1850 Address to the Communist League

Anti-Imperialism, War and Peace, Week 1a

1848 in Berlin

1850 Address to the Communist League

When history is on the move the changes run all over the place. The job of the communists is invariably to urge history on, and to push all the players, including the bourgeoisie, to play their parts to the utmost extent.

The phrase "permanent revolution" belongs first to Marx, and not to Trotsky. It comes from the March, 1850 Address given by Karl Marx to the Central Committee of the Communist League, of which "permanent revolution" are the last two words. See the attachment or below for a link to a downloadable file of this great document.

"Permanent revolution" only means a qualitative change that will be defended.

It does not mean that the revolution is irreversible.

Nor does it mean that the same revolution has to be repeated constantly, like the punishment of Sisyphus.

The March, 1850 Address to the Communist League is an internationalist document. At the time, the newly formed communist organisations were active all over Europe, in a time when monarchies were falling and feudalism was on the way out in many countries.

This document is also a fore-runner of the National Democratic Revolution. In those days, there were revolutionary class struggles going on between the bourgeoisie and the feudal reactionaries, and also between the bourgeoisie and the new proletariat that it was creating. Marx shows that class alliances were necessary, and that democracy needed to be extended to the utmost possible degree. Class alliance and democracy remain the key elements of the National Democratic Revolution.

Read this powerful document with care and attention!

·        The above is to introduce the original reading-text: Address to the Communist League Central Committee, March 1850, Marx.