In defence of Lenin he was actively opposed to the slaughterhouse that was the First World War.

It is a hard to remember now but the whole of European democracy loudly embraced the War and played the patriot war card.The only parties to oppose it were the Bolsheviks in Russia and the Independent Labour Party together with a very few parties in Holland.

In Germany the home of the largest Labour type party in the world only Karl Liebknecht voted against "war credits" in the German parliament.He was to spend time in prison for his anti war work and was murdered along with Rosa Luxemburg, in 1919.

The anti war position was a hard one to take especially in the first years of the war.In 1916 when an international peace conference was called at Zimmerwald in Switzerland the delegates who attended numbered around 30 including Lenin.

I think he saved the honour of International Socialism and the huge anti war rebellions broke out with the help of left wing agitation in both Russia and Germany within the next two years.Also this anti war atmosphere infected the french and British armies ...the soldiers wanted an end to the war madness and that made Lenin an inspiration to the most political and anti war sections of the working class throughout Europe.

Alistair Hulett has made a great CD about Red Clydeside which is ,in part,about Lenin's ally in Scotland,John McLean.
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