Proletarian Revolution and the Road to Communism

Why Past Revolutionary Movements Have Failed-Anton Pannekoek

From: Living Marxism, Vol.5, No.2, Fall 1940;
Written: 1940;
Transcription\HTML Markup: David Walters/Greg Adargo;

..."The general character of a proletarian revolution* must be quite different. Instead of reckless fighting for personal interests there must be a common action for the interests of the class community. A worker, a single person, is powerless; only as part of his class, as a member of a strongly connected economic group can he get power. Workers individualities are disciplined into line by their habit of working and fighting together. Their minds must be freed from social superstitions and they must see as a commonplace truth that once they are strongly united that they can produce abundance and liberate society from misery and want. This is part of the mental equipment necessary to bring mankind from class exploitation, the misery, the mutual destruction of capitalism into communism itself.

Thus the two kinds of revolution are as widely different as are the beginning and end of capitalism. We can see this clearly now, thirty years later. we can understand too, how at the time they could be considered not only as allies, but were thrown together as two sides of the same great world-revolution. The great day was supposed to be near; the working class, with its large socialist parties and still larger unions, would soon conquer power. And then at the same time, with the power of western capitalism breaking down, all the colonies and eastern countries would be freed from western domination and take up their own national life."...

Please read the article in it's entirety: Why Past Revolutionary Movements Have Failed
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*A proletarian revolution is a social and/or political revolution in which the working class (proletarian) attempts to overthrow the middle class (bourgeoisie). Proletarian revolutions are generally advocated by socialists — particularly those of the communist variety.
Learn about a Proletarian Revolution from Vladimir Lenin