VLADIMIR LENIN AND HIS THEORY OF IMPERIALISM

I. Introduction
- Vladimir Lenin’s Life
a. Family
b. Education
c. Revolutionary Life
- Philosophical Influences
a. Chernyshevsky
b. Karl Marx
II. Imperialism Theory
- Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism Summary
- Analysis on his theory of Imperialism
III. Conclusion

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 I. Introduction
There is a point in life wherein you will realize that you are living in an unfair world
– cruel and evil. But as what Aguja (2015) said that life is unfair to be fair, life is full of
problems, pain and injustices yet these reality are not reflected enough with the people,
they tend to continue to view their lives in the world in an unfair manner that we, humans
are living in the unfair, cruel and shrewd system where elites – businessmen and
politicians – and the powerful continue to be rich while the poor continue to become
poorer. The unfair manifestation of the world has been the rooting point of some known
individuals who fought for change, who fought in breaking the old chain of reality and who
fought for equity in the society.
Furthermore, these people who manifested to the world that we have to work on
something, fight and break the old chain of the reality of the world, succeeded and have
proven to the world that there is nothing impossible. These individuals who tend to show
to the world that nothing is impossible if you just believe in yourself and that you can make
it no matter what other people would have thought and said did make a difference in the
world, to name few: Fidel Castro of Cuba, Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Vladimir
Lenin of Russia and many more. These people have been the breaker of the chain of the
realities of the world which have changed the world order and the system of the world
itself. Moreover, in the context of Russia, where Vladimir Lenin was known, wherein he
is the one who founded the Russian Communist Party, who led the Bolshevik Revolution
and was the architect of Soviet state (www.biography.com). His picture was launched in
outer space because he was so adored, his brain has been studied to find out what made
him such a genius, his body has been preserved so that millions of people will line up
annually and see him with their own eyes and he was called the human of all humankind.
But on another view, he was called treacherous, deluded, out of touch and insane,
however, regardless of that he has greatly contributed not just on Russia but to the world.
Among many authors that have published notable books with regards to Lenin,
they keep on emphasizing that there are little things they have known about his life.
Accordingly, he is a famous person in Russia yet the people has little knowledge about
his own life. Sowards (1992) notes that,
“[He] the picture of the Father of Revolution looked benignly
down from giant posters over Red Square, and countless
photographs of him appeared in the Western press. But the
man behind the picture was almost unknown – in Russia as
well as in the West. Lenin was obsessively secretive about
himself… when his friends inquired too closely into aspects of
his personal life, his tastes, his likes and dislikes, he shoved
their questions aside as “trivial” and “unimportant”. The cause,
the work, the Revolution – these were the things that
mattered.” (Sowards, 1992, p. 149)
Moreover, there are other accounts of his closest friends that have tried to penetrate into
his life’s “secret corner” especially to the room wherein he can be completely himself in
order to understand and learn about him and who were the people who had moved him
to become what he is known today.
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 A. Vladimir Lenin’s Life

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov or popularly

known as Vladimir Lenin was born on April 10,
1870 in the town of Simbirsk (Pospelov et. al.,
1965). He is 3rd of the 6 children – Anna,
Alexander, Olga, Dmitry and Maria – and was
brought up in a Russian intellectual family. His
parents were raznochintsi (men of different
social estates). His father is Ilya Nikolayevich
Ulyanov who was a teacher of mathematics
and physics but surrendered it on 1869 to
teach the people in Simbirsk. He became the
inspector and then later director of elementary
schools in Simbirsk, Gubernia. Through this
school, Ilya Ulyanov was able to educate the
peasants’ children and with such generous
act, he had to break down the resistance of
government officials, landowners and kulaks who have tried to prevent such school to be
set up because basically this would educate the peasantry and in later would be their
instrument to fight against them. His father was an ardent believer in education of the
people and undeniably, he loves his work and had given his all – energy and knowledge
– for such work. Because of his efforts in educating the peasant’s children, the number of
schools under him increased considerable and he had a large followers of progressive-
minded teachers who were called “Ulyanovites” (Pospelov et. al., 1965). Maria
Alexandrovna is Lenin’s mother and is a daughter of a physician. Since she came from a
big family, Maria did not able to continue her education which she always regretted but
because she is a bright and gifted person, she mastered several foreign languages and
astonishingly through self-study, she passed her examination for elementary education
school-teacher however, she was not able to practice her being an educator.
Furthermore, it is evident where Vladimir and his brothers and sisters get their best minds.
“Their parents did their best to give them an all-around education, to bring them up to be
honest, industrious and responsive to the needs of the people. It was no accident that the
Ulyanov children grew up to be revolutionaries” (Pospelov et. al., 1965).
Some of the authors of books and articles about the biographies of Lenin
mentioned that it is because of his brother’s death into which why Lenin lead to the
revolutionary life however, Pospelov et. al. (1965) in their book entitled “Vladimir Ilyich
Lenin: A Biography” emphasized that the first and very thing that influenced Lenin at an
early age, were the acts of his father into which it basically influenced him to fight against
the Tsarist government, to fight for change and equality although it was also evident that
it was the incident of his brother’s death which was the intervening variable which aroused
him to be like Alexander – an activist, a revolutionist.

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 Lenin’s father – Ilya Ulyanov – is known to be revolutionary democrat which
consequently in the book “Vladimir Ilyich Lenin: A Biography” mentioned that,
“Ilya Ulyanov brought up his children according to the
pedagogic views of the Russian revolutionary democrat N.
Dobrolyubov. He cultivated in them character and an urge
towards knowledge; he taught them to understand life, to be
self-demanding, and responsible for their own actions. He
inculcated sincerity and truthfulness upon his children...”
Pospelov et. al. (1965)
The home environment and the upbringing of Lenin have contributed clearly to developing
his great character. He was taught to be responsible by his parents, there was a time
wherein one of his siblings wrote a journal about their family activities and later on each
member of the family contributed to the journal and would have the time to seat with the
family discussing their entries in the journal. The Ulyanovs, at an early age, inculcated
and instill work habits. They were taught to serve themselves, respect the elders, be
organize in their activities and that everyone has a contribution in making the house clean
such as the boys will be the one fetching water for the plants and the girls will be the one
to water the plants. Pospelov et. al. (1965) define Lenin in his early years as,
“Vladimir’s childhood was a happy, light-hearted one. He grew
up a lively, healthy, fun-loving boy. He took after his father in
looks, and inherited from him his jovial and sociable
disposition. He was a tireless leader in all children’s games
and pastimes. From the reminiscences of relatives we know
that he had a very keen sense of fair play and hated fights.”
At an early age, it is evident that Lenin started to form a characteristic of being a good
leader. In the documentary film entitled “Vladimir Lenin: Voice of Revolution” (2005)
wherein Nina Tumarkin, a professor of history in Wellesley College, described him as
“very rowdy, bossy, self-centered, competent and a smart child”. He plays fair and hated
fights; he is sociable like his father which made him keen on what is really happening on
the people around him. Lenin, in his adolescent years, started to become an atheist.
Mentioned in the Pospelov et. al. (1965) book that,
“A straightforward boy who could not stand lie or hypocrisy, he
broke with religion. The spur was provided by an incident
against which his whole being revolted. One day, in
conversation with a guest, Ilya Ulyanov said that his children
were poor church-goers… the angered boy ran out of the
house and, as a sign of protest, tore off the cross he wore
round his neck” (Vladimir Ilyich Lenin: A Biography, p. 22)
That is why Lenin did not mention religion in his books for the reason that he did not
believe in God nor in religion and condemns hypocrisy.
Lenin’s father was adored by them, they can see that he really loves what he is
doing, he offered his life wholeheartedly into his work and is passionate about it and this

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was Lenin’s first model. His father was the one who opened Lenin’s eye to the realities of
the world, it was his father’s narration about the ignorance and oppression of the peasants
which had helped mold his own picture of the world.
“He listened attentively to his father’s stories about the
ignorance that reigned in the countryside, about the tyranny of
the authorities, and the squalor and misery of the peasantry.
Coming into contact as he did with working people, he could
not help noticing the humiliating conduction of the Chuvashes,
Mordvinians, Tatars, Udmurts, and other disfranchised non-
Russian nationalities. All this aroused in him burning hatred for
the oppressors of the people”. Pospelov et. al. (1965)
Although this reality of oppression of the peasants in his time has contributed to his view
of life, it also molds and shaped his hatred of the cruel government of Russia. But since
life is all about ups and downs, Lenin’s father suddenly dies - his model, his loving and
passionate father finally bid goodbye.
His second model, which had greatly influenced him, was his elder brother
Alexander. Pospelov et. al. (1965) pointed out that,
“Lenin’s outlook during that early period of his youth
crystallized under the influence of his upbringing at home and
of his parents’ example, under the influence of revolutionary-
democratic literature and contact with the life of the people. He
was also greatly influenced by his elder brother Alexander,
who had been an incontestable authority to him ever since he
was a child. Young Vladimir took after his brother, and
whenever asked to take a decision he answered: “I’d do what
Alexander would do.” This desire to model his conduct on his
elder brother did not wear off but rather gained greater depth
and meaning as time went on”
Lenin like his other siblings, was smart and brilliant. He excels to things that he
does. Accordingly, he was a top scholar in his school and never fails to receive honors
and medals. In his last years in high school, his brother was arrested on 1887 for joining
an organization to assassinate Tsar Alexander III but Lenin took it simple, accept it and
told his mother about it later in that year, Alexander was executed. As Ana Ulyanova, a
revolutionist too like Alexander, would recall “Alexander died the death of a hero, and the
halo of his revolutionary martyrdom lighted the path for his younger brother Vladimir”
(Pospelov et. al.1965). Numb by the tragic happenings, Lenin still continues his life and
continues to impress his professors in passing his last examination brilliantly. The school
authorities are in two minds to whether giving a gold medal to the brother of the “state
criminal” yet, the gold medal has been given to him and in him alone because accordingly,
Lenin’s outstanding abilities and knowledge were too obvious to be ignored. As to the
account to the school’s headmaster of Lenin: “highly capable, hardworking and
painstaking, Ulyanov was top scholar in all forms, and upon finishing school has been
awarded a gold medal as the most deserving pupil in regard in progress, development
and conduct” (Pospelov et. al., 1965).
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 Entering to a college in Kazan University was kind of difficult for Lenin since they
are related to Alexander Ulyanov which was considered to be “state criminal”. He was
then accepted when the Kazan University called the last school attended by Lenin to
affirm how brilliant and bright Lenin was. In his college years, he started participating
organizations, one of them is the Samara-Simbirsk club. He started to collaborate with
other brilliant minds of the university and took an active part in a revolutionary circle.
However, since Russia was in the time of the Tsarist government and it was declared
illegal to form a student organization, Lenin was arrested and after his imprisonment, then
started the revolutionary struggle of Lenin.

- Revolutionary Life
“Lenin lived to be the greatest revolutionary leaders, a man who in a new era directed the
titanic struggle for “a radical transformation of the living conditions of the whole of
mankind”” (Pospelov et. al.1965).
Lenin’s revolutionary struggle against the Tsarist government and against the
capitalists is long and worthy mentioning. After the death of his brother wherein he started
to read the books of his brother – Alexander – which had fancied him, Lenin was
captivated and was convinced to be a revolutionary however, he assures that he will not
be like his brother, he will not replicate his brother’s strategy in fighting the unfair reality
yet he saw that through educating the consciousness of the working class which will be
a push factor in winning the class struggle that long has exist. His first fight was when he
was being expelled in his school for the reason of joining student organization.
Second was when he was in Kokushkino, his grandfather’s village, wherein he
wrote his first leaflet “What is to be done” which was basically influenced by
Chernyshevsky. He drown himself to the Marxist theory, study it and thinking on the how
it may apply to his beloved Russia. Third big revolutionary fight was the time of World
War I wherein the Tsar declared to fight for France yet unfortunately, they never won and
lavish of dead bodies can be seen around and of course, food shortage. According to
Lenin, this is the best way to present his communist view, this event and situation will be
the rooting point of the Russians to oust the Tsar and fight against its government and he
did, he succeeded then, he started overturning Russia. He created the Bolsheviks and
architected the Soviet States.
In another perspective, Lenin was so focused on his goal – to alter the capitalist
government of Russia into communism through the proletariats’ revolution – that knowing
his love life and married life is difficult to dig into. Accordingly, he married Nadezhda
Krupskaya. She is a revolutionist like him. They were married according to the mandate
of the government. Basically, it was the government’s agreement that if they will release
Krupskaya – the one who slips information while Lenin was prison – she will join Lenin in
Siberia and married each other. Lenin was so obsessed with his goal and about the
proletarian revolution that to that extent his Married life was basically about revolution,
because Lenin believe that revolution is such an important thing to do and that no one
should take revolution for granted. Most historians and analyst of Lenin would say that
although his married life is not that interesting to talk and discussed into but it was

6
Krupskaya who helped Lenin in all his endeavors, it was Krupskaya who planned
revolution with Lenin and that what makes their marriage, although not full of love but full
of love for their country. They were bind and tied through their marriage their love to the
working class, their love to revolt, their love for equality and their love for their country –
Russia. Additionally, there are rumors, according to some historians, that Lenin, at the
age of 40, fell in love to a lady while he was in Paris and her name was Inessa Amand.

B. Philosophical Influences
Basically, it was Ilya and Alexander who have influenced Lenin to read books about
the problem besetting Russia at that time and the alternative means on how to liberate
into this kind of government. Since reading is one of his pleasures, at his early years he
read the books of Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Turgenev, Nekrasov, Saltykov-Shchedrin
and Tolstoi. More so, through the revolutionary democratic writings of Belinsky, Herzen,
Chernyshevsky, Dubrolyubov and Pisarev, his hatred towards the social and political
system of tsarist Russia had been getting bigger and bigger. These authors and
revolutionist had helped him in his revolutionary convictions. Moreover, before Lenin
know about Karl Marx and his theory of Imperialism, he was captivated and in love with
Chernyshevsky’s What Is To Be Done which is according to Nikolay Valentinov as
mentioned in Sowards (1992) that he started reading and reread Chernyshevsky’s What
Is To Be Done at the age of 14.

- Chernyshevsky
N.G. Chernyshevsky or Nikolay Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky was a radical journalist
and a politician who influenced revolutionaries in his book entitled “What Is To Be Done”
which was published in the year 1863. He was considered by many, in USSR, the
forerunner of Vladimir Lenin (http://www.britannica.com/biography/N-G-Chernyshevsky).
In Valentinov’s account, Lenin, Gusev and Vorosky, while having a discourse
about who was the greatest book that they have read, Lenin shared that it was
Chernyshevsky and his book What Is To Be Done which have influenced him before
knowing Marx. According to Valentinov’s account as mentioned in Sowards (1992) that
Lenin believed that it was Chernyshevsky who was the first to write and discuss socialism
before Marx and he affirms while being so proud that Marx called Chernyshevsky a great
Russian writer which make him believed that Marx read the book of Chernyshevsky.
Because of his admiration of Chernyshevsky, Lenin even wrote a letter to Chernyshevsky
but was saddened when he knew that after writing, Chernyshevsky died. According to
Valentinov’s account, Lenin said that,
“…my brother, for example, was captivated by him, and so
was I. he completely transformed my outlook… after the
execution of my brother, I started to read it properly, as I knew
that it had been one of his favourite books. I spent not days
but several weeks reading it. Only then did I understand its
depth. This novel provides inspiration for a lifetime...”

7
 Valentino’s narration on Vorovsky’s account on Lenin as
mentioned in V.I. Lenin: Anatomy of a Revolutionary
(Sowards, 1992).
It was clear into these accounts that it contradicts to what most published books
and articles about Lenin that his revolutionary view was basically shaped by Karl Marx
however, little authors have known that before Marx there was Chernyshevsky who mold
his views in life and to the realities of the world.
“It was again Chernyshevsky who first gave me an indication
of Hegel’s role in the development of philosophical thought,
and I got the concept of dialectical method from him; this made
it much easier for me to master the dialectic of Marx…
Chernyshevsky’s attack on bourgeois economics was a good
preparation for my later study of Marx…” Valentino’s narration
on Vorovsky’s account on Lenin as mentioned in V.I. Lenin:
Anatomy of a Revolutionary (Sowards, 1992).
It was Chernyshevsky that armed Lenin about revolution and socialism and it was Marx
who aroused him to practice what he have learned about Chernyshevsky’s socialism.
- Karl Marx
While in his college years, Lenin became interested to what his brother’s ideology.
He started joining revolutionary students’ circles and became an active member which
when they held meetings he was always at the front row very excited in listening to the
speaker while clutching his fists, because of this acts, the school was threatened and then
later in December 5 Lenin stop going to school then he was arrested and was exiled this
was the start of Karl Marx influenced to Lenin.
Lenin indulge himself to the world of Marx. He spent months mastering Marx theory
and making contacts with the young Marxist in Kazan. He studied and understand the
chief work of Marx – Capital – which according to him revealed scientific demonstrations
on the economic laws of development of capitalist society, Lenin have also pointed out
that Marx provided a profound analysis of the capitalism’s contradictions and have proved
the inevitability of its downfall and of the victory of socialism (Pospelov et. al., 1965). While
learning about Marx’s thoughts on capitalism and how will it fall to socialism, he critically
analyzed how these thoughts of Marx be able to be applied to the working class of Russia.
In the account of N. Krupskaya (1960) as mentioned in Pospelov et. al. (1965) that,
“As a legacy from the heroic Russian revolutionary movement.
This feeling made him seek passionately, earnestly for an
answer to the question as to what the paths liberation for the
working people were to be. He found the answers to his
questions in Marx. He approached him as a person seeking
answers to vexed pressing questions. And he found those
answers there”
Because of his love for all working people and all oppressed, Lenin was
determined that it is by increasing the consciousness of the working class on the realities

8
and what are the things that they could do to liberate themselves from the oppressed and
cruel world that they are currently living. With Lenin, mastered the Marxist theory, he
became “…one of the first Russian Marxists, a convinced adherent and ardent
propagandist of the great ideas of scientific socialism” (Pospelov et. al., 1965).

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 II. Body
A. Lenin’s Theory of Imperialism
Since Lenin’s thoughts was basically influenced by Karl Marx, most of his works
have also reflected Marx’s work and political thoughts. One of the things that have greatly
influenced Marx to Lenin, aside from communism and socialism, is the theory of
imperialism. Lenin’s take on imperialism which have pushed him to create an outline of
imperialism driven by Marxist thought was mainly an analysis of Marxist imperialism and
on some point, on other authors and scholars who have shared their thoughts and
understanding on imperialism which have helped Lenin drew his own theory of
imperialism. The outline that he made was entitled Imperialism, The Highest Stage of
Capitalism.
“Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism” was a pamphlet written by Lenin
on the spring of 1916 in Zurich which was written according to the preface of his pamphlet
“this was written with an eye to the tsarist censorship” (Lenin, 1917). More so, in the
preface of his pamphlet in French and German version wherein he states that “The “main
purpose of the book is to present, on the basis of the summarized returns of irrefutable
bourgeois statistics, and the admissions of bourgeois scholars of all countries, a
composite picture of the world capitalist system in its international relationships at the
beginning of the 20th century — on the eve of the first world imperialist war”. According
to Lorimer (1999), the pamphlet of Lenin has provided 3 objectives and these are:
1. To prove that “the war of 1914-18 was imperialist (this is, an
annexationist, predatory war of plunder) on the part of both sides”
and thus to refute the arguments of the leaders of the Second
International, above all those of its leading theorist, Karl Kautsky,
that each side in the war was merely fighting for “national
defence” and therefore there was nothing opportunist or class-
collaborationist in these leaders supporting the war efforts of the
governments of their own countries.
2. To counter the theoretical arguments of Kautsky about the nature
of imperialism and to demonstrate that he was “obscuring the
profundity of the contradictions of imperialism and the inevitable
revolutionary crisis to which it gives rise”.
3. To demonstrate that there was a causal connection between this
new stage in the development of capitalism and the existence of
a relatively stable opportunist, pro-imperialist, trend within the
working-class movement of the “advanced” capitalist countries.
Moreover, presented in his work were his thoughts on the characteristics of imperialist
epoch in which he discussed and have elaborated his arguments on each of these
characteristics in the leaflet. Accordingly, there will be the concentration of production and
the growth of monopolistic trusts and cartels, the growing importance of the export of
capital compared with the export of commodities, the internationalization of capitalist

10
economic relations, the struggle between the rival European powers to partition the world
market, the parasitism and decay of capitalism, and the creation through capitalism’s
socialization of production of the material conditions for the transition to socialism
(Lorimer, 1999). Furthermore, Lenin had noted that there are 5 features of imperialism
and these are:
1. The concentration of production and capital has developed
to such a high stage that it has created monopolies which play
a decisive role in economic life
2. The merging of bank capital with industrial capital, and the
creation on the basis of this “finance capital”, of a financial
oligarchy
3. The export of capital as distinguished from the export of
commodities acquires exceptional importance
4. The formation of international monopolist capitalist
associations which share the world among themselves
5. The territorial division of the whole world among the biggest
capitalist powers is completed. (Lorimer, 1999)
Through these 5 features, Lenin had able to grasp and emphasized the things into which
Lenin’s theory of imperialism shows and in addition to this 5 feature of imperialism, he
have also presented and emphasized his critiques on imperialism and on where does
imperialism place in our history in the pamphlet. Through this leaflet, Lenin believed that
“… this pamphlet will help the reader to understand the fundamental economic question,
that of the economic essence of imperialism, for unless this is studied, it will be impossible
to understand and appraise modern war and modern politics” (Lenin, 1917).

B. Imperialism, The Highest Stage of

Capitalism Summary of Points
The very point of Lenin’s outline is that
since capitalism have evolve the world for so many
years, it develops over time since of course, change
is inevitable. This development of capitalism may
lead to monopoly and such monopoly can lead to
imperialism. The outline of Lenin’s work entitled
“Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism”
summarizes the stages of capitalism which may
lead to imperialism. Accordingly, Lenin started it
with concentration of production and monopolies. In
this chapter, Lenin pointed out that the old tradition

11
of the world economy which is the free market is decreasingly diminishing and develops.
Through the development of the free market economy, there is an instance that industry
and capitalist will ally for each other such that capitalists which have produce different
products will combined their raw materials to make an even more useful product. The
combination of products will lead to alliance of different enterprises and later, leads to the
concentration of production to gigantic enterprises. However, combination products will
kill those pure or uncombined products. According to Heymann as mentioned by Lenin
(1917), “pure enterprises perish, they are crushed between the high price of raw material
and the low price of the finished product.” Through alliance and combination of products
will lead to monopoly of the world economy and through such would lead them to
monopolize developing countries. With this stage, since there will be combination of
enterprises and industry, then come the time of concentration of production through this
stage, it leads to the second chapter of Lenin’s outline is banks and their new role.
In this chapter, according to Lenin that “The principal and primary function of banks
is to serve as middlemen in the making of payments. In so doing they transform inactive
money capital into active, that is, into capital yielding a profit; they collect all kinds of
money revenues and place them at the disposal of the capitalist class” (Lenin, 1917).
However, the function and purpose of banks to be the “middlemen” will be added with a
new role. Emphasized by Lenin (1917) that,
“As banking develops and becomes concentrated in a small
number of establishments, the banks grow from modest
middlemen into powerful monopolies having at their command
almost the whole of the money capital of all the capitalists and
small businessmen and also the larger part of the means of
production and sources of raw materials in any one country
and in a number of countries. This transformation of numerous
modest middlemen into a handful of monopolists is one of the
fundamental processes in the growth of capitalism into
capitalist imperialism; for this reason we must first of all
examine the concentration of banking.” (Imperialism, The
Highest Stage of Capitalism, p. 45)
The concentration of banking will squeezed out small banks making them subordinate
with those big banks. By subordinating them (small banks) means creating or acquiring
holdings in their capital, by purchasing or exchanging shares, by a system of credits and
etc. because of these development of the banking system, small banks will no longer be
their own banks but will be annexed to the big banks through bringing their to their group
of companies which basically shows monopoly. Furthermore, Lenin pointed out that
through such development and annexation, subordination and absorption of the small
banks that,
It is obvious that a bank which stands at the head of such a
group, and which enters into agreement with half a dozen

12
 other banks only slightly smaller than itself for the purpose of
conducting exceptionally big and profitable financial
operations like floating state loans, has already outgrown the
part of “middleman” and has become an association of a
handful of monopolists. (Lenin, 1917)
The next stage that would develop is the finance capital and the financial oligarchy.
Hilferding as mentioned by Lenin define finance capital as,
“A steady increase in proportion of capital in industry”, writes
Hilferding, “ceases to belong to the industrialists who employ
it. They obtain the use of it only through the medium of the
banks which, in relation to them, represent the owners of the
capital. On the other hand, the bank is forced to sink an
increasing share of its funds in industry. Thus, to an ever
greater degree the banker is being transformed into an
industrial capitalist. This bank capital, i.e., capital in money
form, which is thus actually transformed into industrial capital,
I call ‘finance capital’ … Finance capital is capital controlled by
banks and employed by industrialists.” (Lenin, 1917)
The interlinkages of banks and the businessmen were the reason into why such monopoly
develops in this kind of stage. When finance capitals controls the industrialists and it is
worthy to note that they can monopolize you through the loans that you may want to get
form them through such act, these gives them an indirect authority in monopolizing
economic system. Moreover, this chapter discusses on how business operations of the
capitalist monopolies inevitably lead to the domination of a financial oligarchy. Lenin have
pointed through citing works of economists that it is inevitable that capitalist monopolies
inevitably lead to domination for the reason of the personal and business linkages of the
banks and the capitalist. Accordingly, those who have holdings on big banks which have
higher ranks in big banks will be the one controlling the capitals and these capitals will
only revolve around their own businesses and to their daughter banks which means a
concentration of capital and a concentration of monopolies exist hence oligarchy.
In the succeeding chapter, the export of goods and service are now decreasing as
the export of capitals are being more on trend. Accordingly, this is possible since in the
underdeveloped countries or those countries which do have weak economy, they prefer
exporting capitals rather than goods and services to help, if that is the right term, to those
underdeveloped countries and weak economies for them to sustain the needs of their
constituents with this kind of act, those countries that have known in exporting capitals –
first world and industrialist countries – intend to monopolize those states through their
exported capitals which lead to colonizing them in the context of economics.
Through finance capital and the exportation of capitals, there will exist a division
of the world among capitalist associations. These division exist through capitalist around

13
the world making business they are divided with through how much they make money
and on how many they monopolize. Accordingly,
“Monopolist capitalist associations, cartels, syndicates and
trusts first divided the home market among themselves, and
obtained more or less complete possession of the industry of
their own country. But under capitalism the home market is
inevitably bound up with the foreign market. Capitalism long
ago created a world market. As the export of capital increased,
and as the foreign and colonial connections and “spheres of
influence” of the big monopolist associations expanded in all
ways, things “naturally” gravitated towards an international
agreement among these associations, and towards the
formation of international cartels.” (Lenin, 1917)
Basically, the capitalist divide the world because of the concentration of the
production and capitals, as Lenin (1917) puts it, “they divide it “in proportion to capital”,
“in proportion to strength”, because there cannot be any other method of division under
commodity production and capitalism”. Through such division, division of the world among
the great powers henceforth follows. Since only those western countries have the
capacity, for that certain period, to build and establish big banks and big companies which
comprises of different daughter companies, they will be the ones, as if authorized, to
monopolize those weak states especially in Asia, Latin America, Africa and Polynesia. As
Lenin (1917) said it,
“We now see that it is precisely after that period that the
tremendous “boom” in colonial conquests begins, and that the
struggle for the territorial division of the world becomes
extraordinarily sharp. It is beyond doubt, therefore, that
capitalism’s transition to the stage of monopoly capitalism, to
finance capital, is connected with the intensification of the
struggle for the partitioning of the world.”
Moreover, this colonial conquest will be the one sustaining the production of the great
powers which liberation is therefore difficult to do since they have exploited them for so
long.
Overall, imperialism, according to Lenin (1917), is the monopoly of capitalism. It is
the opposition of the free competition where imperialism arises which Lenin have said
that imperialism is the special stage of capitalism because not all have reach into such
level or stage. More so, he emphasized in his outline that capitalism alone is not
imperialism, it is the monopoly of the capital that lead to imperialism.

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 C. Lenin’s Theory of Imperialism and Todays’ Application
A case analysis of such monopoly of the capitals is the monopolization of IMF or
International Monetary Fund and World Banks. These mentioned big banks were the
leading banks of the globe where what Lenin pointed out in his outline that no longer be
the middlemen. These big banks monopolizes developing countries through exporting
capitals and goods and services to them. They will have the authority to make and create
establishments, institutions and programs through their conditions in every agreements
which is actually monopolization.
Lenin’s imperialism has also pointed out that it is because of the imperialistic stage
of capitalism that is the reason into which global wars exist and also the reason of the
division of the world. it is with imperialism, that the developing and underdevelop and first
world and third world labels of countries exists. Moreover, the monopoly of the financial
oligarchs in the global market has been put up for decades thus, overthrowing such in a
state would be difficult especially if the government is on its side, which is why Lenin
greatly believed that if the working class will be conscious about this realities this would
lead to the revolution against capitalists and this would later lead to socialism.

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III. Conclusion
Lenin’s theory on imperialism was one of the pioneer scholars and thinkers which
have contributed to the whole theory itself. It becomes the bases of other succeeding
theorists and critical thinkers on such context. According to some critiques of Lenin’s
theory of imperialism is that it lacks to define properly what imperialism accordingly, Lenin
provided 5 features of imperialist epoch however fails to manage a relative definition of
imperialism itself. It was Lenin who boldly oppose imperialism that he transform Russia
into a communist state more so, he believes that this will lead to an equal society – a
classless society. Seeing imperialism in the context of Russia, wherein Lenin overthrew
such capitalist groups although he is successful o such endeavor yet Russia did not retain
and sustain to the efforts of Lenin, although Lenin is still widely respected and
remembered in Russia.
In the context of the third world political thought, through such theory, it encourage
those economically colonized by great power countries to educate them on what is really
happening, that even outside of the socio-political context, developing countries are
forever – if it does exist – be captivated by great powered countries because even in
economic aspect, they monopolized the economic system more so, control the global
market. Imperialism has been part of the realization of the world nowadays. Imperialism
through economic monopoly leads to colonialism hence, socio-political and economic
aspects of a developing countries are being controlled which therefore liberation is a
difficult and impossible – to such extent – to do.
Furthermore, “[Lenin] this name, known in the remotest corners of the globe, has
become a guiding star to the working folk of all lands. It will live on in the hearts and minds
of all progressive people, inspiring them to strive ceaselessly for the peace and socialism,
for a radiant future, a free and happy life, for brotherhood among men, for communism”
(Pospelov et. al.,1965).

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REFERENCES

Sowards, J. Kelley. (1992). Makers of World History, 1st ed., Vol. 2. New York: St. Martin’s
Pospelov, P.N. et al. (1965). Vladimir Ilyich Lenin: A Biography. Moscow: Progress
Publishers
Resistance Marxist Library. (1999). V.I. Lenin: Imperialism, The Highest Stage of
Capitalism. Australia: Resistance Books
Noona, Murray (2010). Marxist Theory of Imperialism: Evolution of a Concept. Retrieved
from http://vuir.vu.edu.au/16067/1/Murray_Noonan_PhD.pdf
Biography.com Editors. (April 2016). Vladimir Lenin Biography. Retrieved from
http://www.biography.com/people/vladimir-lenin-9379007
"Vladimir Ilich Lenin". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2016. Web. 24 Apr. 2016
<http://www.britannica.com/biography/Vladimir-Ilich-Lenin>.
History Empire. (2014, July 29). Vladimir Lenin – Voice of Revolution (Full Documentary)
[mp4]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9pPc8abyJg

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