Chapter II, §3 — What Lenin Finds Distinctive in Marx's Theory

V. I. Lenin · The State and Revolution

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Section summary

The subsection added for the second edition uses Marx's 1852 letter to Weydemeyer to distinguish recognition of class struggle from the political conclusions Lenin regards as specifically Marxist. Earlier historians and economists had already recognised classes and conflict. Lenin argues that stopping at those observations leaves room for accepting capitalist society while acknowledging its divisions.

He identifies the decisive further claim as the need for a transitional dictatorship of the proletariat directed toward the abolition of classes. Here dictatorship refers to the class basis and coercive function of political power; the term alone does not settle the institutional questions of representation, dissent, or accountability. Lenin also argues that different bourgeois state forms share a capitalist class character, while the transition may itself take varied political forms. The section sharpens his boundary between Marxism and reformism, and invites readers to assess the argument rather than use the boundary as a substitute for evidence.

Key claims

Lenin argues that acknowledging class struggle is not sufficient to distinguish Marxism from other theories.
He treats proletarian dictatorship as a transition toward the abolition of classes rather than an eternal political arrangement.
The class character of a state and its particular political form are analytically distinct in his account.

Pause & reflect

For discussion

Use these questions for individual reflection or a study circle. Return to the passage to support your answer.

Why does Lenin think a theory can acknowledge class conflict yet remain compatible with capitalist rule?
What additional premises connect the existence of class struggle to the necessity of a proletarian dictatorship?
Which institutional questions remain unanswered by identifying the class said to rule?

Terms in context

dictatorship of the proletariat: In Lenin's usage, transitional working-class rule that suppresses capitalist resistance; the phrase does not itself specify all institutions.
class abolition: The ending of social positions defined by exploitation and opposed ownership relations, rather than the physical elimination of people.
political form: The concrete arrangements through which rule operates, distinguished from the class relations that rule sustains.

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