31
Serious question: why China doesn't have soviet republics? Why it's not a federation? (lemmygrad.ml)
submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by 2000watts@lemmygrad.ml to c/communism@lemmygrad.ml
14 comments fedilink hide all child comments

They have "autonomous regions", but not republics. China is not a federation. Rather, it's a Unitary state.

But USSR was a Federal state, a union of multiple Soviet republics, and one of the republics (RSFSR) was also a federal republic. Each republic had its own flag, state emblem, anthem and communist party (except RSFSR, which didn't have its own anthem and party). They did it all according to Lenin's formula of "The Right of Nations to Self-Determination Up To And Including Secession". It was the only country in the world to include that in their constitution.

But China doesn't have all that. Why?

P.S. I'm looking for answers, not confrontation.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Comrade_Improving@lemmygrad.ml 7 points 1 month ago

Approaching the matter from the standpoint of the proletariat and the proletarian revolution, Engels, like Marx, upheld democratic centralism, the republic--one and indivisible. He regarded the federal republic either as an exception and a hindrance to development, or as a transition from a monarchy to a centralized republic, as a "step forward" under certain special conditions. And among these special conditions, he puts the national question to the fore.

Although mercilessly criticizing the reactionary nature of small states, and the screening of this by the national question in certain concrete cases, Engels, like Marx, never betrayed the slightest desire to brush aside the national question

Engels proposes the following words for the self-government clause in the programme: "Complete selfgovernment for the provinces [gubernias or regions], districts and communes through officials elected by universal suffrage. The abolition of all local and provincial authorities appointed by the state."

It is extremely important to note that Engels, armed with facts, disproved by a most precise example the prejudice which is very widespread, particularly among pettybourgeois democrats, that a federal republic necessarily means a greater amount of freedom than a centralized republic. This is wrong. It is disproved by the facts cited by Engels regarding the centralized French Republic of 792-98 and the federal Swiss Republic. The really democratic centralized republic gave more freedom that the federal republic. In other words, the greatest amount of local, regional, and other freedom known in history was accorded by a centralized and not a federal republic.

V. Lenin - State and Revolution

this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2025
31 points (100.0% liked)

Communism

9705 readers
32 users here now

Discussion Community for fellow Marxist-Leninists and other Marxists.

Rules for /c/communism

Rules that visitors must follow to participate. May be used as reasons to report or ban.

  1. No non-marxists

This subreddit is here to facilitate discussion between marxists.

There are other communities aimed at helping along new communists. This community isn't here to convert naysayers to marxism.

If you are a member of the police, armed forces, or any other part of the repressive state apparatus of capitalist nations, you will be banned.

  1. No oppressive language

Do not attempt to justify your use of oppressive language.

Doing this will almost assuredly result in a ban. Accept the criticism in a principled manner, edit your post or comment accordingly, and move on, learning from your mistake.

We believe that speech, like everything else, has a class character, and that some speech can be oppressive. This is why speech that is patriarchal, white supremacist, cissupremacist, homophobic, ableist, or otherwise oppressive is banned.

TERF is not a slur.

  1. No low quality or off-topic posts

Posts that are low-effort or otherwise irrelevant will be removed.

This is not a place to engage in meta-drama or discuss random reactionaries on lemmy or anywhere else.

This includes memes and circlejerking.

This includes most images, such as random books or memorabilia you found.

We ask that amerikan posters refrain from posting about US bourgeois politics. The rest of the world really doesn’t care that much.

  1. No basic questions about marxism

Posts asking entry-level questions will be removed.

Questions like “What is Maoism?” or “Why do Stalinists believe what they do?” will be removed, as they are not the focus on this forum.

  1. No sectarianism

Marxists of all tendencies are welcome here.

Refrain from sectarianism, defined here as unprincipled criticism. Posts trash-talking a certain tendency or marxist figure will be removed. Circlejerking, throwing insults around, and other pettiness is unacceptable.

If criticisms must be made, make them in a principled manner, applying Marxist analysis.

The goal of this subreddit is the accretion of theory and knowledge and the promotion of quality discussion and criticism.

Check out ProleWiki for a communist wikipedia.

Communism study guide

bottombanner

founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
muad_dibber@lemmygrad.ml
CaptCalhoun@lemmygrad.ml
supercooper25@lemmygrad.ml
Magpieinthesky@lemmygrad.ml
fidel_castro@lemmygrad.ml
AnarchoBolshevik@lemmygrad.ml