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

368V. I. LENINit our duty determinedly to fight not only social-patriotism,but also the so-called “Centrist” trend to which belongR. Grimm, F. Schneider, Jacques Schmid and others inSwitzerland, Kautsky, Haase, and the Arbeitsgemeinschaftin Germany, Longuet, Pressemane and others in France,Snowden, Ramsay MacDonald and others in England, Turati,Treves and their friends in Italy, and the abovementionedparty headed by the Organising Committee(Axelrod, Martov, Chkheidze, Skobelev and others) in Russia.We have worked hand in hand with the revolutionarySocial-Democrats of Switzerland grouped, in particular,around the magazine Freie Jugend 161 . They formulated andcirculated (in the German and French languages) the proposalsfor a referendum in favour of a party congress in April1917 to discuss the party’s attitude on the war. At theZurich cantonal congress in Töss they tabled a resolutionon behalf of the youth and the “Lefts” on the war issue, 162and in March 1917 issued and circulated in certain localitiesof French Switzerland a leaflet in the German andFrench languages, entitled “Our Peace Terms”, etc.To these comrades, whose views we share, and with whomwe worked hand in hand, we convey our fraternal greetings.We have never had the slightest doubt that the imperialistgovernment of England will under no circumstances permitthe Russian internationalists, who are implacableopponents of the imperialist government of Guchkov-Milyukovand Co. and of Russia continuing the imperialist war, toreturn to Russia.In this connection, we must briefly explain our understandingof the tasks of the Russian revolution. Webelieve this all the more necessary because through the Swissworkers we can and must address ourselves to the German,French and Italian workers, who speak the same languagesas the population of Switzerland, a country that still enjoysthe benefits of peace and relatively, the largest measure ofpolitical freedom.We abide unconditionally by our declaration, whichappeared in the Central Organ of our Party, Sotsial-Democrat(No. 47, October 13, 1915), published in Geneva. In it westated that, should the revolution prove victorious in Russia,and should a republican government come to power, a