Empire of Chaos in The Middle East Syria Libya and Yemen
US Imperialism has managed to create an interconnected area of wars from Africa, To the Middle East, stretching all the way through central Asia where it wages war on not just Afghanistan, but even covert wars on Russia and China themselves. It's so vast I could never hope to tackle it in a single article even excluding the wars being waged in Latin America or Europe or the streets of America itself. Nigeria, DRCongo, Mali, Libya, The Central African Republic, Tunisia, Sudan, Somalia these are only some of the wars being waged in Africa for example all having their roots in secretive covert war waged through proxies. Palestine, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon are only some of the conflicts in the middle east with Turkey itself becoming a war zone recently. In Central Asia the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan is already spilling over into Central Asian countries like Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. As if Afghanistan hasn't suffered enough after more then 35 Years of war the US is doubtless behind the recent surge in ISIS activity there aimed at insuring the war there will never end. The recent news of Mullah Omar's death was perfectly timed to disrupt the Peace talks there I should mention in passing. America is waging war on the entire planet no many knows how many millions have died, been tortured or turned into refugees and we will never know as the business of calculating casualties is highly politicized. Many millions that much is certain. In DRCongo alone 10 million have died, in Iraq 2 Million. A massive area of genocide, desolation, poverty, covering much of the globe has been created. Thus I'll be discussing some recent events in Syria, Libya, and Yemen which form only parts of this massive interconnected series of wars.
First of course I can't resist commenting on the recent Iran deal. Personally I want relations between the US and Iran to be relaxed enough that Iran isn't targeted for an open war (the US, Israel and their allies have long waged a covert war on Iran using terrorists proxies and the MEK cult.) At the same time I don't want them to become open allies (they have been known to secretly cooperate in Iraq.) Unfortunately the political system is so warped in the US that Iran will never be able to escape the constant threat of war. A war that could quickly go Nuclear because of Iran's strong conventional forces capable of sinking the US fleet in the narrow Persian gulf in about half an hour according the pentagon war games conducted a several years ago. The possibility of Iran becoming allied with the US is also currently impossible thanks to America's overweening arrogance and because it is waging war on Iran's allies Hezbollah, Syria, and Yemen. The deal will merely result in Iran being allowed to sell it's oil to Europe. For now it seems Iran will continue to tighten ties with Russia and China. While America is busy spreading destruction everywhere China is busy building a massive infrastructure that stretches across eurasia and Africa. Provided they manage to avoid being destroyed inevitably the 21st century will be the Chinese century. Pepe Escobar constantly writes of this amazing process as China attempts to construct the infrastructure for the economic integration of eurasia. In truth preventing this is one of the main US motives for spreading chaos across the planet. Hopefully Iran will be able to use the opportunity to strengthen it's economy and defenses. Israel seems bent on it's destruction while hysterical American politicians seem bent on competing for the role of who can be most outrageous claims against Iran thus demonstrating their complete subservience to the notorious pro-Israel lobby which dominates congress. Whether democrat or republican a crazed war monger is certain to occupy the white house after 2016 which is pretty terrifying considering that the current Obama regime has already pushed the world to the brink of Nuclear war with both Russia and China. Official Washington's summer reading is a thriller about world war 3 with China called "Ghost Fleet" I haven't read it but I can tell you that if it doesn't end with the world a smoking ruin and 5 billion dead it's unrealistic.
Syria home to the most heroic people on the planet (See my June 2015 Article "Long Live Syria!") is under increased threat from Turkey doubtless at the secret instigation of the US and Israel. In the past month the Syrian Arab Army, the People's militias of the NDF, Hezbollah, and an Increasing Iranian element have been waging a successful campaign against the legions of terrorists sent to invade the country like ISIS and Al Nusra. In response to their victories Turkey has begun to intervene directly in the conflict threatening to establish a no fly zone in Northern Syria. This is nothing more then a cover to launch an air war against the kurds there who have been valiantly resisting the genocidal terrorists attempting to seize their territory and either kill the locals or turn them into refugees. Northern Syria is a home to more minorities then the kurds but they have all banded together to fight off the ISIS terrorists that seek to destroy them. Actually they have managed not only fight terrorists but are conducting a revolutionary social experiment which unfortunately I don't have time to go into here. However one feature is the arming of women who have managed to inflict humiliating defeats on ISIS. Thus Syria is home not only to the most heroic men in the world but the most heroic women wether fighting in the YPJ in the semi-autonomous north or fighting as members of the Syrian Arab Army or the NDF in the rest of the country.
Unfortunately the victories of the YPG, YPJ and SAA have caused Turkey to intervene directly. The US which already began violating Syria's airspace last fall bombing it's people and repeatedly dropping weapons to the terrorists it claimed to be fighting. Now it is openly threatening to bomb Syria in defense of the terrorists it began openly training last fall. In addition the British Media admitted that the SAS is on the ground in Syria pretending to be Al Qaeda linked Terrorists supposedly to hunt down ISIS in Reality doubtless to train and lead terrorists and to carry out terror attacks against Syria. Syria has warned Turkey that it may retaliate and subtly hinted a reminder that while they refrained from retaliating against Israel and the US to avoid a pretext for war it did shoot down a Turkish jet earlier in the war. We'll have to wait to see how far Turkey is going to expand this new phase of the war so far it has used the pretext of waging war on ISIS (of which Turkey is one of the main sponsors of course) to wage war on the kurds both inside Turkey and in Iraq and Syria. Kurdish forces have already begun to retaliate and if Turkey continues to pursue it's insane policies it could easily find itself involved in a civil war with it's long oppressed Kurdish minority. Turkey may soon go from being a tool of the empire to it's victim as the US and Israel have long plotted to carve a huge piece out of Turkey to add to a newly created kurdistan composed of parts of Iraq, Syria, and even Iran. As for Syria it's people will heroically resist whatever expanded attack Turkey manages to mount. Despite the threat of outside intervention they continue their heroic struggle to defend their nation against the endless waves of terrorists seeking to destroy their country. I hope they will be able to crush this latest invasion from turkey who are probably merely the same old terrorists relabeled as a turkish militia. Victory to the people of Syria!
Libya has been the scene of constant warfare since NATO decided to destroy the country 4 years ago in the name of human rights and humanitarian intervention. Using pretexts that were later exposed as complete lies including that Gaddafi was bombing the protestors, the UN granted NATO authorization for a "no fly-zone" of exactly the sort the US and it's allies are suggesting for Syria. The No-fly zone instantly became the bomb everything zone and for 7 months NATO destroyed the country and targeted it's defenders so that it's genocidal army of terrorists could "liberate" the country meaning loot the place and wage a reign of terror against it's people. Obama supported a "rebel" army that celebrated it's rebellion by lynching blacks and locking others in cages like zoo animals. They celebrated their victory by turning the black town of Tawergha into a ghost town by ethnically cleansing it. The war resulted in hundreds of thousands of dead and millions of refugees although it had a tiny population of only 6 million.Gaddafi was tortured and murdered for the crime of choosing to die defending his country. Gaddafi was one of the most under rated revolutionaries of all time he turned his country from the poorest in Africa to the wealthiest and provided social programs to his people that we in the "advanced" west could only dream of. Thus he was demonized and his country destroyed by the imperialist powers.
Once he was dead the world lost interest in Libya and the Media prefer not to mention the country at all since it's plight is proof that they lied about everything. The wonderful freedom fighters who overthrew the horrible tyrant were nothing but a bunch of al Qaeda terrorists. The destruction of Libya was yet another scheme by the US to spread chaos across both the already chaotic continent of Africa and the already chaotic middle east particularly Syria. The war in Mali quickly followed. Yet despite the fact that Libya is now an apocalyptic wasteland ruled over by warring death squads the ICC kangaroo court decided that the terrorists who have since sworn loyalty to ISIS (lead in North Africa by the infamous Bel Hadj who worked closely with NATO during the war.) The ICC decided that the terrorists would be allowed to conduct the trials for charges which were only dreamt up as a way of delegitimizing the government at the beginning of the war. Being an evil empire means never having to say your sorry and since obviously Obama, Sarkozy, and Cameron will never stand trial for destroying Libya Instead Gaddafi's family and members of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (the name of the former government of Libya which was an experiment in direct democracy not a dictatorship.) While the terrorist Death Squads that now rule Libya engage in war with each other and murder, torture, and rape the populace with impunity and on a massive scale they now have passed judgement on Gaddafi's son Saif al Islam and others. They passed a death sentence to be carried out by firing squad against all 9 of them which include the former intelligence director Abdullah al-Senussi and former prime minister Baghadi al-Mahmoudi. Saif is held by a competing militia in Zintan which is refusing to hand him over.
At the same time video has emerged showing the psychological and physical torture of another of Gaddafi's sons Saadi Gaddafi. In it he is shown sitting blindfolded in a room forced to listen to the screams as other prisoners doubtless loyal to the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya are tortured. Next he himself is tortured. Thousands of loyal Libyans have been held captive since the war and subjected to horrific tortures while many thousand more are constantly being arrested and tortured by the death squads that reign in the nation. The news of these unjust sentences and Saadi's torture brought protestors into the streets waving the green flag of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. They risked their lives to demand justice for the accused. They were quickly dispersed with machine gun fire which left at least one woman dead and a dozen protestors wounded. However it was clear that the dream of a return of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya is still alive in the hearts of many Libyans and Ironically one of the biggest protests took place in Benghazi a former stronghold of the counter-revolution. Meanwhile the Green Resistance those still loyal to the Libyan Jamahiriya continue to wage a war aimed at restoring the gains of the Libyan Revolution and hopefully will one day be able to regain control of the country and begin rebuilding their shattered land.
Meanwhile in Yemen the rich Saudi Royals continue their war on the poorest country in the Arab world. This is because they dared to overthrow the US and Saudi Backed puppet Al Hadi. You can read a more in depth account of the origins of the current war and Yemen's history as a cold war and then war on Terror battleground in my April 2015 Article "War on Yemen". Now a couple months later Saudi Arabia continues it's cowardly war with the backing of the UK, US, and Israel of course. So far at least 4,000 people have been killed with 20,000 injured. Worse the Saudi's have put the whole country under siege seeking to starve the populace into submission with their blockade. At Least 6.5 million people are in danger of starvation. Another 13 million people are in a permanent struggle to find food. With Humanitarian disaster looming the Saudis have sought to worsen the situation bombing schools, hospitals, markets and food depots. They are doubtless following the same strategy the US pursued in Iraq in 1991's "Desert Storm" to destroy all the vital civilian infrastructure of the country. They even named their operation "Decisive Storm" in homage to this infamous war crime. They also have Americans to help them draw up the target list drawing on their invaluable experience destroying Iraq, Yugoslavia, and Libya. In addition to the air war the Saudis are sending in their terrorist proxies to wreak havoc on the populace backing them up with air power like NATO did in Libya and as Turkey and the US are doing in Syria. However despite all the horror and suffering they have inflicted on the populace the people of Yemen remain defiant. They are tough fighters and have known decades of war. They will continue to resist Saudi Arabia's attempts to reinstall a puppet regime. Saudi Arabia remains long overdue for a revolution to overthrow it's oppressive feudal monarchy tool of the US, UK and Israel. End the War on Yemen and down with the corrupt saudi royals.
The empire of Chaos has spread poverty, terror and war across the planet. But all over the world people are fighting back no matter what the odds are against them. I'll never forget the bravery of the Libyan people who fought on till the end in defense of towns like Bani Walid and Sirte made famous because of their resistance. Long live Live Libya's Green Resistance forces who continue to fight on. Demand and end to the rule of terror and torture in Libya. Demand an end to the war on Yemen before the humanitarian catastrophe grows even greater. Long live Yemen's resistance. Demand an end to the genocidal war against Syria and Turkeys decades long US backed war on the Kurds. Long live the brave fighters of the SAA, NDF, YPG, YPJ and Hezbollah! Syria has managed to survive against all the odds. Long Live Syria!
Sources
Tony Cartalucci on the escalating war on Syria
https://syria360.wordpress.com/2015/08/08/us-invasion-of-syria-the-deep-breath-before-the-plunge/
A recent report on the war in Syria
https://syria360.wordpress.com/2015/08/09/syria-in-the-last-72-hours-2/
A Great interview on Libya with Gerald A. Perreira
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2015/07/06/the-destruction-of-libya-its-lessons-and-meaning-interview-with-gerald-a-perreira/
Abayomi Azikwe on recent events in Libya
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2015/08/09/torture-and-show-trials-in-neo-colonial-libya/
Video of Saadi Gaddafi Being Tortured
https://vivalibya.wordpress.com/2015/08/02/torture-and-mistreatment-of-saadi-gaddafi-in-tripoli/
A great article on the war on Yemen
https://syria360.wordpress.com/2015/08/08/from-palestine-to-yemen-honour-and-shame-of-the-arab-world/
Follow the Situation in Libya at Viva Libya
https://vivalibya.wordpress.com
Christoph Germann on the Assasination of Mullah Omar his "New Great Game" Blog is essential reading for following events in Central Asia and the Caucuses plus the covert war on Russia and China
http://www.christophgermann.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-new-great-game-round-up-106.html
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Monday, August 3, 2015
Revolution in Haiti
The Haitian Revolution: How The People of Haiti Ended their Slavery and Defeated Three Empires
Haiti is today one of the poorest countries in the Americas. Thus most will doubtless be surprised to learn that it was once the richest possession in the French Empire and was far more valuable then the the United States had been to England. Today Haiti has become a laboratory of Neo-Colonialism and humanitarian imperialism. This is only the latest chapter in America's imperialist adventures in Haiti from Woodrow Wilson's invasion and occupation of the island, The Brutal CIA backed Duvalier regimes, and two US sponsored coups against president Aristide for daring to care about the plight of the poor majority in his country. Worse Haitians suffer genocide in the other half of their once united island in the dominican republic a genocide that has roots in the 1930's and doubtless before.. Amidst all the suffering US imperialism has brought to the island few today remember the glorious origins of the nation of Haiti. If America were not still a racist society the tale would no doubt long ago have been told on movie screens and Toussaint L'Ouverture would be as well known today as Malcolm X. After all what black youth has not wished at some time or other that our Ancestors had violently revolted and ended slavery with their own hands. Popular resistance by slaves during the civil war helped end slavery but this has all been erased from history. In Haiti for the first time in history the slaves successfully rose up and liberated their whole nation. However this was not an isolated incident and in many places in the Americas slaves rebelled formed their own free communities and fought off attempts to re-enslave them for decades. However all this is eliminated from the history books although radical historians periodically unearth it all. Yet I grew up ignorant of this history even though long before I was born black historians had already revived this history. Instead the history of slave revolts are completely suppressed from the public consciousness and the Haitian Revolution is largely forgotten. This forgetting is a crime meant to further the crimes of empire in Haiti by the US and the "International community" because if everyone knew of Haiti's glorious history the people of the world would never tolerate the current situation.
Thus I write this to remind the world of Haiti's heroic history which had consequences far beyond the island nation. For example the recent Fascist murder spree in Charleston was used by Abayomi Azikwe to remind people of the story of Denmark Vesey who tried to organize an ambitious slave revolt in South Carolina which terrified the slavocracy of the antebellum south. This Rebellion was inspired by the Haitian Revolution. This is only the beginning of it's significance Eduardo Galeano relates how it was Haiti alone which aided Simon Bolivar in his bid to free Latin America from the Spanish Empire. All Haiti asked in return was his promise to abolish slavery. Thus Haiti helped free a continent from both colonialism and slavery. Even the french revolution would not have survived if Britain hadn't been bogged down in a disastrous attempt to conquer the island and reinstall slavery there as C.L.R. James reveals. Thus Europe owes it's democracy such as it is to Haiti. Of course the defeat suffered by the British their greatest losses between the time of Elizabeth and World War 1, or the debt Europe owes to Haiti have both been forgotten. Thankfully however the Haitian Revolution attracted the attention of C.L.R. James and he hoped the story might help to inspire the liberation of Africa then still under colonial domination. Thus he wrote the Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution. Amazingly he wrote it while in Spain during the Civil War, and it is both a literary and historical masterpiece which I highly recommend you read for yourselves. In it he tells the amazing tale of how Haitians not only liberated themselves from slavery but defeated the Spanish, the French and English empires in the process securing their independence. I write this in order to revive the memory of both the Haitian Revolution and this classic book.
C.L.R. James begins his account by describing life in San Domingo as Haiti and the Dominican Republic were then called. He describes the Spanish conquest with these classic lines:
The Spaniards, the most advanced Europeans of their day, annexed the island called it Hispaniola and took the backward natives under their protection. They Introduced Christianity, forced labour in mines, murder, rape, bloodhounds, strange diseases, and artificial famine (by destruction of cultivation to starve the rebellious) These and other requirements of higher civilisation reduced the native population from an estimated half-a-million, perhaps a million to 60,000 in 15 years.
Thus Haiti history began with genocide like everywhere else in the "new" world. After a a long series of fights between the european empires the island was divided between the Spanish and french empires. It's rich soil made it perfect for agriculture and the island would have been a paradise if it's entire society had not been based on the enslavement of africans. The blacks made up the majority of the population. James thus begins his account by giving a vivid picture of the horrors of slavery. The Slaves worked from before sunrise to long into the night and if they dared to rest for even a moment they instantly felt the lash of the whip. Often they only received enough food to last for half a week and went hungry the second half of the week. They were kept in line with the utmost barbaric cruelty and their masters seemed to delight in devising a hundred and one methods of torture. Slaves were buried up to their necks their faces covered in honey so they would be devoured by ants. They were loaded with gunpowder and exploded. Women who had failed to produce children were forced to wear heavy Iron collars until they gave birth. All these torments were so common that the masters had a whole vocabulary of slang to describe all these punishments Including a score of different ways to administer whippings. To sum up they suffered, hunger, exploitation, torture, rape and murder. It was cheaper to simply import new slaves from Africa the trade in which the entire economy of Europe was the geared around then to bother caring about the lives of ones property.
On the other end of the Scale there were the whites who formed two classes. There were the rich slave holders and the so called small whites who only had a few slaves. They were thoroughly corrupted by living in a place where there every whim was catered to by slaves. For example even a barber didn't actually cut your hair or shave you he had 4 slaves to serve you and the only work he did was to beat them. Drinking, gambling, and promiscuity seemed to be their major pass times. All they wanted was to make enough money to go to back France to show off their riches. Of course as James points out those who really made the big profits were back in France and he gives a fascinating description of the growth of the maritime bourgeoisie who made their fortunes indirectly off the slave trade, or from serving the colonies. Many famous french towns owe their growth to this "colonial trade." San Domingo was France's most valuable possession at the time and the constant envy of the British. In fact the British funded the anti-slavery movement because the massive profits France were making from the island were a threat to the dominance of British capitalism, with the loss of it's colonies in north America it was turning to the cheap labor of India. One of the virtues of James' book is that it examines Haiti in the context of the global economy and geopolitics of the time. He also highlights the forgotten impact that the economic importance of Haiti had on the French Revolution. He was an expert in ripping off the humanitarian mask of Europe and revealing the cynical imperialist reality beneath a skill more useful now then ever.
There was a third group in Haitian society the free people of color, what James calls the Mulattoes. Apologies if my use of this archaic term offends you however the current bi-racial, interracial, or multi-cultural fails to convey the way in which they were their own special caste in colonial society like the mestizos of latin america. Since like Obama I am one I hope I can be forgiven for using the terminology of the time as James did. The Mulattoes were of mixed blood and in the racist colonial society they were ranked in 128 separate categories depending on the exact proportions of white to black in their ancestry. Thus they formed their own hierarchy with the lighter mulattoes despising the darker. They were hated by the whites especially the "small" whites. However despite all the discrimination they faced they had the right to own property and some of them began to amass fortunes. Unfortunately they also made their fortunes off slavery. They would play an important role in the Haitian revolution as some of them were well educated and many sent their children to be educated in France where some of them received military training that would prove invaluable and some even fought in the american "revolution." All of them were required to serve in the islands internal armed forces acting to suppress slave revolts and capture runaways and they thus all had valuable military experience. Their efforts to be granted equal rights by the revolutionary french government would play an important role in provoking the Haitian revolution.
Thus Haiti was a powder keg made up of these three elements. It was the french revolution that would set off the explosion. As James points out it was the rising bourgeoisie in France who had made their fortunes largely off this slave society, who now decided to do away with their feudal masters and run France in their own interests who were behind the revolution. But this revolution would ironically inspire the Haitian revolution that would end slavery. You'll have to read the book to get the full complexity of the events but to simplify the french revolution would inspire 3 separate and very different revolutions that would later merge as events evolved. First it split the whites into monarchists and pro-revolution factions. However the pro-revolution faction were completely racist and reactionary and chiefly dreamed of slaughtering the mulattoes and taking their property. The mulattoes on the other hand hoped that they would be granted equal rights with whites while they would both continue to exploit the slaves. In other words they wanted equality for free people regardless of race. Fortunately their leaders were both inspired by the revolutionary principles of the french revolution and forced by the stubborn racism of the whites to ally with the slaves and came to fight for their freedom. Their greatest leader was named Rigaud.
Lastly there was the revolution inspired among the black slaves. Although denied an education rumors began to pass around them that over in France the people had risen up and killed their masters and they decided to do the same. James explains that their had been other attempts at Slave rebellion before and they had already learned that they must act in unison if they were to have a chance of success. For example they had nearly succeeded in a plot under Mackandal a leader of the maroons (escaped slaves who had their own independent territories) to poison their masters and rise in rebellion. The initial leader of the black slave revolt was the voodoo priest Boukman. African religion would serve throughout the revolution to inspire tremendous bravery in the former slaves. Many of them believed if they died in battle they would awake in Africa. Initially completely outgunned facing cannon and muskets with only pitchforks or whatever other improvised weapons they could find it was only their fierce determination that permitted them to overcome the impossible odds against them. In the beginning they arose with a destructive vengeance they killed their masters and burned the Sugar Cane fields that they had been enslaved in. Their former masters responded with their typical practiced savagery killing every black they could lay their hands on even slaves who hadn't rebelled but were still working obediently or rebels driven by hunger to surrender. They chopped off heads and put them on display including the initial leader of the rebellion Boukman . All this backfired however for it only caused the ranks of the rebellion to further swell forcing even those hesitant to risk revolt into joining.
First I should take a step back and discuss some of the political maneuvering of the Haitian and French revolutions. Initially conflict arose because the mulattoes had representatives in France able to put the question of their equality before the paris convention. They had the spirit of the enlightenment on their side but were opposed by the representatives of the white colonists. In addition their were big economic interests against them what James calls the maritime bourgeoisie initially they opposed any such promise of equality since it might give the slaves ideas. However they began to change their mind once the slave revolt began and they realized that only an alliance between whites and mulattoes could restore "order" (slavery.) However back in Haiti the whites hated the Mulattoes too much and just as they were about to conclude an alliance with them some whites ruined the whole plan by lynching a rich mulatto and launching a surprise attack on the mullatoes in general. In retaliation the Mulattoes decided to lead the slaves in revolt enrolling them in their army. Rigaud was their most famous leader and he would for a time rule the whole south of the island submitting only to Toussaint. He and Beauvais another of their generals had both served in the American "revolution" (Historian Gerald Horne has argued that it was really a counter-revolution fought in defense of slavery) Their third important leader was Pinchinat a politician and a powerful writer.
Meanwhile three new leaders had emerged among the slaves. They were the Jean Francois who had joined the maroons before the revolt had begun, the tough and daring Biassou, and the brutal Jeannot who Jean Francois later had killed for his excessive cruelty. Serving under Biassou was Toussaint L'Ouverture who would one day rule the entire island. Since the Bourgeoisie back in France were blocking all attempts at addressing the issue of slavery the leaders of the slaves formed an alliance with monarchist Spain. It was during this period that Toussaint rose to prominence as he captured more and more of the island for Spain. Jean Francois and Toussaint had surprisingly a very tolerant attitude towards whites and monarchist white officers joined their forces becoming what we would call today military advisers helping the former slaves turn their forces into well trained conventional armies that would be a match for anything sent against them.
It was a a new stage of the french revolution that would alter the dynamics of the Haitian revolution. The Girondins who ironically had before coming to power been advocates of abolition were reliant on the "maritime bourgeoisie" who were reliant on the profits of slavery. Thus the Girondins had done a disgraceful reversal and kept the issue from being debated. However they fell and Robespierre came to power and his alliance with the sans culottes meant that the revolution might briefly act according to it's principles. The Paris radicals of the time despised what they called the aristocracy of the skin and many refused to drink coffee since it was cultivated by slave labor. Thus to it's credit the French Revolution produced figures like Laveux and Sonthonax who would be sent to the island where they became close allies of Toussaint and fierce enemies of slavery. Of course later the French revolution would shift to the right first trying to stir up trouble for Toussaint with plots during the Directory then under Napoleon it would send an army to try and reinstall slavery.
Which brings us to another factor that shifted the direction of the Haitian revolution the British invaded attempting to seize the valuable island for themselves and plotting to reinstall slavery in a scheme masterminded by the same Pitt who had earlier set in motion the British anti-slavery movement when that had suited Britain's imperial interests. The British invasion proved such a disaster that Britain was unable to act decisively against the french revolutionary government back in Europe. To skip ahead again Toussaint would in the end push them off the island by winning 7 battles in 7 days. The british lost 80,000 troops in the war with 40,000 dead an incredible defeat inflicted by Toussaint and the former slaves on the mighty British empire. To sum up by agreeing to abolish slavery the french republic won the loyalty of Toussaint who even in his "monarchist" period had used the slogans of the french revolution and he had been inspired by the enlightenment thinker Abbe Reynal who had predicted the rise of a black Spartacus to free the slaves. By fighting the english on behalf of the French republic he proved his worth to the French and He steadily rose in their esteem. In addition he rose to power because he alone had the respect of the three main factions. He alone could command the respect of the former slaves. The whites turned to him for protection from reprisal and he protected their lives and even their property. He also had the grudging respect of the Mulattoes with Rigaud their leader loyal to him until in a later period french plots would pit them against each other. Thus it wasn't long before he was the only one who was capable of running the country and though he worked closely with the first two commissioners sent by the republic who were supposed to be his superiors it wasn't long before he had achieved defacto independence and was the true ruler of the island. His power was based on his army of former slaves which had first beaten the slaveholders then chased the british from the island. Eventually he would also conquer the Spanish half of the island uniting what was then known as San Domingo. As a commander he earned the loyalty of his men by braving every hardship with them and was fearless in the face of danger often leading the decisive charge himself. Like Napoleon he relied on speed and surprise to achieve his victories. Also like Napoleon he was a tireless administrator and brilliant organizer. As James mentions their contemporaries described both men in very similar terms. Yet Napoleon was to become his fiercest enemy partly because he was a racist who had persecuted Dumas one of the mulatto heroes of the french republic but mostly because he wanted to restore the immense profits the island had produced under slavery.
Once again I must backtrack to trace the worsening relations between Toussaint and the french government. First let me go back to the beginning some respect must be paid to two Frenchmen genuine revolutionaries who helped free the slaves. First there was Sonthonax while Paris was still stalling on the issue of slavery Sonthonax had been forced by circumstances to decree their freedom. This was because the white colonists despised him for his principles and supported his reactionary rival Galbaud against him. The dispute erupted into civil war and so Sonthonax had ordered the slaves armed and declared the abolition of slavery. The nearby slaves already in revolt joined forces with newly freed slaves. The slaves help proved decisive and Sonthonax proved victorious. Toussaint who followed events back in Paris closely continued his alliance with the spanish until the convention actually voted for the abolition of slavery with the rise of Robespiere and the mountain. There was also Laveaux who would become great friends with Toussaint who would win many victories for France once he had allied with the french. He would serve as Toussaint's mentor. Allied with these two men Toussaint began his steady rise to power until eventually it was he who was truly in charge. Laveux went back first and He and Toussaint remained lifelong friends. Sonthonax created some problems for Rigaud which caused tensions with Toussaint. However the real cause of their final split remains a mystery. Toussaint claimed that Sonthonax advised him to massacre all the whites. James however dismisses this idea. The important thing is that with their departure Toussaint became de facto ruler. I also wish to say that the two men stood head and shoulders above such hypocrites as Thomas Jefferson and deserve to be remembered unlike many in France they did not betray their principles once the political balance of power shifted. They remained steadfast supporters of freedom for the former slaves. The next commissioner sent Hedouville was a completely different story he was concerned mainly with plotting Toussaint's downfall. He managed to convince Rigaud to betray Toussaint. This sparked a war between Rigaud and the Mullatoes in the south and Toussaint. Toussaint won and suppressed the rebellion with ruthless executions very different from his usual merciful methods. Basically Toussaint was very concerned to maintain good relations with the whites in order to counterbalance the Mulattos. Since the mullattoes had their own educated class they could have ruled without white help. This bloody war occurred while meanwhile Napoleon was plotting back in France to conquer the island and install slavery. Rigaud decided to go into exile back in France rather then make peace with Toussaint on the way back he suffered shipwreck but eventually managed to reach France where with other Mullato generals he plotted his return.
Napoleon was only waiting for peace with Britain so that he could crush the Haitian revolution and reinstall slavery. His plan was a masterpiece in Machiavellian ruthlessness and would be the envy of a Kissinger or a Brzezinski. To carry it out he assembled a 20,000 strong army made up of veterans of his victorious campaigns in Europe. Among it's officers were more then a few heroes of the Napoleonic wars. Also returning with the force were the mulatto exiled who napoleon had ordered should be betrayed as soon as convenient they were to be exiled to Madagascar as soon as they were no longer needed to command their forces. He put his brother in law Leclerc in charge of the whole expedition and to him alone did he reveal his plan. Leclerc alone knew the plan to reinstall slavery the truth was hidden from the officers and men. They believed that they were fighting to depose a tyrant Toussaint traitor to the revolution in the pay of priests and the British. They were fighting on behalf of freedom and democracy in other words just like the dupes of today. Just like the dupes of today they were really fighting on behalf of imperialism and exploitation. The whole plan depended on escalating stages of deception and betrayal. Initially Leclerc was to make all sort of concessions to Toussaint while he landed his troops. Once they were properly established Toussaint was to be called in to swear his loyalty then immediately arrested and deported. Eventually all black officers were to be deported along with all the white women who had slept with blacks since the revolution. The black army would eventually have been disbanded and slavery reinstalled. The only way to carry it out would be to kill all of the blacks and mulattos and start from scratch by importing new slaves from Africa. These new slaves would be without the memory of a successful revolution and without the experience of winning battles. Thankfully Napoleons master plan would meet with disaster.
Toussaint's downfall was his love of France. His protection of the whites from reprisal would earn him the enmity of some of the other black generals. The war with France would eventually lead to the rise of a new leader Dessalines who foresaw that Haiti would have to achieve real independence if it was to secure it's freedom. However despite his love of France Toussaint was shrewd enough not to trust the French although even he didn't suspect how low they were prepared to sink. Nonetheless when Leclerc landed Toussaint decided there was no choice but to resist. Unfortunately some of his commanders were also sympathetic to the french and in the days before electronic communication many were cut off and unsure what to do allowing the French to get a foothold. However in the initial phase of the war there were fierce battles in which the blacks managed to inflict heavy losses on Napoleons army. Toussaint ordered a scorched earth campaign to deny the french supplies and knew that in a couple months the rainy season would bring malaria to the french army. The Black army proved match for Napoleons as James writes " they combined all the order and discipline of a trained army with all the tricks and dodges of guerrilas" Unfortunately one of Toussaint's top Commanders was trapped by the French and forced to switch sides and Toussaint foolishly decided to cut a deal. He agreed to resign and return to his own estate. He was not defeated but rather thought he could make a deal from a position of strength. In exchange he received a promise that the officers of the black army would all keep their posts. He knew that so long as the Black army remained intact Slavery could never be reimposed. However Dessalines was already plotting against him spreading rumors among the french that Toussaint couldn't be trusted. Dessalines knew that Toussaint would never agree to the ruthless measures necessary for Haiti to win it's independence and so wanted him out of the way. Toussaint was arrested his property stolen he was sent back to France Napoleon kept this fact under strict secrecy. Napoleon didn't dare to have him executed so he had him murdered through ill treatment. For example he was denied a doctor on the grounds that blacks had a different physiology and so a doctor would be useless to him. Subjected to cold, hunger and humiliation he would eventually die. It reminds me of the recent attempt to Murder Mumia Abu Jamal through medical malpractice. However on the very day of his death San Domingo's declaration of independence was signed and 7 months later the french were forced to flee.
Once again I must jump back in time again to Leclerc the seeming victor after having arrested and deported Toussaint. In a story that recently repeated itself in Iraq, in Libya the fall of Toussaint solved nothing for Leclerc. Instead he faced a constant series of insurgencies. Low level officers sensing that the fall of Toussaint meant the french had evil plans for the island began to rebel slaughtering their former masters. Leclerc was forced to delay arresting and deporting Toussaint's generals as he needed their help to suppress the rebellions. Dessalines convinced him he was loyal even as he plotted rebellion. The rainy season began and Leclercs men already having suffered heavy losses battling Toussaint began to die of Malaria in ever growing numbers. Leclerc himself slowly grew sicker and sicker. James qoutes Leclerc's own letters full of pride and self pity as he steadily describes his downfall. To late he realized Dessalines was plotting against him. Dessalines was about to arrested when a servant warned him and he managed to escape just in time as soon as he was on his horse he shouted "to arms" he already had begun putting the revolt in motion before the attempt to have him arrested. Soon Leclerc died of malaria. Now in command of the french was Rochambeau and his rise marked the start of a full on war of attempted genocide by the french. He ordered troops he captured to be sent to his fleet to be drowned on mass. He imported 1500 hunting dogs to track the blacks and tried to kill off all the mulattoes and blacks he could find. He was trying to put Napoleon's plan to wipe out the entire nonwhite populace so that they could be replaced. The Blacks and Mulattoes fought back fiercely ruthlessly burning everything to deny it to the french waging a peoples war. Even those not in the army waged a guerrilla war and the former slaves proved experts in psychological warfare playing all sorts of tricks on the french to keep them in a constant state of terror. In the end thanks to the able leadership of the Generals and the heroic resistance of the people and army the french were completely defeated and forced to flee for their lives. Those few survivors who hadn't starved, died of disease, or been killed in battle were immediately captured by a waiting British fleet and lived out their lives in captivity poetic justice for the attempt to reinstall slavery. James wrote his account before the great victories of the Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese revolutions so it is remarkable how much his account seems a description of say the victory of the vietnamese over the Japanese French and Americans. Thus we must forever celebrate this mighty victory of the Haitian people over first the British and then the french. Toussaint it should be remembered had inflicted the greatest defeat the British were to suffer for centuries. Now the Haitian people under the leadership of Dessalines had humbled a napoleonic army.
Our story sadly ends where it began with another genocide. Ruthless Great britain was to blame. In exchange for promises of trade and protection they demanded that all the whites would be killed. Thus opened this early glimpse of Neo-colonialism. The british feared the valuable colony might again fall under french influence and the mass murder was meant to drive a wedge between Haiti and France. The french half of the Island of San Domingo was renamed Haiti after independence. The spanish had regained control of their half of the island after the fall of Toussaint and Dessalines attempt to re-unite the island by force failed and the spanish half eventually became todays Dominican Republic. The Haitian revolution inspired by the french revolution would once again mirror it when Dessalines was declared emperor with the support of his new allies Britain and the United States which had hypocritically backed the Dessalines against the french in the hopes of profiting from trade with the once wealthy island. Of course there was nothing the US feared more then that their own massive population of slaves would imitate their Haitian brothers and fight for their freedom. As I mentioned at the beginning Denmark Vesey's attempted slave revolt was inspired by the Haitian Revolution. The Emanual AME church which saw a recent mass murder by a fascist was burned to the ground back then in reprisal and it operated underground until after the civil war.
The Haitian Revolution had many consequences. It lead to the liberation of Latin America, it Helped the French revolution prolong itself. C.L.R. James himself would go on to play an important role in history he was involved in the liberation of Africa! He ended the second edition of his book with the Essay "Toussaint L'Ouverture to Fidel Castro" which is a masterpiece in it's own right and describes the incredible evolution in consciousness taking place in Africa and the Caribbean. He describes the birth of the Pan-African movement and James himself helped advise such important figures as Jomo Kenyatta and Kwame Nkrumah long before they ever came to power. As we enter the 21st century we are still living under the fallout of slavery and the apartheid system that followed it in my country. Thus I hope James book can help inspire a new generation of black revolutionaries in the americas, the Caribbean in Africa. I hope that this article will help inspire people to look at the long history of resistance to slavery and genocide by the people of the americas of which the Haitian revolution is merely one glorious chapter. Long live the memory of Toussaint L'Ouverture. Long live the memory of the heroic Haitian people who defeated three mighty empires. Let their victory be not only an inspiration to blacks but to all the peoples of the world resisting imperialism. We must end the shameful occupation of the island this attempt to deny them their independence. The people of Haiti have proven they can settle their own affairs. Yet American imperialism wants to keep the island in neo-colonial enslavement a source of cheap labor which is why it overthrew Aristide twice then used the excuse of the earthquake to launch a full scale occupation. The story of Haiti's more recent history will have to wait for another day however. For now let me say one more time long live the memory of the Haitian revolution. United by a fierce will to resist there is nothing the people cannot accomplish.
Sources
I relied almost entirely on C.L.R. James masterpiece the "Black Jacobins Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution". I highly recommend you read it for yourself as I was forced to offer a somewhat simplified account. As I write it is Black August a month dedicated to celebrating the history of resistance to slavery and Mass incarceration here is a great article on it's origins
http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/liberation-strategy/5397-what-black-august.html
I suggest you celebrate by reading more on slave rebellions. First I suggest Eduardo Galeano's Memory of fire Trilogy. (See My Novemeber 2014 article Recommended Reading for more on Eduardo Galeano) Also Gerald Horne is doing a great deal to reintroduce this history and I recommend his book "The Counter-Revolution of 1776" you can find some great interviews and lectures with him by doing a quick youtube search.
Abayomi Azikwe on the Charleston shooting and Denmark Vesey listening to his podcast is a great way to learn about black history. Check out my June 2014 article Alternative Media Spotlight 2 for more information about his sites. It is thanks to him that I first heard of C.L.R. James.
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2015/06/21/charleston-massacre-and-the-revolutionary-legacy-of-denmark-vesey/
An article by Abayomi Azikwe on the Charleston massacre and the current crisis of capitalism
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2015/06/21/charleston-massacre-and-the-revolutionary-legacy-of-denmark-vesey/
An article on the Current occupation of Haiti in context the 100 recent year anniversary of Woodrow Wilson's invasion
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2014/12/15/haiti-100-years-of-occupation-100-years-of-resistance/
A hilarious expose of the racism and ineptitude of the red cross in Haiti
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2015/06/03/how-the-red-cross-raised-half-a-billion-dollars-for-haiti-%C2%ADand-built-six-homes/
An article on a US Murdered Haitian activist
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2015/07/06/haiti-defines-resistance/
The Legacy of Fascist Trujillo's genocide against Haitians continues in the Dominican Republic today.
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2015/06/24/xenophobia-in-dominican-republic/
An Article on African resistance in the Americas
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/the-dragon-and-the-hydra-a-historical-study-of-organizational-methods/
Haiti is today one of the poorest countries in the Americas. Thus most will doubtless be surprised to learn that it was once the richest possession in the French Empire and was far more valuable then the the United States had been to England. Today Haiti has become a laboratory of Neo-Colonialism and humanitarian imperialism. This is only the latest chapter in America's imperialist adventures in Haiti from Woodrow Wilson's invasion and occupation of the island, The Brutal CIA backed Duvalier regimes, and two US sponsored coups against president Aristide for daring to care about the plight of the poor majority in his country. Worse Haitians suffer genocide in the other half of their once united island in the dominican republic a genocide that has roots in the 1930's and doubtless before.. Amidst all the suffering US imperialism has brought to the island few today remember the glorious origins of the nation of Haiti. If America were not still a racist society the tale would no doubt long ago have been told on movie screens and Toussaint L'Ouverture would be as well known today as Malcolm X. After all what black youth has not wished at some time or other that our Ancestors had violently revolted and ended slavery with their own hands. Popular resistance by slaves during the civil war helped end slavery but this has all been erased from history. In Haiti for the first time in history the slaves successfully rose up and liberated their whole nation. However this was not an isolated incident and in many places in the Americas slaves rebelled formed their own free communities and fought off attempts to re-enslave them for decades. However all this is eliminated from the history books although radical historians periodically unearth it all. Yet I grew up ignorant of this history even though long before I was born black historians had already revived this history. Instead the history of slave revolts are completely suppressed from the public consciousness and the Haitian Revolution is largely forgotten. This forgetting is a crime meant to further the crimes of empire in Haiti by the US and the "International community" because if everyone knew of Haiti's glorious history the people of the world would never tolerate the current situation.
Thus I write this to remind the world of Haiti's heroic history which had consequences far beyond the island nation. For example the recent Fascist murder spree in Charleston was used by Abayomi Azikwe to remind people of the story of Denmark Vesey who tried to organize an ambitious slave revolt in South Carolina which terrified the slavocracy of the antebellum south. This Rebellion was inspired by the Haitian Revolution. This is only the beginning of it's significance Eduardo Galeano relates how it was Haiti alone which aided Simon Bolivar in his bid to free Latin America from the Spanish Empire. All Haiti asked in return was his promise to abolish slavery. Thus Haiti helped free a continent from both colonialism and slavery. Even the french revolution would not have survived if Britain hadn't been bogged down in a disastrous attempt to conquer the island and reinstall slavery there as C.L.R. James reveals. Thus Europe owes it's democracy such as it is to Haiti. Of course the defeat suffered by the British their greatest losses between the time of Elizabeth and World War 1, or the debt Europe owes to Haiti have both been forgotten. Thankfully however the Haitian Revolution attracted the attention of C.L.R. James and he hoped the story might help to inspire the liberation of Africa then still under colonial domination. Thus he wrote the Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution. Amazingly he wrote it while in Spain during the Civil War, and it is both a literary and historical masterpiece which I highly recommend you read for yourselves. In it he tells the amazing tale of how Haitians not only liberated themselves from slavery but defeated the Spanish, the French and English empires in the process securing their independence. I write this in order to revive the memory of both the Haitian Revolution and this classic book.
C.L.R. James begins his account by describing life in San Domingo as Haiti and the Dominican Republic were then called. He describes the Spanish conquest with these classic lines:
The Spaniards, the most advanced Europeans of their day, annexed the island called it Hispaniola and took the backward natives under their protection. They Introduced Christianity, forced labour in mines, murder, rape, bloodhounds, strange diseases, and artificial famine (by destruction of cultivation to starve the rebellious) These and other requirements of higher civilisation reduced the native population from an estimated half-a-million, perhaps a million to 60,000 in 15 years.
Thus Haiti history began with genocide like everywhere else in the "new" world. After a a long series of fights between the european empires the island was divided between the Spanish and french empires. It's rich soil made it perfect for agriculture and the island would have been a paradise if it's entire society had not been based on the enslavement of africans. The blacks made up the majority of the population. James thus begins his account by giving a vivid picture of the horrors of slavery. The Slaves worked from before sunrise to long into the night and if they dared to rest for even a moment they instantly felt the lash of the whip. Often they only received enough food to last for half a week and went hungry the second half of the week. They were kept in line with the utmost barbaric cruelty and their masters seemed to delight in devising a hundred and one methods of torture. Slaves were buried up to their necks their faces covered in honey so they would be devoured by ants. They were loaded with gunpowder and exploded. Women who had failed to produce children were forced to wear heavy Iron collars until they gave birth. All these torments were so common that the masters had a whole vocabulary of slang to describe all these punishments Including a score of different ways to administer whippings. To sum up they suffered, hunger, exploitation, torture, rape and murder. It was cheaper to simply import new slaves from Africa the trade in which the entire economy of Europe was the geared around then to bother caring about the lives of ones property.
On the other end of the Scale there were the whites who formed two classes. There were the rich slave holders and the so called small whites who only had a few slaves. They were thoroughly corrupted by living in a place where there every whim was catered to by slaves. For example even a barber didn't actually cut your hair or shave you he had 4 slaves to serve you and the only work he did was to beat them. Drinking, gambling, and promiscuity seemed to be their major pass times. All they wanted was to make enough money to go to back France to show off their riches. Of course as James points out those who really made the big profits were back in France and he gives a fascinating description of the growth of the maritime bourgeoisie who made their fortunes indirectly off the slave trade, or from serving the colonies. Many famous french towns owe their growth to this "colonial trade." San Domingo was France's most valuable possession at the time and the constant envy of the British. In fact the British funded the anti-slavery movement because the massive profits France were making from the island were a threat to the dominance of British capitalism, with the loss of it's colonies in north America it was turning to the cheap labor of India. One of the virtues of James' book is that it examines Haiti in the context of the global economy and geopolitics of the time. He also highlights the forgotten impact that the economic importance of Haiti had on the French Revolution. He was an expert in ripping off the humanitarian mask of Europe and revealing the cynical imperialist reality beneath a skill more useful now then ever.
There was a third group in Haitian society the free people of color, what James calls the Mulattoes. Apologies if my use of this archaic term offends you however the current bi-racial, interracial, or multi-cultural fails to convey the way in which they were their own special caste in colonial society like the mestizos of latin america. Since like Obama I am one I hope I can be forgiven for using the terminology of the time as James did. The Mulattoes were of mixed blood and in the racist colonial society they were ranked in 128 separate categories depending on the exact proportions of white to black in their ancestry. Thus they formed their own hierarchy with the lighter mulattoes despising the darker. They were hated by the whites especially the "small" whites. However despite all the discrimination they faced they had the right to own property and some of them began to amass fortunes. Unfortunately they also made their fortunes off slavery. They would play an important role in the Haitian revolution as some of them were well educated and many sent their children to be educated in France where some of them received military training that would prove invaluable and some even fought in the american "revolution." All of them were required to serve in the islands internal armed forces acting to suppress slave revolts and capture runaways and they thus all had valuable military experience. Their efforts to be granted equal rights by the revolutionary french government would play an important role in provoking the Haitian revolution.
Thus Haiti was a powder keg made up of these three elements. It was the french revolution that would set off the explosion. As James points out it was the rising bourgeoisie in France who had made their fortunes largely off this slave society, who now decided to do away with their feudal masters and run France in their own interests who were behind the revolution. But this revolution would ironically inspire the Haitian revolution that would end slavery. You'll have to read the book to get the full complexity of the events but to simplify the french revolution would inspire 3 separate and very different revolutions that would later merge as events evolved. First it split the whites into monarchists and pro-revolution factions. However the pro-revolution faction were completely racist and reactionary and chiefly dreamed of slaughtering the mulattoes and taking their property. The mulattoes on the other hand hoped that they would be granted equal rights with whites while they would both continue to exploit the slaves. In other words they wanted equality for free people regardless of race. Fortunately their leaders were both inspired by the revolutionary principles of the french revolution and forced by the stubborn racism of the whites to ally with the slaves and came to fight for their freedom. Their greatest leader was named Rigaud.
Lastly there was the revolution inspired among the black slaves. Although denied an education rumors began to pass around them that over in France the people had risen up and killed their masters and they decided to do the same. James explains that their had been other attempts at Slave rebellion before and they had already learned that they must act in unison if they were to have a chance of success. For example they had nearly succeeded in a plot under Mackandal a leader of the maroons (escaped slaves who had their own independent territories) to poison their masters and rise in rebellion. The initial leader of the black slave revolt was the voodoo priest Boukman. African religion would serve throughout the revolution to inspire tremendous bravery in the former slaves. Many of them believed if they died in battle they would awake in Africa. Initially completely outgunned facing cannon and muskets with only pitchforks or whatever other improvised weapons they could find it was only their fierce determination that permitted them to overcome the impossible odds against them. In the beginning they arose with a destructive vengeance they killed their masters and burned the Sugar Cane fields that they had been enslaved in. Their former masters responded with their typical practiced savagery killing every black they could lay their hands on even slaves who hadn't rebelled but were still working obediently or rebels driven by hunger to surrender. They chopped off heads and put them on display including the initial leader of the rebellion Boukman . All this backfired however for it only caused the ranks of the rebellion to further swell forcing even those hesitant to risk revolt into joining.
First I should take a step back and discuss some of the political maneuvering of the Haitian and French revolutions. Initially conflict arose because the mulattoes had representatives in France able to put the question of their equality before the paris convention. They had the spirit of the enlightenment on their side but were opposed by the representatives of the white colonists. In addition their were big economic interests against them what James calls the maritime bourgeoisie initially they opposed any such promise of equality since it might give the slaves ideas. However they began to change their mind once the slave revolt began and they realized that only an alliance between whites and mulattoes could restore "order" (slavery.) However back in Haiti the whites hated the Mulattoes too much and just as they were about to conclude an alliance with them some whites ruined the whole plan by lynching a rich mulatto and launching a surprise attack on the mullatoes in general. In retaliation the Mulattoes decided to lead the slaves in revolt enrolling them in their army. Rigaud was their most famous leader and he would for a time rule the whole south of the island submitting only to Toussaint. He and Beauvais another of their generals had both served in the American "revolution" (Historian Gerald Horne has argued that it was really a counter-revolution fought in defense of slavery) Their third important leader was Pinchinat a politician and a powerful writer.
Meanwhile three new leaders had emerged among the slaves. They were the Jean Francois who had joined the maroons before the revolt had begun, the tough and daring Biassou, and the brutal Jeannot who Jean Francois later had killed for his excessive cruelty. Serving under Biassou was Toussaint L'Ouverture who would one day rule the entire island. Since the Bourgeoisie back in France were blocking all attempts at addressing the issue of slavery the leaders of the slaves formed an alliance with monarchist Spain. It was during this period that Toussaint rose to prominence as he captured more and more of the island for Spain. Jean Francois and Toussaint had surprisingly a very tolerant attitude towards whites and monarchist white officers joined their forces becoming what we would call today military advisers helping the former slaves turn their forces into well trained conventional armies that would be a match for anything sent against them.
It was a a new stage of the french revolution that would alter the dynamics of the Haitian revolution. The Girondins who ironically had before coming to power been advocates of abolition were reliant on the "maritime bourgeoisie" who were reliant on the profits of slavery. Thus the Girondins had done a disgraceful reversal and kept the issue from being debated. However they fell and Robespierre came to power and his alliance with the sans culottes meant that the revolution might briefly act according to it's principles. The Paris radicals of the time despised what they called the aristocracy of the skin and many refused to drink coffee since it was cultivated by slave labor. Thus to it's credit the French Revolution produced figures like Laveux and Sonthonax who would be sent to the island where they became close allies of Toussaint and fierce enemies of slavery. Of course later the French revolution would shift to the right first trying to stir up trouble for Toussaint with plots during the Directory then under Napoleon it would send an army to try and reinstall slavery.
Which brings us to another factor that shifted the direction of the Haitian revolution the British invaded attempting to seize the valuable island for themselves and plotting to reinstall slavery in a scheme masterminded by the same Pitt who had earlier set in motion the British anti-slavery movement when that had suited Britain's imperial interests. The British invasion proved such a disaster that Britain was unable to act decisively against the french revolutionary government back in Europe. To skip ahead again Toussaint would in the end push them off the island by winning 7 battles in 7 days. The british lost 80,000 troops in the war with 40,000 dead an incredible defeat inflicted by Toussaint and the former slaves on the mighty British empire. To sum up by agreeing to abolish slavery the french republic won the loyalty of Toussaint who even in his "monarchist" period had used the slogans of the french revolution and he had been inspired by the enlightenment thinker Abbe Reynal who had predicted the rise of a black Spartacus to free the slaves. By fighting the english on behalf of the French republic he proved his worth to the French and He steadily rose in their esteem. In addition he rose to power because he alone had the respect of the three main factions. He alone could command the respect of the former slaves. The whites turned to him for protection from reprisal and he protected their lives and even their property. He also had the grudging respect of the Mulattoes with Rigaud their leader loyal to him until in a later period french plots would pit them against each other. Thus it wasn't long before he was the only one who was capable of running the country and though he worked closely with the first two commissioners sent by the republic who were supposed to be his superiors it wasn't long before he had achieved defacto independence and was the true ruler of the island. His power was based on his army of former slaves which had first beaten the slaveholders then chased the british from the island. Eventually he would also conquer the Spanish half of the island uniting what was then known as San Domingo. As a commander he earned the loyalty of his men by braving every hardship with them and was fearless in the face of danger often leading the decisive charge himself. Like Napoleon he relied on speed and surprise to achieve his victories. Also like Napoleon he was a tireless administrator and brilliant organizer. As James mentions their contemporaries described both men in very similar terms. Yet Napoleon was to become his fiercest enemy partly because he was a racist who had persecuted Dumas one of the mulatto heroes of the french republic but mostly because he wanted to restore the immense profits the island had produced under slavery.
Once again I must backtrack to trace the worsening relations between Toussaint and the french government. First let me go back to the beginning some respect must be paid to two Frenchmen genuine revolutionaries who helped free the slaves. First there was Sonthonax while Paris was still stalling on the issue of slavery Sonthonax had been forced by circumstances to decree their freedom. This was because the white colonists despised him for his principles and supported his reactionary rival Galbaud against him. The dispute erupted into civil war and so Sonthonax had ordered the slaves armed and declared the abolition of slavery. The nearby slaves already in revolt joined forces with newly freed slaves. The slaves help proved decisive and Sonthonax proved victorious. Toussaint who followed events back in Paris closely continued his alliance with the spanish until the convention actually voted for the abolition of slavery with the rise of Robespiere and the mountain. There was also Laveaux who would become great friends with Toussaint who would win many victories for France once he had allied with the french. He would serve as Toussaint's mentor. Allied with these two men Toussaint began his steady rise to power until eventually it was he who was truly in charge. Laveux went back first and He and Toussaint remained lifelong friends. Sonthonax created some problems for Rigaud which caused tensions with Toussaint. However the real cause of their final split remains a mystery. Toussaint claimed that Sonthonax advised him to massacre all the whites. James however dismisses this idea. The important thing is that with their departure Toussaint became de facto ruler. I also wish to say that the two men stood head and shoulders above such hypocrites as Thomas Jefferson and deserve to be remembered unlike many in France they did not betray their principles once the political balance of power shifted. They remained steadfast supporters of freedom for the former slaves. The next commissioner sent Hedouville was a completely different story he was concerned mainly with plotting Toussaint's downfall. He managed to convince Rigaud to betray Toussaint. This sparked a war between Rigaud and the Mullatoes in the south and Toussaint. Toussaint won and suppressed the rebellion with ruthless executions very different from his usual merciful methods. Basically Toussaint was very concerned to maintain good relations with the whites in order to counterbalance the Mulattos. Since the mullattoes had their own educated class they could have ruled without white help. This bloody war occurred while meanwhile Napoleon was plotting back in France to conquer the island and install slavery. Rigaud decided to go into exile back in France rather then make peace with Toussaint on the way back he suffered shipwreck but eventually managed to reach France where with other Mullato generals he plotted his return.
Napoleon was only waiting for peace with Britain so that he could crush the Haitian revolution and reinstall slavery. His plan was a masterpiece in Machiavellian ruthlessness and would be the envy of a Kissinger or a Brzezinski. To carry it out he assembled a 20,000 strong army made up of veterans of his victorious campaigns in Europe. Among it's officers were more then a few heroes of the Napoleonic wars. Also returning with the force were the mulatto exiled who napoleon had ordered should be betrayed as soon as convenient they were to be exiled to Madagascar as soon as they were no longer needed to command their forces. He put his brother in law Leclerc in charge of the whole expedition and to him alone did he reveal his plan. Leclerc alone knew the plan to reinstall slavery the truth was hidden from the officers and men. They believed that they were fighting to depose a tyrant Toussaint traitor to the revolution in the pay of priests and the British. They were fighting on behalf of freedom and democracy in other words just like the dupes of today. Just like the dupes of today they were really fighting on behalf of imperialism and exploitation. The whole plan depended on escalating stages of deception and betrayal. Initially Leclerc was to make all sort of concessions to Toussaint while he landed his troops. Once they were properly established Toussaint was to be called in to swear his loyalty then immediately arrested and deported. Eventually all black officers were to be deported along with all the white women who had slept with blacks since the revolution. The black army would eventually have been disbanded and slavery reinstalled. The only way to carry it out would be to kill all of the blacks and mulattos and start from scratch by importing new slaves from Africa. These new slaves would be without the memory of a successful revolution and without the experience of winning battles. Thankfully Napoleons master plan would meet with disaster.
Toussaint's downfall was his love of France. His protection of the whites from reprisal would earn him the enmity of some of the other black generals. The war with France would eventually lead to the rise of a new leader Dessalines who foresaw that Haiti would have to achieve real independence if it was to secure it's freedom. However despite his love of France Toussaint was shrewd enough not to trust the French although even he didn't suspect how low they were prepared to sink. Nonetheless when Leclerc landed Toussaint decided there was no choice but to resist. Unfortunately some of his commanders were also sympathetic to the french and in the days before electronic communication many were cut off and unsure what to do allowing the French to get a foothold. However in the initial phase of the war there were fierce battles in which the blacks managed to inflict heavy losses on Napoleons army. Toussaint ordered a scorched earth campaign to deny the french supplies and knew that in a couple months the rainy season would bring malaria to the french army. The Black army proved match for Napoleons as James writes " they combined all the order and discipline of a trained army with all the tricks and dodges of guerrilas" Unfortunately one of Toussaint's top Commanders was trapped by the French and forced to switch sides and Toussaint foolishly decided to cut a deal. He agreed to resign and return to his own estate. He was not defeated but rather thought he could make a deal from a position of strength. In exchange he received a promise that the officers of the black army would all keep their posts. He knew that so long as the Black army remained intact Slavery could never be reimposed. However Dessalines was already plotting against him spreading rumors among the french that Toussaint couldn't be trusted. Dessalines knew that Toussaint would never agree to the ruthless measures necessary for Haiti to win it's independence and so wanted him out of the way. Toussaint was arrested his property stolen he was sent back to France Napoleon kept this fact under strict secrecy. Napoleon didn't dare to have him executed so he had him murdered through ill treatment. For example he was denied a doctor on the grounds that blacks had a different physiology and so a doctor would be useless to him. Subjected to cold, hunger and humiliation he would eventually die. It reminds me of the recent attempt to Murder Mumia Abu Jamal through medical malpractice. However on the very day of his death San Domingo's declaration of independence was signed and 7 months later the french were forced to flee.
Once again I must jump back in time again to Leclerc the seeming victor after having arrested and deported Toussaint. In a story that recently repeated itself in Iraq, in Libya the fall of Toussaint solved nothing for Leclerc. Instead he faced a constant series of insurgencies. Low level officers sensing that the fall of Toussaint meant the french had evil plans for the island began to rebel slaughtering their former masters. Leclerc was forced to delay arresting and deporting Toussaint's generals as he needed their help to suppress the rebellions. Dessalines convinced him he was loyal even as he plotted rebellion. The rainy season began and Leclercs men already having suffered heavy losses battling Toussaint began to die of Malaria in ever growing numbers. Leclerc himself slowly grew sicker and sicker. James qoutes Leclerc's own letters full of pride and self pity as he steadily describes his downfall. To late he realized Dessalines was plotting against him. Dessalines was about to arrested when a servant warned him and he managed to escape just in time as soon as he was on his horse he shouted "to arms" he already had begun putting the revolt in motion before the attempt to have him arrested. Soon Leclerc died of malaria. Now in command of the french was Rochambeau and his rise marked the start of a full on war of attempted genocide by the french. He ordered troops he captured to be sent to his fleet to be drowned on mass. He imported 1500 hunting dogs to track the blacks and tried to kill off all the mulattoes and blacks he could find. He was trying to put Napoleon's plan to wipe out the entire nonwhite populace so that they could be replaced. The Blacks and Mulattoes fought back fiercely ruthlessly burning everything to deny it to the french waging a peoples war. Even those not in the army waged a guerrilla war and the former slaves proved experts in psychological warfare playing all sorts of tricks on the french to keep them in a constant state of terror. In the end thanks to the able leadership of the Generals and the heroic resistance of the people and army the french were completely defeated and forced to flee for their lives. Those few survivors who hadn't starved, died of disease, or been killed in battle were immediately captured by a waiting British fleet and lived out their lives in captivity poetic justice for the attempt to reinstall slavery. James wrote his account before the great victories of the Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese revolutions so it is remarkable how much his account seems a description of say the victory of the vietnamese over the Japanese French and Americans. Thus we must forever celebrate this mighty victory of the Haitian people over first the British and then the french. Toussaint it should be remembered had inflicted the greatest defeat the British were to suffer for centuries. Now the Haitian people under the leadership of Dessalines had humbled a napoleonic army.
Our story sadly ends where it began with another genocide. Ruthless Great britain was to blame. In exchange for promises of trade and protection they demanded that all the whites would be killed. Thus opened this early glimpse of Neo-colonialism. The british feared the valuable colony might again fall under french influence and the mass murder was meant to drive a wedge between Haiti and France. The french half of the Island of San Domingo was renamed Haiti after independence. The spanish had regained control of their half of the island after the fall of Toussaint and Dessalines attempt to re-unite the island by force failed and the spanish half eventually became todays Dominican Republic. The Haitian revolution inspired by the french revolution would once again mirror it when Dessalines was declared emperor with the support of his new allies Britain and the United States which had hypocritically backed the Dessalines against the french in the hopes of profiting from trade with the once wealthy island. Of course there was nothing the US feared more then that their own massive population of slaves would imitate their Haitian brothers and fight for their freedom. As I mentioned at the beginning Denmark Vesey's attempted slave revolt was inspired by the Haitian Revolution. The Emanual AME church which saw a recent mass murder by a fascist was burned to the ground back then in reprisal and it operated underground until after the civil war.
The Haitian Revolution had many consequences. It lead to the liberation of Latin America, it Helped the French revolution prolong itself. C.L.R. James himself would go on to play an important role in history he was involved in the liberation of Africa! He ended the second edition of his book with the Essay "Toussaint L'Ouverture to Fidel Castro" which is a masterpiece in it's own right and describes the incredible evolution in consciousness taking place in Africa and the Caribbean. He describes the birth of the Pan-African movement and James himself helped advise such important figures as Jomo Kenyatta and Kwame Nkrumah long before they ever came to power. As we enter the 21st century we are still living under the fallout of slavery and the apartheid system that followed it in my country. Thus I hope James book can help inspire a new generation of black revolutionaries in the americas, the Caribbean in Africa. I hope that this article will help inspire people to look at the long history of resistance to slavery and genocide by the people of the americas of which the Haitian revolution is merely one glorious chapter. Long live the memory of Toussaint L'Ouverture. Long live the memory of the heroic Haitian people who defeated three mighty empires. Let their victory be not only an inspiration to blacks but to all the peoples of the world resisting imperialism. We must end the shameful occupation of the island this attempt to deny them their independence. The people of Haiti have proven they can settle their own affairs. Yet American imperialism wants to keep the island in neo-colonial enslavement a source of cheap labor which is why it overthrew Aristide twice then used the excuse of the earthquake to launch a full scale occupation. The story of Haiti's more recent history will have to wait for another day however. For now let me say one more time long live the memory of the Haitian revolution. United by a fierce will to resist there is nothing the people cannot accomplish.
Sources
I relied almost entirely on C.L.R. James masterpiece the "Black Jacobins Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution". I highly recommend you read it for yourself as I was forced to offer a somewhat simplified account. As I write it is Black August a month dedicated to celebrating the history of resistance to slavery and Mass incarceration here is a great article on it's origins
http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/liberation-strategy/5397-what-black-august.html
I suggest you celebrate by reading more on slave rebellions. First I suggest Eduardo Galeano's Memory of fire Trilogy. (See My Novemeber 2014 article Recommended Reading for more on Eduardo Galeano) Also Gerald Horne is doing a great deal to reintroduce this history and I recommend his book "The Counter-Revolution of 1776" you can find some great interviews and lectures with him by doing a quick youtube search.
Abayomi Azikwe on the Charleston shooting and Denmark Vesey listening to his podcast is a great way to learn about black history. Check out my June 2014 article Alternative Media Spotlight 2 for more information about his sites. It is thanks to him that I first heard of C.L.R. James.
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2015/06/21/charleston-massacre-and-the-revolutionary-legacy-of-denmark-vesey/
An article by Abayomi Azikwe on the Charleston massacre and the current crisis of capitalism
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2015/06/21/charleston-massacre-and-the-revolutionary-legacy-of-denmark-vesey/
An article on the Current occupation of Haiti in context the 100 recent year anniversary of Woodrow Wilson's invasion
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2014/12/15/haiti-100-years-of-occupation-100-years-of-resistance/
A hilarious expose of the racism and ineptitude of the red cross in Haiti
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2015/06/03/how-the-red-cross-raised-half-a-billion-dollars-for-haiti-%C2%ADand-built-six-homes/
An article on a US Murdered Haitian activist
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2015/07/06/haiti-defines-resistance/
The Legacy of Fascist Trujillo's genocide against Haitians continues in the Dominican Republic today.
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2015/06/24/xenophobia-in-dominican-republic/
An Article on African resistance in the Americas
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/the-dragon-and-the-hydra-a-historical-study-of-organizational-methods/
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Shootout in Mukachevo
The Mukachevo Shootout and It's Consequences
A clash between the fascist Right Sector paramilitary group and local mafia over smuggling set off a chain of events that could further destabilize Ukraine. The dangerous impunity that fascist paramilitaries were granted in post-maidan Ukraine has once again provoked separatist tendencies but this time in the west of Ukraine both in the fascist stronghold of Lviv and the transcarpathian region home to a Hungarian and Rusyn minority and apparently ruled by organized crime like much of Ukraine. However in the short term the fascist right sector uprising has been quickly put down and Dmitry Yarosh their leader has been forced to make a humiliating surrender to Poroshenko. Thus for the second time this year Poroshenko has put down a fascist coup attempt and has emerged stronger then ever. Of course this has only been an individual power struggle although right sector may be temporarily humbled Fascist ideology has become so mainstream in Ukraine so central to justifying the current war that it's influence will only grow as Ukraine slowly disintegrates. Ukraine has become a poster child for the empire of chaos and may be destined to be deliberately balkanized in the future like Yugoslavia, Sudan, Iraq, or the DRCongo. The recent crisis revealed that the Novorossians, and those regions like Khakov or Mauripol that are only kept from joining them by a terror campaign of torture and murder are not the only ones unhappy with the new Ukraine. Transcarpathia and even fascist stronghold Lvov are starting to consider breaking away as well although for now such developments are unlikely. Still with Ukraine's economy collapsing and it's disastrous war on Novorossia likely to last for years there is no telling what the future might hold.
It all began with a shoot-out on July 11 in Mukachevo in the Transcarpathian region of western Ukraine. The town has no industry it's only sources of income are remittances sent back from locals working abroad in Europe or Russia, tourism and the smuggling business. Transcarpathia borders Hungary and Slovakia. The populace is largely unsympathetic to to the Fascist form of Ukrainian nationalism now holding sway in Kiev because it has a diverse ethnic mix including Hungarians and Rusyns. Instead it is organized crime which is the main power and even in Ukraine the most corrupt nation on the planet, Transcarpathia stands out for it's over the top corruption. Even the local right sector are really just a cover for local organized crime. In Transcarpathia right sector serves gangster oligarch Viktor Balogo who has the entire local governemnt on his payroll. The clash erupted when his right sector goons confronted his former patron and Deputy Parliament member Mikhail Lano. Right sector shot one of his guards in the face then threw some smoke grenades and disapeared in the confusion. Next they ran into two police cars and they opened fire with rocket propelled grenade launchers and Machine guns destroying both vehicles. Next they took an 11 year old boy hostage while they made their escape into the nearby forest. Total casualties from the incident were 3 people dead and 11 injured. Unfortunately for right sector who are generally allowed to get away with anything they want, not even Kiev could turn a blind eye to their turning western Ukraine into a war zone. Poroshenko and his fascist interior minister Akavov decided to come down hard on them declaring an anti-terror operation sending in armored vehicles and Ukrainian Spetsnaz special forces to crack down on them.
Right Sector responded by demanding the government back off or they would stage a coup. They set up checkpoints around a number of cities in western Ukraine which is how the founding of Novorossia began. Of course Yarosh seemingly threatens to stage a coup every month but this time he badly miscalculated. Poroshenko was not amused and merely sent even more armored vehicles and spetsnaz to secure the towns and the fascist uprising was soon completely on the defensive.Right Sector are cowering in the forests around Mukachevo surrounded by APC's helicopters and special forces. Yarosh who only hours before had called for the disbanding of the Supreme Rada and the resignation of president Poroshenko was quickly forced to change his tune. Instead he now begged that the right sector members involved be granted allowed amnesty and join the Ukraine armed forces where he promised they would redeem themselves by dying on the battlefield. The future of Right Sector now lays in Poroshenko's hands which actually means no doubt the decision is in the hands of his american advisers. Will they finally disband this embarrassing group or are they still too useful for putting pressure on the Poroshenko regime. Right Sector is after all a CIA project formed by joining 5 separate fascist organizations together. One of these organizations UNA-UPSD were basically CIA mercenaries in it's dirty war on Russia in Chechnya, among other places. Thus it will be interesting to see Poroshenko is forced to allow an independent right sector despite the danger they might one day pose to him or whether they will finally be fully integrated into the Ukrainian army and police instead. After all the CIA has long favored the use of paramilitary forces as death squads since they allow their client regimes plausible deniability for their crimes. From Vietnam, to El Salvador, to Colombia, and Iraq they have again and again used the same tactic of allowing death squads to go on a rampage while denying that the host government or the CIA were involved. (See My April 2015 "The Phoenix Program" )Thus I wouldn't be surprised if Right Sector are allowed to survive. For now however they are on the defensive and we can only hope that the government takes a hard line and decides to teach them a lesson. It is certainly a joy to see the Ukrainian army forced to battle the fascists instead of terrorizing the people of Novorossia. The whole situation is a win win scenario for Novorossia and has exposed right sector yet again as not merely murderous fascists but corrupt criminals.
Meanwhile the whole incident has given encouragement to Transcarpathia to dream of following the Novorossian example and to break away from Ukraine. Of course Kiev was already aware of these dangers which is why they encouraged the growth of fascist groups like right sector and the Carpathian Sich in the area to intimidate the locals. All the same the locals are not happy about the new Fascist kiev regime since many of them aren't even Ukrainian. They themselves could become future targets of serious repression on Ethnic grounds. The recent crisis motivated some to demand autonomy from Ukraine. Back in the 90's the region had voted for a special autonomous status by a majority of 70% but their vote was ignored by Kiev. Last year as Ukraine began mobilizing troops the Rusyn minority forcibly resisted and with their hands full in Novorossia Kiev decided to quietly give up conscripting them. Instead they sent a Busload of Right Sector thugs to exact revenge but the locals apparently managed to beat them in a street fight forcing them to flee. When right sector attempted to seize towns by setting up check points they went on a drunken rampage terrorizing the locals and threatening revenge. Thus many locals have sent a petition demanding greater autonomy. Apparently for whatever their many faults the Minsk agreements do have the advantage of giving other regions the same idea.
Not only is Transcarpathia demanding autonomy so apparently are some in Lvov the center of fascist influence in Ukraine. This has exposed a strange and embarrassing paradox about "Ukrainian" Fascism. Many of the hard core believers don't consider themselves Ukrainian at all who they regard as a bunch of dumb slavs. Instead they see themselves as Galicians and not only would some like to break off from Ukraine they also dream of tearing a big chunk of Galicia out of NATO member Poland. Ironically Poland is one of the leaders of the Rusophobic faction of NATO along with the Baltic countries like Estonia (another hotbed of Fascism.) Actually in a now mostly forgotten episode during the Maidan Coup when it looked like Yanukovych might not fall the Ukrainian fascists were the ones threatening to secede in Galicia. Just imagine things might have been very different imagine if Yanukovych had not fallen the US might be the ones funding a breakaway Galicia and instead of ignoring the plight of the people of Novorossia the media would be screaming about the suffering of the people of the people of Galicia (while ignoring their nazi sympathies). A fun exercise in what might have been. Perhaps if the Kiev Junta falls the US may one day back a breakaway Galicia. It could also use the issue of Galician nationalism to launch some sort of false flag attack on Poland as an excuse to bring NATO into the war in Ukraine. Meanwhile on the information war front Russia doubtless hopes to create tensions between Ukraine and Poland. So far those these tensions have mainly involved battles between polish nationalist soccer hooligans and fascist Ukrainian soccer hooligans. Apparently not everyone in Poland has forgotten the massacres of Poles by the Fascist Stephan Bandera's OUN-B death squads. Yet the Polish government continues to be one of Fascist Ukraine's biggest supporters and has even sent large numbers of Polish mercenaries to wage war on Novorossia. Hopefully the people of Poland will demand an end to this folly before they themselves become the victims.
In the meantime because Right Sector was busy with it's crisis in Mukachevo it was unable to carry out it's threats to stop supporters of Galicia independence from marching through the streets of Lviv. However for now an independent Galicia is merely a remote future possibility although it would have the virtue of ridding Ukraine of a large number of it's craziest citizens. However with Poroshenko more firmly in control then ever after inflicting a humiliating defeat on Right sector such a possibility is more unlikely then ever for the moment. Kiev is doubtless firmly on guard against any such possibilities both in Transcarpathia or Galicia. Rather their significance is that they show cracks are beginning to form in Ukraine and that Ironically the stress of waging war to reconquer Novorossia could one day cause the whole country to break apart. Their is no telling what sinister plans the US really has for the future of Ukraine and I could easily see them deciding to destroy Ukraine if they no longer think they can control it. They may even want to break it up Yugoslavia style so that it can never again serve as a bridge between Russia and Europe. Only one thing is certain Ukraine is well on it's way to becoming a failed state.
Sources
On the issue of right sector definitely check out the book "Neonazis & Euromaidan" by Stanislaw Byshok and Alexey Kochetkov which I discussed in my November 2014 article "recommended reading"
An Account of the shootout at Mukachevo and the corruption in Transcarpathia
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/mukachevo-slaughterhouse-smuggling-western-ukraine/ri8792
Slavyangrad translated Col Cassad on the capitulation of Yarosh
http://slavyangrad.org/2015/07/19/lviv-activistis-are-demanding-autonomy-for-galicia/
A letter from a Rusyn about tension in Transcarpathia
http://fortruss.blogspot.com/2015/07/a-letter-from-rusyn-of-transcarpathia.html
Transcarpathian activists call for autonomy
http://fortruss.blogspot.com/2015/07/transcarpathia-at-crossroads.html
A clash between the fascist Right Sector paramilitary group and local mafia over smuggling set off a chain of events that could further destabilize Ukraine. The dangerous impunity that fascist paramilitaries were granted in post-maidan Ukraine has once again provoked separatist tendencies but this time in the west of Ukraine both in the fascist stronghold of Lviv and the transcarpathian region home to a Hungarian and Rusyn minority and apparently ruled by organized crime like much of Ukraine. However in the short term the fascist right sector uprising has been quickly put down and Dmitry Yarosh their leader has been forced to make a humiliating surrender to Poroshenko. Thus for the second time this year Poroshenko has put down a fascist coup attempt and has emerged stronger then ever. Of course this has only been an individual power struggle although right sector may be temporarily humbled Fascist ideology has become so mainstream in Ukraine so central to justifying the current war that it's influence will only grow as Ukraine slowly disintegrates. Ukraine has become a poster child for the empire of chaos and may be destined to be deliberately balkanized in the future like Yugoslavia, Sudan, Iraq, or the DRCongo. The recent crisis revealed that the Novorossians, and those regions like Khakov or Mauripol that are only kept from joining them by a terror campaign of torture and murder are not the only ones unhappy with the new Ukraine. Transcarpathia and even fascist stronghold Lvov are starting to consider breaking away as well although for now such developments are unlikely. Still with Ukraine's economy collapsing and it's disastrous war on Novorossia likely to last for years there is no telling what the future might hold.
It all began with a shoot-out on July 11 in Mukachevo in the Transcarpathian region of western Ukraine. The town has no industry it's only sources of income are remittances sent back from locals working abroad in Europe or Russia, tourism and the smuggling business. Transcarpathia borders Hungary and Slovakia. The populace is largely unsympathetic to to the Fascist form of Ukrainian nationalism now holding sway in Kiev because it has a diverse ethnic mix including Hungarians and Rusyns. Instead it is organized crime which is the main power and even in Ukraine the most corrupt nation on the planet, Transcarpathia stands out for it's over the top corruption. Even the local right sector are really just a cover for local organized crime. In Transcarpathia right sector serves gangster oligarch Viktor Balogo who has the entire local governemnt on his payroll. The clash erupted when his right sector goons confronted his former patron and Deputy Parliament member Mikhail Lano. Right sector shot one of his guards in the face then threw some smoke grenades and disapeared in the confusion. Next they ran into two police cars and they opened fire with rocket propelled grenade launchers and Machine guns destroying both vehicles. Next they took an 11 year old boy hostage while they made their escape into the nearby forest. Total casualties from the incident were 3 people dead and 11 injured. Unfortunately for right sector who are generally allowed to get away with anything they want, not even Kiev could turn a blind eye to their turning western Ukraine into a war zone. Poroshenko and his fascist interior minister Akavov decided to come down hard on them declaring an anti-terror operation sending in armored vehicles and Ukrainian Spetsnaz special forces to crack down on them.
Right Sector responded by demanding the government back off or they would stage a coup. They set up checkpoints around a number of cities in western Ukraine which is how the founding of Novorossia began. Of course Yarosh seemingly threatens to stage a coup every month but this time he badly miscalculated. Poroshenko was not amused and merely sent even more armored vehicles and spetsnaz to secure the towns and the fascist uprising was soon completely on the defensive.Right Sector are cowering in the forests around Mukachevo surrounded by APC's helicopters and special forces. Yarosh who only hours before had called for the disbanding of the Supreme Rada and the resignation of president Poroshenko was quickly forced to change his tune. Instead he now begged that the right sector members involved be granted allowed amnesty and join the Ukraine armed forces where he promised they would redeem themselves by dying on the battlefield. The future of Right Sector now lays in Poroshenko's hands which actually means no doubt the decision is in the hands of his american advisers. Will they finally disband this embarrassing group or are they still too useful for putting pressure on the Poroshenko regime. Right Sector is after all a CIA project formed by joining 5 separate fascist organizations together. One of these organizations UNA-UPSD were basically CIA mercenaries in it's dirty war on Russia in Chechnya, among other places. Thus it will be interesting to see Poroshenko is forced to allow an independent right sector despite the danger they might one day pose to him or whether they will finally be fully integrated into the Ukrainian army and police instead. After all the CIA has long favored the use of paramilitary forces as death squads since they allow their client regimes plausible deniability for their crimes. From Vietnam, to El Salvador, to Colombia, and Iraq they have again and again used the same tactic of allowing death squads to go on a rampage while denying that the host government or the CIA were involved. (See My April 2015 "The Phoenix Program" )Thus I wouldn't be surprised if Right Sector are allowed to survive. For now however they are on the defensive and we can only hope that the government takes a hard line and decides to teach them a lesson. It is certainly a joy to see the Ukrainian army forced to battle the fascists instead of terrorizing the people of Novorossia. The whole situation is a win win scenario for Novorossia and has exposed right sector yet again as not merely murderous fascists but corrupt criminals.
Meanwhile the whole incident has given encouragement to Transcarpathia to dream of following the Novorossian example and to break away from Ukraine. Of course Kiev was already aware of these dangers which is why they encouraged the growth of fascist groups like right sector and the Carpathian Sich in the area to intimidate the locals. All the same the locals are not happy about the new Fascist kiev regime since many of them aren't even Ukrainian. They themselves could become future targets of serious repression on Ethnic grounds. The recent crisis motivated some to demand autonomy from Ukraine. Back in the 90's the region had voted for a special autonomous status by a majority of 70% but their vote was ignored by Kiev. Last year as Ukraine began mobilizing troops the Rusyn minority forcibly resisted and with their hands full in Novorossia Kiev decided to quietly give up conscripting them. Instead they sent a Busload of Right Sector thugs to exact revenge but the locals apparently managed to beat them in a street fight forcing them to flee. When right sector attempted to seize towns by setting up check points they went on a drunken rampage terrorizing the locals and threatening revenge. Thus many locals have sent a petition demanding greater autonomy. Apparently for whatever their many faults the Minsk agreements do have the advantage of giving other regions the same idea.
Not only is Transcarpathia demanding autonomy so apparently are some in Lvov the center of fascist influence in Ukraine. This has exposed a strange and embarrassing paradox about "Ukrainian" Fascism. Many of the hard core believers don't consider themselves Ukrainian at all who they regard as a bunch of dumb slavs. Instead they see themselves as Galicians and not only would some like to break off from Ukraine they also dream of tearing a big chunk of Galicia out of NATO member Poland. Ironically Poland is one of the leaders of the Rusophobic faction of NATO along with the Baltic countries like Estonia (another hotbed of Fascism.) Actually in a now mostly forgotten episode during the Maidan Coup when it looked like Yanukovych might not fall the Ukrainian fascists were the ones threatening to secede in Galicia. Just imagine things might have been very different imagine if Yanukovych had not fallen the US might be the ones funding a breakaway Galicia and instead of ignoring the plight of the people of Novorossia the media would be screaming about the suffering of the people of the people of Galicia (while ignoring their nazi sympathies). A fun exercise in what might have been. Perhaps if the Kiev Junta falls the US may one day back a breakaway Galicia. It could also use the issue of Galician nationalism to launch some sort of false flag attack on Poland as an excuse to bring NATO into the war in Ukraine. Meanwhile on the information war front Russia doubtless hopes to create tensions between Ukraine and Poland. So far those these tensions have mainly involved battles between polish nationalist soccer hooligans and fascist Ukrainian soccer hooligans. Apparently not everyone in Poland has forgotten the massacres of Poles by the Fascist Stephan Bandera's OUN-B death squads. Yet the Polish government continues to be one of Fascist Ukraine's biggest supporters and has even sent large numbers of Polish mercenaries to wage war on Novorossia. Hopefully the people of Poland will demand an end to this folly before they themselves become the victims.
In the meantime because Right Sector was busy with it's crisis in Mukachevo it was unable to carry out it's threats to stop supporters of Galicia independence from marching through the streets of Lviv. However for now an independent Galicia is merely a remote future possibility although it would have the virtue of ridding Ukraine of a large number of it's craziest citizens. However with Poroshenko more firmly in control then ever after inflicting a humiliating defeat on Right sector such a possibility is more unlikely then ever for the moment. Kiev is doubtless firmly on guard against any such possibilities both in Transcarpathia or Galicia. Rather their significance is that they show cracks are beginning to form in Ukraine and that Ironically the stress of waging war to reconquer Novorossia could one day cause the whole country to break apart. Their is no telling what sinister plans the US really has for the future of Ukraine and I could easily see them deciding to destroy Ukraine if they no longer think they can control it. They may even want to break it up Yugoslavia style so that it can never again serve as a bridge between Russia and Europe. Only one thing is certain Ukraine is well on it's way to becoming a failed state.
Sources
On the issue of right sector definitely check out the book "Neonazis & Euromaidan" by Stanislaw Byshok and Alexey Kochetkov which I discussed in my November 2014 article "recommended reading"
An Account of the shootout at Mukachevo and the corruption in Transcarpathia
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/mukachevo-slaughterhouse-smuggling-western-ukraine/ri8792
Slavyangrad translated Col Cassad on the capitulation of Yarosh
http://slavyangrad.org/2015/07/19/lviv-activistis-are-demanding-autonomy-for-galicia/
A letter from a Rusyn about tension in Transcarpathia
http://fortruss.blogspot.com/2015/07/a-letter-from-rusyn-of-transcarpathia.html
Transcarpathian activists call for autonomy
http://fortruss.blogspot.com/2015/07/transcarpathia-at-crossroads.html
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Lessons of the Russian Revolution
Thoughts on the Russian Revolution
First a disclaimer this is not going to be a full account of the Russian Revolution. That is probably to large a topic to be dealt with in a single article and far to ambitious a topic for me to write on at the moment. It was literally only yesterday after all that I finally finished the classic "The Bolshevik Revolution 1917-1923" by E.H. Carr. Reading the book I realized just how little I know about the Russian Revolution. It is a topic needing many years of intense study. My Real reason for writing this is rather to encourage you to begin that study for yourself. Trust me there is no more dangerous subject on the planet then the history of revolutions. No more dangerous science then Marxist-Leninism. Unfortunately at least in America almost no one bothers with studying either topic. Thus the left is a truly laughable and confused state. Yet once things were different the Black Panthers made it a point that every member had to study revolutionary theory one or two hours a day. J. Edgar Hoover called them the greatest threat to national security in the country. As usual with such statements they are both laughably false but contain a grain truth. While a few thousand armed Black Panthers posed no real military threat to the Massive american war machine, their example was dangerous. Just like Venezuela poses no military threat to the united states but it's example alone has been enough to inspire states throughout Latin America to follow their lead to resist the insane Washington consensus and to move towards Socialism. The Black Panthers also provided a dangerous example and if only the masses had begun to follow their example and to study revolutionary theory for two hours a day the world might be very different and I might be writing from the United Socialist Soviet States of America. Instead they were killed, imprisoned, on false charges forced into exile. However they did serve to inspire such groups as the Red Army Faction in Germany, and Latino and Indigenous groups in the US and radicals in general. Others on the other hand who made a study of Lenin and the Russian Revolution would prove more successful. Mao Tse-tong Kim Il Sung, Ho Chi Minh, were all able to adapt Lenin's theories to their own situations and launch their own revolutions. Their revolutions in China, North Korea, and Vietnam are equally deserving of study. As are the writings of their leaders. This is why I am quite justified in saying that the study of the Russian revolution is the greatest danger for the system. It was not just the communist revolutionaries of Asia that were inspired by Lenin (and later Mao himself.) The African revolutionaries who fought heroically for independence were also inspired by it. Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah, and Amilcar Cabral all studied the Russian Revolution and Lenin's writings. And of course the Cubans, the Nicaraguans, the Venezuelan's were all inspired in part by Lenin and of course by the cuban revolution itself. The Russian revolutionaries themselves made close studies of the French revolutions, the Paris commune, the failed revolutions of 1848 and the Irish Easter uprising.
Thus the real purpose of writing this article is in the hopes of inspiring you to follow the example of past successful revolutionaries and actually study both the theory and practice of past revolutions and to read the writings of past revolutionaries. Because while it may seem impossible now I guarantee you that a time will come when revolution will be not only possible but actually likely. This is because the disastrous path of imperialism that the US and it's allies will inevitably lead to overextension. In fact it seems as if this is their strategy as I've remarked to literally wage war on the entire planet at once. Meanwhile ever since the 80's and particularly since the fall of the soviet union the west has pursued the same ruthless form of hyper-capitalism launching an attack on all the gains the people have made in the 20th century. Most of the planet live in or will soon live in giant slums. Starvation hunger and disease are on the march along with war endless war. In America itself there have been two uprisings in the past year alone inspired by poverty and police brutality. Even increasing numbers of white americans have learned that they are regarded as the enemy by their own government although for many they think the disease itself is the cure. I'm speaking of libertarians who seem not to have noticed that our current problems are the result of the "free market" that since Reagan we have put more and more of these free market policies into effect. As a result every year of my life that I can remember it has been the same refrain the rich are getting richer the poor are getting poorer and the middle class is steadily shrinking. Yet some seem to think that more of the same poison will miraculously cure us. Only by destroying capitalism can we ever be free. Only by destroying capitalism can we end war. Only by destroying capitalism can we end poverty, disease, and ignorance. But only by studying past revolutions can we move from mere activism to the possibility of actual radical change. Haven't we learned the folly yet of asking the system to be other then what it is? Only by adopting a new system can anything change. Capitalism inevitably leads to imperialism. Imperialism automatically leads to racism and war. Thus don't expect black lives to matter in a system that built itself on slavery. Don't expect them to give peace a chance when the entire economy is geared towards war. Don't expect bankers to stop robbing you blind merely because you ask them to be a little less greedy. They will never change until we seize power and force them to change or punish them for their crimes depending on our mood and the necessities of the moment. History has shown that only a tightly organized movement schooled in the ideology of revolution has any chance of success.
Now with that long introduction out of the way let us turn to the figure of Lenin. Well first I must state the obvious and say that Lenin was himself inspired by Marx. Of course it is vital to study Marx as well. He along with Engels originated the whole theory of Marxism. Based on his study of society, economics, and history he saw that the system itself was producing it's own downfall. Revolution would inevitably emerge out of the contradictions of modern capitalism. Apologies but that extremely simplified version is all I have time for since Marx would obviously require a series of articles or books in his own right. I'll put some links in the resource section and you can read him for yourself. So just in case you didn't go to college or if they have stopped teaching him altogether I'll just throw out two terms The Bourgeoisie the Capitalist class the owners and the Proletariate the workers. To put it in more recent terms the Bourgoise are the 1 percent (actualy.001% the proletariate are the 99% An immense simplification hopefully those who unlike me spent years studying this will instead of laughing at me realize the immense need for popularizers the sad truth is that there is an immense knowledge gap in the populace with a small number of people well versed in theory (also of course one must find the few with genuine revolutionary spirit left sad to say many have sold out long ago) versus a growing number of people with a purely emotional attachment to communism but who yet haven't done the necessary homework. Those who know and still care must take the sad task of teaching political literacy the ABC's of Marx, Lenin, and Mao just as the revolutionaries in Russia, and later Vietnam, Cuba had to actually go out and teach people to read and write. Now is the time! Well actually it is a case of rather late then never for first Ferguson and now Baltimore in the US have shown that conditions are already becoming intolerable. Paris and London too have seen their revolts in recent years not to mention Greece. And above all Latin America has shown the time is approaching. People everywhere feel that something is terribly wrong all that is needed is to teach them the tools to understand their condition. Unfortunately it will take decades to raise the level of class consciousness in any given country so if like me you haven't devoted enough attention to theory begin your studies now and if you've already done your homework then begin teaching now.
Another long tangent to return to Marx one could say broadly speaking that he gave birth to two separate forms of Socialists. One group sought to reform society within the confines of democracy. Unfortunately they would be either cheated of the chance of power in places like France and Italy. (See my June 2014 Operation Gladio article where I discuss the terror and treachery used to keep communists from coming to power democratically.) Equally often upon entering power they would be so compromised as to betray their principles. Notoriously the German Social democrats sided with the proto-Fascists in the violent suppression of the failed revolutions in Germany. Although Social Democrats did manage to make some important reforms by our own day they would become largely useless. Lenin was inspired in resistance to this tendency he wanted to seize genuine power and declare a dictatorship of the proletariate. He called the system we in the west live under Bourgeoisie democracy. Although he saw it as progress over the previous system he knew it was anything but "democratic." Democracy means rule by the people. Bourgoisie democracy is actually founded on insuring the right of a tiny minority to exploit the majority. It only provides the illusion of freedom and control. This fact was hard for people in the west to understand in the past however hopefully the hundred years of disappointments since culminating in the US with thr Obama presidency and now in Greece with Syriza will begin to awaken people to this fact. In the US especially we are given a choice between two war mongers who are bought by corporate interests, and who serve the interests of a small group of the rich, while ignoring the demands of the majority. They differ only in style and degree of madness.
While Marx provided the necessary analytical framework lenin was able to launch the second communist revolution. The first in many ways was the commune in France of 1871. Russia itself had not even reached the stage of Bourgeoisie Democracy. It was still a feudal monarchy. Any form of political resistance was largely illegal and as a result Russia swarmed with revolutionaries of many kinds. This topic would require an article or book in it's own right. So I'll just mention that Lenin's elder brother a Narodnik (they hoped to inspire revolution among the peasants) was involved in a failed plot to assassinate the Czar and was executed. Lenin became a Marxist. Ironically a sort of theoretical marxism had been allowed to spread because many of them saw the introduction of capitalism in Russia as an important step towards socialism. Anarchism Nihilism, and mysticism were also popular at the time. What separated Lenin from many of his contemporaries was continual dissatisfaction with the revolutionary forces in Russia. Lenin would come to prominence over the controversy surrounding his book What is to Be Done. In it he advocated the need for a revolutionary organization composed of well trained professional revolutionaries. This question would split the Russian marxists some favored a much broader party.This lead to the birth of the two factions the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks who would engage in an endless controversy until the revolution itself broke out. Many Mensheviks would bitterly oppose the October revolution. To read Lenin is to constantly be immersed in these disputes and nearly everything he wrote was born of bitter controversy.
Lenin was a fighter. He was in truth a man of many contradictions. A theorist with the genius for seeing the reality around him. Both a man of strict principle and when necessary a cunning opportunist. Ruthless and kind. A born organizer. He was a visionary. He was also the first Marxist to go beyond a narrowly Eurocentric view of the struggle. Lenin wrote Imperialism the Highest Stage of Capitalism (You can find this and all of Lenin's writings online for free) and was the first to see that one must form alliances with the colonized people in the struggle against imperialism. In fact Lenin's attitude was directly responsible for the Vietnamese revolution. The future Ho Chi Minh had become a socialist but was disgusted to find that most european socialists didn't take any interest in the colonial question. Then he discovered that Lenin had called for the liberation of all colonized people in Asia and in Africa. He traveled to Moscow to attend the third international and would later live and teach for years in the Soviet Union, educating vietnamese revolutionaries From a special university founded in the USSR dedicated to spreading revolution across Asia. Thus I cannot resist quoting Ho Cho Minh himself as cited by the great Carlos Martinez who I have been reading obsessively of late and who I couldn't help stealing a couple ideas for the present essay from. Hear is Ho Chi Minh on reading Lenin
What I wanted most to know was: which International sides with the peoples of colonial countries? I raised this question – the most important in my opinion – in a meeting. Some comrades answered: It is the Third, not the Second International. And a comrade gave me Lenin’s ‘Thesis on the national and colonial questions’ published by l’Humanite to read. There were political terms difficult to understand in this thesis. But by dint of reading it again and again, finally I could grasp the main part of it. What emotion, enthusiasm, clear-sightedness and confidence it instilled into me! I was overjoyed to tears. Though sitting alone in my room, I shouted out aloud as if addressing large crowds: ‘Dear martyrs, compatriots! This is what we need, this is the path to our liberation!’
After that, I had entire confidence in Lenin, in the Third International. Formerly, during the meetings of the Party branch, I only listened to the discussion; I had a vague belief that all were logical, and could not differentiate as to who were right and who were wrong. But from then on, I also plunged into the debates and discussed with fervour. Though I was still lacking French words to express all my thoughts, I smashed the allegations attacking Lenin and the Third International with no less vigour. My only argument was: ‘If you do not condemn colonialism, if you do not side with the colonial people, what kind of revolution are you waging?’
Yes reading Lenin isn't easy full of strange names and forgotten controversies. But stick with it and remember that the important thing is the ideas and attitudes that he is attacking that are important. Also of course context is everything. Usually he battles against complacency, sell outs, laziness, disconnection from the masses. Sometimes however he is forced to argue against the opposite tendencies people who are too revolutionary people's who have the right idea at the wrong time, or who refuse to seize opportunities. (See his "Left Wing Communism an infantile disorder" for one example) He was both a grand strategist and a tactician. For years he was marginalized hated not merely by Czarist Russia, and capitalist Europe but as mentioned by his fellow marxists. When world war one emerged he was again marginalized as he foresaw that the war would bring about conditions necessary for revolution he demanded that workers should be mobilized to help bring about defeat and revolution. Most Marxists in Europe refused to follow such an extreme and unpopular example. Instead they helped mobilize the masses as canon fodder in one of histories most bloody and senseless wars. By 1917 Lenin's position had proven prophetic in Russia at least. Now he had another brilliant idea. Traditionally marxists had believed that Russia would have to go through a long period of western style democracy which would lead to the expansion of capitalism which would then create the proper conditions for a revolution. Lenin foresaw that with the revolutionary mood in Russia where society was collapsing due to the strain of war it might be possible to quickly move from western style democracy to a Proletarian revolution. He hoped and believed that the Russian example would inspire the people's of western Europe to also rise up and overthrow their governments. Russia would then build socialism with the aid of already industrialized and newly socialist western Europe. Of course history has shown that he proved wrong about western Europe.Although revolutions did spread west they were quickly destroyed or successfully prevented. However he was right about the first part Russia was ready for a socialist revolution and thanks to the cynicism and desperation of wartime Germany he was smuggled back into Russia in the belief that he would be able to pull Russia out of the war.
Russia had already had it's first revolution by then installing a western style democracy. This is known as the February revolution. The new provisional government stubbornly refused to withdraw from the war however which gave Lenin his opening. Upon arriving in Russia he declared that it was time to begin preparation for a new revolution. One that would truly give power to the people. One truly capable of changing society forever. Even many of the Bolsheviks thought he was crazy at first but he began to win more and people over. While the intellectuals may not have been ready the people themselves who had nothing to lose were ready. All across the country they were organizing themselves into Soviets a form of direct democracy dating back to the earlier failed revolution of 1905. While the central government was continuously discrediting itself with the usual indecisiveness, corruption, and clownishness that characterize "democracy" in every land (I ask you who but comedians still pay attention to the antics of parliaments no one else can bear it) the central government began to loose more control to the power of the soviets. Soldiers soviets would refuse to fight. Peasants soviets demanded redistribution of land. Workers soviets were seizing control of their factories. Lenin became their voice demanding peace land and bread. He also demanded all power to the soviets. In June before even he was ready group of soldiers marched into st. petersburg then the capital sought out Lenin so they could swear their loyalty to the new revolution he was preaching. They were put down and Lenin was forced to go into hiding but events had already taken on a momentum of their own. He began to organize the revolution and since his party steadily grew in popularity the once marginal figure was listened to by more and more people. The secret of course was that only Lenin had bothered to listen to what the people wanted and he was also the only one who would dare to give them exactly what they wanted. Even where he knew that in the long term some of their ideas were wrong (on land reform he favored big efficient collective agriculture for instance while he knew the peasants wanted land of their own) he was willing to go along with them give them what they wanted and hope they could learn from their mistake. Above all he saw that by demanding power for the soviets he could break the power of the provisional government and launch in what was in many ways the first true revolution. This is because unlike past revolutions it aimed not to replace one exploiting class with another but to do away with exploitation altogether.
Another example of his brilliance was his stance on the national question. Russia was an empire. At the same time it was in many ways also a laboratory for neo-colonialism. Russia had a dual nature and history that survives to this day both an imperial country and a victim of imperialism most recently and obviously during the Yeltsin era when Russia nearly became a US colony in all but name. Thus Russia has a talent for both great power politics and for understanding and aiding movements for national liberation. Lenin with the same genius that saw how he could accomplish his goals by putting his support behind the people's soviets also declared that any group wishing independence from the Russian empire was welcome to it in the hope that instead of separating they would eventually unite in friendship. During the "Civil War" where "white" counter-revolutionaries backed by all the worlds imperialist powers tried to destroy the revolution this strategy would again bear fruit as the territories occupied by "white" generals who were imperialist to the core decided they would rather be equals with the soviets then resubjugated under a new russian empire. Thus after loosing control of almost the entire massive land of Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, etc. at one point, they would eventually regain control of all of it. Not only that but Lenin's anti-imperialist views would one day inspire a revolution in the largest country on the planet China. Incidentally contrary to popular belief China owes it's spectacular growth not to free market capitalism but to central planning. Thus while the people of the west were bought off with the spoils of empire frustrating all the hopes for revolution there the rest of the world was far more receptive as I mentioned at the beginning. Billions of American dollars and millions killed in counter-insurgency wars could not prevent the spread of revolution around the world.
Yes all those wonderful revolutions and struggles from around the world in Asia, in Africa and in Latin America. Even the west had it's revolutionaries if not it's revolutions. All of this history must be unearthed and celebrated. So many great names Ho Chi Minh, Fidel Castro, Amilcar Cabral, Daniel Ortega (thankfully alive and back in power) A whole alphabet of heroic revolutionary groups. FMLN, SWAPO, MK, PFLP. The 20th century was the century of revolution there is no doubt of it. Yet seemingly most of this has been all forgotten wiped from the pages of history. Or if not forgotten vilified.
Yes no revolution has been slandered as much as the Russian revolution. Yet if we have learned anything in the 21st century it is the extent to which conventional wisdom is often so much nonsense and how the MSM will shamelessly lie about everything turning truth on it's head. Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Rwanda, DRCongo we have been fed lies on all these countries that turned truth on it's head. Thus it is foolish to take at face value what we have been told about the Russian revolution because much of it is pure propaganda. Unfortunately it is propaganda that fits into the mindsets of even many in the alt-media and I have many times heard people who display the proper skepticism about the war on terror unthinkingly repeat cold war propaganda as if it was the absolute truth. We live in the heart of a capitalist and imperialist society do you really think that the media is going to tell you the truth about Communism? Yes people were killed, people were imprisoned. But there is reason to be suspicious of vastly inflated numbers. Conversely no one mentions the millions known to be killed by the counter revolutionaries who had inflicted all the brutalities of fascists and ISIS in their futile attempt to reinstate the rule for the benefit of aristocrats and capitalists. To give one example a white general gave orders not only for the murder of every communist and their family they could find but for the murder of every jew. The Russian Civil war was in many ways a preview of world war 2 Russia was surrounded by enemies from 14 countries and put under a brutal blockade. Thus if the soviets were forced to adopt tough tactics it was not because they were power crazed paranoid lunatics as we are so often told rather it was because the situation demanded it. The Bolsheviks did what was necessary to prevent what we have come to know so well any independent or socialist country is targeted for destruction. From Iran to Guatemala, to Chile, to Libya. In Latin America the US is simultaneously trying to Overthrow the Venezuelan government and every other left wing government in latin America, They are currently plotting a coup against the government of Ecuador. The Russian revolution did inspire two briefly successful revolutions in Hungary and Bavaria, and a couple unsuccessful ones in Germany but they were all brutally crushed. Thus it is silly to be naive about such things. The instant you have a revolution you will be under siege if you are not willing to fight to defend it, if you are not vigilant about CIA plots you will be destroyed. My main point is it is only after long study that we will be able to determine exactly what did or did not happen during the history of the USSR. Meanwhile we should keep in mind that they had every reason to be on their guard.
I mention this because in reading E.H. Carr's History which is actually more of a 3 volume analysis of different aspects of soviet society I realized that I didn't really know anything about the Russian revolution. I merely thought I knew about it. The political structure the soviet union it's actual economic policies, it's foreign policies had all been unknown to me instead I had the cartoonish image implanted in me in college of a small band of ruthless men seizing power. The initial fighting was actually quite insignificant they would never have been able to "seize" or hold onto power if they didn't have the support of the vast masses of people. It really was a people's rebellion the revolution spread across the country because everywhere people were inspired to carry it out themselves they seized the factories, and the land they refused to fight and formed themselves into peoples councils. It was only the emergency of war and the necessity to better organize the economy that lead to the gradual centralization of power. While the Bolsheviks acted in the capital it was the Russian people who spread the Russian revolution like wildfire across the country. It was resistance behind the lines that would inevitably doom the Counter-revolutionaries during the civil war. Whatever power Lenin had rested mostly on his prestige as the prophet of revolution and the voice of the people. When Lenin wanted a policy carried through he had to sit down and write a piece explaining why he was right and hope that he could convince people. This is what most of his writings were. Contrary to popular mythology the Russian revolution was a time of endless lively debate and controversy.
Now to backtrack a little to discuss the revolution itself. Ironically the revolution would divide once again the Bolsheviks from the Mensheviks. It revealed the embarrassing fact that when the time for revolution came many marxists sided with the bourgeoisie provisional government and against the revolution. Some so called socialists would rather anything other then a genuine revolution and many in their fear of the masses sided with the counter revolution. Only when it was clear that the revolution would be successful did many of them come around and begin to support the new soviet government. This is yet another lesson of the Russian revolution many so called leftists would doubtless react the same way today. There are many who would rather do anything other then change the world comfortable in lucrative gigs as controlled opposition. This is also why it is necessary to go back to reading revolutionary classics most people in the west have completely forgotten how to act and think in a revolutionary manner.
Lenin was a master of exposing the fakes, the cowards, the traitors that for all their rhetoric were blocking the path of the revolution. This is really what the revolution was all about the provisional government had to be overthrown because despite being packed with socialists it actually served as a puppet of the imperialist western allies, and was a bulwark against genuine revolution. It discredited itself by refusing to end the war, or to quickly enact land reform. Lenin captured the loyalty of the masses by promising to immediately carry out both policies and unlike the politicians in our democracies he did exactly what he said he would. The revolution occurred when the Soviets composed of workers, peasants, and soldiers voted in favor of disbanding the provisional government and taking power into their own hands. They were able to seize the winter palace with barely any resistance because the provisional government fled. Much of the military already in open rebellion sided with the revolution. Against all the odds and attacked by 14 different countries the Russian revolution survived and the west was eventually forced to accept it's existence although it's plots to destroy the soviet union would continue resulting in world war 2 when 27 million soviets would die defeating the fascist monster planted in Europe for the purpose of preventing the spread of communism and in the hopes that fascism would destroy communism. Then came the cold war aka world war 3 although this time millions of in the third world would die as imperialism sought to stop the spread of communism around the world. Korea Vietnam, Indonesia, El Salvador, and Guatemala were a just a few of the targets of the monstrous crimes committed during this era. Then with the fall of the soviet union imperialism merely intensified it's rampage no one knows exactly how many wars are being waged right now From Iraq to DRCongo, to Mexico, to Ukraine to Afghanistan and Yemen. Even the fall of the soviet union was not enough for the empire the mere idea of an independent or united Russia is apparently intolerable to them. All this is my usual topic but I will mention in passing that the Russian civil war had a quite fascinating history in Ukraine which E.H. Carr discusses.
Yes the soviet union eventually fell but it lasted for over 70 years an inspiration to revolutionaries around the globe. The reasons for it's decline and fall will have to wait for another day. (if Your interested I dealt with the topic in My June 2014 article "Russia from Gorbachev to Putin" also check out "socialism betrayed" by Roger Keeran and Thomas Kenny) However with the fall of the USSR the idea was put out that communism was dead. Of course in Cuba and North Korea it never fell at all while China is a hybrid. However the idea that the fall of the soviet union means that we must never again try to build a just society is an absurd one. After all the paris commune only lasted months. Yet people didn't abandon all hope after it fell. The Soviet Union fell as a result of the disastrous attempt to institute free market reforms. It fell because for some insane reason the soviet leadership thought it could make peace with the west. How could anyone believe mass murderers like Reagan and Bush could ever want peace. Instead the naive traitor Gorbachev was replaced by the drunken clown and puppet Yeltsin. Although Putin is an immense improvement over Yeltsin we can still dream that one day Russia may see a return to revolution. Down with the Oligarchs who stole what it took generations to build.
Meanwhile all over the world we must work to revive the revolutionary history, the revolutionary ideology, and revolutionary spirit of the past. We should be studying the revolutions just as intently as we pay attention to the events of today. Of course we must not only study the past we must also find creative ways to apply what we discover to the present day. So long as society is based on the exploitation of the few by the many the spirit of revolution will never die. The biggest lie of all is that we are powerless to change the world. That is the most important lesson of the Russian revolution it is possible to build a new kind of society. Our day will come so long as we work tirelessly to make it happen. We are in a far better position then before despite appearances for we have the lessons of nearly a hundred years of revolutions and socialist experiments to draw on. Not to mention many thousands of years of histories for the pre-modern socialist societies. Plus the centuries long history of resistance to imperialism slavery and genocide. Yet they tell me history is boring. It certainly is the way it is taught today with all the shocking bits taken out, all the rebellion and excitement intentionally removed. True history is many things both horrifying and inspiring but above all when studied correctly it is extremely dangerous. The world must reclaim it's revolutionary history. Don't be afraid of theory especially when that theory has been successfully employed again and again if the newly literate vietnamese peasants and Russian workers who grew up in semi-feudal villages were able to master it so too can you. Together we can destroy capitalism and imperialism. Long Live the revolution!
Sources
First much of what I said was inspired by reading Carlos Martinez check out his excellent site for his great articles on revolutionary history and theory. Hopefully after ten more years of hard study I'll be able to write articles like his.
http://www.invent-the-future.org
And here is his article on Ho Chi Minh. I'll have to stop myself from posting more of his articles or I'll never finish. Clearly I'll have to write a new alternative Media spotlight to do his site justice.
http://www.invent-the-future.org/2015/05/fifty-years-on-the-frontline-the-revolutionary-contributions-of-ho-chi-minh/
Now on to the books I recommend John Reed's classic "Ten Days That Shook the World" as an introduction. Thanks again to @RedKahina for the recommending the next two selections. Read the "Russian Revolution from Lenin to Stalin" by E.H Carr. This provides a much shorter version of his massive history of soviet Russia. Then move on to the three volume "The Bolshevik Revolution 1917-1923" by Edward Hallet Carr.
Of course you also need to read Marx and Lenin. Start with the communist manifesto by Karl Marx. Then read "what is to be done" by Lenin. There is a massive free archive of their writings and many more at marxists.org here
https://www.marxists.org
I've been watching a lot of great lectures of late from various events put on by CPGB-ML party check out their proletarian TV youtube channel their site is here. They are strong supporters of Novorossia, Syria and any country resisting imperialism.
http://www.cpgb-ml.org
Well This is more the enough to keep you busy for months or even years. I'll end by dedicating yet another article to my friend and Comrade Luci Frank fighting on against all the odds as @justfightX thank you for all your tireless support.
First a disclaimer this is not going to be a full account of the Russian Revolution. That is probably to large a topic to be dealt with in a single article and far to ambitious a topic for me to write on at the moment. It was literally only yesterday after all that I finally finished the classic "The Bolshevik Revolution 1917-1923" by E.H. Carr. Reading the book I realized just how little I know about the Russian Revolution. It is a topic needing many years of intense study. My Real reason for writing this is rather to encourage you to begin that study for yourself. Trust me there is no more dangerous subject on the planet then the history of revolutions. No more dangerous science then Marxist-Leninism. Unfortunately at least in America almost no one bothers with studying either topic. Thus the left is a truly laughable and confused state. Yet once things were different the Black Panthers made it a point that every member had to study revolutionary theory one or two hours a day. J. Edgar Hoover called them the greatest threat to national security in the country. As usual with such statements they are both laughably false but contain a grain truth. While a few thousand armed Black Panthers posed no real military threat to the Massive american war machine, their example was dangerous. Just like Venezuela poses no military threat to the united states but it's example alone has been enough to inspire states throughout Latin America to follow their lead to resist the insane Washington consensus and to move towards Socialism. The Black Panthers also provided a dangerous example and if only the masses had begun to follow their example and to study revolutionary theory for two hours a day the world might be very different and I might be writing from the United Socialist Soviet States of America. Instead they were killed, imprisoned, on false charges forced into exile. However they did serve to inspire such groups as the Red Army Faction in Germany, and Latino and Indigenous groups in the US and radicals in general. Others on the other hand who made a study of Lenin and the Russian Revolution would prove more successful. Mao Tse-tong Kim Il Sung, Ho Chi Minh, were all able to adapt Lenin's theories to their own situations and launch their own revolutions. Their revolutions in China, North Korea, and Vietnam are equally deserving of study. As are the writings of their leaders. This is why I am quite justified in saying that the study of the Russian revolution is the greatest danger for the system. It was not just the communist revolutionaries of Asia that were inspired by Lenin (and later Mao himself.) The African revolutionaries who fought heroically for independence were also inspired by it. Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah, and Amilcar Cabral all studied the Russian Revolution and Lenin's writings. And of course the Cubans, the Nicaraguans, the Venezuelan's were all inspired in part by Lenin and of course by the cuban revolution itself. The Russian revolutionaries themselves made close studies of the French revolutions, the Paris commune, the failed revolutions of 1848 and the Irish Easter uprising.
Thus the real purpose of writing this article is in the hopes of inspiring you to follow the example of past successful revolutionaries and actually study both the theory and practice of past revolutions and to read the writings of past revolutionaries. Because while it may seem impossible now I guarantee you that a time will come when revolution will be not only possible but actually likely. This is because the disastrous path of imperialism that the US and it's allies will inevitably lead to overextension. In fact it seems as if this is their strategy as I've remarked to literally wage war on the entire planet at once. Meanwhile ever since the 80's and particularly since the fall of the soviet union the west has pursued the same ruthless form of hyper-capitalism launching an attack on all the gains the people have made in the 20th century. Most of the planet live in or will soon live in giant slums. Starvation hunger and disease are on the march along with war endless war. In America itself there have been two uprisings in the past year alone inspired by poverty and police brutality. Even increasing numbers of white americans have learned that they are regarded as the enemy by their own government although for many they think the disease itself is the cure. I'm speaking of libertarians who seem not to have noticed that our current problems are the result of the "free market" that since Reagan we have put more and more of these free market policies into effect. As a result every year of my life that I can remember it has been the same refrain the rich are getting richer the poor are getting poorer and the middle class is steadily shrinking. Yet some seem to think that more of the same poison will miraculously cure us. Only by destroying capitalism can we ever be free. Only by destroying capitalism can we end war. Only by destroying capitalism can we end poverty, disease, and ignorance. But only by studying past revolutions can we move from mere activism to the possibility of actual radical change. Haven't we learned the folly yet of asking the system to be other then what it is? Only by adopting a new system can anything change. Capitalism inevitably leads to imperialism. Imperialism automatically leads to racism and war. Thus don't expect black lives to matter in a system that built itself on slavery. Don't expect them to give peace a chance when the entire economy is geared towards war. Don't expect bankers to stop robbing you blind merely because you ask them to be a little less greedy. They will never change until we seize power and force them to change or punish them for their crimes depending on our mood and the necessities of the moment. History has shown that only a tightly organized movement schooled in the ideology of revolution has any chance of success.
Now with that long introduction out of the way let us turn to the figure of Lenin. Well first I must state the obvious and say that Lenin was himself inspired by Marx. Of course it is vital to study Marx as well. He along with Engels originated the whole theory of Marxism. Based on his study of society, economics, and history he saw that the system itself was producing it's own downfall. Revolution would inevitably emerge out of the contradictions of modern capitalism. Apologies but that extremely simplified version is all I have time for since Marx would obviously require a series of articles or books in his own right. I'll put some links in the resource section and you can read him for yourself. So just in case you didn't go to college or if they have stopped teaching him altogether I'll just throw out two terms The Bourgeoisie the Capitalist class the owners and the Proletariate the workers. To put it in more recent terms the Bourgoise are the 1 percent (actualy.001% the proletariate are the 99% An immense simplification hopefully those who unlike me spent years studying this will instead of laughing at me realize the immense need for popularizers the sad truth is that there is an immense knowledge gap in the populace with a small number of people well versed in theory (also of course one must find the few with genuine revolutionary spirit left sad to say many have sold out long ago) versus a growing number of people with a purely emotional attachment to communism but who yet haven't done the necessary homework. Those who know and still care must take the sad task of teaching political literacy the ABC's of Marx, Lenin, and Mao just as the revolutionaries in Russia, and later Vietnam, Cuba had to actually go out and teach people to read and write. Now is the time! Well actually it is a case of rather late then never for first Ferguson and now Baltimore in the US have shown that conditions are already becoming intolerable. Paris and London too have seen their revolts in recent years not to mention Greece. And above all Latin America has shown the time is approaching. People everywhere feel that something is terribly wrong all that is needed is to teach them the tools to understand their condition. Unfortunately it will take decades to raise the level of class consciousness in any given country so if like me you haven't devoted enough attention to theory begin your studies now and if you've already done your homework then begin teaching now.
Another long tangent to return to Marx one could say broadly speaking that he gave birth to two separate forms of Socialists. One group sought to reform society within the confines of democracy. Unfortunately they would be either cheated of the chance of power in places like France and Italy. (See my June 2014 Operation Gladio article where I discuss the terror and treachery used to keep communists from coming to power democratically.) Equally often upon entering power they would be so compromised as to betray their principles. Notoriously the German Social democrats sided with the proto-Fascists in the violent suppression of the failed revolutions in Germany. Although Social Democrats did manage to make some important reforms by our own day they would become largely useless. Lenin was inspired in resistance to this tendency he wanted to seize genuine power and declare a dictatorship of the proletariate. He called the system we in the west live under Bourgeoisie democracy. Although he saw it as progress over the previous system he knew it was anything but "democratic." Democracy means rule by the people. Bourgoisie democracy is actually founded on insuring the right of a tiny minority to exploit the majority. It only provides the illusion of freedom and control. This fact was hard for people in the west to understand in the past however hopefully the hundred years of disappointments since culminating in the US with thr Obama presidency and now in Greece with Syriza will begin to awaken people to this fact. In the US especially we are given a choice between two war mongers who are bought by corporate interests, and who serve the interests of a small group of the rich, while ignoring the demands of the majority. They differ only in style and degree of madness.
While Marx provided the necessary analytical framework lenin was able to launch the second communist revolution. The first in many ways was the commune in France of 1871. Russia itself had not even reached the stage of Bourgeoisie Democracy. It was still a feudal monarchy. Any form of political resistance was largely illegal and as a result Russia swarmed with revolutionaries of many kinds. This topic would require an article or book in it's own right. So I'll just mention that Lenin's elder brother a Narodnik (they hoped to inspire revolution among the peasants) was involved in a failed plot to assassinate the Czar and was executed. Lenin became a Marxist. Ironically a sort of theoretical marxism had been allowed to spread because many of them saw the introduction of capitalism in Russia as an important step towards socialism. Anarchism Nihilism, and mysticism were also popular at the time. What separated Lenin from many of his contemporaries was continual dissatisfaction with the revolutionary forces in Russia. Lenin would come to prominence over the controversy surrounding his book What is to Be Done. In it he advocated the need for a revolutionary organization composed of well trained professional revolutionaries. This question would split the Russian marxists some favored a much broader party.This lead to the birth of the two factions the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks who would engage in an endless controversy until the revolution itself broke out. Many Mensheviks would bitterly oppose the October revolution. To read Lenin is to constantly be immersed in these disputes and nearly everything he wrote was born of bitter controversy.
Lenin was a fighter. He was in truth a man of many contradictions. A theorist with the genius for seeing the reality around him. Both a man of strict principle and when necessary a cunning opportunist. Ruthless and kind. A born organizer. He was a visionary. He was also the first Marxist to go beyond a narrowly Eurocentric view of the struggle. Lenin wrote Imperialism the Highest Stage of Capitalism (You can find this and all of Lenin's writings online for free) and was the first to see that one must form alliances with the colonized people in the struggle against imperialism. In fact Lenin's attitude was directly responsible for the Vietnamese revolution. The future Ho Chi Minh had become a socialist but was disgusted to find that most european socialists didn't take any interest in the colonial question. Then he discovered that Lenin had called for the liberation of all colonized people in Asia and in Africa. He traveled to Moscow to attend the third international and would later live and teach for years in the Soviet Union, educating vietnamese revolutionaries From a special university founded in the USSR dedicated to spreading revolution across Asia. Thus I cannot resist quoting Ho Cho Minh himself as cited by the great Carlos Martinez who I have been reading obsessively of late and who I couldn't help stealing a couple ideas for the present essay from. Hear is Ho Chi Minh on reading Lenin
What I wanted most to know was: which International sides with the peoples of colonial countries? I raised this question – the most important in my opinion – in a meeting. Some comrades answered: It is the Third, not the Second International. And a comrade gave me Lenin’s ‘Thesis on the national and colonial questions’ published by l’Humanite to read. There were political terms difficult to understand in this thesis. But by dint of reading it again and again, finally I could grasp the main part of it. What emotion, enthusiasm, clear-sightedness and confidence it instilled into me! I was overjoyed to tears. Though sitting alone in my room, I shouted out aloud as if addressing large crowds: ‘Dear martyrs, compatriots! This is what we need, this is the path to our liberation!’
After that, I had entire confidence in Lenin, in the Third International. Formerly, during the meetings of the Party branch, I only listened to the discussion; I had a vague belief that all were logical, and could not differentiate as to who were right and who were wrong. But from then on, I also plunged into the debates and discussed with fervour. Though I was still lacking French words to express all my thoughts, I smashed the allegations attacking Lenin and the Third International with no less vigour. My only argument was: ‘If you do not condemn colonialism, if you do not side with the colonial people, what kind of revolution are you waging?’
Yes reading Lenin isn't easy full of strange names and forgotten controversies. But stick with it and remember that the important thing is the ideas and attitudes that he is attacking that are important. Also of course context is everything. Usually he battles against complacency, sell outs, laziness, disconnection from the masses. Sometimes however he is forced to argue against the opposite tendencies people who are too revolutionary people's who have the right idea at the wrong time, or who refuse to seize opportunities. (See his "Left Wing Communism an infantile disorder" for one example) He was both a grand strategist and a tactician. For years he was marginalized hated not merely by Czarist Russia, and capitalist Europe but as mentioned by his fellow marxists. When world war one emerged he was again marginalized as he foresaw that the war would bring about conditions necessary for revolution he demanded that workers should be mobilized to help bring about defeat and revolution. Most Marxists in Europe refused to follow such an extreme and unpopular example. Instead they helped mobilize the masses as canon fodder in one of histories most bloody and senseless wars. By 1917 Lenin's position had proven prophetic in Russia at least. Now he had another brilliant idea. Traditionally marxists had believed that Russia would have to go through a long period of western style democracy which would lead to the expansion of capitalism which would then create the proper conditions for a revolution. Lenin foresaw that with the revolutionary mood in Russia where society was collapsing due to the strain of war it might be possible to quickly move from western style democracy to a Proletarian revolution. He hoped and believed that the Russian example would inspire the people's of western Europe to also rise up and overthrow their governments. Russia would then build socialism with the aid of already industrialized and newly socialist western Europe. Of course history has shown that he proved wrong about western Europe.Although revolutions did spread west they were quickly destroyed or successfully prevented. However he was right about the first part Russia was ready for a socialist revolution and thanks to the cynicism and desperation of wartime Germany he was smuggled back into Russia in the belief that he would be able to pull Russia out of the war.
Russia had already had it's first revolution by then installing a western style democracy. This is known as the February revolution. The new provisional government stubbornly refused to withdraw from the war however which gave Lenin his opening. Upon arriving in Russia he declared that it was time to begin preparation for a new revolution. One that would truly give power to the people. One truly capable of changing society forever. Even many of the Bolsheviks thought he was crazy at first but he began to win more and people over. While the intellectuals may not have been ready the people themselves who had nothing to lose were ready. All across the country they were organizing themselves into Soviets a form of direct democracy dating back to the earlier failed revolution of 1905. While the central government was continuously discrediting itself with the usual indecisiveness, corruption, and clownishness that characterize "democracy" in every land (I ask you who but comedians still pay attention to the antics of parliaments no one else can bear it) the central government began to loose more control to the power of the soviets. Soldiers soviets would refuse to fight. Peasants soviets demanded redistribution of land. Workers soviets were seizing control of their factories. Lenin became their voice demanding peace land and bread. He also demanded all power to the soviets. In June before even he was ready group of soldiers marched into st. petersburg then the capital sought out Lenin so they could swear their loyalty to the new revolution he was preaching. They were put down and Lenin was forced to go into hiding but events had already taken on a momentum of their own. He began to organize the revolution and since his party steadily grew in popularity the once marginal figure was listened to by more and more people. The secret of course was that only Lenin had bothered to listen to what the people wanted and he was also the only one who would dare to give them exactly what they wanted. Even where he knew that in the long term some of their ideas were wrong (on land reform he favored big efficient collective agriculture for instance while he knew the peasants wanted land of their own) he was willing to go along with them give them what they wanted and hope they could learn from their mistake. Above all he saw that by demanding power for the soviets he could break the power of the provisional government and launch in what was in many ways the first true revolution. This is because unlike past revolutions it aimed not to replace one exploiting class with another but to do away with exploitation altogether.
Another example of his brilliance was his stance on the national question. Russia was an empire. At the same time it was in many ways also a laboratory for neo-colonialism. Russia had a dual nature and history that survives to this day both an imperial country and a victim of imperialism most recently and obviously during the Yeltsin era when Russia nearly became a US colony in all but name. Thus Russia has a talent for both great power politics and for understanding and aiding movements for national liberation. Lenin with the same genius that saw how he could accomplish his goals by putting his support behind the people's soviets also declared that any group wishing independence from the Russian empire was welcome to it in the hope that instead of separating they would eventually unite in friendship. During the "Civil War" where "white" counter-revolutionaries backed by all the worlds imperialist powers tried to destroy the revolution this strategy would again bear fruit as the territories occupied by "white" generals who were imperialist to the core decided they would rather be equals with the soviets then resubjugated under a new russian empire. Thus after loosing control of almost the entire massive land of Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, etc. at one point, they would eventually regain control of all of it. Not only that but Lenin's anti-imperialist views would one day inspire a revolution in the largest country on the planet China. Incidentally contrary to popular belief China owes it's spectacular growth not to free market capitalism but to central planning. Thus while the people of the west were bought off with the spoils of empire frustrating all the hopes for revolution there the rest of the world was far more receptive as I mentioned at the beginning. Billions of American dollars and millions killed in counter-insurgency wars could not prevent the spread of revolution around the world.
Yes all those wonderful revolutions and struggles from around the world in Asia, in Africa and in Latin America. Even the west had it's revolutionaries if not it's revolutions. All of this history must be unearthed and celebrated. So many great names Ho Chi Minh, Fidel Castro, Amilcar Cabral, Daniel Ortega (thankfully alive and back in power) A whole alphabet of heroic revolutionary groups. FMLN, SWAPO, MK, PFLP. The 20th century was the century of revolution there is no doubt of it. Yet seemingly most of this has been all forgotten wiped from the pages of history. Or if not forgotten vilified.
Yes no revolution has been slandered as much as the Russian revolution. Yet if we have learned anything in the 21st century it is the extent to which conventional wisdom is often so much nonsense and how the MSM will shamelessly lie about everything turning truth on it's head. Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Rwanda, DRCongo we have been fed lies on all these countries that turned truth on it's head. Thus it is foolish to take at face value what we have been told about the Russian revolution because much of it is pure propaganda. Unfortunately it is propaganda that fits into the mindsets of even many in the alt-media and I have many times heard people who display the proper skepticism about the war on terror unthinkingly repeat cold war propaganda as if it was the absolute truth. We live in the heart of a capitalist and imperialist society do you really think that the media is going to tell you the truth about Communism? Yes people were killed, people were imprisoned. But there is reason to be suspicious of vastly inflated numbers. Conversely no one mentions the millions known to be killed by the counter revolutionaries who had inflicted all the brutalities of fascists and ISIS in their futile attempt to reinstate the rule for the benefit of aristocrats and capitalists. To give one example a white general gave orders not only for the murder of every communist and their family they could find but for the murder of every jew. The Russian Civil war was in many ways a preview of world war 2 Russia was surrounded by enemies from 14 countries and put under a brutal blockade. Thus if the soviets were forced to adopt tough tactics it was not because they were power crazed paranoid lunatics as we are so often told rather it was because the situation demanded it. The Bolsheviks did what was necessary to prevent what we have come to know so well any independent or socialist country is targeted for destruction. From Iran to Guatemala, to Chile, to Libya. In Latin America the US is simultaneously trying to Overthrow the Venezuelan government and every other left wing government in latin America, They are currently plotting a coup against the government of Ecuador. The Russian revolution did inspire two briefly successful revolutions in Hungary and Bavaria, and a couple unsuccessful ones in Germany but they were all brutally crushed. Thus it is silly to be naive about such things. The instant you have a revolution you will be under siege if you are not willing to fight to defend it, if you are not vigilant about CIA plots you will be destroyed. My main point is it is only after long study that we will be able to determine exactly what did or did not happen during the history of the USSR. Meanwhile we should keep in mind that they had every reason to be on their guard.
I mention this because in reading E.H. Carr's History which is actually more of a 3 volume analysis of different aspects of soviet society I realized that I didn't really know anything about the Russian revolution. I merely thought I knew about it. The political structure the soviet union it's actual economic policies, it's foreign policies had all been unknown to me instead I had the cartoonish image implanted in me in college of a small band of ruthless men seizing power. The initial fighting was actually quite insignificant they would never have been able to "seize" or hold onto power if they didn't have the support of the vast masses of people. It really was a people's rebellion the revolution spread across the country because everywhere people were inspired to carry it out themselves they seized the factories, and the land they refused to fight and formed themselves into peoples councils. It was only the emergency of war and the necessity to better organize the economy that lead to the gradual centralization of power. While the Bolsheviks acted in the capital it was the Russian people who spread the Russian revolution like wildfire across the country. It was resistance behind the lines that would inevitably doom the Counter-revolutionaries during the civil war. Whatever power Lenin had rested mostly on his prestige as the prophet of revolution and the voice of the people. When Lenin wanted a policy carried through he had to sit down and write a piece explaining why he was right and hope that he could convince people. This is what most of his writings were. Contrary to popular mythology the Russian revolution was a time of endless lively debate and controversy.
Now to backtrack a little to discuss the revolution itself. Ironically the revolution would divide once again the Bolsheviks from the Mensheviks. It revealed the embarrassing fact that when the time for revolution came many marxists sided with the bourgeoisie provisional government and against the revolution. Some so called socialists would rather anything other then a genuine revolution and many in their fear of the masses sided with the counter revolution. Only when it was clear that the revolution would be successful did many of them come around and begin to support the new soviet government. This is yet another lesson of the Russian revolution many so called leftists would doubtless react the same way today. There are many who would rather do anything other then change the world comfortable in lucrative gigs as controlled opposition. This is also why it is necessary to go back to reading revolutionary classics most people in the west have completely forgotten how to act and think in a revolutionary manner.
Lenin was a master of exposing the fakes, the cowards, the traitors that for all their rhetoric were blocking the path of the revolution. This is really what the revolution was all about the provisional government had to be overthrown because despite being packed with socialists it actually served as a puppet of the imperialist western allies, and was a bulwark against genuine revolution. It discredited itself by refusing to end the war, or to quickly enact land reform. Lenin captured the loyalty of the masses by promising to immediately carry out both policies and unlike the politicians in our democracies he did exactly what he said he would. The revolution occurred when the Soviets composed of workers, peasants, and soldiers voted in favor of disbanding the provisional government and taking power into their own hands. They were able to seize the winter palace with barely any resistance because the provisional government fled. Much of the military already in open rebellion sided with the revolution. Against all the odds and attacked by 14 different countries the Russian revolution survived and the west was eventually forced to accept it's existence although it's plots to destroy the soviet union would continue resulting in world war 2 when 27 million soviets would die defeating the fascist monster planted in Europe for the purpose of preventing the spread of communism and in the hopes that fascism would destroy communism. Then came the cold war aka world war 3 although this time millions of in the third world would die as imperialism sought to stop the spread of communism around the world. Korea Vietnam, Indonesia, El Salvador, and Guatemala were a just a few of the targets of the monstrous crimes committed during this era. Then with the fall of the soviet union imperialism merely intensified it's rampage no one knows exactly how many wars are being waged right now From Iraq to DRCongo, to Mexico, to Ukraine to Afghanistan and Yemen. Even the fall of the soviet union was not enough for the empire the mere idea of an independent or united Russia is apparently intolerable to them. All this is my usual topic but I will mention in passing that the Russian civil war had a quite fascinating history in Ukraine which E.H. Carr discusses.
Yes the soviet union eventually fell but it lasted for over 70 years an inspiration to revolutionaries around the globe. The reasons for it's decline and fall will have to wait for another day. (if Your interested I dealt with the topic in My June 2014 article "Russia from Gorbachev to Putin" also check out "socialism betrayed" by Roger Keeran and Thomas Kenny) However with the fall of the USSR the idea was put out that communism was dead. Of course in Cuba and North Korea it never fell at all while China is a hybrid. However the idea that the fall of the soviet union means that we must never again try to build a just society is an absurd one. After all the paris commune only lasted months. Yet people didn't abandon all hope after it fell. The Soviet Union fell as a result of the disastrous attempt to institute free market reforms. It fell because for some insane reason the soviet leadership thought it could make peace with the west. How could anyone believe mass murderers like Reagan and Bush could ever want peace. Instead the naive traitor Gorbachev was replaced by the drunken clown and puppet Yeltsin. Although Putin is an immense improvement over Yeltsin we can still dream that one day Russia may see a return to revolution. Down with the Oligarchs who stole what it took generations to build.
Meanwhile all over the world we must work to revive the revolutionary history, the revolutionary ideology, and revolutionary spirit of the past. We should be studying the revolutions just as intently as we pay attention to the events of today. Of course we must not only study the past we must also find creative ways to apply what we discover to the present day. So long as society is based on the exploitation of the few by the many the spirit of revolution will never die. The biggest lie of all is that we are powerless to change the world. That is the most important lesson of the Russian revolution it is possible to build a new kind of society. Our day will come so long as we work tirelessly to make it happen. We are in a far better position then before despite appearances for we have the lessons of nearly a hundred years of revolutions and socialist experiments to draw on. Not to mention many thousands of years of histories for the pre-modern socialist societies. Plus the centuries long history of resistance to imperialism slavery and genocide. Yet they tell me history is boring. It certainly is the way it is taught today with all the shocking bits taken out, all the rebellion and excitement intentionally removed. True history is many things both horrifying and inspiring but above all when studied correctly it is extremely dangerous. The world must reclaim it's revolutionary history. Don't be afraid of theory especially when that theory has been successfully employed again and again if the newly literate vietnamese peasants and Russian workers who grew up in semi-feudal villages were able to master it so too can you. Together we can destroy capitalism and imperialism. Long Live the revolution!
Sources
First much of what I said was inspired by reading Carlos Martinez check out his excellent site for his great articles on revolutionary history and theory. Hopefully after ten more years of hard study I'll be able to write articles like his.
http://www.invent-the-future.org
And here is his article on Ho Chi Minh. I'll have to stop myself from posting more of his articles or I'll never finish. Clearly I'll have to write a new alternative Media spotlight to do his site justice.
http://www.invent-the-future.org/2015/05/fifty-years-on-the-frontline-the-revolutionary-contributions-of-ho-chi-minh/
Now on to the books I recommend John Reed's classic "Ten Days That Shook the World" as an introduction. Thanks again to @RedKahina for the recommending the next two selections. Read the "Russian Revolution from Lenin to Stalin" by E.H Carr. This provides a much shorter version of his massive history of soviet Russia. Then move on to the three volume "The Bolshevik Revolution 1917-1923" by Edward Hallet Carr.
Of course you also need to read Marx and Lenin. Start with the communist manifesto by Karl Marx. Then read "what is to be done" by Lenin. There is a massive free archive of their writings and many more at marxists.org here
https://www.marxists.org
I've been watching a lot of great lectures of late from various events put on by CPGB-ML party check out their proletarian TV youtube channel their site is here. They are strong supporters of Novorossia, Syria and any country resisting imperialism.
http://www.cpgb-ml.org
Well This is more the enough to keep you busy for months or even years. I'll end by dedicating yet another article to my friend and Comrade Luci Frank fighting on against all the odds as @justfightX thank you for all your tireless support.
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