Vladimir Lenin
Resolution of the Central Committee
Of The R.S.D.L.P. (Bolsheviks)
Adopted in the Morning
Of April 22 (May 5), 1917
The political crisis that developed between April 19 and 21 must be regarded, at
least in its initial stage, as having passed.
The petty-bourgeois mass, angered by the capitalists, first swung away from them
towards the workers; but two days later they again followed the Menshevik and
Narodnik leaders, who stand for "confidence" in and "compromise" with the
capitalists.
These leaders have compromised, completely surrendered all their positions,
contenting themselves with the empty and purely verbal reservations of the
capitalists.
The causes of the crisis have not been removed, and the recurrence of such
crises is unavoidable.
The nature of the crisis is that the petty-bourgeois mass is vacillating between
its age-old faith in the capitalists and its resentment against them, a tendency
to place its faith in the revolutionary proletariat.
The capitalists are dragging out the war and covering up the fact by
phrase-mongering. Only the revolutionary proletariat can put an end to, and is
working towards putting an end to the war by means of a world revolution of the
workers, a revolution which is obviously mounting in our country, ripening in
Germany, and drawing closer in a number of other countries.
The slogan "Down with the Provisional Government!" is an incorrect one at the
present moment because, in the absence of a solid (i.e., a class-conscious and
organised) majority of the people on the side of the revolutionary proletariat,
such a slogan is either an empty phrase, or, objectively, amounts to attempts of
an adventurist character.
We shall favour the transfer of power to the proletarians and semi-proletarians
only when the Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies adopt our policy and
are willing to take the power into their own hands.
The organisation of our Party, the consolidation of the proletarian forces,
clearly proved inadequate at the time of tile crisis.
The slogans of the moment are:
(1) To explain the proletarian line and the proletarian way of ending the war;
(2) To criticise the petty-bourgeois policy of placing trust in the government
of the capitalists and compromising with it;
(3) To carry on propaganda and agitation from group to group in every regiment,
in every factory, and, particularly, among the most backward masses, such as
domestic servants, unskilled labourers, etc., since it was their backing in the
first place that the bourgeoisie tried to gain during the crisis;
(4) To organise, organise and once more organise the proletariat, in every
factory, in every district and in every city quarter.
The resolution of the Petrograd Soviet of April 21 banning all street meetings
and demonstrations for two days must be unconditionally obeyed by every member
of our Party. The Central Committee already distributed yesterday morning, and
is today publishing in Pravda, a resolution which states that "at such a moment
any thought of civil war would be senseless and preposterous", that all
demonstrations must be peaceful ones, and that the responsibility for violence
will fall on the Provisional Government and its supporters. Our Party therefore
considers that the above mentioned resolution of the Soviet of Workers' and
Soldiers' Deputies as a whole (and especially the part banning armed
demonstrations and shooting In the air) is entirely correct and must be
unconditionally obeyed.
We call upon all the workers and soldiers to consider carefully the results of
the crisis of the last two days and to send as delegates to the Soviet of
Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies and to the Executive Committee only such
comrades as express the will of the majority, in all cases where a delegate does
not express the opinion of the majority, new elections should be held in the
factories and barracks.
Written: ~ April 22, 1917
First Published: Pravda No. 39, April 23 (May 6), 1917
...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Go to the beginning of the document
Go to previous page
Go to next page
Go to the end of document
