The US Civil War was a major influence on the development of Marxism. For Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the war against chattel slavery was an important phase in the global struggle against human bondage. Their commentary on the war is compiled in The Civil War in the United States, an essential volume for those seeking a Marxist understanding of the most pivotal conflict in US history, as well as the relationship between oppression and labor.

In Firebrand’s second visit to the Socialism Conference in Chicago, we took part in discussions throughout the weekend, intervening with Marxist perspectives in a “big tent” event now largely defined by reformism. The Gaza genocide rightly dominated discourse. We spoke to affirm the importance of class independence, class analysis, genuine anti-imperialism, and revolutionary organization.

National Bolshevism originated during a brief, disastrous moment in the 1920s when the German Communist Party attempted to appeal to working-class Nazi supporters with nationalist or even anti-semitic rhetoric. As Marxist historian Doug Enaa Greene shows, this shameful chapter still resonates today. Marxists should never be tempted to set aside our internationalism or anti-oppression principles in hopes of reaching the most backward workers.