Historical Destiny of the Doctrine of Karl Marx

Written by Lenin to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Marx’s death on March 1, 1913 and was first published in Pravda issue No. 50 of the same day. The Chinese translation is included in Vol. 23 of the second revised edition of Complete Works of Lenin.

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, Bernstein’s revisionism arose. Bernstein began to doubt the vitality of Marxism and its significance in the new situation. He proposed to “criticize” and “revise” Marx’s theory. Bernstein’s revisionism had a negative impact at that time, especially to the resurgent revolutionary upsurge in Russia, which seriously impacted the working-class movement. Through this article, Lenin criticized this revisionist trend and demonstrated the strong vitality of Marx’s theory in order to guide the working-class movement around the world.

Lenin pointed out that a key of Marx’s theory is that it clearly explains the historical role of the proletariat as the creator of the socialist society. He divided the world history, since The Communist Manifesto—the birth of Marxist theory, into three periods: (1) From the 1848 Revolution to the Paris Commune (1871); (2) From Paris Commune to Russian Revolution (1905); (3) From the Russian Revolution until now. Lenin specifically examined the fate of Marx’s theory in each period.

At the beginning of the first period, Marx’s theory was by no means dominant. It was just one of the numerous socialist trends. However, as 1848 Revolution broke out, all other forms of socialism, diversified and short-lasting, were hit fatally. Lenin especially condemned the suppression by the Republican bourgeoisie on the Paris Commune workers’ uprising. Such suppression showed that these bourgeoisie were afraid of the workers’ independent actions and also proved that all theories about non-class socialism or non-class politics were nonsense. Lenin pointed out that during the Paris Commune period, thanks to the courageous proletariat, a state organization that most clearly showed class relations was consolidated. The most important achievement of Marx’s theory during this period was that under its guidance, independent proletarian parties—the First International and German Social-Democratic Party, were born.

In the second period, the West was “peaceful” without revolutions. The West finished the bourgeois revolution while the East was not mature enough to break out such revolution. The West has entered a peaceful stage, preparing for the future era of changes. During this period, the socialist party of the proletariat learned from the bourgeois parliamentary system. They set up its own daily newspaper, own educational institutions, own trade unions and own cooperatives. In this way, Marx’s theory won complete victory and spread widely, laying a good foundation for the proletarian revolution. Lenin also explained Marxism’s victory and influence through the phenomenon of “forcing its enemies to dress up as Marxists”.

In the third period, Asia became the birthplace of a new revolutionary storm. The influence of this revolution would spread to the European world. This would facilitate the collapse of all bourgeois parties and the maturity of the proletariat.

In the end, Lenin concluded that since Marxism emerges, each of the three major periods in world history brought new proofs and new victories. However, the upcoming period would definitely bring greater victory to this proletarian theory.