Lenin develops a theory of imperialism and uneven global power

Lenin examined the collapse of international socialist solidarity after leading parties backed their states in World War I. His response pressed for a new international, while other anti-war...

The essay condemned socialist leaders who supported wartime governments and argued that imperialist rivalry had exposed their reformism. It connects anti-war politics with Lenin’s analysis of...

Lenin argued that a federated Europe under capitalism could not remove imperialist rivalry and might reinforce it. His analysis linked regional integration to colonial power and class relations, a...

Lenin’s notebooks from intensive reading of Hegel, especially the Science of Logic, show a renewed engagement with dialectics during the war. They are working notes rather than a finished treatise and...

Socialists from neutral and belligerent countries met to oppose the war. Lenin’s more radical position was a minority within the conference, showing that anti-war internationalism contained...

In essays on the national question, Lenin defended the right of nations to secede while arguing for working-class internationalism. This framework challenged Great Russian chauvinism in principle;...

In his 1916 essays, Lenin argued that socialists in oppressor nations had a duty to defend the right of oppressed nations to secede. This principled distinction challenged empire but remained tied...

In letters written before returning to Russia, Lenin argued that soviets and the Provisional Government represented competing centers of authority. His analysis helped frame Bolshevik debate, but...

Mass strikes, demonstrations led in large part by women workers, and soldiers’ mutinies forced Nicholas II to abdicate. The revolution opened a period of dual power between the Provisional...

Lenin returned via Germany, Sweden, and Finland amid wartime conditions and political controversy. His arrival energized Bolshevik debate, but the party initially resisted parts of his new line,...