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

258V. I. LENINAt all events, the fundamental mistake in the agrarianprogramme of 1903 was the absence of a clear idea of theissue around which the agrarian struggle could and shoulddevelop in the process of the bourgeois revolution in Russia—a clear idea of the types of capitalist agrarian evolutionthat were objectively possible as the result of the victoryof one or other of the social forces engaged in this struggle.2. THE PRESENT AGRARIAN PROGRAMME OF THE R.S.D.L.P.The present agrarian programme of the Social-DemocraticParty, which was adopted at the Stockholm Congress,marks a great step forward in comparison with the precedingone in one important respect, viz., by recognisingconfiscation of the landlords’* estates, the Social-DemocraticParty resolutely took the path of recognising thepeasant agrarian revolution. The words in the programme:“... supporting the revolutionary actions of the peasantry,including the confiscation of the landlords’ estates”, quitedefinitely express that idea. In the course of the discussionat the Stockholm Congress, one of the reporters, Plekhanov,who together with John 102 sponsored that programme,spoke frankly about the necessity of ceasing to be afraidof a “peasant agrarian revolution”. (See Plekhanov’s report.Minutes of the Stockholm Congress, Moscow, 1907, p. 42.)One would have thought that this admission—that ourbourgeois revolution in the sphere of agrarian relationsmust be regarded as a “peasant agrarian revolution”—wouldhave put an end to the major differences of opinion amongSocial-Democrats on the question of the agrarian programme.Actually, however, differences arose over the question whetherSocial-Democrats should support division of the landlords’estates among the peasants as private property, ormunicipalisation of the landlords’ estates, or nationalisationof all the land. First of all, therefore, we must definitelyestablish the fact, all too often forgotten by Social-Democrats, that these questions can be correctly answered* The text of the programme (Point 4) speaks of privately ownedlands. The resolution appended to the programme (the second partof the agrarian programme) speaks of confiscation of the landlords’estates.