Marx and Engels

It is essential to understand that from the time of Karl Marx, all branches of Socialism have looked on democracy not as an end in itself but merely as a means of achieving Socialism which is invariably described as an authoritarian, centrally-controlled system.

Indeed, Marxism and derivative systems such as Marxism-Leninism actually regard democracy as antithetical to Socialism which is referred to as "dictatorship"; for example, "dictatorship of the proletariat" or the dictatorship of the ruling Socialist party supposedly representing the working class over other classes.

Accordingly, Marx and Engels called on their fellow Socialists in Germany to ally themselves with the Liberal Democrats in order to dislodge the Conservatives from power, and then turn against their former allies, including by force of arms, to establish Socialism. ("Address of the Central Committee to the Communist League", March 1850, MESW, vol. 1, pp. 175-85)

Similarly, Lenin in his booklet "The State and Revolution" (1917), went to extraordinary lengths to dismiss democracy as a temporary and dispensable phase in the transition from Capitalism to Communism:

"Democracy is of great importance for the working class in its struggle for freedom against the capitalists. But democracy ... is only one of the stages in the course of development from feudalism to capitalism, and from capitalism to Communism" (Lenin, LCW, vol. 25).

As in Marxism, democracy in Leninism was believed to be a feature of the capitalist state that would become "unnecessary" in Socialist society.

Being less outspoken than Continental Socialists, the Fabians were naturally far more careful in their language. Yet, it is absolutely clear from Fabian statements, both written and spoken, that they followed the general Socialist line according to which democracy was only a means of achieving Socialism.

The Fabians' very first election manifesto for the Labour Party (written by Shaw and Webb) envisaged a government run by a body of "experts" instead of politicians (Pugh, p. 81). This was echoed by Pease who spoke of "qualified rulers" as a precondition for a Socialist State (Pease, p. 200).

That these "experts" and "qualified rulers" could not have been anything but Fabians is evident from numerous statements by Fabian leaders. For example, Shaw expressed his wish to make the Fabians "the Jesuits of Socialism" (Martin, p. 16), while H.G. Wells who was number four on the Fabian Executive (after Webb, Pease and Shaw) proposed to turn the whole Society into a ruling order similar to the "Samurai" in his "A Modern Utopia" (1905).

Lenin and Stalin

While, initially, the Fabians kept their views about democracy to themselves, the rise of dictatorial leaders in Soviet Russia and elsewhere eventually prompted them to come into the open and show their true colours.

Already in 1927, Fabian leader Bernard Shaw openly declared that Fabians must get the Socialist movement "out of its old democratic grooves", that they, as Socialists, had "nothing to do with liberty" and, significantly, that democracy was "incompatible with Socialism" (M. Cole, pp. 196-7).

Embarrassing though this might have been to the general Fabian and Labour membership, it is clear that these were not just Shavian ramblings. Shaw was not shy about expressing his admiration for fascist dictators like Italy's Benito Mussolini and, in particular, for Communist Russia's dictators Lenin and Stalin.

Indeed, Shaw's confession that democracy was "incompatible with Socialism" was identical to Lenin's own views on the subject expressed in "The State and Revolution" (1917), "The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky" (1918) and other writings.

Of particular importance in this connection are Shaw's numerous public statements showing that he viewed Marxism-Leninism, and later Stalinism, as model manifestations of Fabian Socialism. To give just a few examples:

According to Shaw, Lenin studied the works of Sidney Webb and "became a gradualist" after which he transformed Russian Socialism into Fabianism.

Shaw declared that "Bolshevism became Fabianism, called Communism."

Shaw believed that Russian Communism was Fabian Socialism and that the U.S.S.R. was really a "Union of Fabian Republics."

Shaw described Lenin as the "greatest statesman of Europe."

Shaw said that "Stalin is a good Fabian" (Ratiu, pp. 85-6; cf. Butler, p. 11).

Shaw's contention that Lenin became a "gradualist" is, of course, open to debate as Lenin was one of the leaders of the 1917 October Revolution -- nothing about which was gradualist. But Lenin did study the Webbs' "Industrial Democracy" (1897) which he translated into Russian, and he did advocate state capitalism as a step towards Socialism, which may be construed as gradualist.

At any rate, from 1920 to 1930, Shaw conducted an advanced Fabian course on Soviet Communism praising its alleged virtues (Holroyd, vol. 3, p. 230). More important, Shaw clearly equated Soviet Communism with Fabianism, declaring after a visit to the Soviet Union "now that I have seen Russia I am more of a Communist than ever" (Shaw, 1 Aug. 1931).

Nor was admiration for Communist Russia and its leaders restricted to Shaw. The Webbs, too, were great admirers of Lenin and Stalin, even keeping a portrait of Lenin at their home and, in 1931, they followed Shaw on a visit to Stalin. On their return, they wrote a massive, two-volume propaganda document for Stalinist Russia entitled "Soviet Communism: A New Civilization" (1935).

The Webbs' book was promoted across the country and beyond through Fabian outfits like the influential Left Book Club, and by leading Fabians like Beatrice Webb's nephew Stafford Cripps, a notorious Stalinist. Yet despite, or because of, their allegiance to Stalinist Russia, Webb was appointed Fabian Society president in 1939, followed by her nephew in 1951.

Other leading Fabians who paid visits to Stalinist Russia included Margaret Cole, who later became honorary secretary and chairman of the Fabian Society, and John Parker. The latter conducted Fabian Society tours and "educational visits" to Russia from 1932 into the 60s, during which period he served as Fabian Society general secretary, chairman and later president (1980-87) (M. Cole, pp. 342-3; Who Is Who & Who Was Who). Parker also wrote his own pro-Soviet book, "42 Days in the Soviet Union" (1946).

In an interesting twist to the story, it emerges that the Society's connections with Lenin and his clique stretched back long before the Revolution. Fabian Society member Joseph Fels, a wealthy soap manufacturer and close friend of Webb and Shaw, had provided a loan of £1,700, in addition to pocket money in the sum of one gold sovereign per delegate, to Lenin, Trotsky and their Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (later Communist Party) during their 1907 London conference (Rappaport, pp. 153-4).

On balance, the Fabian leadership's backing of dictatorship both in theory and practice becomes indisputable.