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

THESES FOR AN APPEAL TO THE I. S. C.213strated that from the imperialists’ standpoint it is sometimesmuch more advantageous to have as war ally a politicallyindependent but financially dependent small nationrather than risk Irish or Czech “incidents” (i.e., uprisingsor the defection of whole regiments) during a war. It is quitepossible, therefore, that parallel with its policy of stranglingsmall nations—a policy it can never wholly abandon—imperialism will in individual cases follow a policy of “voluntary”alliance (i.e., resulting exclusively from financialstrangulation) with new small national states, or with mongrelstates, such as Poland.However, it does not follow from this that Social-Democratscan, without betraying their cause, “vote” for or supportsuch imperialist “reforms”.Only bourgeois reformism, which in substance is the positionof Kautsky, Turati and Merrheim, poses the questionthus: either renunciation of revolution and that meansreforms, or no reforms at all.Yet all the experience of world history, like the experienceof the 1905 Russian Revolution, teaches us the veryopposite: either revolutionary class struggle, of whichreforms are always a by-product (when the revolution isnot completely successful), or no reforms at all.For the only effective force that compels change is popularrevolutionary energy, providing it does not remain onpaper, as has been the case in the Second International, butfinds expression in comprehensive mass revolutionarypropaganda, agitation and organisation conducted by partiesmarching at the head of the revolution, not limpingalong in its tail.Only by openly proclaiming revolution, by purging theworkers’ parties of all who oppose revolution or “sceptically”accept it—only by giving every aspect of party activity arevolutionary content, can Social-Democracy, in such“critical” eras of world history as the present one, guaranteethe masses either complete success of their cause if therevolution is supported by very broad masses, or reforms, i.e.,concessions by the bourgeoisie, if the revolution is onlypartially successful.Otherwise, if the Scheidemann and Kautsky policy prevails,there is no guarantee that the reforms will not be