"Imperialism is the eve of the socialist revolution," wrote Lenin whilst revolutionary hearts were still warm with the apocalyptic vision of the social transformation that was about to take place following the disintegration of moribund capitalism. Monopoly capitalism was in the last throes of its general crisis; imperialism was the highest stage of its development. National liberation movements in colonial territories were an important part of the revolutionary process, for they undermined the positions of imperialism and intensified its contradictions
