After a monumental three-volume work in which he said almost everything there was to say world history of communism, after the book, in which he covered the causes, forms of manifestation and possible consequences from almost all sides, some of them are already visible, left negationismhere is the Romanian translation of the latest book by the French teacher, researcher and journalist Thierry Walton.

Mircea MorariuPhoto: Personal archive

The book is simply called Reflections on communismand appeared like those already mentioned, but how The KGB is in power or Putin’s system in the Bucharest publishing house Humanitas. It was translated by Marieva-Catalina Ionescu and, like the vast majority of previous ones, also contains word to the Romanian readers.

a introduction which I suspect also appeared in the French edition (Think about communism) published in 2021 by a French publisher Grasset & FasquelleThierry Walton exclaims: Strange fatehe had communism! And it is quite possible that this wonder was the impetus that prompted the author to write a new book. What is and what is not a book of conclusions.

Yes, because it tells us about the historical, ideological and intellectual origins of communism. Which are lost somewhere in the 18th century, in the exaggerations of the French Revolution, in Jacobinism. The one who legitimized the shedding of blood. And I think that the book is called French for a reason Think about communisma name that refers to something known Penser to Revolution François Furet, the same François Furet, who shortly before his death would give an impressive Past illusions. Communism itself, which Furet himself believed in at one time, is an illusion. The origins of communism are also lost voluntary bondage about which Etienne de la Boettier wrote back in the 16th century, an essay to which Thierry Walton now devotes a number of dense pages.

Reflections on communism this means a book of repetition, as well as conclusions, because the author once again reminds us how the teachings of Marx were born, the basis of which already contained the idea of ​​violence, how Lenin “worked” it, how the communists did nowhere in the world will not reach power as a result of a real revolution, not as a result of free elections. Walton’s explanation that the Bolsheviks immediately after taking power ignored the results of the election consultation is useful.

Yes, there were expectations, communism promised to put itself at the service of the proletariat, it even coined a phrase the dictatorship of the proletariat which served to justify his crimes but never actually gave him power. Vice versa. This turned him into a subject bound by a set of strict rules, the violation of which did not go unpunished. And the punishments were numerous and severe. They were aimed both at individuals and at whole communities.

Reflections on communism contains new details about the accomplices and accomplices who allowed communism to gain and hold power for nearly 50 years in Europe. Regarding the so-called method the doctrine of peaceful coexistenceas could not have been more fashionable in the 1970s, allowed communism to expand territorially, especially in Africa and beyond.

The great problem to which the researcher must find an answer, and which, as it is easy to see from these pages, greatly concerns Thierry Walton, is not how it came to be, but how Communism was kept in power for so long. Its fall due to various reasons, mainly economic, the inability of the utopia to feed its population and provide them with minimum standards of civilized life, was perceived as a disaster in many parts of the world. A kind of mourning was established, to which Thierry Walton devotes a whole chapter.Weeping boxes they do not in any case mourn their dead in silence, they try periodically and by various means to rehabilitate him, at the hour of death they stop any attempts at firm condemnation, they condemn his incrimination. is Vigilant committees against the politicization of history.

Reflections on communism however, this is not a book of conclusions, and Thierry Walton is aware of that. And it not only raises awareness, but also warns. Communism is not dead forever, it is still alive. No, not in Europe, but in Asia, Africa and America. For example, China, despite its relative economic prosperity, is still a communist country.

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