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z Jor? Gordon, a PL spokcsmanat the April SDS national ‘mooting, “arguod, whils: PL's lincvas going dow to stunningdcfoat, that ®anyone ean quoto from tho” Marxist classics on both sides of the question," No, Mr, Gordon, you can't * throw up that kind of a smokeseroon so charactoristic of tho oncmy. Wo won't lot... you out of our noosof It is not a -mattor of book worship, or isclatodquotes--it -. Poe 4s a question of tho running throad in all tho writings of Marx, Engols, Icnin, ©") Stalin and Mao on the national question. Duo to the gonoral ignoranco on this ques. tion it is nocossary to resuscitate somo of tho koy idoas as thoy havo beon devol- * opod through tho Marxist classics. cB . Marx and Engcls noticed vory carly that tho na tional liboration movoment.: in Ircland was a prorequisito to the victory of tho working cless in Ingland, But. 2 a 2 - aa tet Lnee sa fn weavrecs ate Sea tae tar uz to coms to this conciusion thoy had to roverso thoir provicus viow: ens : :- - ote . tee i. oa . - we or Mt ee “ae oe For a long tine I bolgovod ‘that at would be possiblo to. :.: “lo. ++ overthrow the Irish regime by ‘working class ascendancy. _.’ as I always cxpressed this point of viow in tho-Now Tork .-06. 6 dacs Tribune, Dooper study has now convinced mo of the opposite. ‘. yp CEE Tho English working class will noyor accomplish anything © 02 ein : bofére it has gct rid of Ircland, That is why tho irish Se ee quostion is so important for tho social movonont in 78 gomoral.e? 2 2 op ge ee UY mt Morx never fullydovoloped the national and colonial quosticninte a systomaticthoory, largoly duc to tho 4nfancy of imporialism, Jt romained for Tonin, and Stalin after him, to dovatop tho theory of tho national. question in tho epoch of imporialisn. Ristoricelly, tho riso of nationalism was associated with bourgoois netionalism and — - was not challenged by nationalism led by any othor class, Tho modern nation was ae itself « product ef the bourgeoisio's noodfor a homogencous intornal market appro- ; priato to tho grevwing productivo forces, Tho docisivo turn camo when cepit2lism developed into imperialism and prevonted othor nations and pooplos from forming nation-states. Even during the time ofLonin's writings all nations were divided into oither oppressed cclonial nations or oppressing imperialist nations. Thero ... was still tho possibility that the rising bourgeoisie in tho oppressed nations could - lead thonational liboration struggle, - It had stili not boon proven that the prolc- ~ tariat, and tho proletariat alonc, could bocome tho leading class in allianco with - the othors in tho opprossed nation and osteblish.genuine indopondonee fram in- porialism. es ae oe a .. It should not bo surprising that the Bolshoviks wero, at first, primarily concerned with tho eatogorics appropriate to tho sccislist revolution in the wost and the rising national movoments of Eestern Barope, But following the Cctctor revolution, revolts in tho colonial nations began to take on a rey forocitywhile the rovolution in the wost, after a briof upsurge, began to temporarily vans. It wos Trotsky and not Lenin cr Stalin vho dogmaticelly clung to tho idea of an immie -- nent sceialist revolution in the wost and who troachorously staked tho oxistenca ‘of tho first socialist state on it, Stelin recognized that tho “national quostion had merged with tho goncral question of the omancipation cf the colonics, mn And ; Tonin found it necossary to transform the vocabulary of revolution in order to roflect the nov dovelormonts, In order to expose tho vacillating bourgecisio in the opprossed nation, to opposa their program, and to clearly support tho poople, _ he stated: = - ; wg tee, Do Eg ; + AT “But hore cbjections were raised that if w spoak of tho . bourgeois democratic movernont, ail distinction betweon 1: 1 cass the roformist and the revolutionary movoments will be 2 oblitorated..,wo docided that the only correct thing was “to take into account and in noarly all esses substitute _ the term "net jpnel-revolutionsry" for tho term "bourgoois- domecratic." So , ee Clatariy the gonorel trend reflecting ccep objective prosssses, tnd not a , fow isolatca quotes, ums toward an ineroasing recognition of tha progresrive aspocts of nationalism and their relation to Uhesocislis+ sevolution, the Chinese Polomnie WFrom the Now loft," Davison, Guardian, January 11, 1967, pe 7. 7) "Bitorial" Progrossive Yebor (Froruary, 1969), p. 9. 8) V.I. lenin, "Tho Qiostion of Nationalities or tAutonimization'", The Avehkoning . of Asia (Progress Publishers), p. &.- , . 23 Cited by Ienin in Collocted Werks, Vol. 20, p. 430. — PM - f0$ V.I. Icnin, "Report of tho Comission on the Naficnal and Colynial Xeostions to «the 2nd Congross of tho Communist Intormationai," Collected Norks, Vol. Bie es ..