After World War I, I made my living in Paris, now as a retoucher at a photographer’s, now as painter of “Chinese antiquities” (made in France!). I would distribute leaflets denouncing the crimes committed by the French colonialists in Viet Nam.
At that time, I supported the October Revolution only instinctively, not yet grasping all its historic importance. I loved and admired Lenin because he was a great patriot who liberated his compatriots; until then, I had read none of his books.
The reason for my joining the French Socialist Party was that these “ladies and gentlemen”— as I called my comrades at that moment— has shown their sympathy towards me, towards the struggle of the oppressed peoples. But I understood neither what was a party, a trade-union, nor what was socialism nor communism.
Heated discussions were then taking place in the branches of the Socialist Party, about the question whether the Socialist Party should remain in the Second International, should a Second and a half International be founded or should the Socialist Party join Lenin’s Third International? I attended the meetings regularly, twice or thrice a week and attentively listened to the discussion. First, I could not understand thoroughly. Why were the discussions so heated? Either with the Second, Second and a half or Third International, the revolution could be waged. What was the use of arguing then? As for the First International, what had become of it?
What I wanted most to know— and this precisely was not debated in the meetings— was: which International sides with the peoples of colonial countries?
I raised this question— the most important in my opinion— in a meeting. Some comrades answered: It is the Third, not the Second International. And a comrade gave me Lenin’s “Thesis on the national and colonial questions” published by l'Humanite to read.
There were political terms difficult to understand in this thesis. But by dint of reading it again and again, finally I could grasp the main part of it. What emotion, enthusiasm, clear-sightedness and confidence it instilled into me! I was overjoyed to tears. Though sitting alone in my room, I shouted out aloud as if addressing large crowds: “Dear martyrs compatriots! This is what we need, this is the path to our liberation!”
After then, I had entire confidence in Lenin, in the Third International.
Formerly, during the meetings of the Party branch, I only listened to the discussion; I had a vague belief that all were logical, and could not differentiate as to who were right and who were wrong. But from then on, I also plunged into the debates and discussed with fervour. Though I was still lacking French words to express all my thoughts, I smashed the allegations attacking Lenin and the Third International with no less vigour. My only argument was: “If you do not condemn colonialism, if you do not side with the colonial people, what kind of revolution are you waging?”
Not only did I take part in the meetings of my own Party branch, but I also went to other Party branches to lay down “my position”. Now I must tell again that Comrades Marcel Cachin, Vaillant Couturier, Monmousseau and many others helped me to broaden my knowledge. Finally, at the Tours Congress, I voted with them for our joining the Third International.
At first, patriotism, not yet communism, led me to have confidence in Lenin, in the Third International. Step by step, along the struggle, by studying Marxism-Leninism parallel with participation in practical activities, I gradually came upon the fact that only socialism and communism can liberate the oppressed nations and the working people throughout the world from slavery.
There is a legend, in our country as well as in China, on the miraculous “Book of the Wise”. When facing great difficulties, one opens it and finds a way out. Leninism is not only a miraculous “book of the wise”, a compass for us Vietnamese revolutionaries and people: it is also the radiant sun illuminating our path to final victory, to socialism and communism.
During the 2020 election, I was doing a paper on Pittsburgh's role in the 1877 rail strike. I found a letter to Labor Standard by a German immigrant from Allegheny city from 1878 about why the Workingmen's party USA must be willing to lose elections etc rather than in its literal first election season join the capitalist Greenbacks and instantly turn against Marxism. Mother fucker put in words what I, sitting in the same city well over a century later was feeling those weeks after Bernie folded and said to vote Biden.
The thinking of the German-American Marxists on these issues is revealed in a letter from C. Saam, a socialist from Allegheny City, to the Labor Standard:
Those workmen who still hold aloof, to you I say, combine; join our ranks and help us to wage war for the emancipation of humanity, read the socialist journals which represent your interests and those of the whole human race. Reflect upon your own condition, break loose from the existing parties, whether Republican, Democratic or Greenback, all of which are exclusive- ly bent on their own interest. Beware of so-called workmen’s friends, who join our ranks with an eye to office. Until we can produce men out of our own ranks, fit to hold office, let us hold aloof from politics. But let us labor in the meantime for the organization and emancipation of the working classes, doing all we can to induce the workmen to combine [into trade unions], whereby, in my judgment, we shall do more to promote our interests than by interfering in politics before our strength is fully developed, as, for instance, in the case with our English- speaking fellow members in Allegheny Co[unty]. We Germans know full well, first that we were not strong enough to take a hand in the coming autumn elections, second having no members whom we could elect to these offices, third knowing that our election would be of no use. Those members of our organization who brought about this combination have grossly violated the fundamental principles of our constitution, or else they would not have displayed such unbounded ignorance. Let us not be precipitate-let us bide our time-it will come soon
Like this obscure letter to a long defunct paper about my hometown said everything I didn't have the ability to word properly.
We destroyed the party over this, the party leaders ran important decisions among themselves and businessmen in English, utterly ignoring the base in Pittsburgh and New Jersey of German and Bohemian only speakers. Which is why he emphasizes being German, the immigrant steel and railworkers here suffered the deadly conditions, only to never get a say, only for labor aristocrats and liberal reformers to pretend to be on their behalf. It never ended, a generation or two later they did the same to my Italian relatives. Thank god for the union, but the dems they so loyally relied on made sure they could only ever at most get a safety net for my widowed grandmother. We will only avenge all these people by continuing to fight to put forth our own to lead, funny how they found the answer of the vanguard party this early
The Path Which Led Me To Leninism by Ho Chi Minh
After World War I, I made my living in Paris, now as a retoucher at a photographer’s, now as painter of “Chinese antiquities” (made in France!). I would distribute leaflets denouncing the crimes committed by the French colonialists in Viet Nam.
At that time, I supported the October Revolution only instinctively, not yet grasping all its historic importance. I loved and admired Lenin because he was a great patriot who liberated his compatriots; until then, I had read none of his books.
The reason for my joining the French Socialist Party was that these “ladies and gentlemen”— as I called my comrades at that moment— has shown their sympathy towards me, towards the struggle of the oppressed peoples. But I understood neither what was a party, a trade-union, nor what was socialism nor communism.
Heated discussions were then taking place in the branches of the Socialist Party, about the question whether the Socialist Party should remain in the Second International, should a Second and a half International be founded or should the Socialist Party join Lenin’s Third International? I attended the meetings regularly, twice or thrice a week and attentively listened to the discussion. First, I could not understand thoroughly. Why were the discussions so heated? Either with the Second, Second and a half or Third International, the revolution could be waged. What was the use of arguing then? As for the First International, what had become of it?
What I wanted most to know— and this precisely was not debated in the meetings— was: which International sides with the peoples of colonial countries?
I raised this question— the most important in my opinion— in a meeting. Some comrades answered: It is the Third, not the Second International. And a comrade gave me Lenin’s “Thesis on the national and colonial questions” published by l'Humanite to read.
There were political terms difficult to understand in this thesis. But by dint of reading it again and again, finally I could grasp the main part of it. What emotion, enthusiasm, clear-sightedness and confidence it instilled into me! I was overjoyed to tears. Though sitting alone in my room, I shouted out aloud as if addressing large crowds: “Dear martyrs compatriots! This is what we need, this is the path to our liberation!”
After then, I had entire confidence in Lenin, in the Third International.
Formerly, during the meetings of the Party branch, I only listened to the discussion; I had a vague belief that all were logical, and could not differentiate as to who were right and who were wrong. But from then on, I also plunged into the debates and discussed with fervour. Though I was still lacking French words to express all my thoughts, I smashed the allegations attacking Lenin and the Third International with no less vigour. My only argument was: “If you do not condemn colonialism, if you do not side with the colonial people, what kind of revolution are you waging?”
Not only did I take part in the meetings of my own Party branch, but I also went to other Party branches to lay down “my position”. Now I must tell again that Comrades Marcel Cachin, Vaillant Couturier, Monmousseau and many others helped me to broaden my knowledge. Finally, at the Tours Congress, I voted with them for our joining the Third International.
At first, patriotism, not yet communism, led me to have confidence in Lenin, in the Third International. Step by step, along the struggle, by studying Marxism-Leninism parallel with participation in practical activities, I gradually came upon the fact that only socialism and communism can liberate the oppressed nations and the working people throughout the world from slavery.
There is a legend, in our country as well as in China, on the miraculous “Book of the Wise”. When facing great difficulties, one opens it and finds a way out. Leninism is not only a miraculous “book of the wise”, a compass for us Vietnamese revolutionaries and people: it is also the radiant sun illuminating our path to final victory, to socialism and communism.
source
:uncle-ho:
Goddamn this site is fucking cool. I can shitpost a meme and get theory in the comments.
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During the 2020 election, I was doing a paper on Pittsburgh's role in the 1877 rail strike. I found a letter to Labor Standard by a German immigrant from Allegheny city from 1878 about why the Workingmen's party USA must be willing to lose elections etc rather than in its literal first election season join the capitalist Greenbacks and instantly turn against Marxism. Mother fucker put in words what I, sitting in the same city well over a century later was feeling those weeks after Bernie folded and said to vote Biden.
Like this obscure letter to a long defunct paper about my hometown said everything I didn't have the ability to word properly.
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It's recorded in this fantastic history of the earliest American marxists. https://archive.org/details/HistoryWorkingmensPartyUS/page/n1/mode/2up?
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no problem
We destroyed the party over this, the party leaders ran important decisions among themselves and businessmen in English, utterly ignoring the base in Pittsburgh and New Jersey of German and Bohemian only speakers. Which is why he emphasizes being German, the immigrant steel and railworkers here suffered the deadly conditions, only to never get a say, only for labor aristocrats and liberal reformers to pretend to be on their behalf. It never ended, a generation or two later they did the same to my Italian relatives. Thank god for the union, but the dems they so loyally relied on made sure they could only ever at most get a safety net for my widowed grandmother. We will only avenge all these people by continuing to fight to put forth our own to lead, funny how they found the answer of the vanguard party this early
The more things change.....
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What was Lenin's position on cat girls?
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thought about rewording it to be by George Lucas with Star Wars terms but honestly it felt a little
sacreligioussacrilegiousIt's a good riff, you should go for it if you still want to since you already posted the original.