C. L. R. James (1901–1989), a Trinidadian historian, political activist, and writer, is the author of
Christian Høgsbjerg is a historian and works for Leeds University Centre for African Studies. He is the author of
C. L. R. James (1901–1989), a Trinidadian historian, political activist, and writer, is the author of
Christian Høgsbjerg is a historian and works for Leeds University Centre for African Studies. He is the author of
Stalin Kills the 1923 Revolution
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Published:July 2017
In this chapter, James attempts to show how the rise of a Stalinist bureaucracy in the Soviet Union inevitably had repercussions for the world revolutionary struggle. Focusing on the crisis in Germany in 1923, which James argues was a revolutionary situation, James argues the Stalinist bureaucracy were cautious about organizing an insurrection as Lenin would have done in those circumstances. James outlines how the theory of the United Front was developed by the Communist International in this period, but how this was cynically misinterpreted to avoid organizing a rising. The paralysis of the German Communists and the missed opportunity led to the failure of the German Revolution, and this now only strengthened the hand of Stalin and made his new theory of “Socialism in one country” make sense. In the aftermath of this defeat, an argument between Trotsky and the supporters of Stalin raged about “the lessons of October” and why they were not applied in Germany.
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