Marx vs. Lenin
The dawn of 1908 broke. The year 1907 had been truly eventful. Great Britain and Russia finally settled their long-standing dispute over warm-water ports and formed an alliance. In New York, a banking collapse triggered a panic, but J.P. Morgan poured in an overwhelming amount of capital to barely stave off disaster. As for the Hague Peace Conference... I deeply regret that I couldn't attend. But what could I do when Bosnia was on the verge of exploding? My apologies, ancestors. I'll export the revolution soon enough!
Meanwhile, what of the most critical situation—the domestic affairs of the Russian Empire? The Tsar had boldly established the State Duma, implementing constitutional monarchist reforms, only to dissolve it less than three years later and pack the Duma with members of the Russian National Revolutionary Party.
What a mad move. The Russian National Revolutionary Party, which had initially rebelled against the Tsar, had now formed militias and begun executing brutal vigilante justice against the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. Thanks to that, St. Petersburg had devolved into a three-way urban war zone between the police, the National Revolutionary Party, and the Mensheviks.
The Russian Empire actively adopted our manual, liberally dispersing tear gas to suppress the riots and ruthlessly beating protesters with batons and combat boots to somehow bring the situation under control.
Is this a good thing? An absolute monarchy is a hideous political system, but I suppose it's still better than those idiots in the National Revolutionary Party. At any rate, Russia was burning far more intensely than it had in the original history, and the rush of emigrating revolutionaries continued unabated.
And the primary destination these emigrants chose? Why, Vienna, the capital of our Austrian Empire, of course. Vienna had always enjoyed a reputation as a haven for exiles, serving as Europe's political and academic hub. Furthermore, with the monarch himself being favorable toward socialism, far more exiles flocked here than in the original timeline. Even now, if you walked into any cafe or pub in Vienna, you could hear Russian being spoken everywhere.
Our Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) was also running ragged trying to welcome these exiles. By the way, it's about time Trotsky showed his face at headquarters. I had left word to contact me immediately if Trotsky arrived. Of course, I had absolutely no intention of trying to recruit him to our side. He was just a historically famous commie, and I simply wanted to see what he looked like.
Then, an urgent message arrived from the party headquarters. "Chairman Stahl!" "Ah, has Trotsky arrived?" "No, not Trotsky, but..." He stammered in panic. Who on earth could it be?
"...Vladimir Lenin of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party has arrived." "What?! Why him, of all people?" "They say he just arrived in Vienna from Geneva."
I rushed to the party headquarters. Sitting there was a cold, bald man. The leader of the Bolsheviks, the man who would lead the world's first successful socialist revolution.
"Are you not Marx Stahl, the creator of the Stahl-Ferdinand Model? It is a pleasure to meet you." "Pleasure to meet you. I am Marx Stahl." "A splendid name indeed."
After exchanging pleasantries about his journey into exile in Austria and the domestic situation in Russia, Vladimir Lenin gradually steered the conversation toward his true purpose for coming here. It was likely a debate, or perhaps an attempt to win me over. At the very least, he was probably trying to gauge whether I was an ally to secure a joint coalition.
"I hear the Kaiser of the Empire has personally pledged to guarantee workers' welfare." "Yes. We are currently implementing an eight-hour workday in phases. We are also expanding legislation regarding compensation for industrial accidents."
While I had been too busy dealing with ethnic conflicts to personally spearhead practical labor reforms, Viktor Adler had been steadily working to improve working conditions.
"Improving the working environment is well and good," Lenin said. "However, I must wonder if such reforms merely suppress the class consciousness of the workers and cause them to internalize bourgeois ideology." "It cannot be helped," I replied. "We are carrying out our struggle within a capitalist society. Without the economic growth of the working class, we cannot acquire the political power necessary to sustain that struggle." "Then the workers will only wish to become bourgeois themselves, and yet another proletariat will be born."
Lenin's first strike was to attack the so-called 'economism' line, which focused primarily on campaigns to improve working conditions. Frankly, this debate would remain on parallel tracks even a century from now. Which came first: improving the working environment, or abolishing private property? Was it political growth through entering mainstream parliamentary politics, or a revolution to abolish parliament altogether? They would argue over this throughout the entire Cold War, and though the social democrats eventually won out, hardline socialists still argue to this day that 'the Soviet Union wasn't real socialism!'
The Lenin of 1917 would fiercely criticize social democracy for 'leading the workers into the den of the bourgeoisie,' but as of 1908, it was still undecided which path would emerge victorious in history. For now, Lenin was still, in one way or another, in the same boat as the social democrats. And at this moment, the most critical ideological battle lay elsewhere.
"What kind of bizarre notion is it to coax the Kaiser into turning the Empire into a socialist state?" Lenin asked, looking genuinely perplexed. "How is such a thing even possible?" "Many revolutionaries harbor a misconception," I answered. "A monarch does not desire capital; they merely desire absolute power." "But it is the nature of monarchs to secure political and military power through alliances with capitalist forces." "They can also secure it through alliances with workers' councils." "Once the workers' councils gain enough power to rival capital, they can overthrow the Kaiser in an instant. Is this merely a temporary alliance, then?"
To be honest, this was a question I had pondered deeply myself. If the Social Democratic Workers' Party seized the dominant hegemony of society, would a monarch still be necessary? In other great powers like Russia, Germany, or Great Britain, the monarch would have to be cast aside immediately. Even if a temporary alliance were formed, the priority would be to ally with republicans and take the king's head. Indeed, it was impossible to find a logical role for a Kaiser in a socialist state.
"I agree wholeheartedly with Comrade Lenin's point," I said. "However, your words betray a lack of understanding regarding the reality of the Austro-Hungarian Empire." "What do you mean by that?" "If we were to expel the Emperor from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria would instantly fracture into ten or twenty different nations."
It was true. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was a state with absolutely no reason to exist if it were not an 'empire.' Therefore, it could not even be maintained without the presence of the Emperor.
"Thus, we chose an alliance with the Emperor." "The proletariat does not desire borders written in blood," Lenin countered. "That is a pipe dream. If the Empire is torn to shreds, and a reactionary coup occurs in Hungary, Croatia, or Bohemia? The revolution will immediately regress." "Even if that is the case, every nation has the right to self-determination."
Even more than Marxist ideals, the ideology of 'national self-determination' was historically one of the Soviet Union's most potent weapons. They had shaken capitalist empires to their core by pouring funds into all manner of independence movements across the globe.
"If a revolution occurs in Russia, do you truly intend to grant independence to Poland, the Baltic states, and other ethnic minorities? Even if a reactionary Catholic state arises in Poland?" "I believe in the solidarity of the international revolution far more than the umbrella of an empire." "Then why do the Bolsheviks seek to decide Poland's destiny themselves? If a nation exercises self-determination and clamors for reaction, will the Bolsheviks truly stand by and respect it?"
Lenin fell silent, seemingly at a loss for words. He talked a big game, but frankly, did he even believe in national self-determination himself? After all, who was it that invaded Poland almost as soon as they completed their revolution in 1919? Taking advantage of his silence, I pressed on.
"National self-determination and the Socialist International can never coexist." "Self-determination is the first step of the revolution." "No, it is not. Look at Serbia right now. Is the spectacle they are making while screaming for 'South Slav self-determination' in our Empire not utterly pathetic?" "..."
"Look at those bastards in the Russian National Revolutionary Party. In their own minds, they might be fighting for a republic and a revolution, just like the Bolsheviks. Are they reactionaries?"
It was a fair point. The revolutionaries, including Lenin, had all fled Russia because they were sick of the madness of the National Revolutionary Party, which was far more terrifying than the Tsar's oppression. The Tsar was practically a saint by comparison. He merely exiled people to Siberia to freeze. Frankly, calling it exile was a joke; anyone with a bit of money could hire a carriage and escape their place of exile easier than eating a piece of cake. Was that even a punishment?
But those lunatics in the National Revolutionary Party were riding out to those exile camps on horseback to personally execute the Reds. They were so out of their minds that they even attacked the Imperial Army when they tried to stop them.
"Comrade Lenin, mark my words. In the revolutionary stage, nationalism will prove to be a far greater enemy than the reactionary aristocracy or the bourgeoisie." "I hear you," Lenin said. "Then may I ask your esteemed opinion on what will become of the actual Russian revolution? Must we ally with the Tsar to prevent the dissolution of the Empire?" "...I believe that would be a very poor choice."
This strategy only worked here because Franz Joseph was 'relatively' enlightened. In the real world, absolute monarchies collapsed largely because of three mad emperors with 'the Second' attached to their names: Wilhelm II, Nicholas II, and Abdul Hamid II.
"Arm the people," I said. "Hmm?" "Those bastards in the National Revolutionary Party are heavily armed anyway, aren't they? Use the Stahl-Ferdinand Model to erect barricades in the cities and block their attacks. Furthermore, unify the party and the military to wage guerrilla warfare near Ukraine and the Ural Mountains."
In truth, almost every communist state except Russia had historically come to power through guerrilla warfare and urban combat. The former applied to Third World communist nations like China and Cuba, while the latter was exemplified by the Paris Commune.
"As the saying goes, political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." Frankly, there was no country better suited for Maoist guerrilla tactics than Russia. Its vast, underdeveloped territory made logistics a nightmare for any conventional army. It was the perfect place to establish a 'liberated zone' in a place like Kiev and focus entirely on revolutionary activities.
Lenin nodded, saying he understood my point, and hastily left the headquarters. It was quite impressive. The next day, while I was immersed in writing and research at home, a representative from the Social Democratic Workers' Party paid me another visit.
"Excuse me, Chairman?" "Hmm? What is it now? Is it Trotsky this time? Or that robber Stalin? Or Tito?" "Well, Trotsky is indeed here. And... uh..." "What's going on?" "Vladimir Lenin has come to see you again." "What?! Why?" "He says that since he cannot return to Russia anyway, he intends to devote himself to the revolution here."
I slapped my forehead and rushed to the headquarters once again. This was exactly why people said you should never trust a commie. If a giant like Lenin started meddling in our activities, wouldn't he end up hijacking the entire party? For some reason, the fate of the Mensheviks—who were thoroughly used and then betrayed during the Russian Revolution—flashed through my mind.
"Uh, Comrade Lenin?" "Ah, Chairman Stahl! No, Comrade Stahl. You've arrived?" "What brings you here..." "I decided to stay because I took a liking to your socialist 'reforms.'" "What?!"
"Why do you look so surprised? Did you not just call me 'Comrade' yourself? Besides, I cannot return to Russia anyway. And furthermore..." Lenin was usually an incredibly cold man. He was a highly rational figure who often seemed to possess neither blood nor tears, but deep down, he was a man who secretly loved cats—a tsundere who could easily rival Dr. Freud.
"Whether it is right or wrong, I believe the very experience of workers achieving something through their own strength is valuable," Lenin said. "Therefore, I shall lend my strength to this Stahl-Ferdinand Model of yours, if only for a short while." Having spent so much time with Dr. Freud, I could easily read Lenin's true intentions. It was obvious. Oh, you think you're so clever? Let's see how well you do with me helping. Looking at those smirking lips and his mischievous eyes, I was one hundred percent certain. Good grief...