Imperialism threatens humanity. Our burning task is to overthrow it – but how? Many revolutionaries have turned to Mao and Stalin for answers, as they are associated with the biggest blows to imperialism in world history: the Russian and Chinese revolutions. But did Stalin and Mao really fight imperialism? And what would we have done differently? These are the questions we set out to answer in the latest episode of Spectre of Communism.
As communists, we aim to learn the lessons of the past in order to conquer the future. In the 20th century, no lessons are more important and controversial than those of Stalinism and Maoism. On the one hand, they are associated with anti-imperialist liberation struggles. On the other, they are accused of betraying and undermining those same struggles in their own interests.
Brushing aside the vicious lies and attacks of the capitalists, who use Stalin and Mao to slander communism in general, we invited Daniel Morley, member of the Executive Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party, to set the record straight.
📺 Related episodes 📺
The truth about Mao and the Chinese Revolution – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXZR5t4Bo4k
The Spanish Revolution and Civil War: A Complete Timeline – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjMcYaCMBSY
Stalinism on trial – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JevkQNg98E
📖 Texts cited 📖
SPEECHES ON WAR AND PEACE AT A MEETING OF THE C.C. OF THE R.S.D.L.P.(B.). JANUARY 11 (24), 1918 – https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1918/jan/11.htm
Out of the Night, Jan Valtin – https://files.libcom.org/files/2025-02/Out%20of%20the%20Night%20(Jan%20Valtin)%20(Z-Library).pdf
The Third International After Lenin, Leon Trotsky – https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1928/3rd/index.htm
West European Unity Against Hegemonism ls a Historical Necessity (Peking Review 1978 no.9 p.20) – https://www.marxists.org/subject/china/peking-review/1978/PR1978-09.pdf
📖 Recommended reading 📖
Stalinist land programme wins peasants – Chiang’s conscripts roped to prevent escape, by Ted Grant – https://marxist.com/ted-grant-china-jan-1949.htm
Reply to David James, by Ted Grant – https://www.marxists.org/archive/grant/1949/james.htm
On Imperialist War: Lenin Selected Writings – https://wellred-books.com/on-imperialist-war-lenin-selected-writings/
China: From Permanent Revolution to Counter-Revolution – https://wellred-books.com/china/
⏱️ Timestamps ⏱️
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:59 Why are we so critical?
00:06:43 Comintern: Lenin, Trotsky and the Bolsheviks
00:17:38 Stalin, Zinoviev and the German Revolution
00:23:40 Socialism in One Country + Stalin's Foreign Policy
00:36:19 The Spanish Revolution + Popular Front
00:40:57 WWII
00:48:49 Stalin and the Founding of Israel
00:51:15 Mao's Foreign Policy and the Sino-Soviet Split
01:08:08 China and Western Europe (1960s–1970s)
01:15:00 The Indian Subcontinent
01:21:31 Southeast Asia
01:22:26 Angola
01:26:50 Conclusion
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