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

OPEN LETTER TO B. SOUVARINE203Yes, of course, “there is a certain exaggeration”, but onSouvarine’s part, not mine. For I have never branded Trotsky’sposition as chauvinistic. What I have reproachedhim with is that all too often he has represented the “Centre”policy in Russia. Here are the facts. The split in theR.S.D.L.P. has existed officially since January 1912. 95Our Party (grouped around the Central Committee) accusedof opportunism the other group, the Organising Committee,of which Martov and Axelrod are the most prominent leaders.Trotsky belonged to Martov’s party and left it only in 1914.By that time the war had started. Our five Duma deputies(Muranov, Petrovsky, Shagov, Badayev and Samoilov)were exiled to Siberia. In Petrograd, our workers votedagainst participation in the war industries committees (themost important practical issue for us, just as important inRussia as the question of participation in the government inFrance). On the other hand, the most prominent and mostinfluential Organising Committee writers—Potresov, Zasulich,Levitsky and others—have come out for “defence ofthe fatherland” and participation in the war industries committees.Martov and Axelrod have protested and advocatednon-participation in the committees. But they have notbroken with their party, one faction of which has turnedchauvinist and accepts participation. That is why at Kienthalwe reproached Martov with having wanted to representthe Organising Committee as a whole, whereas in fact he canrepresent only one of its two factions. This party’s Dumagroup (Chkheidze, Skobelev and others) is divided, withsome of its members for and others against “fatherlanddefence”. But all of them favour participation in the warindustries committees, resorting to the ambiguous formulaof “saving the country”, which, essentially, is but anotherwording of the Südekum and Renaudel “fatherland defence”slogan. More, they have in no way protested against Potresov’sposition (which is actually identical to Plekhanov’s;Martov publicly protested against Potresov and declined tocontribute to his journal because Plekhanov had been invitedto contribute).And Trotsky? Having broken with Martov’s party, hecontinues to accuse us of being splitters. Little by littlehe is moving to the Left, and even calls for a break with