The principal work by the German socialist Paul Lensch (1873-1926), member of the Reichstag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, SPD) from 1912, then the largest socialist party in Europe.
In his early years, Lensch a vehement opponent of ‘revisionism’ in the SPD under the leadership of Eduard Bernstein, that is, the abandoning of the traditional Marxist theory of revolution in favour of reformism through the mainstream political system. He also collaborated with Rosa Luxemburg in his capacity as editor the socialist newspaper the Leipziger Volkszeitung.
Lensch is best-remembered for his controversial support of the German war effort during the First World War, outlined in the present book. In line with the official position of the SPB, who offered no serious opposition to the German Government at the outbreak of the war, Lensch developed a theory of war socialism in which the global conflict was seen to accelerate the development of industrial capitalism and hence the inevitable movement of society towards socialism.
The book was discussed by critically F.A. Hayek in The Road to Serfdom, his famous polemic against socialism.
