The USSR was a contradictory society. When Stalin and Bukharin pushed
through "socialism in one country", it entailed the kind of repressive
measures that began with the left opposition being throttled. Marx,
Engels and Lenin never conceived of socialism being built in a single
country. In the early 20s, the Comintern shot itself in the foot by
imposing its strategy on the German CP. If it had simply allowed Paul
Levi to steer the party in the right direction, it is altogether
possible that Hitler never would have come to power. All these questions
are interesting but you can't rewrite history except in a novel. As I
said the other day, dredging up ancient history is a sterile exercise
unless it serves as a guide to current-day struggles. I doubt that BLM
activists will get much out of reading about the Stalin-Trotsky debates.
They're better off reading Dubois.
On 12/27/20 9:26 AM, Michael Meeropol wrote:
(and not to put too fine a point on it --- The USSR defeated Hitler
--- the rest of the action --- Italy, North Africa, Normandy was
almost window dressing. Would a non-industrial USSR with an economy
that resembled 1928 been able to do that?)
--- these are not snarky rhetorical questions just to raise a fuss ---
they are probably the most crucial questions from the point of view of
world history between 1928 and the end of WW II that probably cannot
be answered definitively .... but maybe somewhat??
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