Leon Trotsky, The Lessons of October - Platypus

24 The Lessons of Octoberually wither away. That, however, does not mean to say thatthe soviets will end their existence in ignominy. They will onlytransfer their functions. Under these same soviets we shall notachieve the commune republic in our country.”Finally, a third opponent dealt with the question from the standpoint thatRussia was not ready for socialism.”Can we count on the support of the masses if we raise the sloganof proletarian revolution? Russia is the most petty bourgeoiscountry in Europe. To count on the sympathy of the massesfor a socialist revolution is impossible; and, consequently, themore the party holds to the standpoint of a socialist revolutionthe further it will be reduced to the role of a propaganda circle.The impetus to a socialist revolution must come from the West.”And further on:”Where will the sun of the socialist revolution rise? I believethat, in view of all the circumstances and our general culturallevel, it is not for us to initiate the socialist revolution. We lackthe necessary forces; the objective conditions for it do not existin our country. But for the West this question is posed muchin the same manner as the question of overthrowing tsarism inour country.”Not all the opponents of Lenin’s point of view at the April Conference drewthe same conclusions as Nogin but all of them were logically forced to acceptthese conclusions several months later, on the eve of October. Eitherwe must assume leadership of the proletarian revolution or we must acceptthe role of an opposition in a bourgeois parliament that is how the questionwas posed within our party. It is perfectly obvious that the latter positionwas essentially a Menshevik position, or rather the position which the Mensheviksfound themselves compelled to occupy after the February revolution.As a matter of fact, the Mensheviks had for many years tapped awaylike so many woodpeckers at the idea that the coming revolution must bebourgeois; that the government of a bourgeois revolution could only performbourgeois tasks; that the social democracy could not take upon itselfthe tasks of bourgeois democracy and must remain an opposition while”pushing the bourgeoisie to the left.” This theme was developed witha particularly boring profundity by Martynov. With the inception of thebourgeois revolution in 1917, the Mensheviks soon found themselves onthe staff of the government. Out of their entire ”principled” position there