6 THE REVOLUTIONARY AGE Saturday, March 15, 1919 Imperialism. the Final Stage of Capitalism como Such protective Party. the past ten or fifteen years, or let us say since By Lenin closely allied to large steel plants which are in their the Spanish American War (1808) and the Boer Translated from the Russian by Andre Tridon turn combined into steel syndicates. Those giant War (1899 1902) economists and political writers combinations which may produce half a million tons of the old world and of the new have more and more PREFACE of steel a year, which mine enormous quantities of ore frequently resorted to the use of the word ImperialThis book was written in Zurich in the spring of 1915.
and coal, which turn out enormous amounts of finished ism in order to characterize the period in which we steel products and employ tens of thousands of laboowing to the conditions under which was working, had are pure are living only limited access to the French and English literature on in crowded workingmen towns, who own sometimes their own railroad lines and their own In 1902 there appeared in London and New York the subject, and only very little material in the Russian lana book entitled Imperialism by the English economist guage. consulted, however, the most important English seaports, are characteristic of the iron industry in Hobson. Starting from a social reformist and deserves careful reading While writing this book bore Germany. And the concentration of industries is gopacifist point of view, essentially identical to that held ing on apace. Individual enterprises enlarge constantby Karl Kautsky, Hobson wrote a strong and detailed For that reason was compelled, not only to confine myself ly their scope and size. More and more of them enanalysis of the fundamental traits, economic and pol veil my frequent references to political events under the parto a theoretical, economic discussion of the subject, but to gaged in similar or different forms of inclustry itical, of Imperialisni.
ables and allusions which Czarism compelled revolutionary bine into gigantic corporations backed or directed by writers to resort to, whenever they set out to produce lawhalf a dozen large Be In banks. The «levelopment of 1910 there appeared in Vienna a book by the ful literature.
the metallurgical industry in Germany confirms wliat Austrian Marxist Rudolf Hilferding entitled Finance It is painful in these days of freedom to read over certain Marx once wrote about concentration. Of course this Capital. While the author was mistaken in his views on the currency theory and made many efforts to re prevented me from making certain definite statements hop applies to a country where industry is favoreil by protective duties and special transportation rates. The concile Marxism and opportunism, this book contains the most valuable analysis of the latest step in wished to say what Imperialism stod for on the eve of the metallurgical industry of Germany is ripe for exproSocialist revolution, when wished to say that social pat priation. 4)
the development of Capitalism, as riotism, that is lip service to Socialism coupled with patriotic is the conclusion reached by a good bourgeois reality the various articles on Imperialism pub deeds, was a complete betrayal of Socialism, a desertion to economist. We must notice that he places Germany lished in recent subject in the rears, and whatever was said on the the bourgeois camp. and that this schism in the labor movethe Chemnitz and Basel resolutions ment stood in certain relations to certain concrete conditions in a class by herself owing to the advantages which of Imperialism, had to confine myself to allusions and industry derives in that country from high Socialist Congresses (which were held in the fall of duties. Such the Socialist Internationl, the articles wrote between 1914 and 1917. There is a passage protection may hasten the 1912, one a Congress process of a Congress of the German Social Democratic in particular where in order to tell the reader, without concentrationand the organization of monopolistic were inspired by the ideas in those two books. running foul of the censor, what shameless lies are spread groups, trusts, syndicates, etc. But it is interesting to by capitalists and their allies the social patriots (rather in note that in England, a free trade country, concenWe will endeavor to explain as simply as possible consistently attacked by Karl Kautsky. how shamelessly the relations between the fundamental economic mani they protect the annexations hrought about by the capitalists tration also leads to monopoly, more slowly it is true, festations of Imperialism. Important as the extraof their own nationality, had to go to Japan for my illust and in a different form. This is what Prof. Hernan rations. The careful reader will readily substitute Russia Levy writes in a special treatise on Monopolies, Carteconomic side of the question may be, we shall not for Japan, and instead of Korea read Finland, Poland, Cour. els and Trusts, dealing with the economic (levelopenlarge upon it.
land. Ukraine, Khiva, Bokhara, Esthonia and other territories inhabited by people who are not Great Russians.
ments in Great Britain: I hope this book will be of assistance to the reader in study In Great Britain, the growth of industrial entering the economic problem which must be considered closely prises and their high technical level have a tendency The Concentration of Industry and Monopoly if one wishes to understand rightly the present war and contemporary politics: the problem of the economic essence to create monopolies. The concentration of industries The gigantic growth of industry and the remark of Imperialism makes the centralization of industries reach enormous LENIN.
ably rapid process of centralization of production in sums; the result is that new corporations cannot be Petrograd, May 9, 1917, constantly larger organizations, are the most striking organized without a huge initial investment, and there characteristics of Imperialism. We find complete and fore fewer and fewer are being orgarrizerl. Also, and detailed information on that phenomenon in current total of 268, 491, or. 000. 000 laborers out of a this is much more important, every new industrial statistics.
total of 6, 610, 000, or 30. 9, 000, 000, 000 worth which wishes to compete with the giant cornerprise of goods, out of a total production of 20, 700, 000, 000 an enormous quantity of goods that the sale profits In Germany, for instance, out of every thousand created by industrial concentration must produce such business. firms there were in 1882 three large firms or 43. 2)
employing more than fifty employees, in 1895 there Almost one half of the entire production of all the will only be were six, and in 1907 there were nine. Those large industrial concerns of the United States is in the hands mand for these goods. if the demand does not infirms employed, for the same years mentioned, 22. of of the total number of concerns. And those crease, prices drop to a level which is disastrous not In 30 and 37 of the available labor. But the con three thousand gigantic corporations control 258 dif only for the new concer Great Britain, monopolistic unions of industrial entercentration of production proceeds more quickly than the concentration of labor, because in large industrial inclustrial concentration having reached a certain phase prises, cartels and trusts only begin to be organized in establishments labor is more efficient. This is proven by all the data we have on the subject of steam engines few firms can easily arrive at some understanding peting enterprises is reduced to about two dozen.
among themselves, thereby making competition exIn other countries, of course, protective tariffs make If we bear in mind, also, that in (jerman statistics petitive system is one of the most important, if not the organization of trusts much easier. The influence of concentration upon the birth of monopoly the word industry is meant to include commerce and the most important phenomenon in the evolution of in large industries appears here with crystal like clearmeans of communication, we can draw the following modern Capitalism, and deserves very close study.
ness. 5)
picture: out of a total number of 3, 265. 623 firms 30. But first of all we must remove a source of possible a century ago, when Marx wrote Capital, free 588 or of all the firms, are large corporations: misunderstanding competition was considered by the majority of ecoOut of a total of 14, 400, 000 workers, the latger firms According to American statistics, there are 3ooo attempted through a conspiracy of silence to kill nomists as one of nature laws. Official science they use 6, 600, 000 or 75 out of 500. 000 dustry. That might mean to some readers that each analysis of Capitalism proved that unrestrained comgiant corporations interested in 258 branches of in Marx book, which by its theoretical and historical electric kilowatts they use 200. 000 or 80. 1)
Less than of the firms use over of the concentration, available steam and electric power. The 3, 197. 000 statistical data. We do not find large corporations concentration upon reaching a certain Joint results in cerns. This would be a wrong interpretation of the petition leads to industrial stituting 91 of the total number of industrial and interested in every branch of industry: but one of the monopoly. At present, monopoly is an estallished commercial firms, use only of all the steam and Capitalismo has reached is lighest ciegreciso de vente describing the various forms assumed by monopoly employ almost all the available supply of human and meant that various forms of industry are placed under facts remain facts. And facts demonstrate that the mechanical power, three million small firms employ a unified control. Let us take, for example, the transdifference we observe between various capitalist counonly an insignificant amount of either.
of raw materials.
of tries, for instance between those who have free trade the ore, and those who have protective tariffs, cause but inThere were in Germany in 1707. 580 large firms mann facture of iron into steal af stcel into various conificant variations in the forn assunod by mono employing more than 100 workers. They emplovec Lucts or sub products, the production of packing mats polies in those countries, and only slightly lasten or finished products; or else the utilization of waste proa total of 380, 000 workers, or almost onc tenth of all the available labor, and almost one third, cxactly erials and so on, inclustries which are all of assistance lelay their app nce; and that monopolies due to one to the other.
the concentration of industry seem to be the absolute 32. of the available steam and electric power.
rule in the present stage of capitalist development.
Actual capital and the banks make the power of Combination, Hilfereling writes. compensates these few large firnis irresistible, and the result is the various Avctuations of the market and therefore cial change from the old competitive Capitalism to One can tell with relative accuracy when the that millions of small, medium sized, and even some raises the average of profit. Secondly, it reduces the of the lesser among the large firms. Isecome the mere number of business transactions. Thirdly, it permits the new Capitalism took place in Europe. It was at the dawn of the twentieth century.
employes of a few hundre millionairc financiers, the attainment of teclmical perfection, which means on the history of monopoly states that before the In another country, the nited States, where Caps higher profits than can be secured by independent conyear 1860 there were several isolated instances of italism is extremely developų, the concentration of ceras. Fourthily, it strengthens the position of the enin which is seen the embryo of the various capital is even more marked. American statistics, how terprises which have combined, against the indepen forms of monopoly with which we are now how familiar.
ever, employ the word industry in its narrowest sense, clent ones, and protects them against competition in But the actual history of the trus as concerns are listed according to their yearly outtimes of depression or crisis, when the prices of fin until 1860. The first organization of large monopolies put. In 1904, the number of large concerns with an shed products are dropping quicker than the prices dates from the world wide commercial output of at least 1, 000. coo a year was 000, or of raw materials. 13)
which took place between 1870 and 1890. As far as of the total number of concerns which was 210. Heymam, a Gjerman bourgeois economist who has Europe is concerned the period extending from 1869 180; out of 5, 500, 000 available laburers these larger studied combinations in the iron industry of Germany to 1870 marked the final stage in the development concerns employed 400. 000. or 25. 6747 and they pro says that independent firms are ruined by the high free competition. Then England completed the strucduced 600, 000, 000 worth of gouls a year, or 38c prices of raw materials combined with the low prices ture of the capitalist organization according to the of the total production for the united States which of finished products. Ho see, he adds, large coal old style. In Germany the older Capitalism entre was i4 800, 000. COO. Five years later, in 1900, the mining corporations producing millinus of tons of into a struggle with the national trade and industry corresponding figures were: 060 large firms in a coal, combined into strong coal mining syndicates, and and began to assume its peculiar form. The great.
formation the smelting crurecen look monopoly cloes not not begin