View source for Marxism–Leninism

{{Quotes-on}}{{Featured article}}{{Infobox movement
| name = Marxism–Leninism
| image = [[File:Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin..jpg|350px]]
| caption = The [[Classics of Marxism|four foundational theorists of Marxism–Leninism]] — [[Marx]], [[Engels]], [[Lenin]], and [[Stalin]].
| class = [[Proletariat]]
| position = [[Revolution|Revolutionary]] [[Communism|communist]]
|theorists=[[Karl Marx]]<br>[[Friedrich Engels]]<br>[[Vladimir Lenin]]<br>[[Joseph Stalin]]
|related=[[Marxism]]<br>[[Bolshevism]]
|organizations=[[File:Comintern Logo.svg|20px]][[Communist International]]}}
'''Marxism–Leninism'''{{Efn|Abbreviated as '''M-L'''.}} is a [[Communism|communist]] ideology composed of socioeconomic, philosophical, and political ideas which represented the doctrine of the international revolutionary movement prior to the introduction of [[Maoism|Marxism–Leninism–Maoism]].

The foundations of Marxism–Leninism were created with the theoretical contributions of [[Karl Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels]] in the 19<sup>th</sup> century, who developed what is known as [[Marxism]] through their analysis of human society and its features. Marxism–Leninism was brought to a higher stage with the contributions provided by [[Vladimir Lenin]] and [[Joseph Stalin]], including developing an understanding of [[imperialism]], socialist construction, and the tactics and strategy for the working class and its [[Vanguardism|vanguard party]]. Marxism–Leninism was successfully applied during the [[Great October Socialist Revolution]] and the construction of [[socialism]] in the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|Soviet Union]], among the first [[Socialist state|socialist states]] in history. 

It was the official ideology of the Soviet Union and other socialist states. After the success of the Russian revolution in 1917 and the establishment of the Soviet Union in 1922, many [[Communist party|communist parties]] around the world began to adopt Marxism–Leninism as their ideological line, and Marxism–Leninism was the main theoretical framework which guided multiple [[Proletarian revolution|proletarian revolutions]] across the globe during the 20<sup>th</sup> century. Marxism–Leninism continues to be followed by a large portion of the international workers' movement and communist parties to this day. In the late 20<sup>th</sup> century, Marxism–Leninism would be developed into Marxism–Leninism–Maoism.

==Background==
=== Development of Marxism ===
{{Main|Marxism}}
Marxism–Leninism, as a development of [[Marxism]], originated from the theories developed by [[Karl Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels]] during the 19<sup>th</sup> century. Marx and Engels developed the principles of Marxism during an era of emerging industrial [[capitalism]], [[class struggle]] between the [[proletariat]] and the [[bourgeoisie]], and the formation of the first revolutionary socialist movements which were truly able to challenge the capitalist system. 

=== Struggle against imperialism and opportunism ===
{{Main|Bolshevism}}
Marxism–Leninism was founded on the ideological and political concepts established by [[Vladimir Lenin]] following the split with the [[Mensheviks]] and opportunists of the [[Second International]] up to the [[Great October Socialist Revolution|Russian revolution of 1917]] and formation of the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|Soviet Union]] under the [[Bolshevism|Bolsheviks]] in 1922. After the death of Lenin, leadership of the revolution was entrusted to [[Joseph Stalin]]. The oppositionists in the Soviet Union would continue to resist the government headed by Stalin until the late 1930s.<ref>Joseph Stalin (1939). ''[https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1939/x01/index.htm History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks)]''. At the [[Marxists Internet Archive]].</ref>

=== Construction of socialism ===
The construction of socialism in the USSR helped solidify many concepts in the corpus of Marxist–Leninist theory, including [[socialism in one country]] and the [[intensification of class struggle under socialism]]. Joseph Stalin, the political and the theoretical successor to Lenin, synthesized the contributions of Lenin into Marxism–Leninism, a higher stage of Marxism for the era of imperialism and socialist revolution. Stalin articulated Lenin's ideas in works such as the 1924 pamphlet ''[[Foundations of Leninism]]''.

==Theory==
=== Democratic centralism ===
{{hatnote|Main article: [[Democratic centralism]]}}
A Marxist–Leninist party is organized according to [[democratic centralism]]. This means that first the party democratically decides something, and then all members are required to follow that decision and not work against it. If members still disagree with the decision, they are expected to request to discuss the issue again, not to form a faction or another party.

=== Vanguard party ===
{{Main|Vanguardism}}The vanguard party is a concept mostly attributed to Lenin, and synthesized from his different writings. It was effectively used by the Bolsheviks, themselves firstly a wing of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, during and after the October Revolution. This is a communist party which is functioning as the leadership of a social class or class-based political movement, and implicitly at least, a ''revolutionary'' class or political movement. This is usually in specific reference to a proletarian revolutionary party, such as the Bolsheviks in revolutionary Russia and the early Soviet Union.

=== Intensification of class struggle under socialism ===
{{Main|Intensification of class struggle under socialism}}Lenin and Stalin developed the concept that even after the proletarian revolution, bourgeois and other reactionary elements in society will not only continue to resist the construction of socialism, but increase their militancy many times over, aggravating [[class struggle]]. This tendency may be observed with the [[Kulak|kulaks]] during the early history of the Soviet Union, who after the [[New Economic Policy]] was being transcended, resisted the revolutionary government headed by Stalin with various forms of sabotage during [[Collectivization in the Soviet Union|collectivization]].<ref>Joseph Stalin (1929). ''[https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1929/04/22.htm The Right Deviation in the C.P.S.U.(B.),]'' [https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1929/04/22.htm#IVb ''The Intensification of the Class Struggle'']. At the [[Marxists Internet Archive]]. </ref> 

=== Socialist commodity production ===
{{Main|Commodity production}}
Marxist–Leninist theory holds that the nature of commodity production is not strictly or ultimately a capitalist one, and that commodity production may still exist in the lower stage of socialism. In ''[[Economic Problems in the USSR]]'', Stalin stated that commodity production still existed in the Soviet Union but was distinct from commodity production under capitalism insofar as the other fundamental features of capitalist relations which would influence it were abolished, and commodity production itself long predated the capitalist mode of production.<ref name=":1">Joseph Stalin (1951). [https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1951/economic-problems/ch03.htm ''Economic Problems of the USSR''  ''— Commodity Production under Socialism'']. At the [[Marxists Internet Archive]].</ref> 

=== Analysis of imperialism ===
{{See also|Imperialism}}
Stalin maintained that Marxism–Leninism was the next stage in the development of Marxism, expanding theory for the era of imperialism and proletarian revolution.<ref>Joseph Stalin (1924). ''[https://foreignlanguages.press/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/C01-Foundations-of-Leninism.pdf Foundations of Leninism] – Introduction''

<br><br>''"Leninism is Marxism of the era of imperialism and the proletarian revolution. To be more exact, Leninism is the theory and tactics of the proletarian revolution in general, the theory and tactics of the dictatorship of the proletariat in particular. Marx and Engels pursued their activities in the pre-revolutionary period (we have the proletarian revolution in mind), when developed imperialism did not yet exist, in the period of the proletarians’ preparation for revolution, in the period when the proletarian revolution was not yet an immediate practical inevitability. But Lenin, the disciple of Marx and Engels, pursued his activities in the period of developed imperialism, in the period of the unfolding proletarian revolution, when the proletarian revolution had already triumphed in one country, had smashed bourgeois democracy and had ushered in the era of proletarian democracy, the era of the Soviets."''

<br><br>''"That is why Leninism is the further development of Marxism."''</ref> The Marxist–Leninist understanding of imperialism is based on Lenin's analysis of the imperialist system as articulated in works such as ''[[Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism]]''. The Leninist conception of imperialism identifies several major features of imperialism, including the exportation of capital as opposed to the mere export of commodities and the merging of banking and industrial capital.

=== Anti-revisionism ===
{{Main|Anti-revisionism}}Marxism–Leninism was developed during a time when there was an atmosphere of [[revisionism]] in surrounding socialist movements such as the ones associated with the [[Second International]]. Early anti-revisionist works by Leninist authors included ''[[Marxism and Revisionism]]'', ''[[Anarchism or Socialism?]]'', and ''[[Left-wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder]]''.<ref>Vladimir Lenin (1908). ''[https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1908/apr/03.htm Marxism and Revisionism]''. At the [[Marxists Internet Archive]].</ref> Later forms of anti-revisionism would emerge after the death of Stalin and rise of [[Nikita Khrushchev]] to power in the Soviet Union in the 1950s, spearheaded by [[Enver Hoxha]] and [[Mao Zedong]] during the Sino-Soviet and Soviet-Albanian splits.

=== The national question <!-- national liberation and the right of nations to self-determination -->===
{{Main|National liberation}}The distinct definition for a nationality was developed by Stalin. He defined a nationality as a historically constituted, stable community of people, formed on the basis of a common [[language]], territory, economic life, psychological makeup, and culture. Marxism–Leninism also established the concept of national [[self-determination]] and [[National liberation|liberation]].<ref>Joseph Stalin (1913). [https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1913/03a.htm ''Marxism and the National Question'']. At the [[Marxists Internet Archive]].</ref> 

=== Socialism in one country ===
{{Main|Socialism in one country}}Socialism in one country was codified by the Soviet government under Joseph Stalin, basing themselves heavily on the writings of Lenin. This theory holds the socialism is able to be built in a single country or limited expanse of countries even if they are underdeveloped economically. After constructing socialism, the revolutionary country would be able to contend with the imperialist and capitalist states and assist revolutionary movements abroad.<ref name=":0">''[https://mltheory.wordpress.com/2017/05/25/socialism-in-one-country-what-it-really-means/ "Socialism in One Country: What it really means"]'' (25 May 2017) ''ML-Theory''</ref>
This theory was in direct conflict with the views held by the [[Trotskyism|Trotskyists]] and other early Soviet factions, who believed that socialism would only be able to develop and resist imperialism by rapidly expanding into other, particularly [[Western world|Western]] imperialist, countries.<ref name=":0" /><!--(Maybe a section on political economy, crises, & revolution insofar as Lenin/Stalin developed it from Marx's core ideas)-->
=== The lower and higher phases of communism ===
Unlike other nominally Marxist tendencies such as [[left communism|"left" communism]], Marxism–Leninism separates socialism into two distinct phases or stages of development. The first being the ''lower stage of socialism'', which emerges immediately after the socialist revolution and still bears certain features of the capitalist mode of production, such as [[commodity production]], albeit in a different form. The second stage being the ''higher stage of socialism'', also known as communism. Communism represents the total negation of capitalism and bears none of its socioeconomic features.<ref name=":1" />

==Further reading==
* [[Library:Foundations of Leninism|''Foundations of Leninism'']] (1924), by [[Joseph Stalin]]

==See also==
* [[Marxism]]
* [[Maoism]]
* [[Bolshevism]]
* [[Anti-revisionism]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
===Notes===
{{Notelist}}
{{Marxism–Leninism navbox}}
[[Category:Marxism–Leninism]][[Category:Theory]]