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

418 NOTESin the negotiations with the German representatives. The originaltext was written while Grimm was still negotiating, and thepassages referring to this were deleted by Lenin after all the arrangementshad been turned over to Platten.The letter was discussed and approved on March 26 (April 8), ata meeting of Bolsheviks returning to Russia. After that Lenin addedthe opening lines: “Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party (unitedby the Central Committee)”, “Workers of All Countries, Unite!”and the concluding paragraph.Lenin was associated with a number of Swiss Social-Democraticleaders, whom he had contacted upon his arrival in Berne fromPoronin in 1914.It was through them that his famous theses “The Tasks of RevolutionarySocial-Democracy in the European War”, adopted by theBerne Bolshevik Conference, August 24-26 (September 6-8, 1914,were transmitted to the Conference of Italian and Swiss Socialistsin Lugano on September 27, 1914. Members of the Zurich Bolshevikgroup who belonged to Swiss trade unions recall that Leninemphasised the need to work in the Swiss Social-Democratic Party,and they joined its Zurich organisation.Lenin had a prominent part in the inner-party struggle first inBerne and later in Zurich, against the Right wing led by socialpatriotGreulich, and against the Centrists led by Grimm. He usedall his influence on the side of the Left Zimmerwaldists (Platten,Nobs and others), helping them to overcome indecision in the fightagainst the Centrists. The numerous documents the Lefts issuedagainst opportunism were drafted in close co-operation with Lenin.Written chiefly in German, some of them were published in theSwiss socialist press (“Speech at the Congress of the Swiss Social-Democratic Party, November 4, 1916”; “Twelve Brief Theses onH. Greulich’s Defence of Fatherland Defence”); but most of themwere circulated to party organisations opposed to social-patriotism,which had gained the upper hand in January 1917.At the Zurich Cantonal Party Congress at Töss (February 11-12,1917) the Left tabled Lenin’s amendments to the Centrist resolutionon the war issue (see p. 282 of this volume). Though the Centristresolution was adopted a fifth of the Congress voted for Lenin’samendments. Immediately after the Congress Lenin helped theSwiss Zimmerwaldists put out No. 1 of their bulletin (“Gegen dieLüge der Vaterlandsverteidigung”, published under the signature:“Gruppe der Zimmerwalder linken in der Schweiz”. Lenin editedthe bulletin and was instrumental in circulating it outside Switerland. It contained the full text of his amendments and also hisremarks on the annexation issue.The official party leaders viciously attacked Lenin as a “foreigner”and tried to prevent his influence on Social-Democratic workers.However, in 1915 there were already elements among the Swisssocialists who favoured a break with the Second Internationaland formation of the Third International. There was also the SwissZimmerwald Left group which included émigrés from Russia, Poland,France and Germany. p. 367