Lenin CW-Vol. 23.pdf - From Marx to Mao

THE “DISARMAMENT” SLOGAN103bourgeoisie, are seeking to turn the country into a republican-democraticmonopolistic federation that wouldthrive on profits from imperialist bourgeois tourists,and to make this “tranquil” monopolistic position as profitableand as tranquil as possible. Actually, this is a policyof alliance between a small privileged stratum ofthe workers of a small privileged country and the bourgeoisieof that country against the mass of the proletariat.The genuine Swiss Social-Democrats are striving to useSwitzerland’s relative freedom, her “international” position(proximity to the most cultured countries, the factthat Switzerland, thank God, does not have “a separatelanguage of her own”, but uses three world languages)to extend, consolidate and strengthen the revolutionaryalliance of the revolutionary elements of the proletariatof the whole of Europe. Let’s help our own bourgeoisieretain as long as possible its monopoly of thesupertranquil trade in the charms of the Alps; perhaps apenny or two will fall to our share—such is the objectivecontent of the Swiss opportunists’ policy. Let us helpweld the alliance of the revolutionary sections of theFrench, German and Italian proletariat for the overthrowof the bourgeoisie—such is the objective content of theSwiss revolutionary Social-Democrats’ policy. Unfortunately,it is still being carried out far from adequatelyby the Swiss “Lefts”, and the splendid decision of the 1915Aarau Party Congress (acceptance of the revolutionarymass struggle) is still largely a dead letter. But that isnot the point we are discussing at the moment.The question that interests us now is: Does the disarmamentdemand correspond to this revolutionary trendamong the Swiss Social-Democrats? It obviously doesnot. Objectively, the “demand” for disarmament correspondsto the opportunist, narrow national line of a labourmovement, a line that is restricted by the outlookof a small state. Objectively, “disarmament” is an extremelynational, specifically national programme of smallstates; it is certainly not the international programme ofinternational revolutionary Social-Democracy.