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

262A TURN IN WORLD POLITICSThere is something of a holiday atmosphere in the pacifistcamp. The virtuous bourgeois of the neutral countriesare rejoicing: “We’ve made our little pile out of war profitsand high prices; isn’t it time to stop? We can’t make moreprofits anyway, and the people’s patience may not last tothe very end.”Why shouldn’t they rejoice when Wilson “himself” “paraphrases”the pacifist declaration of the Italian SocialistParty, which only just recently passed an official and solemnresolution in Kienthal to the effect that social-pacifism isutterly unsound?Is it surprising that in Avanti! Turati exults at Wilson’shaving paraphrased their, Italian, “pseudo-socialist” pacifistphrases? Is it surprising that, in Le Populaire, 105 the Frenchsocial-pacifists and Kautskyites lovingly “unite” with Turatiand Kautsky, who published in the German Social-Democraticpress five particularly foolish pacifist articles, whichalso, of course, “paraphrase” the talk events have broughtto the fore about a nice little democratic peace?And the present talk does differ from the previous talk inthat there is some objective ground for it. This ground wascreated by the turn in world politics from imperialist war,which brought the peoples utter misery and the greatestbetrayal of socialism by Messrs. Plekhanov, Albert Thomas,Legien, Scheidemann, etc., towards an imperialist peace,which will bring the peoples the greatest deception in theform of pious phrases, semi-reforms, semi-concessions,etc.This turn has taken place.One cannot know at the present moment—even those whodirect imperialist policy, the financial kings and the crowned