The Stalin school of falsification - Marxists Internet Archive

Stalin School of Falsification
out the policy of economic terror? No. If after taking power we are incapable of realizing our own
program, then we ought to go to the soldiers and workers and declare ourselves bankrupt. But nothing
whatever can come of merely leaving a few Bolsheviks in a coalition government. We have taken power;
we must also bear the responsibilities.
[Motion to limit speaker to 15 mintutes.]
NOCIN: The question as to the nature of our revolution has been settled. There is no need to talk about it
now that our party has gained power. But can we propose to spill blood together but not rule jointly? Can
we deny power to the soldiers? The civil war will last for many years. In our relations with the peasantry,
we can't make much headway with bayonets. With respect to capitalist industry-we face one problem.
With respect to the peasantry we must have a different tactic.
The word "conciliation" grates altogether too much upon the ears of our comrades. The crux of the
matter is not in a conciliation but in the question how to manage if we push aside all the other parties?
The Social Revolutionists left the Soviets after the revolution; the Mensheviks did likewise. But this
means that the Soviets will fall apart. Such a state of affairs in the face of complete chaos in the country
will end with the shipwreck of our party in a very brief Interval. We should not bombard swallows with
artillery. The famine conditions will provide fertile soil for Kaledin who is now advancing against us. By
a single telegram to the railway employees informing them of our intention to deprive them of their food
cards we would lay the basis for a mighty wave of protest.
GLEBOV: The situation is rendered serious not because the shock troops are advancing. Power is in our
hands and we shall be able to deal with them. But we have the beginning of sabotage within our own
party and matters have almost reached the point of an official split. An end must be put to this. Sabotage
is effective only to the extent that we pursue a line of conciliation with it. So long as I was conciliatory,
the functionaries mocked at me. But as soon as I took decisive measures, I was able to adjust a great
many things. With regard to the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, the important thing is that it has
passed a resolution in our favor....
They must reckon with us. In Ivanovo-Voznesensk the proletariat has adopted a decisive resolution. They
arrested and jailed the saboteurs and when the latter came out they were like lambs. To the comrades
who have begun to waver, we must say: "We must part company. Stop interfering with us. Otherwise, if
we vacillate, we shall lose everything."
We are told that the government will be responsible to the Parliament. What sort of Parliament will it be?
Will it by any chance resemble the Pre-Parliament? No. We are for the Soviets. There is no other way.
The crux of the matter is not in the seats that we must assign to other parties but in that they will not
carry out our policy. Nothing else re mains, except to say: "We must part company."
TROSTSY: The question has been adequately clarified by Trotsky and Lenin. During the July days, from
July 8 to July 5, when it seemed as though the counter-revolution had defeated us, we were in reality the
victors. The days of the insurrection have proved that we have a coalition with the masses. The peasants
and the workers stand shoulder to shoulder.
But the hammer of revolution, while consolidating the masses, has chipped away the Mensheviks, the
Defensists, and the Social Revolutionists. We have seen how the Conciliationists worked against
consolidation. Now, after we have conquered, an attempt is being made to lead us on the road of
conciliationism. Conciliation with these people is a masked retreat from power. Hitherto the parties of
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