Socialism in one country
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With the prospect of world revolution so close at hand in the early part of the 20th Century, communists, socialists and workers' movements in general were dominated by a feeling of overwhelming optimism, which in the end proved to be quite premature. The European revolutions were crushed one by one, until eventually the Bolsheviks|Russian revolutionaries found themselves to be the only survivors. Since they had been relying on the idea that an underdeveloped and agrarian country like Russia would be able to build socialism with help from successful revolutionary governments in the more industrialized parts of Europe, they found themselves in a crisis once it became clear that no such help would arrive. Thus was born the theory of '''Socialism in one country,''' a thesis put forth by Stalin in 1924 and further supported by Bukharin. The theory is in opposition to Lenin's beliefs that while a revolution may happen in one country, the final success of socialism in one country, especially in such a backward one as Russia is impossible without proletarian revolutions in other, advanced countries of Western Europe. Mensheviks and Leon Trotsky|Trotsky also came to the same conclusion, basing on Trotsky's theory of Permanent Revolution, disputed by Lenin.
In his 1915 article "On the Slogan for a United States of Europe", Lenin stated the following: "...Uneven economic and political development is an absolute law of capitalism. Hence, the victory of socialism is possible first in several or even in one capitalist country taken separately. ...". After Lenin's death, Stalin used this quote to argue that Lenin shared his view of ''Socialism in one country'' -- though Lenin's statement as seen above is rather vague. Stalin's position gained an apparent confirmation from failed attempts of proletarian revolution|proletarian revolutions in other countries, such as Germany and Hungary, and might also have justified changing the focus of Stalin's external policy from the Comintern|Third International to tradeoffs with capitalist states.
In the first edition of the book ''Osnovy Leninizma'' (''Foundations of Leninism'', 1924), Stalin was still a follower of Lenin's idea that revolution in one country is insufficient. However, by the end of the same year, in the second edition of the book, his position started to turn into the opposite direction: "...proletariat can and must build the socialist society in one country". In April 1925 Bukharin elaborated the issue in his brochure ''Can We Build Socialism in One Country in the Absence of the Victory of the West-European Proletariat?'' The position was finalized as the state policy after Stalin's January 1926 article ''On the Issues of Leninism'' (К вопросам ленинизма).
Stalin later characterized Trotsky's position of Permanent Revolution as asking the world to "wait" for Western world|Western workers and "simultaneous" World revolution|global revolution, a position still carried by anti-revisionists and other communists who oppose Trotskyism today. On the other hand, Stalin did provide aid to sympathising communists in other countries, most notably in the Spanish Civil War.
Accounts of that civil war, particularly of George Orwell in his book ''Homage to Catalonia,'' depict Stalin's sympathisers as aligning with counterrevolutionary forces and repressing any opposition from the "true" left, Trotskyists assert that Stalin's support for the Spanish Civil War was conditional on suppression of any revolutionary activity which may have delegitimized what they characterize as his dictatorship.
Stalin established several "communist states" in Eastern Europe after World War II, although some do argue that this action was motivated more by the desire to create Russian "satellite states" than to spread the proletarian revolution|workers' revolution. In any case, neither the supporters of Stalin nor those of Trotsky succeeded in starting a revolution in western world|the West.
Trotsky's critique
The theory of Socialism in One Country was subjected to vigorous criticism by Zinoviev and Trotsky, among others. Trotsky viewed that the development of the international division of labor made autarky, or economic isolation from the world, to be economically reactionary. On the other hand, dependence upon the international capitalist market leads to economic plans becoming subordinate to the state of that market. Exposition of this critique may be found in Trotsky's ''The Draft Program of the Communist International: A Criticism of Fundamentals'' and ''Permanent Revolution''.
External link
http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/works/1928-3rd/also know as
"The Third International After Lenin"
http://www.newyouth.com/archives/theory/faq/why_socialism_in_one_country_impossible.asp
See also
Marxism
Leninism
Trotskyism
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