Party & Programme > Bolshevism
Fur flies over Lenin
22 Mar 2012
What has the debate over 1912 got to do with current communist practice? James Turley answers the philistines
SUPPLEMENT: Falling out over a Cliff
16 Feb 2012
Was Lenin a lying manoeuvrer? Were the Bolsheviks a cult led by an all-knowing leader and staffed by narrow-minded minions? Lars T Lih joins in the debate over Tony Cliff's biography and debunks some myths held by both left and right
Mangling the party of Lenin
02 Feb 2012
Opportunist twists and turns and the perversion of democratic centralism have characterised the Socialist Workers Party and the groups it has influenced, including the US International Socialist Organization. But where did these practices originate? Former ISO member Pham Binh examines the method employed by SWP founder Tony Cliff
Lenin, Kautsky and the 'new era of revolutions'
22 Dec 2011
Lenin's vision of world revolution at the turn of the 20th century was inspired by Karl Kautsky, writes Canada-based scholar Lars T Lih
SUPPLEMENT: Classical Marxism and the general strike
24 Nov 2011
A victorious debate
08 Sep 2011
The 1920 Halle congress of the Independent Social Democrats of Germany (USPD) was a turning point for our movement. It was also a moment of triumph for Grigory Zinoviev. This is an excerpt from Ben Lewis's introduction to a new book, 'Zinoviev and Martov: head to head in Halle'
Zinoviev and the Halle Congress
25 Nov 2010
Zinoviev's largely forgotten speech and Martov's counterblast for the first time in English, plus introductory essays by Ben Lewis and Lars T Lih
The ironic triumph of 'old Bolshevism'
25 Nov 2010
Using new archival research, Canadian scholar Lars T Lih spoke to a London Communist Forum meeting about the 'April debates' and their impact on Bolshevik strategy through to October 1917
In defence of left communism
04 Nov 2010
James Tansey takes issue with Jack Conrad
Scotching the myths
21 Oct 2010
Historian Lars T Lih dissects one of Lenin's most famous but most misunderstood pamphlets, 'What is to be done?'
'April theses': myth and reality
07 Oct 2010
Many on the left see Lenin as undergoing a conversion to Trotskyism in 1917. Lars T Lih takes on this myth and reveals a Lenin, who while converging with Trotsky in certain respects, still has a different strategy. There is also the possible influence Kautsky exerted on Lenin
Light and air of political freedom
16 Sep 2010
North American scholar Lars T Lih explores the varying attitude of Marxists towards universal suffrage, freedom of the press and freedom of association
SUPPLEMENT: Prospects of the Russian Revolution
14 Jan 2010
By Karl Kautsky. translated into English for the first time by Ben Lewis
SUPPLEMENT: Kautsky, Lenin and the 'April theses'
14 Jan 2010
Could Karl Kautsky - the 'pope' turned 'renegade' of orthodox Marxism - have influenced Vladimir Ilych's 'April theses'? Here we print a Karl Kautsky article from April 1917, translated into English for the first time by Ben Lewis. It is introduced by Lars T Lih, a historian based in Canada, who has been at the forefront of re-examining the complex relationship between these two widely misunderstood figures of the 20th century workers' movement
The four wagers of Lenin in 1917
17 Sep 2009
The Bolshevik decision to make revolution was based on four key predictions, or wagers, says Lars T Lih: international revolution, soviet democracy, peasant followership and progress towards socialism. This is an edited version of the third speech he gave to the CPGBs Communist University
Lenin, Kautsky, and 1914
10 Sep 2009
In the second of his talks to the CPGBs Communist University, Lars T Lih takes a closer look at Lenins reaction to the betrayal of German social democracy at the outbreak of World War I