105th Anniversary of the Irish Rebellion, 1916: The Discussion on Self-Determination Summed Up

– V.I. Lenin –

Painting of the inside of the Dublin Post Office entitled “The Birth of the Irish Republic”

The following is an excerpt from the article by V. I. Lenin, “The Discussion on Self-Determination Summed Up,” first published in October 1916. Lenin wrote to clarify the issue of self-determination of nations including the significance of the Irish Rebellion in opposition to the opportunist and chauvinist theses put forward by Polish social-democrats and the so-called Zimmerwald Leftists. These theses dismissed the revolt of oppressed nations such as Ireland and the important role of their struggle for their right to self-determination in the proletarian revolution. In his conclusion, Lenin pointed out, “The epoch of imperialism has turned all the ‘great’ powers into the oppressors of a number of nations, and the development of imperialism will inevitably lead to a more definite division of trends in this question in international Social-Democracy as well.”

Anniversary of the Communist Manifesto, February 22, 1848

1. The Manifesto of the Communist Party

Revolutionary leaders Frederick Engels and Karl Marx, authors of the Communist Manifesto, which decisively summed up the communists’ experience and outlook, and the historic role of the working class.

February 22 marks the anniversary of the publication of the first edition of the Communist Manifesto, written in 1848 by Karl Marx and his life-long friend and follower Frederick Engels. The Communist Manifesto became the most read and sought after pamphlet in the world. To this day, the attitude towards this pamphlet distinguishes those who are revolutionary because they use Marxism as a guide to action, from those who are hidebound and dogmatic and have another aim.

How did World War I actually end?

English journalist PAUL MASON* poses the question, as it is being totally ignored amidst the often revisionist and pro-war centenary commemorations, part of the all-round falsification of history.

– On the occasion of Remembrance Day, we are featuring a series of articles on the war and related matters of concern. This article was originally published on this blog on November 14, 2014 and republished in November 6, 2018 on the occasion of the centenary of the end of World War I –

Quiz question: why did the first world war end? We are witnessing commemorations in which the human preference for restraint and dignity will be under pressure from the televisual tendency for wittering on without knowledge or feeling.

So one crucial piece of knowledge should be, for schoolchildren and for TV presenters alike: how and why did it actually end?

100th anniversary of the First World War and Canada’s ‘Coming of Age’

On the important questions of war and peace

A sovereignty based on empire building

By KEVIN HUNTER

In Europe’s reeking slaughter-pen
They mince the flesh of murdered men,
While swinish merchants, snout in trough,
Drink all the bloody profits off!
– In Wartime, Stephan G. Stephansson, 1916

(Originally published on this blog on July 28, 2014.)

July 28 marks the centenary of the start of the First World War. One hundred years ago, on this day, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia followed in declaring war on Austria-Hungary, and within six days, Britain, France and Germany were officially at war. Canada as a self-governing dominion of the British Empire was automatically at war when Britain declared it.

The Battle of the Somme and Beaumont-Hamel: General Haig’s murderous “Great push forward”

On the Important Questions of War and Peace

July 1 marks the centenary of the start of the Battle of the Somme. It is commemorated in Newfoundland as Memorial Day – the 100th anniversary of the slaughter of  732 Newfoundlanders from the Newfoundland Regiment who either lay dead, wounded or were presumed missing near the French village of Beaumont-Hamel. Ordered “over the top” by their officers, during an assault that lasted approximately 30 minutes the regiment was all but wiped out. Newfoundland, as a colonial dominion of the British Empire, was automatically at war when Britain declared it.

The Irish Rebellion of 1916 – The Discussion on Self-Determination Summed Up

Painting ‘Birth of the Irish Republic‘

The following is an excerpt from the article by V. I. Lenin, “The Discussion on Self-Determination Summed Up,” first published in October 1916. Lenin wrote to clarify the issue of self-determination of nations including the significance of the Irish Rebellion in opposition to the opportunist and chauvinist theses put forward by Polish social-democrats and the so-called Zimmerwald Leftists. These theses dismissed the revolt of oppressed nations such as Ireland and the important role of their struggle for their right to self-determination in the proletarian revolution. In his conclusion, Lenin pointed out, “The epoch of imperialism has turned all the ‘great’ powers into the oppressors of a number of nations, and the development of imperialism will inevitably lead to a more definite division of trends in this question in international Social-Democracy as well.” *

This day in 1924: 90th anniversary of the death of V.I. Lenin

As long as the struggle to create a new society exists, the name and work of V.I. Lenin will have a place of honour

V.I. LENIN, a revolutionary and the greatest Marxist theoretician of the twentieth century, died 90 years ago on January 21, 1924, when a bullet, lodged in his neck by an opportunist when he was only 54, deprived him of the opportunity to complete his work. Even though he died during the very early stages of socialist revolution and construction, he had nonetheless accomplished great feats: he had established the state of the workers and peasants in Russia, as well as laid down the ideological and organizational lines for the development of the revolution and socialism.