This session examines how Marxist revolutionaries transformed World War I from a brutal imperialist conflict into the spark for class war and revolution. Lenin and the Bolsheviks, building on Marx’s tradition, developed a revolutionary internationalism: they saw the war not as a temporary aberration, but as a structural crisis of capitalism. Socialists workers in Russia and Germany overthrew their rules and formed soviets and workers’ councils arose turning the imperialist war into civil war and ending the bloodshed of WWI. Socialists and workers in Australia also fought against the war, and revolutionary organisations like the Industrial Workers of the World were key to this. The anti-conscription movement, mass rebellion and strikes brought down a prime minister and opened up a class sharp struggle.

This session is part of a stream exploring the role played by revolutionaries in standing up to war at key moments in history: WWI, WWII, Vietnam and the cold war. Often the anti-war movement is described as broad and pacifist but revolutionaries have always found themselves facing off against not only the ruling class but also would-be progressives, even socialists. Revolutionaries have made vital contributions in these moments but holding the line, providing a sharp critique and, crucially, agitating to turn imperialist wars on their head by replacing them with class war.