The Russian social-chauvinists (headed by Plekhanov), refer to Marx’s tactics in the war of 1870; the German (of the type of Lensch, David and Co.) to Engels’ statement in 1891 that in the event of war against Russia and France together, it would be the duty of the German Socialists to defend their fatherland; and lastly, the social-chauvinists of the Kautsky type, who want to reconcile and legitimatise international chauvinism, refer to the fact that Marx and Engels, while condemning war, nevertheless, constantly, from to 1870-1871 and 1876-1877, took the side of one or another belligerent state once war had broken out.
All these references are outrageous distortions of the views of Marx and Engels in the interest of the bourgeoisie and the opportunists, in just the same way as the writings of the Anarchists Guillaume and Co. distort the views of Marx and Engels in justification of anarchism. The war of 1870-1871 was a historically progressive war on the part of Germany until Napoleon III was defeated; for the latter, together with the tsar, had oppressed Germany for many years, keeping her in a state of feudal disintegration. But as soon as the war developed into the plunder of France (the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine), Marx and Engels emphatically condemned the Germans. And even at the beginning of that war Marx and Engels approved of the refusal of Bebel and Liebknecht to vote for credits and advised the Social-Democrats not to merge with the bourgeoisie, but to uphold the independent class interests of the proletariat. To apply the appraisal of this bourgeois-progressive and national-liberating war to the present imperialist war means mocking at truth. The same applies with still greater force to the war of 1854-1855, and to all the wars of the nineteenth century, when there was no modern imperialism, no ripe objective conditions for Socialism, and no mass Socialist parties in any of the belligerent countries, i.e., none of the conditions from which the Basle Manifesto deduced the tactics of “proletarian revolution” in connection with a war between the great powers.
Whoever refers today to Marx’s attitude towards the wars of the epoch of the progressive bourgeoisie and forgets Man’s statement that “the workers have no fatherland,” a statement that applies precisely to the epoch of the reactionary, obsolete bourgeoisie, to the epoch of the socialist revolution, shamelessly distorts Marx and substitutes the bourgeois for the socialist point of view.
V. I. Lenin
Socialism and War
All these references are outrageous distortions of the views of Marx and Engels in the interest of the bourgeoisie and the opportunists, in just the same way as the writings of the Anarchists Guillaume and Co. distort the views of Marx and Engels in justification of anarchism. The war of 1870-1871 was a historically progressive war on the part of Germany until Napoleon III was defeated; for the latter, together with the tsar, had oppressed Germany for many years, keeping her in a state of feudal disintegration. But as soon as the war developed into the plunder of France (the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine), Marx and Engels emphatically condemned the Germans. And even at the beginning of that war Marx and Engels approved of the refusal of Bebel and Liebknecht to vote for credits and advised the Social-Democrats not to merge with the bourgeoisie, but to uphold the independent class interests of the proletariat. To apply the appraisal of this bourgeois-progressive and national-liberating war to the present imperialist war means mocking at truth. The same applies with still greater force to the war of 1854-1855, and to all the wars of the nineteenth century, when there was no modern imperialism, no ripe objective conditions for Socialism, and no mass Socialist parties in any of the belligerent countries, i.e., none of the conditions from which the Basle Manifesto deduced the tactics of “proletarian revolution” in connection with a war between the great powers.
Whoever refers today to Marx’s attitude towards the wars of the epoch of the progressive bourgeoisie and forgets Man’s statement that “the workers have no fatherland,” a statement that applies precisely to the epoch of the reactionary, obsolete bourgeoisie, to the epoch of the socialist revolution, shamelessly distorts Marx and substitutes the bourgeois for the socialist point of view.
V. I. Lenin
Socialism and War
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The Democratic Republic of Congo — the richest yet most exploited country on Earth — is inching toward a peace deal between its military and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. But many in Congo view the US-supported negotiations with deep skepticism, having seen similar efforts collapse time and again.
How did it come to this — a country overflowing with natural resources, trapped in endless conflict? In an interview with red. media, a Congolese activist, speaking under conditions of anonymity for security reasons, explains how foreign powers continue to drive violence and exploitation in the region.
theredstream
How did it come to this — a country overflowing with natural resources, trapped in endless conflict? In an interview with red. media, a Congolese activist, speaking under conditions of anonymity for security reasons, explains how foreign powers continue to drive violence and exploitation in the region.
theredstream
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Happy Mussolini-Upside-Down-Day!
On this day, 80 years ago, the Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was executed, marking the end of more than 20 years of fascism in Italy. We have colorized photos from the era showcasing Italian anti-fascist partisan fighters.
Mussolini and his mistress disguised themselves as German soldiers and attempted to flee the country. However, a communist Partisan Brigade in the village of Dongo, on Lake Como, identified Mussolini, captured, and executed them.
The bodies of Mussolini, his mistress, and his fascist colleagues were transported to Milan, where they were displayed in a piazza. A furious crowd stomped on and spat on their bodies before they were strung up outside a gas station.
theredstream
On this day, 80 years ago, the Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was executed, marking the end of more than 20 years of fascism in Italy. We have colorized photos from the era showcasing Italian anti-fascist partisan fighters.
Mussolini and his mistress disguised themselves as German soldiers and attempted to flee the country. However, a communist Partisan Brigade in the village of Dongo, on Lake Como, identified Mussolini, captured, and executed them.
The bodies of Mussolini, his mistress, and his fascist colleagues were transported to Milan, where they were displayed in a piazza. A furious crowd stomped on and spat on their bodies before they were strung up outside a gas station.
theredstream
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On May 1, 1933, the Communist Party led a powerful demonstration in Boston, standing shoulder to shoulder with the oppressed workers of America. In the midst of the Great Depression, they raised their voices against the cruelty of capitalism and vowed to fight both the exploitation at home and the rise of fascist tyranny abroad.
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May Day demonstration in Putilov (1906)
arms in hand: for complete freedom, for the democratic republic, for the eight-hour day, for peasants’ committees. Prepare then for the great battle, comrades workers, stop work in the factories and mills on the First of May, or take up arms according to the advice of the committees of the Social-Democratic Labour Party. The hour of the insurrection has not yet struck, but it is not far off now. The workers of the world are now looking with bated breath to the heroic Russian proletariat which has offered incalculable sacrifices to the cause of freedom. The St. Petersburg workers proclaimed on the famed Ninth of January: Freedom or death! Workers of all Russia, we will repeat that great battle-cry, we will not shrink from any sacrifices: through the uprising we will win freedom; through freedom, socialism!
Long live the First of May
1905
V. I. Lenin
The First of May
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🟡 HAPPENING NOW: Red flags are rising in Berlin—and the state is already panicking. On the eve of International Workers' Day, hundreds filled the streets to denounce NATO militarism, the cost-of-living crisis, and the capitalist system driving both. Palestinian flags flew alongside red ones, confronting the political order.
Protesters chanted for the expropriation of capitalists—landlords included—“We will expropriate you all.” Police, mainstream media, and politicians are already framing the protests as violent threats—laying the groundwork to justify repression.
theredstream
Protesters chanted for the expropriation of capitalists—landlords included—“We will expropriate you all.” Police, mainstream media, and politicians are already framing the protests as violent threats—laying the groundwork to justify repression.
theredstream
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First, the fact that labor is external to the worker, i.e., it does not belong to his intrinsic nature; that in his work, therefore, he does not affirm himself but denies himself, does not feel content but unhappy, does not develop freely his physical and mental energy but mortifies his body and ruins his mind. The worker therefore only feels himself outside his work, and in his work feels outside himself. He feels at home when he is not working, and when he is working he does not feel at home. His labor is therefore not voluntary, but coerced; it is forced labor. It is therefore not the satisfaction of a need; it is merely a means to satisfy needs external to it. Its alien character emerges clearly in the fact that as soon as no physical or other compulsion exists, labor is shunned like the plague. External labor, labor in which man alienates himself, is a labor of self-sacrifice, of mortification.
Karl Marx
The Philosophical and Economic Manuscripts of 1844
Karl Marx
The Philosophical and Economic Manuscripts of 1844
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On one side stand the handful of rich blood-suckers. They have seized the factories and mills, the tools and machinery, have turned millions of acres of land and mountains of money into their private property. They have made the government and the army their servants, faithful watchdogs of the wealth they have amassed.
On the other side stand the millions of the disinherited. They are forced to beg the moneybags for permission to work for them. By their labour they create all wealth; yet all their lives long they have to struggle for a crust of bread, beg for work as for charity, sap their strength and health by back-breaking toil, and starve in hovels in the villages or in the cellars and garrets of the big cities.
V. I. Lenin
May Day
Written in April 1904
On the other side stand the millions of the disinherited. They are forced to beg the moneybags for permission to work for them. By their labour they create all wealth; yet all their lives long they have to struggle for a crust of bread, beg for work as for charity, sap their strength and health by back-breaking toil, and starve in hovels in the villages or in the cellars and garrets of the big cities.
V. I. Lenin
May Day
Written in April 1904
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Clashes erupted outside Indonesia’s parliament on May Day. Workers, feminist groups, and student organizations gathered for a mass rally, defying relocation orders and a heavy police presence.
Banners declaring “May Day is not a holiday. This is the day to fight back” were seen outside the gates of the legislature. Protesters condemned state repression and neoliberal labor policies.
Student groups accused the Prabowo-Gibran government of serving foreign—especially US—interests, rather than protecting workers and the poor.
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Banners declaring “May Day is not a holiday. This is the day to fight back” were seen outside the gates of the legislature. Protesters condemned state repression and neoliberal labor policies.
Student groups accused the Prabowo-Gibran government of serving foreign—especially US—interests, rather than protecting workers and the poor.
theredstream
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Protesters tore down police barricades in Manila on May Day. Clashes erupted near Recto Avenue, where demonstrators burned effigies of Xi Jinping and Donald Trump to protest foreign influence and imperialism in the Philippines.
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theredstream
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