Permanent Revolution

Permanent Revolution is the theory of how to put Communism into practice developed by the Russian Communist, Leon Trotsky, a leading figure in the Bolsheviks.

Its basic tenet is that socialism cannot work in one state alone and that the role of Communists is to ensure that the Proletarian Revolution is advanced across the world. It also stresses that society must remain consistently revolutionary (hence the term permanent revolution).

Trotsky claimed that this theory most closely resembled the theory of the leading Bolshevik, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, but lost out in a power struggle to Josef Stalin after Lenin's death.

Trotsky's permanent revolution theory stood in stark contrast to Stalin's Socialism in One Country theory.

This previous information is incorrect. Trotsky's theory of permanent revolution does not stress that society must remain consistenly revolutionary. The basis of the theory revolves around the idea that the bourgeoisie is the key to a Marxist revolution, that the bourgeoisie would be instrumental in bringing down imperialism. And that without their participation, the revolution could not occur. In that context, Trotsky theorized that the bourgeoisie would not sustain their participation in a revolution, and therefore would eventually necessitate that the proletariat must continually reassert its efforts, until globally the working masses controlled the agenda, and the actions of the bourgeoisie would be mitigated and finally brought into line with Marxist ideology.