V. I. LENIN

THE STATE
AND
REVOLUTION

The Marxist Teaching on the State
and the Tasks of the Proletariat
in the Revolution



FOREIGN LANGUAGES PRESS
PEKING 1970

First Edition 1965
Second Printing 1970


Prepared © for the Internet by David J. Romagnolo, djr@cruzio.com (June 1997)

The present English translation of V. I. Lenin's The State and Revolution is a reprint of the text given in the Selected Works of V. I. Lenin, Eng. ed., Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow, 1952, Vol II, Part I. The notes at the end of the book are based on those given in the Selected Works and in the Chinese edition published by the People's Publishing House, Peking, in September 1964.



C O N T E N T S


PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

1

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

4

Chapter I
CLASS SOCIETY AND THE STATE


5

    1.

2.
3.

4.

The State as the Product of the Irreconcilability of Class
Antagonisms
Special Bodies of Armed Men, Prisons, etc.
The State as an Instrument for the Exploitation of the
Oppressed Class
The "Withering Away" of the State and Violent Revolution


5
9
13

17

Chapter II
THE STATE AND REVOLUTION. THE EXPERIENCE OF 1848-51


26

1.
2.
3.

The Eve of the Revolution
The Revolution Summed Up
The Presentation of the Question by Marx in 1852

26
31
39

Chapter III
THE STATE AND REVOLUTION. EXPERIENCE OF THE PARIS
  COMMUNE OF 1871. MARX'S ANALYSIS



42

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Wherein Lay the Heroism of the Communards' Attempt?
With What Is the Smashed State Machine to Be Replaced
Abolition of Parliamentarism
Organization of the Unity of the Nation
Abolition of the Parasite State

42
47
53
60
64

Chapter IV
CONTINUATION. SUPPLEMENTARY EXPLANATIONS BY ENGELS


67

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

The Housing Question
Controversy with the Anarchists
Letter to Bebel
Criticisms of the Draft of the Erfurt Program
The 1891 Preface to the Civil War in France
Engels on the Overcoming of Democracy

67
71
76
79
88
95

Chapter V
ECONOMIC BASIS OF THE WITHERING AWAY OF THE STATE


99

1.
2.
3.
4.

Presentation of the Question by Marx
The Transition from Capitalism to Communism
The First Phase of Communist Society
The Highest Phase of Communist society

99
102
109
113

Chapter VI
THE VULGARIZATION OF MARXISM BY THE OPPORTUNISTS


123

1.
2.
3.

Plekhonov's Controversy with the Anarchists
Kautsky's Controversy with the Opportunists
Kautsky's Controversy with Pannekoek

124
125
134

POSTSCRIPT TO THE FIRST EDITION

145

NOTES

146




From Marx
to Mao

Lenin
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Notes on
the Text
Below




From Marx to Mao

Lenin Collection

Reading Guide