BourgeoisieCapitalismCivil WarCommunismDemocracyParis CommuneSocialismWorking Class

6 THE REVOLUTIONARY AGE July 5, 1919 The Left Wing Manifesto THE world is in crisis. Capitalism, the Issued on Authority of the Conference upon production. The answer of Capitalism is prevailing system of society, is in pro by the National Council of the Left Wing war; the answer of the proletariat is the Social Revolution and Socialism.
cess of disintegration and collapse. Out of its vitals is developing a new social order, the heavy machinery, in short, predominantly a THE COLLAPSE OF THE INTERNATIONAL.
system of Communist Socialism; and the trade in iron goods. This export of capital Europe was on the verge of a general imIn 1912, at the time of the first Balkan war, struggle between this new social order and the together with the struggle to monopolize the old is now the fundamental problem of inter world sources of raw materials and to conperialistic war. Socialist International Congnational politics.
trol undeveloped territory, produces Imperial ress was convened at Basle to act on the imThe predatory. war for democracy domi ism.
pending crisis. The resolution adopted stignated the world. But now it is the revolution fully developed capitalist nation is commatized the coming war as imperialistic and ary proletariat in action that dominates, con pelled to accept Imperialism. Each nation cs unjustifiable on any pretext of national interest. The Basle resolution declared: quering power in some nations, mobilizing to seeks markets for the absorption of its surconquer power in others, and calling upon the plus capital. Undeveloped territory, possessing That the war would create an economic proletariat of all nations to prepare for the sources of raw material, the industrial develop and political crisis; That the workers final struggle against Capitalism.
ment of which will require the investment of would look upon participation in the war as But Socialism itself is in crisis. Events are capital and the purchase of machinery, be a crime. which would arouse indignation and revolutionizing Capitalism and Socialism an comes the objective of capitalistic competition revulsion among the masses; That the indication that this is the historic epoch of the between the imperialistic nations.
crisis and the psychological condition of the proletarian revolution. Imperialism is the Capitalism, in the epoch of Imperialism, workers would create a situation that Socialists final stage of Capitalism; and Imperialism comes to rely for its prosperity and supremshould use to rouse the masses and hasten means sterner reaction and new wars of con acy upon the exploitation and enslavement of the downfall of Capitalism. That the govquest unless the revolutionary proletariat acts colonial peoples, either in colonies, spheres of ernments fear a proletarian revolution and for Socialism. Capitalism cannot reform itself; influence, protectorates, or mandatories, should remember the Paris Commune and the it cannot be reformed. Humanity can be saved savagely oppressing hundreds of millions of revolution in Russia in 1905, that is, a civil from its last excesses only by the Communist subject peoples in order to assure high profit war.
Revolution. There can now be only the So and interest rates for a few million people in The Basle resolution indicted the coming cialism which is one in temper and purpose the favored nations.
war as imperialistic, a war necessarily to be with the proletarian revolutionary struggle. This struggle for undeveloped territory, raw opposed by Socialism, which should use the There can be only the Socialism which unites materials, and investment markets, is carried opportunity of war to wage the revolutionary the proletariat of the whole world in the on peacefully between groups of internatio struggle against Capitalism. The policy of general struggle against the desperately denal finance capital by means of agreements, Socialism was comprised in the struggle to structive Imperialisms. the Imperialisms and between the nations by means of diplo transform the imperialistic war into a civil war which array themselves as a single force macy; but a crisis comes, the competition beof the oppressed ag: cinst the oppressors, and against the onsweeping proletarian revolucomes irreconcilable, antagonisms cannot be for Socialism.
tion.
solved peacefully, and the nations resort to The war that came in 1914 was the same THE WAR AND IMPERIALISM.
war.
imperialistic war that might have come in The prevailing conditions, in the world of The antagonisms between the European na1912, or at the time of the Agadir crisis. But, Capitalism and of Socialism, are a direct prod. tions were antagonisms as to who should conupon the declaration of war, the dominant uct of the war; and the war was itself a direct trol undeveloped territory, sources of raw ma Socialism, contrary to the Basle resolution, acproduct of Imperialism.
terials, and the investment markets of the cepted and justfiied the war.
Industrial development under the profit sys world. The inevitable consequence was war.
Great demonstrations were held. The governtem of Capitalism is based upon the accumula The issue being world power, other nations, in ments and war were denounced. But, immetion of capital, which depends upon the ex cluding the United States, were dragged in. diately upon the declaration of war, there was propriation of values produced by the workers.
The United States, while having no direct ter a change of front. The war credits were veted This accumulation of capital promotes, and is ritorial interests in the war, was vitally con by Socialists in the parliaments. The domiitself promoted by, the concentration of in cerned since the issue was world power; and nant Socialism favored the war; a small minordustry. The competitive struggle compels each its Capitalism, having attained a position of ity adopted a policy of petty bourgeois pacifcapitalist to secure the most efficient means financial world power, had a direct imperial ism; and only the Left Wing groups adhered of production, or a group of capitalists to com istic interest at stake.
to the policy of revolutionary Socialism.
bine their capital in order to produce more The imperialistic character of the war is It was not alone a problem of preventing the efficiently. This process of concentration of climaxed by an imperialistic peace a peace war. The fact that Socialism could not preindustry and the accumulation of capital, while that strikes directly at the peace and liberty of vent the war, was not a justification for aca product of competition, ultimately denies and the world, which organizes the great imperial cepting and idealizing the war. Nor was it a ends competition. The concentration of indus istic powers into a sort of trust of nationis, problem of immediate revolution. The Basle try and of capital develops monopoly. among whom the world is divided financially Manifesto simply required opposition to the Monopoly expresses itself through dicta and territorially. The League of Nations is war and the fight to develop out of its circuntorial control exercised by finance capital over simply the screen for this division of the world, stances the revolutionary struggle of the proindustry; and finance capital unifies Capitalism an instrument for joint domination of the letariat against the war and Capitalism.
for world exploitation. Under Imperialism, world by a particular group of Imperialism.
The dominant Socialism, in accepting and the banks, whose control is centralized in a While this division of the world solves, for justifying the war, abandoned the class strugclique of financial magnates, dominate the the moment, the problems of power that pro gle and betrayed Socialism. The class strugwhole of industry directly, purely upon the duced the war, the solution is temporary, since gle is the heart of Socialism. Without strict basis of investment exploitation, and not for the Imperialism of one nation can prosper conformity to the class struggle, in its revolu purposes of social production. The concentra only by limiting the economic opportunity of tionary implications, Socialism becomes either tion of industry implies that, to a large extent, another nation. New problems of power must sheer Utopianism, or a method of reaction.
industry within the nation has reached its ma necessarily arise, producing new antagonisms, But the dominant Socialism accepted civil turity, is unable to absorb all the surplus new wars of agression and conquest unless peace, the unity of all the classes and parcapital that comes from the profits of industry. the revolutionary proletariat conquers in the ties in order to wage successfully the imCapitalism, accordingly, must find means out struggle for Socialism.
perialistic war. The dominant Socialism united side the nation for the absorption of this The concentration of industry produces with the governments against Socialism and surplus. The older export trade was dominated monopoly, and monopoly produces Imperial the proletariat.
by the export of consumable goods. American ism. In Imperialism there is implied the social The class struggle comes to a climax during exports, particularly, except for the war period, isation of industry, the material basis of Social war. National struggles are a form of expreshave been largely of cotton, foodstuffs, and ism. Production moreover, becomes interna sion of the class struggle, whether they are raw materials. Under the conditions of Im tional; and the limits of the nation, of national revolutionary wars for liberation or imperialperialism it is capital which is exported, as production, become a fetter upon the forces istic wars for spoilation. It is precisely during by the use of concessions in backward territory of production. The development of Capitalism a war that material conditions provide the to build railroads, or to start native factories, produces world economic problems that break opportunity for waging the class struggle to a as in India, or to develop oil fields, as in Mex down the old order. The forces of production conclusion for the conquest of power. The iço. This means an export of locomotives, revolt against the fetters Capitalis. y imposes var was a war for world power a war of