Lenin, Luxemburg and the War
by John Rose
Lenin's critical response to Rosa Luxemburg's Junius pamphlet
Rosa Luxemburg's First World War Junius pamphlet, written in prison and so vividly described by Sally Campbell in February's Socialist Review, was arguably the greatest anti-war statement of the last century.
Its haunting theme, socialism or barbarism, prophetically cast its shadow over the 20th century and continues to do so now.
Junius was also uncompromising in its hostility to the pro-war German Socialist Party, the SPD, still