The Stalin school of falsification - Marxists Internet Archive

Stalin School of Falsification -- Chapter 15
Thesis I. In our attitude to the war, which on Russia's part, even under the new Government of Lvov and
Co., unconditionally remains a predatory imperialist war, owing to the capitalist nature of this
Government, it is impermissible to make the slightest concession to "revolutionary defensism."
The conscious proletariat may give its assent to a revolutionary war actually justifying revolutionary
defensism only under the following conditions: a) the transfer of power into the hands of the proletariat
and its ally, the poorest section of the peasantry; b) the renunciation of all annexations in deeds and not
merely in words; c) a complete break, in practice, with all interests of capitalism.
In view of the indubitable honesty of the mass of the rank and file representatives of revolutionary
defensism who accept the war only out of necessity and not for the sake of conquests, in view of their
being duped by the bourgeoisie, it is necessary with especial detail, persistence and patience, to explain
to them their mistake, to explain the indissoluble tie between capitalism and imperialist war, to prove
that, without the overthrow of capitalism, it is impossible to conclude the war with a really democratic,
non-oppressive peace.
This view must be widely propagated among the army units in the field.
Fraternization.
In our attitude toward the war even under the new Government, which remains an imperialist
government, it is impermissible for us to make the slightest concession to defensism. The masses regard
this thing from a practical, not a theoretical, standpoint. They say: "We want to defend the Fatherland,
but not to seize foreign territory." When may we consider a war as our own? When there is a complete
renunciation of annexations.
The masses approach this question not theoretically but practically. Our mistake lies in our theoretical
approach. The class-conscious proletariat may give its consent to a revolutionary war that really justifies
revolutionary defensism. To the representatives of the mass of the soldiers the question must be put in a
practical way, for there is no other way. We are not at all pacifists. But the fundamental question is:
Which class is waging the war? The capitalist class, tied to the banks, cannot wage any but an imperialist
war. The working class can. Steklov, Chkheidze, have forgotten everything. In reading the resolution of
the Soviet of Workers' Deputies, one is amazed that people who call themselves socialists could have
adopted such a resolution.
What is peculiar in Russia is the gigantically swift transition from savage violence to the most delicate
deceit. The fundamental condition is the renunciation of annexation of in words but in action. Rech is
yowling over the declaration of the Sotsial-Democrat that the incorporation of Courland into Russia is
annexation. But annexation is the act of incorporating any country distinguished by national peculiarities
every incorporation of a nation against its will, regardless of whether it has a language of its own, so long
as it feels itself to be a distinct nation. This is a prejudice of the Great Russians, cultivated for centuries.
The war can be terminated only through a complete break with international capitalism. The war was
caused not by separate individuals but by international finance capita!. To break with international
capitalism is no easy matter, but neither is it an easy matter to put an end to the war. It is infantile and
naive to suppose that the war can be stopped at will by one side.... Zimmerwald, Kienthal. ... Upon us
more than upon anybody else devolves the duty of defending the honor of international socialism. The
difficulty of the approach....
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