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Primary sourceBook1918 (published 1922)

The Russian Revolution: A Critical Appreciation

Rosa Luxemburg · 1918 (published 1922)

A pamphlet Luxemburg wrote in prison in 1918 criticising Bolshevik rule after the Russian Revolution, published after her death.

Luxemburg wrote this critique of the Bolsheviks in prison shortly before her death, revealing her independent Marxist views.

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Front cover of a book in orange-brown with a black decorative zigzag-bordered panel reading ROSA LUXEMBURG, DIE RUSSISCHE REVOLUTION in orange lettering. Below is a circular publisher emblem with a stylized figure and the text VERLAGSGESELLSCHAFT UND ERZIEHUNG. Handwritten library marks DK 265 and L 88 appear at top left.
Cover of Rosa Luxemburg's The Russian Revolution, written 1918, published posthumously 1922 by Paul Levi.

About this source

What it is

This unfinished manuscript was written by Rosa Luxemburg in Breslau prison in 1918. It was published posthumously in 1922 by her former comrade Paul Levi, after a complicated history involving Clara Zetkin and Leo Jogiches, who disagreed over whether it should see print.

Why it matters

Though Luxemburg praised the Bolsheviks for seizing power, she criticised their suppression of democratic institutions like the Constituent Assembly and their policies on land and nationalities. The text became a famous anti-Leninist document during the Cold War and was revived by the European left in the 1960s–70s as an alternative to Soviet Marxism, showing the deep splits within international socialism.

Look closer

  • Why might a text written secretly in prison be hard to reconstruct accurately later?
  • Why did people disagree about whether Luxemburg had changed her mind about this text?
  • What does the delay and controversy around publishing it suggest about its political danger?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Rosa Luxemburg on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Title page of the 1899 German pamphlet 'Sozialreform oder Revolution?' in blackletter type, with the subtitle 'Mit einem Anhang: Miliz und Militarismus', author 'Rosa Luxemburg', and imprint 'Leipzig 1899' with publisher details.Book

Primary source

Social Reform or Revolution

Rosa Luxemburg · 1898-1899 (published 1899)

Title page of 'The Crisis in the German Social-Democracy (The Junius Pamphlet)', with authors listed as Karl Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg and Franz Mehring, price 35 cents, published by The Socialist Publication Society, New York, 431 Pulaski St., Brooklyn, N.Y., 1918.Book

Primary source

The Junius Pamphlet

Rosa Luxemburg · 1915 (published 1916)

Newspaper article

Primary source

Was will der Spartakusbund?

Rosa Luxemburg · December 1918

Title page of the 1913 German first edition of Rosa Luxemburg's 'Die Akkumulation des Kapitals', printed in blackletter type. Author name at top, subtitle 'Ein Beitrag zur ökonomischen Erklärung des Imperialismus', and imprint 'Berlin 1913, Verlag Buchhandlung Vorwärts Paul Singer G.m.b.H.' at bottom.Book

Primary source

The Accumulation of Capital

Rosa Luxemburg · 1913

Black and white studio portrait of a woman with dark hair pinned up, looking toward the viewer with a serious expression. She wears a light, collared blouse against a dark gray backdrop.Photograph

Primary source

Portrait of Rosa Luxemburg

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