[conclude a democratic peace is like preaching virtue…]

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conclude a democratic peace is like preaching virtue to brothelsubmerged in feudal relations.

Hence in Russia the proletariat, far from constituting the majority of the population, as Marx envisaged, in fact represented only a small minority. And along with this underdeveloped economy sat the czar who, in an equally primitive way, autocratically and brutally governed the country. Despite the pockets of capitalism within the cities, Russia seemed to live in the Middle Ages.

Accordingly, Georgi Plekhanov, who was one of the most esteemed Russian Marxists at this time, calculated that socialism was completely unthinkable in Russia—that instead a bourgeois revolution was the goal to rally around. Once capitalism was allowed to develop so that the majority of the population would be proletarianized, then socialism would be a genuine possibility.

Having been won over to an historical perspective by Marx, Plekhanov was convinced of the impossibility of leaping over historical stages. The logical conclusion that flowed from this analysis, he reasoned, was that the revolutionary workers must take their lead from the liberal capitalist manacles from the countryside and expropriate the land of the feudal aristocracy, which would then clear the way for an unfettered capitalist development.

He cited two reasons for this appraisal: First, the bourgeoisie would not allow the expropriation of the property of the aristocracy for fear that the spirit of expropriation might surge out of control and, at the workers' insistence, be directed at bourgeois property as well.

Second, many of the landed estates were mortgaged to the banks of the bourgeoisie and hence confiscation would imply a direct attack on bourgeois property itself.

Ironically the bourgeoisie could not lead its own revolution. The only possible the leading force, a coalition which he termed "the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat and peasantry."

Leadership of the proletariat Leon Trotsky was one of the few to question this strategical framework. As early as 1904 he reiterated Marx's argument that the peasantry is never capable of leading a revolution. First, it is scattered throughout the countryside with little means of communication, which is vital for the solidification of class interests.

Second, the peasantry itself is comprised of deep class divisions; it includes the very rich who hire others to work for them and the very poor who are forced to sell their The demand for peace that the Bolshevik leaders directed to the Provisional Government was mocked: "To urge that government to conclude a democratic peace is like preaching virtue to brothel-keepers."

Finally, the "Theses" called for a government of Soviets, i.e., a government of workers and poor peasants.

Seventy years ago, Lenin steered the Bolshevik Party into a new theoretical framework, which unfortunately has yet to be absorbed by many who today confront the task of revolution in semicolonial countries.

Unfortunately, many people who consider themselves revolutionists have failed to grasp the implication of Lenin's analysis, hammered out in light of the concrete experience in Russia:

"There is no middle course anywhere in the world. Either the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie...or the dictatorship of the proletariat. He who has not learned this from the whole history of the 19th century is a hopeless idiot."

Aside from the hyperbole, the point remains valid.

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'Matewan': Class struggle in the W. Va. coal mines Director John Sayles on the set of "Matewan."

As a young man, John Sayles hitchhiked around the country, and while traveling through West Virginia he heard the story of the bloody 1920 strike in the coal mines. The strike battles led to the recognition of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) as the bargaining agent for tens of thousands of unorganized, poorly paid workers.

Sayles decided to make a movie about this chapter of hidden labor history, and "Matewan" is that film. This is a gripping, tense story of rural workers fighting for their lives against a ruthless company intent on keeping a union off its property.

In the very first scene, we see a coal company goons in her boarding house.

We also see a wide array of local characters-including the sheriff who backs the miners against the company gunmen, a traitor, the miners' wives, and Black and Italian workers who are brought in to bust the strike. Their screen time is well balanced, effectively giving the rank and file center stage.

The Black workers quickly realize that they are being used by the company as scabs and are being worked in slave-like conditions. They reach out to the white local miners, but are initially rebuffed. The Italian workers are torn by their contradictory situation, and also face a MOVIE REVIEW language barrier.

The local miners vow to use force to stop the scabs, but at Kenehan's urging, turn to persuasion. Each individual miner must examine his own weaknesses and prejudices in this charged situation.

Sayles uses a musical motif to accentuate the process of coming together. The local miners, playing country fiddle, complain about the Italians' mandolin and the Blacks' bluesy harmonica. Ultimately, the instruments blend in harmony.

In a dramatic nocturnal scene the strikebreakers throw their tools at the feet of the armed company men and march off, defiantly singing "Bandera Rossa," the Italian workers' anthem.

Rooted in reality

When this strategy of dividing the workers fails, the bosses bring their economic power to bear as well. The company owns everything in town, and they gradually begin evicting miners from their homes, and then from a tent encampment. Finally they rely on violence.

The goons carefully orchestrate a terrifying crescendo of threats, provocations, beatings, torture, and killings. They intend to provoke a bloodbath, and the miners debate among themselves how to respond.

Part of the answer lies in spreading support among other workers. "Matewan" is rich in practical lessons for labor activists today, but films are not to be judged on this basis. The movie succeeds brilliantly because it is rooted in reality. It shows us the courage and nobility of ordinary mortals, who, like us, are fearful, sometimes selfish, and sometimes easily misled.

This is a wonderful story, and it works even though there are no great moral complexities in the tale. The workers are portrayed as profoundly human—with strengths and weaknesses-and the bosses' men are pure evil. This could be a formula for stale lecturing, but Sayles avoids this pitfall.

A time of turmoil "Matewan" focuses entirely on the local situation and there are only a few references to life outside the town and the mine. Some of the talk is about World War I Sayles counterposes the experience of Kenehan, imprisoned for his opposition to a war amongst the rich for territory, and the experience of a company man, who used the war to vent his sadism.

Sayles also gives himself a spooky cameo role as a fundamentalist preacher declaiming against Bolshevism and the Devil, a reminder of the 1917 Russian Revolution.

This intense, profoundly radical film would have been more powerful if we had some sense, even from dialogue, of the turmoil gripping the country in the aftermath of World War I and the Russian Revolution. The year 1919 saw the Seattle general strike, a steelworkers strike of 376,000, and a campaign for the eight-hour day in the garment and textile industry.

The conflict at Matewan served as a prelude to the coal wars of 1921 and 1922, when thousands of armed miners confronted the private armies of the bosses. This battle ended only when President Harding called in

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