Collected Works of V. I. Lenin - Vol. 16 - From Marx to Mao

412V. I. LENINboth of them from the January and May waves in 1905 (ofwhich the first was also stronger than the second) is that theycame during the ebb of the movement, whereas the first twowaves took place during the rising tide of the movement.This distinction is generally characteristic of the two lastyears compared with the first year of the triennium. Hence,the correct explanation of the increase registered during theseperiods of 1906 and 1907 is that they denote a halt in theretreat and an attempt on the part of the retreating forcesto resume the offensive. Such is the objective meaningof these upsurges, which is now clear to us in the lightof the final results of the whole “three-year period ofstorm and stress”. The First and the Second Dumas representednothing else than political negotiations and politicaldemonstrations on top, prompted by the halt in theretreat below.This clearly shows how short-sighted are the liberals whosee in these negotiations something self-sufficient and independent,unrelated to whether a particular halt in the retreatis going to be of long duration, or what its outcome willbe. This also shows clearly the objective dependence on theliberals of those liquidators who, like Martov, now speakwith scorn of the “expectations of the romanticists” duringthe period of retreat. The statistical data show that it wasnot a question of the “expectations of the romanticists”, butof actual interruptions, halts of the retreat. Had it not beenfor these halts, the coup d’état of June 3, 1907, which washistorically absolutely inevitable since the retreat was afact, would have taken place sooner, perhaps a year or evenmore than a year earlier.Now that we have examined the history of the strikemovement in its relation to the principal moments ofthe political history of the period, let us pass on to aninvestigation of the interrelation between the economicand the political strikes. The official statistics providevery interesting data touching on this subject. Let us firstdeal with the general total for each of the three yearsunder review:causes of the summer increase in the number of strikes in Russia.One has only to glance at the figures showing the number of workersengaged in political strikes.