The National Question

Introduction

The tremendous crisis of capitalism is bringing to the surface all the system’s old contradictions. Instability, polarisation and huge political shifts are on the order of the day. As part of this process, unsolved national questions are erupting once more around the globe. Millions of oppressed people are striving for a way out of the impasse. This striving can take the form of renewed national movements. On the other hand, as the struggle between the national gangs of capitalists becomes more intense, the ruling class pollutes the atmosphere of the whole world with the fumes of national hatred.

For Marxists, the national question is one of the most challenging we face. There is no simple, magic formula for all times and all places. Rather, it is necessary to study each national question in its historical evolution. Marxists must carefully distinguish between what is progressive and what is reactionary in any national movement, as a surgeon carefully distinguishes between healthy and diseased tissue. Above all, we take as our starting point the need to unite the working class on a worldwide scale for the overthrow of international capital.

From Marx’s writings on Ireland and India, to Lenin’s extensive writings on the national question, to the works of James Connolly, there is a tremendous treasure trove of Marxist literature dealing with the subject. For today’s revolutionaries, it represents an indispensable arsenal in the struggle to overthrow capitalism.

Introductory articles

Lenin on the
National Question

ROB SEWELL

Lenin not only led the first successful socialist revolution, but also made an enormous contribution to Marxist theory. This article deals with the important contribution he made on the national question and how such a correct stand on this issue guaranteed the success of the Bolshevik Party in October 1917.
The national question remains a key issue for Marxists in the current epoch of capitalist crisis. An examination of the ideas of Lenin can serve to answer this with a clear explanation of Marxist theory and method.

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Marxism and the European Union

1/3

Marxists and the National Question

"In the epoch of capitalist decline, of imperialist crisis, the national question is once again raising its head everywhere, with the most tragic and sanguine consequences. It rests with the working class to come to the head of the nation and offer the masses a way out of this nightmare."

Marxists and the National Question

BEN CURRY

As the capitalist system lurches from one crisis to the next, old contradictions are re-emerging. Instability, polarisation and huge political shifts are taking place all over the world. As part of this process, unsolved national questions are erupting once more with renewed force around the globe – from Catalonia to Kurdistan to Ireland.

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Lenin on the National Question

2/3

Marxism and the European Union

"For Marxists, the national question presents one of the most challenging and complex questions – one for which there is no ‘catch-all’ formula. When addressing this question, our first principle is always the goal of uniting the working class of the whole world to fight for the overthrow of capitalism."

Marxism and the European Union – a reading guide

The European Union throws up a number of questions for Marxists, not just in terms of our perspectives for the class struggle in Europe, but also theoretical questions on the nature of the EU and the attitude of Marxists to the idea of European integration. It has never been more important to re-visit these questions from the standpoint of Marxist theory as it is with these ideas alone that we can orientate ourselves in the heavy political squalls to come.

Go to the reading guide

Marxists and the National Question

3/3

Lenin on the National Question

"The idea of European unity on a capitalist basis is a reactionary utopia. It is utopian because it cannot be carried through to the end. The existence of deep conflicts of interest between the capitalists of the different national states, like the fault lines in geology, inevitably cause these attempts to break down at a certain stage."

Alan Woods

From: A Socialist alternative to the European Union, 1997

Longer articles

The Problem of
Nationalities

From chapter 39 of Leon Trotsky's History of the Russian Revolution.

The Socialist Revolution and
the Right of Nations to
Self-Determination

A classic on the national question by V.I. Lenin.

Black Struggle and
the Socialist Revolution

This document was passed at the 2008 National Congress of the US section of the International Marxist Tendency.

Lessons from the
History and Struggle
of the Black Panther Party

“You can’t have capitalism without racism.” (Malcolm X)

Why Marxists oppose
immigration controls

Marxists must call for workers' unity, organisation, and internationalism.

Anti-Semitism and
Anti-Zionism:
setting the
record straight

The issue of anti-Semitism is being cynically used by the Blairites in the Labour Party as their main weapon to attack the left.

Marxist classics and books

Marxism and the
National Question

This 4 part document by Ted Grant and Alan Woods reviews the rich Marxist literature on the national question and applies it to today's conditions.

The Right of Nations
to Self-Determination

Another classic work by V.I. Lenin.

A Caricature of Marxism
and Imperialist Economism

Written by Lenin in August-October 1916.

Critical Remarks on
the National Question

Written by Lenin in October-December 1913 and published the same year in the Bolshevik legal journal Prosveshcheniye.

Audio & Video

Martin Luther King
and the
black struggle

Martin Luther King and
the black struggle

Fred Weston

Marxism and
the National
Question

Marxism and the
National Question

Francesco Merli

00:00 / 00:00

Marxism and the
National Question

Fred Weston

Why Marxists must
fight for
open borders

Why Marxists must fight
for open borders

Niklas Albin Svensson

The fight against colonialism:
then and now

The fight against
colonialism:
then and now

Hamid Alizadeh

00:00 / 00:00

Marxism and the
black struggle

Fred Weston