World capitalism has reached at the present time—approximately from the beginning of the twentieth century—the stage of imperialism. Imperialism, or the era of financial capital, is such a highly developed capitalist economy in which the monopolistic associations of capitalists—syndicates, cartels, trusts—have acquired decisive significance, banking capital of enormous concentration has merged with industrial capital, the export of capital to foreign countries has developed on a very large scale, the whole world has already been divided territorially among the wealthiest countries, and the economic partition of the world among international trusts has begun.

* Written in the margin of the manuscript to the right of points 8-11. Editor.