Lenin's Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism

1916 · Petrograd (St Petersburg, Russia)

In 1916, in Zurich, Lenin writes Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, published at Petrograd in 1917: capitalism has passed into its monopoly stage, exports capital, divides the world among empires, and makes war and revolution the politics of the epoch. The pamphlet gives the coming revolution its theory of the world it acts in.

Tagged: Marxism

The Event

Date
1916 (exact)
Era
The Internationals and Lenin; Standard periodization of Marxist history
Location
Petrograd; today St Petersburg, Russia
Traditions
Marxism
Streams
Marxism
Key figures
Vladimir Lenin
Key texts
Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism

Primary Sources

  • Lenin, V. I. Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. Petrograd, 1917 (written 1916).

Secondary Sources

  • Anderson, Perry. Considerations on Western Marxism. London: New Left Books, 1976.
  • Kolakowski, Leszek. Main Currents of Marxism. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978.
  • McLellan, David. Karl Marx: A Biography. London: Palgrave Macmillan, fourth edition, 2006.

Provenance: HIST-1457; confidence 0.95; accessed 2026-10-30.

Related on This Site