What does Lenin's legacy mean one hundred years after the Bolshevik leader's death? The October Revolution made it possible for Finland to establish an independent bourgeois state with Lenin's approval. The agreements of Brest Litovsk, the naive and inexperienced leadership of the working class in Finland, and the intervention of the Germans contributed to the fact that Lenin handed over the document of independence not to the representatives of the workers, as he would have liked, but to the bourgeoisie. The civil war that started right after that and the defeat of the Reds sent the rebels underground, to prisons, concentration camps or Soviet Russia. The Communist Party (SKP) was founded in exile in Moscow only after the defeat, and it was illegal in Finland from the beginning. After Lenin's death, the Stalinist bureaucracy began to strengthen its position, and it was not very difficult to manipulate the SKP. Bourgeois Finland's attitude towards Russia was aggressive, hostile and Russophobic. Stalin's adventurism in the winter war of 1939 further fueled Russian hatred. After the war, special relations prevailed until the Soviet Union was driven into political bankruptcy. After that, Finnish Bourgeoisie returned to anti-Russian positions, joined the EU and, since last year, finally joined NATO. If Sweden also joins this military alliance, the Baltic Sea will become NATO's inner lake.
The collapse of the Soviet Union has spread enormous confusion among the international left and even more so among the proletariat. On the international level, most of the leftists rejected Lenin's theoretical and political legacy and saw Leninism as the cause of not only the disaster but of the phenomenon of Stalinism as well. Despite the illusions, Lenin's legacy is alive today, both theoretically and as a living force. You can see it from how both the central powers of imperialist capitalism, which is in a stage of decline and in its deathbed, and the oligarchic states hate and fear Lenin in principle. The power of a living Leninism lies firstly in the dynamics of the Marxist method, and the potential of the class struggle for deep transformation. These two camps, both in an existential crisis, faced off in Ukraine. The victory of imperialism would put the world closer to global barbarism. The defeat of imperialism is a necessity for humanity and the whole civilization as well. The proxies of imperialism in Ukraine are currently facing a fatal defeat. There is only one way forward for imperialism now. That's the path to escalation.
Ukraine's defeat makes the clash between the USA and Russia topical. This conclusion has been reached by Robert Bauer, the chairman of NATO's military committee, who stated without hesitation: "Let's prepare for war against Russia." Finland's 1,340 kilometer border has been handed over to the US army. The USA gets 15 base areas for its own use. American troops are permanently repatriated to Finland. Even the scenarios of stockpiling nuclear weapons in Finland have not been ruled out. At the same time, NATO is preparing for the largest military exercise in its history. Steadfast Defender 24 will take place from February 28 to April 21. More than 90,000 soldiers are participating in the military exercise. It is a rehearsal for the planned war against Russia. According to a NATO official, the eastern front of the escalation extends along the axis from Finland to Romania. A second part of the military exercise is planned to take place in May. A smaller military exercise Winter-24 started in Estonia in January. The Estonian military participates in it. The military exercises in question were planned at the NATO summit in Vilnius last July.
No one is going to offer the keys to power to the proletariat. Power is only taken by force. The war in the Middle East is part of the same development towards the east. In addition to the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians, the target is Lebanon, Iran, Central Asia, and through it also China. Against Russia, both Baltic and Black sea fronts will be attempted. On the eve of the Great War, the present moment contains both aspects of massive destruction and the possibility of deep transformation. Seeds of a transition to a new historical era. This road passes through the collapse of capitalism and imperialism, and ends in the emancipation of the working population in the socialist era. For this task we need Lenin's legacy, analysis of the prevailing situation, the power of class struggle, proper organization and orientation towards internationalism. In this way, we can prepare our own 1917 socialist revolution, leaving behind everything that refers to class cooperation and compromise.
This is the only way to avoid a world war and a nuclear disaster. If one breaks out, we must turn the war into a socialist revolution. This is the revolutionary challenge of today's Leninism. That is why Lenin's legacy is very crucial today. The successor to Leninism and Bolshevism, that is Trotskyism is dangerous for both the bourgeoisie and the oligarchs. We must return to Lenin. The international working class and its vanguards must complete the social global revolutionary change that began in October 1917 and remained unfinished. It will only happen when we succeed in forging the irreplaceable and vital tool for it: the revolutionary International of our time, which in our opinion should be the 4th International!