Leon Trotsky, The Lessons of October - Platypus

Chapter 4The April ConferenceThe speech which Lenin delivered at the Finland railway station on the socialistcharacter of the Russian revolution was a bombshell to many leadersof the party. The polemic between Lenin and the partisans of ”completingthe democratic revolution” began from the very first day.A sharp conflict took place over the armed April demonstration, whichraised the slogan: ”Down with the Provisional Government!” This incidentsupplied some representatives of the right wing with a pretext for accusingLenin of Blanquism. The overthrow of the Provisional Government, whichwas supported at that time by the soviet majority, could be accomplished,if you please, only by disregarding the majority of the toilers.From a formal standpoint, such an accusation might seem rather plausible,but in point of fact there was not the slightest shade of Blanquism in Lenin’sApril policy. For Lenin the whole question hinged on the extent to whichthe soviets continued to reflect the real mood of the masses, and whetheror not the party was mistaken in guiding itself by the soviet majority. TheApril demonstration, which went further ”to the left” than was warranted,was a kind of reconnoitering sortie to test the temper of the masses and thereciprocal relationship between them and the soviet majority. This reconnoiteringoperation led to the conclusion that a lengthy preparatory periodwas necessary. And we observe that Lenin in the beginning of May sharplycurbed the men from Kronstadt, who had gone too far and had declaredagainst the recognition of the Provisional Government.The opponents of the struggle for power had an entirely different approachto this question. At the April Party Conference, Comrade Kamenev madethe following complaint:”In No.19 of Pravda, a resolution was first proposed by comrades[the reference here is obviously to Lenin -L.T.] to the effect21