Marxism, but merely as a revival of Marxism, as an application of Marxism to the actual situation in Russia.