This issue of Eszmélet addresses two major and historically relevant topics: the popular front, of which actuality is given by the anniversary of the Spanish civil war, and the second is the so-called organisational issue that is unresolved internationally as we entered into the new era of globalisation. In order to contribute to raise the level of intellectual debates of the political left in Hungary, it is important to sum up the relevant aspects of the oeuvre of Lenin concerning this topic.
In Hungary, so far no unbiased analysis was made on the international support to the forces of the Spanish Republic, the division and reasons of the split in the Spanish left, the role of anarchists, the weight of Soviet help in the civil war etc. Conclusions from the articles published can be relevant to restore unity of the present left. The Leninist experience on the organisational issue can also be linked to this question. What are the traps to be avoided by the present left? What were the profoundly different structural features of party development before and after 1917? Have we faced the progressive heritage of pre-Stalinist Marxism? Have we wasted 18 years since the system change? On historically and theoretically analysing the past probably we have not but concerning lessons to be learned – certainly yes.
Table of contents
- Harsányi Iván : Popular front – looking back over 70 years
- Farkas Miklós : When World War II began? The military coup against the Second Spanish Republic broke out 70 years ago
- Mezei Bálint : Soviet officers in the Spanish Civil War
- Konok Péter : Is the enemy of my enemy my friend? The failure of the Spanish popular front in May 1937
- Zolcsák Attila : Anarchist federalism and Spanish regionalism
- Ana Bazac : Present-day popular fronts
- Bánki Éva : Europe − for cartoon heroes On Aleš Debeljak: Europe without Europeans
- Joaquín Bustelo : Critical remarks to the idea of “democratic centrism”
- Michael A. Lebowitz : The politics of assumption, the assumption of politics
- Krausz Tamás : Lenin and the “organisation question” – historical reconstruction