APRIL, 2017 – European civilization degenerated into horrifying violence during the “Great War” of 1914-1918. In the wake of that war, upheavals shook old empires to their foundations, as literally millions of peasants and workers rejected old patterns of life and rule, and sought out new ways of organizing society freed from the barbarism of war and capitalism. A vigorous left wing developed in many countries on the backs of this revolutionary upheaval, but only a fraction of the writings and discussions of this left have been available to an English-speaking audience. That is beginning to change. Ten years ago, Ian Birchall translated Pierre Broué’s classic The German Revolution, 1917-1923.[1] Peter Hudis is spearheading the preparation into English of the indispensable works of Rosa Luxemburg.[2] And since the 1980s, John Riddell has been translating, editing and publishing the key documents and discussions of the Communist International (or Comintern). To the Masses [3] – whose subject matter is the Third Congress – completes the record of the first four congresses of the Comintern, congresses identified by Leon Trotsky as important events where key questions of the day had “been subjected … to a principled analysis that has remain unsurpassed until now.”[4] Riddell’s books will serve as a resource for years. By allowing an English-speaking audience access to the unfiltered words of the congress participants, the books allow a new generation to assess for themselves the merits of their theories, strategies and practices.
The above is the first paragraph of “Coalition Building, Capitalism and War“ – Review Article of John Riddell, To the Masses: Proceedings of the Third Congress of the Communist International, 1921“. [5] The complete text can be found here.
[1] The German Revolution, 1917-1923, ed. Ian Birchall and Brian Pearce, trans. John Archer, Historical Materialism Book Series, 5 (1971; repr., Leiden: Brill, 2005).
[2] Rosa Luxemburg, The Rosa Luxemburg Reader, ed. Peter Hudis and Kevin Anderson (New York: Monthly Review Press, 2004); Rosa Luxemburg, The Complete Works of Rosa Luxemburg, Volume I: Economic Writings 1, ed. Peter Hudis (London: Verso Books, 2013); Rosa Luxemburg, The Complete Works of Rosa Luxemburg, Volume II: Economic Writings 2, ed. Peter Hudis and Paul Le Blanc (London: Verso Books, 2015).
[3] John Riddell, ed., To the Masses: Proceedings of the Third Congress of the Communist International, 1921, Historical Materialism Book Series, 91, The Communist International in Lenin’s Time, Vol. 6 (1921; repr., Leiden: Brill, 2015).
[4] Leon Trotsky, “Declaration of the Bolshevik-Leninist Delegation at the Conference of Left Socialist and Communist Organizations,” in Writings of Leon Trotsky: 1933-34, vol. 6 (1933; repr., New York: Pathfinder Press, 1975), 40.
[5] Paul Kellogg, “Coalition Building, Capitalism and War – Review Article of John Riddell, To the Masses: Proceedings of the Third Congress of the Communist International, 1921,” Socialist Studies/Études Socialistes 12, no. 1 (May 29, 2017): 169–80, https://doi.org/10.18740/ss/es.v12i1.27222.
Coalition building, Capitalism and War
Published March 31, 2017 by pkellogg
APRIL, 2017 – European civilization degenerated into horrifying violence during the “Great War” of 1914-1918. In the wake of that war, upheavals shook old empires to their foundations, as literally millions of peasants and workers rejected old patterns of life and rule, and sought out new ways of organizing society freed from the barbarism of war and capitalism. A vigorous left wing developed in many countries on the backs of this revolutionary upheaval, but only a fraction of the writings and discussions of this left have been available to an English-speaking audience. That is beginning to change. Ten years ago, Ian Birchall translated Pierre Broué’s classic The German Revolution, 1917-1923.[1] Peter Hudis is spearheading the preparation into English of the indispensable works of Rosa Luxemburg.[2] And since the 1980s, John Riddell has been translating, editing and publishing the key documents and discussions of the Communist International (or Comintern). To the Masses [3] – whose subject matter is the Third Congress – completes the record of the first four congresses of the Comintern, congresses identified by Leon Trotsky as important events where key questions of the day had “been subjected … to a principled analysis that has remain unsurpassed until now.”[4] Riddell’s books will serve as a resource for years. By allowing an English-speaking audience access to the unfiltered words of the congress participants, the books allow a new generation to assess for themselves the merits of their theories, strategies and practices.
The above is the first paragraph of “Coalition Building, Capitalism and War“ – Review Article of John Riddell, To the Masses: Proceedings of the Third Congress of the Communist International, 1921“. [5] The complete text can be found here.
[1] The German Revolution, 1917-1923, ed. Ian Birchall and Brian Pearce, trans. John Archer, Historical Materialism Book Series, 5 (1971; repr., Leiden: Brill, 2005).
[2] Rosa Luxemburg, The Rosa Luxemburg Reader, ed. Peter Hudis and Kevin Anderson (New York: Monthly Review Press, 2004); Rosa Luxemburg, The Complete Works of Rosa Luxemburg, Volume I: Economic Writings 1, ed. Peter Hudis (London: Verso Books, 2013); Rosa Luxemburg, The Complete Works of Rosa Luxemburg, Volume II: Economic Writings 2, ed. Peter Hudis and Paul Le Blanc (London: Verso Books, 2015).
[3] John Riddell, ed., To the Masses: Proceedings of the Third Congress of the Communist International, 1921, Historical Materialism Book Series, 91, The Communist International in Lenin’s Time, Vol. 6 (1921; repr., Leiden: Brill, 2015).
[4] Leon Trotsky, “Declaration of the Bolshevik-Leninist Delegation at the Conference of Left Socialist and Communist Organizations,” in Writings of Leon Trotsky: 1933-34, vol. 6 (1933; repr., New York: Pathfinder Press, 1975), 40.
[5] Paul Kellogg, “Coalition Building, Capitalism and War – Review Article of John Riddell, To the Masses: Proceedings of the Third Congress of the Communist International, 1921,” Socialist Studies/Études Socialistes 12, no. 1 (May 29, 2017): 169–80, https://doi.org/10.18740/ss/es.v12i1.27222.
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