Leftypedia has been restored! See our announcement.
War

War is a state of armed conflict between multiple parties, in the form of states or non-state actors. The role of warfare is the subject of intense debate within leftism.
Theories
Maoism
In Maoism and Mao Zedong Thought, war is viewed as the highest form of resolving contradictions.[1] It is argued that war has a dual-character; progressive and reactionary depending on the class which uses it. The proletariat and other oppressed classes use war to achieve their liberation from capitalism and to wage revolution.[2] People's war, a military theory relying heavily on guerilla warfare, is viewed as a universal or near-universal war of conducting revolution.
See also
References
- ↑ Mao Zedong. "Problems of Strategy in China's Revolutionary War" (December 1936), Selected Works, Vol. I, p. 180.
"War is the highest form of struggle for resolving contradictions, when they have developed to a certain stage, between classes, nations, states, or political groups, and it has existed ever since the emergence of private property and of classes."
- ↑ Mao Zedong."On Protracted War" (May 1938), Selected Works, Vol. II, pp. 152-53.
History shows that wars are divided into two kinds, just and unjust. All wars that are progressive are just, and all wars that impede progress are unjust. We Communists oppose all unjust wars that impede progress, but we do not oppose progressive, just wars. Not only do we Communists not oppose just wars; we actively participate in them. As for unjust wars, World War I is an instance in which both sides fought for imperialist interests; therefore, the Communists of the whole world firmly opposed that war. The way to oppose a war of this kind is to do everything possible to prevent it before it breaks out and, once it breaks out, to oppose war with war, to oppose unjust war with just war, whenever possible.