IN THE last article of land and bring in more this series, I stressed democracy. Critica that Marxists had 'no times the struggle against the monarchy he interests separate vacillated. His rule was and apart from those through the army. of the working class Despite this, Cromwell as a whole.' Marxists is the greatest and the most always progressive person anyone who england's cabitalist fighting oppression, history. At the time of the civil war in mid-17th cenexploitation and tury England, there was no justice. possibility of working This then raises the class rule. Only the feudal oueslons. Who Cal be landowners, represented relied upon to lead such by king, struggles! unel capitalist class, organised leaders stop once they inrougn parlament, were nave acheved Sonne powerful enough to take minimal reforms, and then power. Anyining else wa. give inel support to tne utopian. So war broke out ruling class on all other per ween issues? Who are the neonle Charles I and parliament. who will carry through the Almrs une baramentary struggle right to the bitter forces vacillated and comend? These are the questions Marxists must ask, oromised. put a stop to this and oul cromwell because ine answers lel us organised the revoluwhich type of alliances can tionary 'shock troops' of be made, and who can be capitalism, the new model supported. army.
Even then, hesitated to take the depoor peasantry, Cromwell is recognised by Marxists great revolutionary Icauci.
The French revolution is an even better example of the revolutionary role played by capitalism in its early development. The French revolutionaries, overtnrew ine absolutist monarchy. Paris and the larovincial the populations cities. The peasants seized the land. When the counter-revolutionary mies of Austria, Britain, Prussia and Russia invaded they were beaten back by the revolutionary armies of France Robespierre As Britain the bourgeois initially hesitated fearing to deal withune Monacov even more fatefully the threat of invasion. But at Tne decs ve momcil the capitalist class acted. Inspired bv Robespierre. and the Committee for Public Safety, the masses dragged the king trom nis palace al Versailles to his place of execution. Universal male conscription was introduced and the population of was armed. The Austrian army - financed by Britain — was routed The greatest and most far-reaching revolutionary upheaval ever seen in historv unti that time had taken place.
The last of the great capitalist revolutionary struggles was that fought by the armies of the NorUnion against the slave-owning Confederacy of the American southern states. Again at first LinCOH capitalist friends refused to abolish slavcl y and tried to hol back the revolutionary energies of the people. But faced with the deepening of the Civil War they had to crusa une cournern reactionaries by force. In 1862 - two years atter the war started - Lincoln abolishslavery Genera Grant's armies destroyed the save owners as a socia class and prepared the way for a massive exnansion oi the productive forces.
In all these struggle the attitude of Marxist: would be to oppose all the vacillations hesitations of the capitalists the war against feudalism and reaction Because the capitalists did take action against the old order and acted decisively then they would have to be supported to that degree. This is what determined Marx's attitude to the American civil war, and what would nave determined the attitude of Marxists to all the early struggles of the capitalist revolutionaries However the transforwhich took place during the Characet or changed the character the capitalist class and its Their historically progressive role became exhausted and therefore the working class and In Marxist movement had to take a ditterent attitude to capitalist movements. This is what we will look at in the next part. 10 August 72: The French King taken prisone 21 January '73 Louis XVI is executed rebellion to