Social chauvinism

The term social chauvinism denotes a nationalist - war-advocate attitude within the labor movement . It is an extension of the term chauvinism .

Lenin used the term social chauvinism as early as 1915 and in his April theses of 1917. The term is made up of socialism / social democracy and chauvinism.

“The poor Russian social chauvinists, socialists in words, chauvinists in fact, don't know what to do anymore.”

- Lenin, April theses 1917

In the work The Situation in the Socialist International he explains that by “social chauvinists” defenders of the “ fatherland ” are to be understood “in the imperialist war”. This is the "majority of the official leaders of the official social democracy in all countries". The social-chauvinists are “ class opponents ”, the “ bourgeois within the labor movement”, who represent the “strata, intermediate strata and groups of the working class” with better wages, honorary posts , etc. and who help the bourgeoisie “ plunder and oppress small and weak peoples ".

Lenin also used this term in his work Socialism and War in order to a. to criticize Karl Kautsky's "class betrayal" . Lenin refers the term social chauvinism to the First World War . In the chapter What is Social Chauvinism? he defines the term as follows:

“Social chauvinism is advocating the idea of ​​defending the fatherland in this war. This idea also results in the renunciation of the class struggle during the war, the approval of war credits , etc. In reality, the social-chauvinists pursue an anti-proletarian , a bourgeois policy, because what they advocate is in reality not the 'defense of the fatherland' in the sense the struggle against foreign rule, but the 'right' of one or the other 'great' power to plunder colonies and oppress foreign peoples. The social-chauvinists go along with the popular deception of the bourgeoisie by repeating it that the war is being waged to defend the freedom and existence of nations, and so they go over to the side of the bourgeoisie, they turn against the proletariat. The social-chauvinists include those who justify the governments and the bourgeoisie of one of the belligerent groups of power and gloss over their policies, as well as those who, like Kautsky, grant the socialists of all belligerent powers alike the right to 'defend the fatherland'. Since social-chauvinism is actually defending the privileges , positions of power , raids and acts of violence of 'its own' (or anyone else's) imperialist bourgeoisie, it is synonymous with total betrayal of all socialist principles and of the resolution of the International Socialist Congress in Basel . "

- Lenin, Socialism and War 1915

Elsewhere, Lenin describes social-chauvinism as "accomplished", "open and vulgar" "opportunism".

Related to the term social chauvinism is the term social patriotism .

See also

• Liberal Hawk
• Welfare chauvinism

literature

• Vladimir Ilyich Lenin: Socialism and War. Six works from 1915/1916. Berlin 1968
• Leon Trotsky : A step towards social patriotism. On the position of the Fourth International against war and fascism. March 7, 1939.
• Selim Nadi: The French Communist Party and its attitude to social chauvinism and colonialism 1920 to 1936 , in: Arbeit - Bewegungs - Geschichte , Issue I / 2018, pp. 45–62.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lenin: The tasks of the proletariat in our revolution, The situation in the socialist international . In: Werke, Volume 24, Berlin 1974, p. 58 ff.
2. ↑ Lenin: Chapter 1: The Principles of Socialism and War 1914/1915: What is Social Chauvinism? In: Socialism and War. Six works from 1915/1916 .