ABSTRACT

The Russian Vladimir I. Lenin fought against both dominant tendencies, concentrating instead on the outlines of a communist society as advocated by Karl Marx. In France and Russia, for example, the political tendencies of reformism favored "economism," according to which workers must conduct an "economic," or "trade-unionist" struggle, which for Lenin was reducible to demands for small and insignificant reforms. Western industrial development and capitalistic institutions demanded a more prudent and complex strategy than that adopted in the Eastern world of 1917 Russia by the Bolsheviks. The Bolshevik party—the true Communist party—was the sole party of the working class and as such had the task of educating the advanced guard of the proletariat and of organizing the working masses. Thus whereas the democratic bourgeoisie talked about "liberty and equality," Communists would resort to an iron discipline and a rigorous regime to allow the proletariat to prevail.