Collected Works of V. I. Lenin - Vol. 13 - From Marx to Mao

112V. I. LENINory of the Cadets and the Tasks of the Workers’ Party,March 1906)* has come to an end. The counter-revolutionarynature of the Cadets has been fully exposed. The Cadetsthemselves are beginning to admit that they had beencombating the revolution all along, and Mr. Struve franklyreveals the inner thoughts of Cadet liberalism. The moreattentively the class-conscious proletariat now looks backon this Cadet period, on the whole of this “constitutionalzigzag”, the more clearly will it see that the Bolshevikscorrectly appraised before hand both this period and theessence of the Cadet Party, and that the Mensheviks werein fact pursuing a wrong policy, one that, objectively,was tantamount to throwing over independent proletarianpolicy in favour of subordinating the proletariat to bourgeoisliberalism.* * *In casting a retrospective glance at the struggle of thetwo trends in Russian Marxism and Social-Democracyduring the last twelve years (1895-1907), one cannot avoidthe conclusion that “legal Marxism”, “Economism”, and“Menshevism” are diverse forms of one and the same historicaltendency. The “legal Marxism” of Mr. Struve (1894)and those like him was a reflection of Marxism in bourgeoisliterature. “Economism”, as a distinct trend in Social-Democratic activities in 1897 and subsequent years, virtuallyimplemented the programme set forth in the bourgeoisliberal“Credo”: economic struggle for the workers, politicalstruggle for the liberals. Menshevism is not only aliterary trend, not only a tendency in Social-Democraticactivity, but a close-knit faction, which during the firstperiod of the Russian revolution (1905-07) pursued its owndistinct policy—a policy which in practice subordinatedthe proletariat to bourgeois liberalism.*** See present edition, Vol. 10, pp. 199-276.—Ed.** An analysis of the struggle of the various trends and shades ofopinion at the Second Party Congress (cf. One Step Forward, TwoSteps Back, 1904) will show beyond all doubt the direct and closeties between the Economism of 1897 and subsequent years and Menshevismthe link between Economism in the Social-Democraticmovement and the “legal Marxism” or “Struveism” of 1895-97 was