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

LETTERS FROM AFAR311All the shouts about anarchy are merely a screen to concealthe selfish interests of the capitalists, who want tomake profit out of the war, out of war loans, who want torestore the monarchy against the people.“...Yesterday,” continues the correspondent, “the Social-Democratic Party issued a proclamation of a most seditiouscharacter, which was spread broadcast throughout thecity. They [i.e., the Social-Democratic Party] are meredoctrinaires, but their power for mischief is enormous at atime like the present. M. Kerensky and M. Chkheidze, whorealise that without the support of the officers and the moremoderate elements of the people they cannot hope to avoidanarchy, have to reckon with their less prudent associates,and are insensibly driven to take up an attitude whichcomplicates the task of the Provisional Committee....”O great English, Guchkovite diplomat! How “imprudently”you have blurted out the truth!“The Social-Democratic Party” and their less prudentassociates” with whom Kerensky and Chkheidze have toreckon”, evidently mean the Central or the St. PetersburgCommittee of our Party, which was restored at the January1912 Conference, 133 those very same Bolsheviks at whomthe bourgeoisie always hurl the abusive term “doctrinaires”,because of their faithfulness to the “doctrine”, i.e., the fundamentals,the principles, teachings, aims of socialism. Obviously,the English Guchkovite hurls the abusive terms seditiousand doctrinaire at the manifesto 134 and at the conductof our Party in urging a fight for a republic, peace, completedestruction of the tsarist monarchy, bread for the people.Bread for the people and peace—that’s sedition, but ministerialposts for Guchkov and Milyukov—that’s “order”.Old and familiar talk!What, then, are the tactics of Kerensky and Chkheidzeas characterised by the English Guchkovite?Vacillation: on the one hand, the Guchkovite praisesthem: they ‘realise” (Good boys! Clever boys!) that withoutthe “support” of the army officers and the more moderateelements, anarchy cannot be avoided (we, however, havealways thought, in keeping with our doctrine, with oursocialist teachings, that it is the capitalists who introduceanarchy and war into human society, that only the transfer