Lenin's "The Defeat of One's Own Government in the Imperialist War" | GZD Reading Group | Week 12, 2024

We're starting off with a very short one for the first week. This text was published in 1915, two years before the October revolution, and is sadly still highly relevant in the imperial core.

This reading group is meant to educate, and people from any instances federated with Lemmygrad are welcome. Any comments not engaging in good faith will be removed (don't respond to hostile comments, just report them).

You can post questions or share your thoughts at any time. We'll be moving on to a new text next week, but this thread won't be locked.

You can read the text here.

3 comments

During a reactionary war a revolutionary class cannot but desire the defeat of its government.
Starts off with a banger. And then goes into the merciless shredding of anyone with incorrect views. Lays out his reasoning logically step by step. interspersed with sick burns like "This is a fact to which it is foolish to close one’s eyes." which could have just as easily said, "If you cant see this you are fucking stupid."
I think Lenin kept Trotsky around as a training dummy. Or like a pitching machine that threw nice slow ones right over the plate so he could practice his home runs. Or a spring board that he could jump on to get mad air and preform amazing dunks.

Always fun to read these bits and remember all over again Lenin's absolute disdain for Trotsky even before 1917.

Pog.