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

STRIKE STATISTICS IN RUSSIA419The conclusions that follow from these data are highlyinteresting and require a detailed examination. On thewhole, as we have seen, the success of the struggle, as far as theYears 1905 1906Quarters I II III IV I II III IVResult of strikes:In favour of the workers 158 71 45 95 34 86 37 6Compromise 267 109 61 235 28 58 46 8In favour of the employers. . . . . . 179 59 59 100 11 78 4223Total* . . . 604 239 165 430 73 222 125 37workers are concerned, depends on the force of their onslaught.Do the data cited above confirm this conclusion? Thefirst quarter of 1905 appears to have been less favourablefor the workers than the second quarter, although in thelatter the movement was weaker. This inference would bewrong, however, since the quarterly data combine the upsurgein January (321,000 workers involved in economicstrikes) and the decline in February (228,000) and in March(56,000). If we single out January, the month of upsurge,we find that in this month the workers were victorious:87,000 won their strikes, 81,000 lost, and 152,000 concludeda compromise. The two months of decline (February andMarch) brought the workers defeat.The next period (the second quarter of 1905) was one ofan advance, which reached its climax in May. The rise of thestruggle signified victory for the workers: 71,000 won theirstrikes, 59,000 lost, and 109,000 compromised.The third period (third quarter of 1905 was one of decline.The number of strikers was much less than in the secondquarter. The decline in the force of the onslaught signifiedvictory for the employers: 59,000 workers lost their strikes,and only 45,000 won. The workers who lost their strikes represented35.6 per cent of the total, i.e., more than in 1906.This means that the “general atmosphere of sympathy” withthe workers in 1905, which the liberals talk so much of asbeing the main cause of the workers’ victories (recently* The official statistics provide no monthly totals relating to thisquestion; they had to be obtained by adding up the figures for thevarious industries.