dinsdag 10 april 2012

Lenin and the Revolutionary Vanguard

When in 1917 Lenin returned from Zürich to Russia, the Bolshevist movement counted less then 10.000 members in the gigantic territory between the Baltic Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Some months later the Bolshevists rose to power. The oktoberrevolution was not a spontaneous uprising of the masses, but in reality a well organized coup, a successful putch. The opponent was overwhelmed and the indecisive masses confronted with accomplished facts.

The father of this victories name was Lenin and his concept of a hard revolutionary vanguard organization contributed substantially to this process. Lenin didn’t worry about Party or organisations prohibitions during his life. The deeper causes that came in advance of the events of October 1917 (the ten days that shook the world) went back to the previous century. The Russian Tsarist regime and their followers had completely alienated themselves from the public. The aristocracy only spoke French and displayed a fabulous wealth, while the workers and peasants slowly perished in sheer poverty and misery.

Any opposition on behalf of the people was faced with brutal prosecutions. From the anarchists and social-revolutionaries (“Narodniki”-populists) to the Russian social-democrats, all movements that strived to better the living circumstances for the common men where banned for the biggest part of their existence. Their followers where put in jail or simply banned to Siberia. Any legal opposition was made impossible by the regime. Under these circumstances Lenin developed his concept of the foundation for a revolutionary cadre organisation. On the contrary to anarchists and socialists which until this time were only under the assumption of "spontaneous conscience" or "spontaneous eruption" of the masses, he introduced the foundation of a tightly disciplined and centrally organized cadre organization. This revolutionary cadre Party of the new type had existed out of tested and steeled professional revolutionaries (this is not meant in the sense of "exempt" functionaries, but revolutionaries who saw the political struggle against the system as their actual purpose of life).

Rather less members but instead better members. This way one could summarize Lenin’s concept. Such a kampfgemeinschaft that exists out of a conspiratorial steeled core was necessary to endure Party prohibitions and the most severe prosecutions, while remaining flexible and mobile to hit hard where the best chances for success existed. The connection with the public masses had to be established through mass organisation (like unions, peasant organisations, student committees), in which Party cadres where intended to infiltrate and capture leading positions. The actual core of the (illegal) Party, according to Lenin, had to be carefully shielded: only the convinced cadre was allowed to be accepted in the actual Party. Lenin’s thesis was eagerly picked up by revolutionaries within the Nationalist camp. In the NSDAP organ the Völkischer Beobachter of 23rd of March 1930, a set of attacks was made against the "overfed bourgeoisie". The reaction (this time in the form of the National-Conservatives) saw this as the "irrefutable proof" that the NSDAP would have taken the course of "National-Bolshevism".

The leftwing movements after Lenin's dead had fewer troubles with his concept. In practice his Party concept was only converted by a fraction of all who appealed and still appeal to him (such as the PKK - Partiya Karkaren Kurdistan -, an outstanding example of the Leninist vanguard Party). Lenin saw in legal political activities only a (not dangerous) playground for the hated system. According to him the State factors "free space" was, almost always of temporary nature, to screen the circle of the opposition. Once completed, irrevocably a new wave of State repression followed. Nonetheless he directed his Party cadres very purposefully to meetings and gatherings of legal associations. Not to "constructively cooperate", but to recruit new cadres from the masses of searching people and to get influence within the leadership and political course of these organizations.

Lenin said: "Eventually we are obligated to warn the workers for traps that are usually made by the police. The police in this public meetings are constantly aware for "hotheads" and strive by means of the legal organisations to get her agent-provocateurs into the illegal organizations."

According to Lenin’s vision it is of the utmost importance that the illegal organization bring about a "living connection" with the "masses of malcontents", from which new revolutionary cadres could be formed, but also to influence them in revolutionary sense. The bigger the masses of the malcontents get, the more frequent the tasks of the illegal organization automatically must become. Therefore the cadre is meant to be hard and tight as well as flexible.

The National-Revolutionaries of today can only benefit from some of Lenin‘s ideas. The situation is drastically changed, therefore mechanically copying his beliefs in the contemporary West-European circumstances would only be counter productive. During the age of Lenin the circumstances where of course beneficial for his theories. During his life Lenin also battled constantly with the narrow-minded imputations of opponents to his concept. He however stayed loyal to his theories while these days the names of his opponents are long forgotten. His success proved the correctness of his path. The Bolsheviks principally didn’t care for Party prohibitions. Arrests, jail time, banning or death didn't impress them. Finally in 1917 it was not the ideology of Marxism that prevailed, but the organized "Wille zur Macht" (will for power - Nietzsche) of an elite of political soldiers - the "Krieger" (warriors) of the revolution. That this victory later on was off set by adventurers, bureaucrats and traitors like Gorbatsjov doesn’t change this fact.

The path of Lenin to victory is still up-to-date and his concept of the revolutionary avant-garde can still answer many problem of tactical and organisational nature. Learning from Lenin, means learning to win!

Source: Nationale Socialistische Actie / Autonome Nationale Socialisten

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