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43 dort Gordon, a PL spokcsmanat the April SDS national mooting, PL's lincwas going dow to stunningdcfoat, that *anyone ean quote fram tho” Marxist classics on both sides of the question,” No, Mr, Gorden, you can't ”” 2 throw up that kind of a smokeseroon so charactoristic of tho oncmy. tb won't Lot . you out of our noosof It 4s not a mattor of book worship, or isclatodquotes--it |» 4s a question of tho running throad in all tho writings of Marx, Engols, Ionin, ~"* Stalin and Mao on tho national question. Duo to the gonorel ignoranco on this ques- tion it is nocossary to resuscitate somo of tho koy idoes as thoy havo boon dcvol. opod through tho Mermdst classics. ie ee Oe net . Marx and Engels noticed vory carly thet ths na tional litoration movomont dn Iycland was a proroguisito to the victory of tho working cless in England, Bat to como to this conclusion thoy had to royerso thoir provicus vicws For 2 long timc I boliovod that it would be possiblo to. _ overthrow the Irish rogimc by ‘working class ascendancy.’ I always expressed this point of viow in tho:Now York ~~. Tribuno. Doopor study has now convinced m: of opposite, « ° Tho English working class will novor accomnlish pnything . vee oa ante eat bofore it has got rid of Ireland, That is why tho Dish question is so important for tho social movonont in gonoral.7 aakbe ¢ Morx nover fullydoveloped the national and colonial ‘quostion: to a systomaticthrory, largoly duc to tho infancy of imporialism, It romained for Tonin, and Stalin after him, to dovatop tho theory of tho national. question in tho opoch of imporialisn. ~~ Ristoricelly, tho riso of nationalism was associated with bourgoois netionalism and was not challonged by nationalism led by any othor class, Tho modern nation was nr itself 2 product of the boirgcoisio's noodfor a homogencous intornal maykct appro- priato to tho greving productive forces, The docisivo turn camo when ccpit2lism developed into imporialism and prevonted othor nations and pooplos from forming nation-states. Evon during the time ofLonin's writings all nations were dividod into oither oppressed cclonial nations or oppressing imperialist nations, Thero .- was still tho possibility that the rising bourgooisic in tho opprossed nations cwuld lead thonational liboration struggle. - It had stili not boon proven that the prolc~ ~ tariat, end tho proletariat alonc, could bocome tho leading class in allianco with - the othors in tho opprossed nation and ostablish. genuine indopondonce from in- porialism. - . : It should not bo surprising that the Bolshoviks wero, et first, primarily concerncé tith tho estogorics eppropriatc to tho socislist revolution in the wost and the rising national movomonts of Eestsrn Barope, But following tho Octctor revolution, revolts in tho colonial nations began to take on a rew forocitywhile the rovolution in the wost, after « briof upsurge, began to temporarily vans. It wos Trotsky snd not Icnin er Stalin who dogmaticelly clung to tho idoa of en inmi- nent sceialist rovolution in the wost and who troachorcusly staked tho oxistence of tho first socialist state on it, Stelin recognized that tho “national quostion had merged with tho goncral question of the omancipatin cf the colonics. Ro And Ionin found it necossary to transform the yecabulary of revolution in order to roflect the new dovelepmonts, In order to oxpose tho vacilloting bourgeoisio in the opprossed nation, to oppose their program, and to clearly support tho poople, hoe stated: * - vous feet mt Spee se But hero cbjoctions were raised that if wo spoak of tho bourgeois comocratic moveriont, ail distinction betwoon V+ + timo tho reformist and ths revolutionary movoments will be . oblitorated...we docided thet the only correct thing was “to tako into account ang in nearly all eases substitute the term "nat}piel~rovolutionsry" for tho term "bourgoois- donosratic," i mo Chacarly the general trond reflecting decp ebjs pr not a @ quotes, ims toward an ineroasing recognition tha prog: vo espocts of nationslisa and their relation to thosocislist revolution, ‘he Chinose Polowie Fooruary, 1969), P. 9. } "Ri torial” Proerossive Labor (Feorua 8) V.I. lenin, “iho Quostion of Nationslitios or 'Autonimization'™, Tio -. of 4Ssia (Progress Publishers), p. G+. : . 23 Citod by Tenin in Collo Works, Vol. 20, p. 430. - t) tho Now loft," Davison, Suention, Jamary 11, 1967, Pe 2. 5 . V.I. Icnin, "Roport of Comission cn the Aonol . + the 2nd Congross ef tho Communist Intornational, ® Co’ ne Colonial Questions to ected “Yorks, Vol. 31. se |