Left communism is the range of communist viewpoints held by the communist left, which criticizes the political ideas of the Bolsheviks at certain periods, from a position that is asserted to be more authentically Marxist and proletarian than the views of Leninism held by the Communist International after its first and during its second congress. Left communism first came into being as a clear movement in or around 1918. Its essential features were: a stress on the need to build a communist party entirely separate from the ...
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Left communism is the range of communist viewpoints held by the communist left, which criticizes the political ideas of the Bolsheviks at certain periods, from a position that is asserted to be more authentically Marxist and proletarian than the views of Leninism held by the Communist International after its first and during its second congress. Left communism first came into being as a clear movement in or around 1918. Its essential features were: a stress on the need to build a communist party entirely separate from the reformist and centrist elements who were seen as having betrayed socialism in 1914, opposition to all but the most restricted participation in elections and an emphasis on the need for revolutionaries to move on the offensive. Apart from that, there was little in common between the various wings. Only the Italians accepted the need for electoral work at all for a very short period of time, which they later vehemently opposed, attracting the wrath of Lenin attacking Bordiga in "Left-Wing" Communism: An Infantile Disorder.
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