Vladimir Lenin
Statements About The War Made By Our Party Before The Revolution
Written: ~ 13 May, 1917
First Published: Pravda No. 56, May 13 (26), 1917
The statements dealing with the possible victory of a chauvinist (defencist)
revolution are of particular interest. Sotsial-Demokrat, the Central Organ of
the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party published in Geneva under the
editorship of Zinoviev and Lenin, carried the following statement of its editors
in its issue No. 47 for October 13, 1915:
"(8) By revolutionary chauvinists we mean those who want a victory over tsarism
so as to achieve victory over Germany, plunder other countries, consolidate
Great-Russian rule over the other peoples of Russia, etc. Revolutionary
chauvinism is based on the class position of the petty bourgeoisie. The latter
always vacillates between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. At present it is
vacillating between chauvinism (which prevents it from being consistently
revolutionary, even within the meaning of a democratic revolution) and
proletarian internationalism. At the moment the Trudoviks, the
Socialist-Revolutionaries, Nasha Zarya, Chkheidze's Duma group, the Organising
Committee, Mr. Plekhanov and the like are political spokesmen for this petty
bourgeoisie in Russia.
"(9) If the revolutionary chauvinists won in Russia, we would be opposed to a
defence of their "fatherland in the present war. Our slogan is: against the
chauvinists, even if they are revolutionary end republican-against them, and for
an alliance of the international proletariat for the socialist revolution.
"(10) To the question of whether it is possible for the proletariat to assume
the leadership in the bourgeois Russian revolution, our answer is: yes, it is
possible, if the petty bourgeoisie swings to the left at the decisive moment; it
is being pushed to the left, not only by our propaganda, but by a number of
objective factors, economic, financial (the burden of war), military, political,
and others.
"(11) To the question of what the party of the proletariat would do if the
revolution placed power in its hands in the present war, our answer is as
follows: we would propose peace to all the belligerents on the condition that
freedom is given to the colonies and all peoples that are dependent, oppressed
and deprived of rights. Under the present governments, neither Germany nor
Britain and France would accept this condition. In that case, we would have to
pre pare for and wage a revolutionary war, i.e., not only resolutely carry out
the whole of our minimum programme, but work systematically to bring about an
uprising among all peoples now oppressed by the Great Russians, all colonies and
dependent countries in Asia (India, China, Persia, etc.), and also, first and
foremost, we would raise up the socialist proletariat of Europe for an
insurrection against their governments and despite the social-chauvinists. There
is no doubt that a victory of the proletariat in Russia would create
extraordinarily favourable conditions for the development of the revolution in
both Asia and Europe. Even 1905 proved that. The international solidarity of the
revolutionary proletariat is a jact, despite the scum of opportunism and
social-chauvinism."
Transcription/Markup: David Walters and Brian Basgen
Online Version: Lenin Internet Archive (marxists.org) 1999
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