''Road to Power'' or ''The Road to Power'' is a book written by
Karl Kautsky.
Contents
In chapter 1 Kautsky argues that the time for revolution has not yet passed, as some on the Left alleged,
most importantly
Eduard Bernstein
Eduard Bernstein (; 6 January 1850 – 18 December 1932) was a German social democratic Marxist theorist and politician. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Bernstein had held close association to Karl Marx and Friedric ...
. Kautsky argued that the revolutionary energy of the
bourgeoisie
The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
was channeled by Bismarck into
a project to throw “a few German princes from their thrones”, overthrow the
French Empire
French Empire (french: Empire Français, link=no) may refer to:
* First French Empire, ruled by Napoleon I from 1804 to 1814 and in 1815 and by Napoleon II in 1815, the French state from 1804 to 1814 and in 1815
* Second French Empire, led by Nap ...
and support for
Italian unification
The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...
.
The cooperation between the state and bourgeoisie that prevented revolution halted the development of the proletariat.
Kautsky continues to point out that in 1904 he predicted that workers would revolt in Russia, joining with the bourgeoisie to establish representative government,
in 1905 a revolution led to
Tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...
to create the
Duma, a Parliament.
He proceeded to note and predict a continuation of a political awakening
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
India,
Egypt,
Morocco,
Persia and
Turkey.
He predicts that violent revolution is unlikely in Europe because of the strength of modern armies, except in Russia.
In chapters IV & V Kautsky argues that Marxism is a
historical determinism because the will itself is not free.
Impact
Road to Power had a large impact on the
Bolsheviks and was used to justify the
October Revolution.
References
{{catimprove, date=September 2020
Karl Kautsky
1909 non-fiction books