Collected Works of V. I. Lenin

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Collected Works of V. I. Lenin W O R K E R S O F A L L C O U N T R I E S , U N I T E! L E N I N COLLECTED WORKS 2+ A THE RUSSIAN EDITION WAS PRINTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH A DECISION OF THE NINTH CONGRESS OF THE R.C.P.(B.) AND THE SECOND CONGRESS OF SOVIETS OF THE U.S.S.R. ИНCTИTУT МАРÇCИзМА — ЛЕНИНИзМА пpи ЦK KНCC B. n. l d H n H С О Ч И Н E Н И Я И з д a н u е ч е m в е p m o e ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЕ ИЗДАТЕЛЬСТВО ПОЛИТИЧЕСКОЙ ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ M О С К В А V. I. L E N I N cOLLEcTED WORKS VOLUME 2+ !pril –)une 191U PROGRESS PUBLISHERS MOSCOW TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN EDITED BY B E R N A R D I S A A C S From Marx to Mao M L © Digital Reprints 2011 www.marx2mao.com First printing 1964 Second printing 1974 10102–036 l 164–74 014(01)–74 7 C O N T E N T S Preface ........................ 17 April- June 1917 THE TASKS OF THE PROLETARIAT IN THE PRESENT REVO- LUTION ........................ 19 Theses ...................... 21 HOW WE ARRIVED ................... 27 TWO WORLDS ..................... 30 NOTES FOR AN ARTICLE OR SPEECH IN DEFENCE OF THE APRIL THESES ..................... 32 BLANCISM ....................... 34 THE DUAL POWER ................... 38 LETTERS ON TACTICS .................. 42 Foreword ..................... 42 First Letter. Assessment of the Present Situation .... 43 THE TASKS OF THE PROLETARIAT IN OUR REVOLUTION. Draft Platform for the Proletarian Party .......... 55 The Class Character of the Revolution That Has Taken Place ..................... 57 The Foreign Policy of the New Government ...... 58 The Peculiar Nature of the Dual Power and Its Class Significance ................... 60 The Peculiar Nature of the Tactics Which Follow from the Above ................... 62 8 CONTENTS Revolutionary Defencism and Its Class Significance ... 64 How Can the War Be Ended? ........... 66 A New Type of State Emerging from Our Revolution .. 67 The Agrarian and National Programmes ....... 71 Nationalisation of the Banks and Capitalist Syndicates 73 The Situation Within the Socialist International .... 74 The Collapse of the Zimmerwald International.—The Need for Founding a Third International ...... 80 What Should Be the Name of Our Party—One That Will Be Correct Scientifically and Help to Clarify the Mind of the Proletariat Politically? ............ 84 Postscript ....................FROM MARX 89 POLITICAL PARTIES IN RUSSIA AND THE TASKS OF THE PROLETARIAT ..................... 93 Preface to the SecondTO Edition MAO............. 95 SPEECH DELIVERED AT A MEETING OF SOLDIERS OF THE IZMAILOVSKY REGIMENT. APRIL 10 (23), 1917 ........ 107 A SHAMELESS LIE OF THE CAPITALISTS .......... 110 THE WAR AND THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT ....... 112 IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF RUSSKAYA VOLYA .......... 115 A PARTNERSHIP OF LIESNOT................. FOR 118 BANKS AND MINISTERS ................. 122 AN IMPORTANT EXPOSURECOMMERCIAL................ 123 TO THE SOLDIERSDISTRIBUTION AND SAILORS .............. 124 AGAINST THE RIOT-MONGERS. To the Workers, Soldiers, and the Whole Population of Petrograd ............ 127 CITIZENS! SEE WHAT METHODS THE CAPITALISTS OF ALL COUNTRIES ARE USING! ................. 131 A “VOLUNTARY AGREEMENT” BETWEEN LANDOWNERS AND PEASANTS? ...................... 134 AN HONEST VOICE IN A CHORUS OF SLANDERERS ...... 135 THE SOLDIERS AND THE LAND .............. 137 THE PETROGRAD CITY CONFERENCE OF THE R.S.D.L.P. (BOLSHEVIKS), April 14-22 (April 27-May 5), 1917 ....... 139 CONTENTS 9 1. REPORT ON THE PRESENT SITUATION AND THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT. APRIL 14 (27) 141 2. CONCLUDING REMARKS IN THE DEBATE CONCERNING THE REPORT ON THE PRESENT SITUATION. APRIL 14 (27) 148 3. TWO REMARKS DURING THE DEBATE ON THE RESOLUTION CONCERNING THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT. APRIL 15 (28) ....... 152 4. RESOLUTION ON THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE PROVI- SIONAL GOVERNMENT................ 154 5. TWO REMARKS DURING THE DEBATE ON THE QUESTION OF THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS. APRIL 22 (MAY 5) .... 156 6. RESOLUTION ON THE MUNICIPAL QUESTION ....... 158 7. DRAFT RESOLUTION ON THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE PARTIES OF THE SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES. THE MENSHEVIK SOCIAL DEMOCRATS, THE “NON-FACTIONAL” SO- CIAL-DEMOCRATS AND OTHER KINDRED POLITICAL TRENDS 159 8. DRAFT RESOLUTION ON THE WAR ........... 161 I ........................ 161 II ........................ 162 III ........................ 163 CONGRESS OF PEASANTS’ DEPUTIES ............ 167 ON THE RETURN OF THE EMIGRANTS ........... 171 OUR VIEWS. A Reply to the Resolution of the Executive Com- mission of the Soviet of Soldiers’ Deputies ........ 172 HOW THEY TIED THEMSELVES TO THE CAPITALISTS ..... 176 A PROLETARIAN MILITIA ................. 179 BANKRUPTCY? ..................... 183 RESOLUTION OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE R.S.D.L.P. (BOLSHEVIKS) OF APRIL 20 (MAY 3), 1917 ON THE CRISIS CAUSED BY THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT’S NOTE OF APRIL 18 (MAY 1), 1917 .................. 184 APPEAL TO THE SOLDIERS OF ALL THE BELLIGERENT COUNTRIES ...................... 186 THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT’S NOTE .......... 189 A BASIC QUESTION A Line of Argument Used by Socialists Who Have Gone Over to the Bourgeoisie............ 192 10 CONTENTS ICONS VERSUS CANNONS, PHRASES VERSUS CAPITAL ..... 196 THE LOGIC OF CITIZEN V. CHERNOV ............ 198 MR. PLEKHANOV’S FUTILE ATTEMPTS TO EXTRICATE HIMSELF 199 RESOLUTION OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE R.S.D.L.P. (BOLSHEVIKS) ADOPTED APRIL 21 (MAY 4), 1917 ....... 201 HONEST DEFENCISM REVEALS ITSELF ........... 204 MAD CAPITALISTS OR WEAK-MINDED SOCIAL-DEMOCRATS? ... 207 THE ADVICE OR ORDER OF SHINGARYOV, AND THE ADVICE OF A LOCAL SOVIET .................. 209 RESOLUTION OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE R.S.D.L.P. (BOLSHEVIKS) ADOPTED IN THE MORNING OF APRIL 22 (MAY 5), 1917 ..................... 210 LESSONS OF THE CRISIS ................. 213 HOW A SIMPLE QUESTION CAN BE CONFUSED ........ 217 “DISGRACE” AS THE CAPITALISTS AND THE PROLETARIANS UNDERSTAND IT .................... 220 INTERVIEW GIVEN TO E. TORNTAINEN. APRIL 28 (MAY 6), 1917 222 FOOLISH GLOATING ................... 223 THE SEVENTH (APRIL) ALL-RUSSIA CONFERENCE OF THE R.S.D.L.P.(B.). April 24-29 (May 7-12), 1917 ........ 225 1. SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE OPENING OF THE CONFER- ENCE. APRIL 24 (MAY 7) ............... 227 2. REPORT ON THE CURRENT SITUATION. APRIL 24 (MAY 7) 228 3. SPEECH WINDING UP THE DEBATE ON THE REPORT ON THE CURRENT SITUATION. APRIL 24 (MAY 7) ....... 244 4. SPEECH ON THE PROPOSAL TO CALL AN INTERNATIONAL SOCIALIST CONFERENCE. APRIL 25 (MAY 8) ....... 247 5. RESOLUTION ON BORGBJERG’S PROPOSAL ........ 251 6. SPEECH ON THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE SOVIETS. APRIL 26 (MAY 8). Brief Press Report ......... 254 7. DRAFT THESES TO THE RESOLUTION ON THE SOVIETS 255 8. SPEECH IN FAVOUR OF THE RESOLUTION ON THE WAR. APRIL 27 (MAY 10) ................. 257 CONTENTS 11 9. RESOLUTION ON THE WAR .............. 270 I ........................ 270 II ........................ 271 III ........................ 272 10. RESOLUTION ON THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE PROVI- SIONAL GOVERNMENT ................ 274 11. REPORT ON THE QUESTION OF REVISING THE PARTY PROGRAMME. APRIL 28 (MAY 11) ............ 277 12. RESOLUTION ON THE QUESTION OF REVISING THE PARTY PROGRAMME .................... 280 13. REPORT ON THE AGRARIAN QUESTION. APRIL 28 (MAY 11) 282 14. REJOINDER TO N. S. ANGARSKY DURING THE DEBATE ON THE AGRARIAN QUESTION. APRIL 28 (MAY 11) ..... 288 15. RESOLUTION ON THE AGRARIAN QUESTION ....... 290 16. RESOLUTION ON UNITING THE INTERNATIONALISTS AGAINST THE PETTY-BOURGEOIS DEFENCIST BLOC .... 294 17. RESOLUTION ON THE SOVIETS OF WORKERS’ AND SOL- DIERS’ DEPUTIES .................. 295 18. SPEECH ON THE NATIONAL QUESTION. APRIL 29 (MAY 12) 297 19. RESOLUTION ON THE NATIONAL QUESTION ....... 302 20. SPEECH ON THE SITUATION WITHIN THE INTERNA- TIONAL AND THE TASKS OF THE R.S.D.L.P.(B.). APRIL 29 (MAY 12) ..................... 304 21. SPEECH IN FAVOUR OF THE RESOLUTION ON THE CURRENT SITUATION. APRIL 29 (MAY 12) ........ 305 22. RESOLUTION ON THE CURRENT SITUATION ....... 309 23. CONCLUDING SPEECH AT THE CLOSING OF THE CONFER- ENCE. APRIL 29 (MAY 12) .............. 313 INTRODUCTION TO THE RESOLUTIONS OF THE SEVENTH (APRIL) ALL-RUSSIA CONFERENCE OF THE R.S.D.L.P.(B.) .... 314 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF FRATERNISATION .......... 318 WHAT THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY STEPS OF THE PROVI- SIONAL GOVERNMENT LEAD TO .............. 321 SOCIAL-CHAUVINISTS AND INTERNATIONALISTS ........ 324 12 CONTENTS I. G. TSERETELI AND THE CLASS STRUGGLE ......... 326 ANXIETY ....................... 330 THE “CRISIS OF POWER” ................. 332 FINLAND AND RUSSIA .................. 335 A LETTER TO THE EDITORS ............... 339 DEFENCE OF IMPERIALISM CLOAKED WITH SPECIOUS PHRASES 340 AN UNFORTUNATE DOCUMENT ............... 343 FRIGHTENING THE PEOPLE WITH BOURGEOIS TERRORS .... 346 ON THE EVE ...................... 349 THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN THE MAIN THING. The Municipal Platform of the Proletarian Party ............ 350 MANDATE TO DEPUTIES OF THE SOVIET ELECTED AT FACTO- RIES AND REGIMENTS .................. 354 CLASS COLLABORATION WITH CAPITAL, OR CLASS STRUGGLE AGAINST CAPITAL? ................... 357 A STRONG REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT .......... 360 TITBITS FOR THE NEWBORN GOVERNMENT ......... 362 ALREADY THE NEW GOVERNMENT IS LAGGING BEHIND EVEN THE PEASANT MASS, LEAVE ALONE THE REVO- LUTIONARY WORKERS .................. 365 STEALING A MARCH ON THE WORKERS ........... 367 AN OPEN LETTER TO THE DELEGATES TO THE ALL-RUSSIA CONGRESS OF PEASANTS’ DEPUTIES ............ 370 THE “VIRTUAL ARMISTICE” ................ 375 SECRETS OF FOREIGN POLICY ............... 378 ONE OF THE SECRET TREATIES .............
Recommended publications
  • When Fear Is Substituted for Reason: European and Western Government Policies Regarding National Security 1789-1919
    WHEN FEAR IS SUBSTITUTED FOR REASON: EUROPEAN AND WESTERN GOVERNMENT POLICIES REGARDING NATIONAL SECURITY 1789-1919 Norma Lisa Flores A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December 2012 Committee: Dr. Beth Griech-Polelle, Advisor Dr. Mark Simon Graduate Faculty Representative Dr. Michael Brooks Dr. Geoff Howes Dr. Michael Jakobson © 2012 Norma Lisa Flores All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Dr. Beth Griech-Polelle, Advisor Although the twentieth century is perceived as the era of international wars and revolutions, the basis of these proceedings are actually rooted in the events of the nineteenth century. When anything that challenged the authority of the state – concepts based on enlightenment, immigration, or socialism – were deemed to be a threat to the status quo and immediately eliminated by way of legal restrictions. Once the façade of the Old World was completely severed following the Great War, nations in Europe and throughout the West started to revive various nineteenth century laws in an attempt to suppress the outbreak of radicalism that preceded the 1919 revolutions. What this dissertation offers is an extended understanding of how nineteenth century government policies toward radicalism fostered an environment of increased national security during Germany’s 1919 Spartacist Uprising and the 1919/1920 Palmer Raids in the United States. Using the French Revolution as a starting point, this study allows the reader the opportunity to put events like the 1848 revolutions, the rise of the First and Second Internationals, political fallouts, nineteenth century imperialism, nativism, Social Darwinism, and movements for self-government into a broader historical context.
    [Show full text]
  • Kurt Eisner, the Opposition and the Reconstruction of the International
    ROBERT F. WHEELER THE FAILURE OF "TRUTH AND CLARITY" AT BERNE: KURT EISNER, THE OPPOSITION AND THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL To better understand why Marxist Internationalism took on the forms that it did during the revolutionary epoch that followed World War I, it is useful to reconsider the "International Labor and Socialist Con- ference" that met at Berne from January 26 to February 10,1919. This gathering not only set its mark on the "reconstruction" of the Second International, it also influenced both the formation and the development of the Communist International. It is difficult, however, to comprehend fully what transpired at Berne unless the crucial role taken in the deliberations by Kurt Eisner, on the one hand, and the Zimmerwaldian Opposition, on the other, is recognized. To a much greater extent than has generally been realized, the immediate success and the ultimate failure of the Conference depended on the Bavarian Minister President and the loosely structured opposition group to his Left. Nevertheless every scholarly study of the Conference to date, including Arno Mayer's excellent treatment of the "Stillborn Berne Conference", tends to un- derestimate Eisner's impact while largely ignoring the very existence of the Zimmerwaldian Opposition.1 Yet, if these two elements are neglected it becomes extremely difficult, if not impossible, to fathom the real significance of Berne. Consequently there is a need to reevaluate 1 In Mayer's case this would seem to be related to two factors: first, the context in which he examines Berne, namely the attempt by Allied labor leaders to influence the Paris Peace Conference; and second, his reliance on English and French accounts of the Conference.
    [Show full text]
  • The Bolsheviks and War
    The Bolsheviks and War By Sam Marcy [1985] Lessons for today's anti-war movement Marxists Internet Archive The Bolsheviks and War – Lessons for Today’s Anti-war movement 2 The Bolsheviks and War – Lessons for Today’s Anti-war movement Introduction 5 I. The Bolsheviks and World War I 1. Social Democracy and the approaching war 9 2. Zimmerwald: The internationalists regroup 20 3. Lenin's response to the war 28 II. Lessons for Today's Anti-war Movement 4. Imperialism and the growth of opportunism 48 5. Class struggle in the nuclear age 67 6. The Green Corn Rebellion and the struggle for socialism 95 Appendices Appendix I: Stuttgart Resolution 124 Appendix II: Basel Manifesto 128 Appendix III: International Socialist Women's Conference(Berne) 135 Appendix IV: Zimmerwald Manifesto 138 Appendix V: Zimmerwald Declaration of sympathy 144 Appendix VI: Draft resolution from leftwing at Zimmerwald 146 Appendix VII: Draft Manifesto introduced at Zimmerwald 149 Appendix VIII: Two Declarations made at Zimmerwald 153 Appendix IX: War proclamation & program, Socialist Party(April, 1917) 155 Appendix X: Decree on Peace by Second All-Russia Congress of Soviets 162 3 The Bolsheviks and War – Lessons for Today’s Anti-war movement 4 The Bolsheviks and War – Lessons for Today’s Anti-war movement Introduction For those who wish to study more about the struggle against the frst imperialist world war, there are the classics written by Lenin at the time, including his Imperialism: the Highest Stage of Capitalism, and Socialism and War. These works are generally available in bookstores, particularly those specializing in Marxist literature.
    [Show full text]
  • Bernstein's Heirs
    Sheri Berman, The Primacy of Politics: Social Democracy and the Making of Europe’s Twentieth Century review Cambridge University Press: Cambridge 2006, £16.99, paperback 240 pp, 978 0 521 52110 9 Ashley Lavelle, The Death of Social Democracy: Political Consequences in the 21st Century Ashgate: Aldershot 2008, £60, hardback 234 pp, 978 0 7546 7014 8 Dylan Riley BERNSTEIN’S HEIRS Two opposing predictions about the fate of social democracy developed in the nineties. The first argued that, freed of the Stalinist (sometimes also extended to ‘Marxist’) incubus, social democracy would now flourish, at least in its European homeland. The second held the project of reforming capitalism was likely to enter a period of steep decline with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the long boom. This debate is now mostly over as the crisis of the welfare state becomes increasingly obvious. The question now is how to explain this outcome, and to assess its likely conse- quences. Two books that have appeared in recent years provide stimulating if sharply different accounts: The Primacy of Politics by Sheri Berman, a ris- ing star in the American academy and frequent contributor to Dissent, and The Death of Social Democracy by Ashley Lavelle, a tough-minded Australian Trotskyist. Berman’s crisply written and engaging book suggests that social democracy—not liberalism or Marxism—was the real victor of the ‘age of extremes’; but the left’s amnesia about this historical triumph has led to a debilitating loss of will. Lavelle’s forceful and intelligent book holds, in contrast, that social democracy’s achievements even in the favourable envi- ronment of the long boom were extremely modest.
    [Show full text]
  • What Is the “Left Wing” Movement and Its Purpose? by Edward Lindgren
    Lindgren: What is the “Left Wing” Movement? [Feb. 1919] 1 What is the “Left Wing” Movement and Its Purpose? by Edward Lindgren Published in The Class Struggle [Brooklyn, NY], v. 3, no. 1 (Feb. 1919), pp. 111-114. This question is agitating hundreds of mem- Its origin has a more fundamental basis. While for bers of the Socialist Party at this time. years there have been factions in the party no real Since the memorable night when the Cen- line-up was taken until 1912, when half of the tral Committees of the various locals of New York party membership was read out of the party by City held a conference, at which half of the del- the infamous clause known as the “sabotage” sec- egates bolted and adjourned to another hall and tion of the Socialist Party constitution. At that time there organized themselves into a “Left Wing” the reactionaries were left in control, as they be- group of the party, it has been a perplexing ques- lieved for good. But the question was one of prin- tion, and the party machinery, held in control by ciples and could not be killed by official procla- reactionary officials, paid organizers and speakers mations or by expelling members who refused to and other parasites who cling like leeches to the accept it. Logically, one reactionary step must be socialist pie-counter, have endeavored to squelch followed by others, and the party plunged deeper this exhibition of indignation and anger of the rank and deeper into the mire of vacillating policies, of and file by holding private meetings of “good,” opportunism and reforms; compromising the revo- “loyal” comrades, for the purpose of saving the lutionary position it should have occupied as a party from “IWWism,” “anarchy,” and the devil Socialist party, for a vote-catching policy, based knows what.
    [Show full text]
  • The Great War and the Bolsheviks
    Assist. Prof. Dr. ALEXANDER SIVILOV Sofia University, Eurasia Center VIA EVRASIA The Great War and the Bolsheviks On first glance this theme sounds insignificant. It seems like looking with a spy glass in the Russian history but I am sure that if you have more time to think about it you will find that it is of global importance. There are several aspects of the problem that I would like to introduce to you. The first area is connected with the ideological development of the Bolsheviks in the years before and during the war. At that time were formed some of the most important views of the party and its leaders. I have in mind the concept of the imperialist character of the war, the possibility of transforming it in civil war with the goal to seize the power in the state, the whole attitude towards the conflict and the idea of making world peace without any reparations and changes of the borders. These theses later became the core of the Soviet internal and foreign policy. They formed the relations of the new state towards with the international revolutionary movement and even led to some diplomatic inventions. The other area that I would like to discuss is the First World War and the place of the Bolsheviks as a political factor in it. How did it affect the policy of the party and its capacity of rallying supporters. The question – Were the Bolsheviks German spies who took Russia out of the war, has still no answer. Finally I would like to lighten the problem – Did the communists search on purpose for the civil war? 1 The First World War met the Bolshevik leaders abroad.
    [Show full text]
  • Lenin's Struggle Against International Opportunism: 1914-1917
    sky (the foremost "socialist" of the time), claimed to be "neutral"—and con• structed a myriad of "Marxist" arguments to justify this massive betrayal of the international proletariat and the cause of socialism. At a time when confusion, panic and demoralization had spread throughout the ranks of socialists around the world, the Russian Bolshevik Party, led by V.I. Sit Lenin, firmly upheld the banner of revolutionary Marxism. In close alliance with left-wing forces in other countries, the Bolsheviks called for a revolutionary struggle against the imperialist govern• ments in all the belligerent countries. They branded the leaders of the Second International as traitors to socialism and called for the formation of a new pro• letarian International, the Third Inter• national. Alone among revolutionaries at war's outbreak, Lenin and the Bolshevik Party raised the slogan "turn the imperialist war into a civil war" and called for genuine socialists in all the im• perialist countries to work for the defeat of their own bourgeoisie. Lenin and the Bolsheviks set out on this difficult course at a time when the situation in what had been previously called the international socialist move• ment appeared to be very bleak, at a time when, other than the Bolshevik Party, there were only small and scat• tered forces who rallied to the defense of revolutionary Marxism at first. The Bol• sheviks were denounced as "splitters" and were ridiculed as a "sect" that had lost all touch with reality. Writing in the spring of 1915, Lenin noted trenchantly: "The war has led to a grave crisis in the whole of international socialism.
    [Show full text]
  • Useful Study Companion #8 Growing Discord & Revolution
    Useful Study Companion #8 Growing Discord & Revolution Terms, people, & ideas: Zimmerwald Kienthal Karl Liebknecht Vladimir Lenin Bolsheviks Brest-Litovsk Provisional Government Petrograd Soviet Constituent Assembly Order No. 1 Mensheviks Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs) Dual Power April Theses V. I. Lenin (1870-1924) Alexander Kerensky (1881-1970) Timeline of Discord, Opposition, & Revolution.1 1914 Dec Karl Liebknecht breaks SPD discipline and publicly opposes war 1915 Sept Zimmerwald conference of socialists in Switzerland calls for end to war 1916 April Irish "Easter Rebellion" against British rule Conference of socialists at Kienthal (Switzerland) June German metalworkers strike in sympathy for imprisoned Liebknecht summer Kyrgyz revolt in Russian Central Asia Oct Austrian Prime Minister Karl Stürgkh assassinated by left-wing socialist 1917 March International Women's Day: Demonstrations against Tsarist regime Nicholas II abdicates, Provisional Government established April Lenin returns to Petrograd from Switzerland, delivers "April Theses" Formation of Independent German Social Democratic Party (USPD) in Germany First mutinies in French army (would continue into the summer) June Kerensky launches military offensive against Germany (a disaster) July "July Days": unsuccessful Bolshevik demonstrations German Reichstag issues "Peace Resolution" Aug Attempted right-wing revolt by General Lavr Kornilov Pope Benedict XV published Peace Note, calling for int'l arbitration Nov October Revolution establishes "Soviet Power" Formation of "left coalition" Soviet government: Bolsheviks + Left SRs Elections to Constituent Assembly Dec Soviet Russia signs armistice with Germany 1918 Jan Constituent Assembly meets, but is disbanded by Bolsheviks Major anti-war strikes in Berlin (strikes also in Vienna & Budapest) Feb Sailors' mutiny in Austrian naval base at Kotor (Cattaro) 1 Until 1918 Russia used the Julian calendar, which was thirteen days behind the Gregorian calendar.
    [Show full text]
  • 12. Uniting the Left and Holding Aloft the Banner of Proletarian Internationalism
    12. UNITING THE LEFT AND HOLDING ALOFT THE BANNER OF PROLETARIAN INTERNATIONALISM During the War, three trends took shape in the work• ing-class movement in many countries: first, the Right, or the social-chauvinist trend; second, the "Centre" rep• resented by Kautsky, or the covert social-chauvinist trend; third, the Left, or the genuine internationalist trend. Within the parties of all countries the Left were few in number at the time and were not yet organized as an international force. This created serious difficulties for the international proletarian revolutionary cause. An important task at the time was, therefore, "to unite these Marxian elements, however small their number may be at the beginning, to revive in their name the words of real Socialism now forgotten, to call the workers of all countries to relinquish chauvinism and raise the old ban• ner of Marxism".1 It was obvious that none other than Lenin could shoulder this task. Lenin carried it out under very difficult conditions. Correspondence and communication presented very great difficulties at that time. There were often no funds and sometimes even no money for the bare necessities of life. But no difficulty could intimidate Lenin. He not only 1 "Socialism and War", Collected Works, New York, Vol. XVIII, p. 248. 131 successfully led the Bolsheviks at home and abroad, but of the War and condemned the slogan of "the defence of established contact with the Left in the revolutionary the fatherland", but it only called on the proletariat to movements of various countries, using a variety of chan• struggle for "the sake of peace" and said nothing what• nels.
    [Show full text]
  • Appendix 1 Chronology of Major Events and Lenin's Principal Writings, 1870-1924
    Appendix 1 Chronology of Major Events and Lenin's Principal Writings, 1870-1924 Dates given to 30 January 1918 are those of the Russian Old Style calendar, which was twelve days behind the West European calendar in the nineteenth century, and thirteen in the twentieth. From I February 1918 the Russian Calendar conformed to the Western. References to texts are to Lenin's Collected Works, the English translation of the fourth Russian edition in 45 vols, Moscow, 1960-70. In the shorthand notation that follows volume number is given in bold type directly followed by page number. References to Harding, 1983 are to the present author's Marxism in Russia: Key Documents (Cambridge, 1983). 1870 10 April Vladimir Illich Ulyanov (Lenin) born in Simbirsk. 1879 Lenin begins as pupil in Simbirsk classical grammar school. His headmaster, Fyodor Kerensky, is the father of Alexander Kerensky, whose government Lenin is to overthrow in October 1917. 1881 I March Tsar Alexander II assassinated by the terrorist organisation Nr..rodnaya Volya (People's Will). 1883 Formation in Geneva of the first Russian Marxist group - The Emancipation of Labour and the publication of Socialism and the Political Struggle by its leader, George Plekhanov. (Extracts in Harding, 1983, pp. 44-54.) 1886 January Lenin's father dies. 1887 March Lenin's elder brother, Alexander, arrested in plot to kill Tsar Alexander III. 8 May Lenin's brother and his accomplices executed. 281 282 Appendix 1 August Lenin enters Kazan University. December Participates in minor student protest, is arrested and expelled from University. 1888--1893 Begins to study Marx and participates in revolutionary discussion circles in Samara; studies externally for law degree from St Petersburg University; involved in controversy with leading Populists; begins collecting data on capitalism in agriculture.
    [Show full text]
  • The First Four Congresses of the Communist International a Class Series Given for Comrades of the International Communist League (FI)
    Marxist Studies for cadre education no. g. The First Four Congresses of the Communist International A class series given for comrades of the International Communist League (FI) War, Revolution and the Split in the Second International: The Birth of the Comintern (1919) The Second Congress (1920): Forging a Revolutionary International The Third Congress (1921): Elaboration of Communist Tactics and Organization The Fourth Congress (1922): The "Workers Government" and the Road to the German Revolution Spartacist Publishing Company August 2003 Box 1377, GPO US$4.00 • Cdn$5.25 New York, NY 10116 Mex$12 • €3.00 • £2.25 U.S.A. R12 • ¥400 • A$5.00 ®E~1087.M 3 Table of Contents page -Editorial Note, 12 August 2003 ............................................. 5 The First Four Congresses of the Communist International -War, Revolution and the Split in the Second International: The Birth of the Comintern (1919) by George Foster, 14June 1998 ............................. 7 -The Second Congress (1920): Forging a Revolutionary International by Steve Henderson, 19 July 1998 ......................................... 19 -Remarks on the National and Colonial Questions by Jim Robertson, 11 July 1998 .......................................... 36 -The Third Congress (1921): Elaboration of Communist Tactics and Organization by Reuben Samuels, 5 September 1998 ..................................... 38 -The Fourth Congress (1922): The "Workers Government" and the Road to the German Revolution by T. Marlow, 23 January 1999 ....................... 51 Appendices -Chronology of Events (1912-1924) ........................................... 68 -Reading List for Educationals on the Comintern ................................. 74 5 Editorial Note This volume of Marxist Studies contains the transcripts of four classes given in 1998-99 throughout the International Communist League (ICL) as mandated in a motion by the International Secretariat on 26 February 1998.
    [Show full text]
  • Dilemmas of a 'Democratic Peace'
    Dilemmas of a ‘democratic peace’: World War One, the Zimmerwald Manifesto and the Russian Revolution Francis King Abstract This article looks at the influence of the Zimmerwald Conference of 1915 on the peace policies of the Petrograd Soviet, the Socialist-Revolutionaries, the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks after February 1917. It highlights the problems involved in simultaneously trying to defend a revolution, work for a just international peace, and maintain the front in a war which no longer makes any sense. It suggests that insisting on ‘peace without annexations and indemnities on the basis of self-determination of nations’ was not realistic given Russia’s war exhaustion and the war aims of the other belligerents. However, it also shows that no other peace aim had any political support within Russia. Key words: World War One, Russia, soviet, socialists, peace, Zimmerwald The history of World War One is littered with peace initiatives. States, international bodies, religious institutions, political movements and ad hoc committees all tried at various times to help put an end to the slaughter. Most of these initiatives also had some ulterior political motive, whether it was to end the war to the advantage of one or other belligerent side or simply to increase the weight and prestige of the sponsor of the peace move. Few had any lasting relevance – they were floated, promoted, and quietly ditched when they failed to gain much traction. Socialist bodies also put forward peace initiatives, often aimed not only at ending the senseless bloodshed, but also at working towards recon- structing the socialist international, which had been shattered following the dé bâ cle of 1914.
    [Show full text]