What is Internationalism?
Internationalism is the united struggle of the working class, the oppressed, and the exploited on a global scale. This means nothing less than that in a world where the people in power have started to trade and fight wars on a global scale, those that are exploited and oppressed must likewise form new chains of global solidarity. Because simply put: our enemy is the same and we can only defeat it together.
Lenin emphasized the notion first developed by Marx and Engels: the proletariat has no fatherland; its true homeland is class solidarity. Proletarian internationalism has been at the heart of the proletarian struggle ever since the proletariat started organizing against capitalism and increased in relevance as capitalism developed into imperialism. Proletarian Internationalism is based on the unity of the international working class, the struggle against imperialism, support for oppressed nations around the world, and the development of socialist revolutions worldwide. Especially Lenin defended the right of oppressed nations to determine their own destiny, stating that this was not contrary to internationalism but an integral part of it. Because true internationalism rejects the domination and exploitation of one people by another. According to Lenin, internationalism is not merely solidarity in words, but the development of revolutionary struggle against the bourgeoisie in every country and the unconditional support of similar struggles in other countries.
The Historical Development of Internationalism
In the pre-imperialist period, the understanding of internationalism took shape on a different basis. The experience of the Paris Commune showed that a lasting revolutionary victory in a single country was impossible without a Europe-wide revolution. The alliance of the French and German bourgeoisies against the Paris Commune led Marx and Engels to develop the idea of a continent-wide revolution.
However, during the imperialist period, capitalist competition intensified, and as a result of the law of uneven development, the possibilities for revolution and socialism emerged in one or a few countries. Lenin, with his dialectical materialist approach, carried out a strategic transformation appropriate to these new historical conditions. The strategy of the world revolution was reformulated, emphasising that one of the fundamental tasks of internationalism was to achieve victory for the revolution in one’s own country. According to the strategy of victory for the revolution in one or several countries, Lenin stated that internationalism essentially meant achieving the revolution in one’s own country.
So where are we now?
In the era of imperialism, production and surplus value take place in the world market, and therefore crises occur on a global scale. The 2008 crisis and the subsequent political crises in Latin America, Southern Europe, Arab countries, Turkey and Iran are examples of this. These show how the contradictions between imperialist powers are intensifying; as the US hegemonic power weakens, blocs centred on China and the US are deepening. Capitalism’s structural crisis and the need for a new division of labour are increasing the threat of war. Nevertheless, despite their conflicts, imperialists jointly use their technological and military superiority to suppress revolutions.Under these conditions, the international struggle of the world’s working class and oppressed peoples has become much more imperative than in the past.
As the combined international struggle is becoming much more important, given the potential for crises, movements, resistance and revolutions to influence each other, one form of international struggle is to raise the revolutionary struggle and its propaganda in every country. Another form is direct practical solidarity. The flotillas that set sail for the Palestinian people’s struggle for freedom and the struggle of the hundreds of people who joined those flotillas are a practical reflection of this international solidarity. Especially in regions where geographical, social and cultural proximity exists, this solidarity must be taken to higher levels, and simultaneous revolutions must be transformed into regional and united revolutions. Proletarian internationalism aims for united revolutions and a federation of socialist republics under favourable conditions. The International Brigades that fought against Franco’s fascism in the Spanish Civil War are one of the historical peaks of this understanding.
International Revolutionaries
An international revolutionary is someone who advocates that the liberation struggle of the world’s working class and oppressed peoples is a united struggle, and who builds their revolutionary practice with an international sense of responsibility. The international battalions in Rojava, the revolutionaries who participated in the Spanish Civil War, and examples of solidarity with Palestine are concrete expressions of this.
An international revolutionary knows that capitalism and imperialism are a global system, defends the necessity of global revolutionary solidarity, recognises the right of nations to self-determination but does not succumb to nationalism, and takes the slogan ‘Workers of the world, unite!’ as their guide. According to Lenin, internationalism is ‘not merely a declaration of solidarity in words, but the willingness to fight against one’s own bourgeoisie for the sake of a revolutionary in another country when necessary.’ An international revolutionary is theoretically equipped and masters class analysis; in practice, they assert themselves; they are active on the streets, in strikes, in revolutionary activities, and believe in international solidarity: they connect with struggles in Rojava, Palestine, Latin America, etc., and do not postpone the struggle in their own country, but establish it as part of the international revolutionary struggle.
Revolutionary Personality
Under today’s conditions of imperialist globalisation, the type of revolutionary needed for the revolution is the international revolutionary. However in order to become such revolutionaries we also have to talk about developing personalities that are equipped to face the challenges of todays world. A
revolutionary organises their life according to the needs of the revolution and the people. They oppose the state apparatus with revolutionary organisations, bourgeois ideology with Marxism-Leninism, and capitalist culture with socialist culture. They defend collectivism against individualism, sharing against selfishness, and comradeship against alienation.What matters is deciding how to equip themselves with Marxist-Leninist ideology, using the dialectical and historical materialist scientific method, what with, how, with whom, in what way and at what time. Revolutionaries become revolutionary to the extent that they break away from the habits and values imposed by the capitalist system. To the extent of the power of their own transformation, they can transform the proletariat and the whole society. Therefore, training revolutionaries is the fundamental task of revolutionary organisations. A revolutionary personality takes a holistic approach to correct living, correct stance, correct political practice, correct tactics and correct comradeship. Revolutionary life cannot be reduced to a private sphere–public sphere distinction; it is a whole.
Young People in Europe and Our Responsibilities
As young people fighting in Europe, our duty is to strengthen revolutionary ethics, create revolutionary personalities, and treat this as a collective responsibility. Ideological struggle must be among our priorities. The revolutionary struggle continues not only in our own countries but all over the world. We must position ourselves according to the needs of the revolution, ready to fight wherever there is a revolutionary movement, wherever a people is oppressed and exploited. We must think of ourselves as fighting in every way, everywhere in the world. Because only in this way can we wage an international struggle, only in this way can we strengthen international solidarity. Young people in Europe must fight for the international struggle, both for the occupied and exploited countries and to expand our struggle against the imperialist European states that support occupation and exploitation in every sense. We must expose the war crimes and arms deals of imperialist states and be actively present on the streets. We must amplify the voice of women’s and LGBTI+ freedom struggles from Europe with a women’s revolution perspective.
Long live our international struggle!
Long live socialism!