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? of the eposh of imperialism and proletarian revolutions." — The epoch of imperialism and proletarian revolutions was ‘defined clearly by two events: World War I and The Russian . ‘In the reading below Stalin refers'to Leninism as Marxism Revolution. World War 1 eleame. demonstrated that:.the entire world had been touched. by the exapnston of capitalism. «The | World: War represented the first war -in which the eombetants ° were fighting over how to anon the wealth, resources, and -. territory of the entire e » This meant that & worldwide | system of imperialism had finally come into existence. The advent of imperialism changed the nature of any Yrevolution’which occurred after this period. Before this time it was possible for bourgeios revolutions such as that - of the United States to occur. Once imperialism became a — world system any country that engaged in revolution had to. ‘sither be anti-imperialist and, therefore, anti-capitalist 7 or else merely exckanging one form'of being lackeys to imperialists. for another. There could no longer bs any independent capitalist — . countries. This also meanti.that any country which staged an . . anti-imoerialist revolution was by nature siding with the international proletarian revolution. The Russian Revolution -- provided the model for proletarian revolutions and provided. for the first time a link between the proletariat of Western ‘Europe and the oppressed nations of the East,. which were stirring in revolt. ; : Lenin concretely defined hia time as the age of imperialism in his work of 1916, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. He was, however, even more noted for his detailed analysis of .- how a revolution should be organized. Lenin was uncompromising on two points which were sources of great debate amongst socialists of his time; 1) the leading force of the revolution must be a vanguard varty comprised of pnefessional revolutionaries. The varty must represent the interests of the proletariat! and must have a single political line rather than be a> conglomeration of different points of view 2) revolution could ony be achteved through armed struggle leading to the dictatorship of the pro- letariat. It could not be reached through electoral reform (i.e. voting socialism into office) ; Read ing List State and Revolution-- Lenin -- His most famous work in which he outlines the necessity for armed struggle and the future blueprint ofr a communist society. 120 op Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism -- 100 pp. A sirply written outline of the structure of imperialism (monopoly capitalism). This 18 where he defines his time ag the epoch of imperialism and is the basis for why the Weather Underground today continually emphasizes that our time 18 the era of the decline of imperialisn.