V. I.

Lenin

No idea could be more erroneous or harmful than to separate
foreign from home policy. The monstrous falsity of this
separation becomes even more monstrous in war-time. Yet the
bourgeoisie are doing everything possible and impossible to
suggest and promote this idea. Popular ignorance of foreign
policy is incomparably greater than of home policy. The
“secrecy” of diplomatic relations is sacredly observed in the freest of capitalist countries, in the most
democratic republics.

Popular deception has become a real art in foreign “affairs”, and our revolution suffers very badly
from this deception. The poison of deception is spread far and
wide by the millions of copies of bourgeois newspapers.

You must side with one of the two immensely wealthy and
immensely powerful groups of imperialist predators—that is
how capitalist reality poses the basic issue, of present-day
foreign policy. That is how this issue is posed by the capitalist class. And that, it goes without saying, is how it is
posed by the broad mass of the petty bourgeoisie who have
retained their old, capitalist views and prejudices.

Those whose thinking does not go beyond capitalist relations
cannot understand why the workers, if they are politically
conscious, cannot side with either group of imperialist
plunderers. Conversely, the worker cannot understand why
socialists who remain true to the fraternal alliance of the
workers of the world against the capitalists of the world are
accused of being inclined towards a separate peace treaty with
the Germans, or of virtually serving such a peace treaty. Under
no circumstances can these socialists (and hence the Bolsheviks) agree to a separate peace treaty between the
capitalists. The basis for the foreign policy of the politically-conscious proletariat is no separate peace treaty
with the
German capitalists and no alliance with the Anglo-French
capitalists.

By rising up in arms against that programme because they fear a
break with “Britain and France”, our Mensheviks and
Socialist-Revolutionaries are virtually carrying out a capitalist foreign policy programme, while embellishing it with
florid and innocent phrases about “revision of treaties”, declarations in support of “peace without
annexations”, etc. All these pious wishes are doomed to
remain hollow phrases, for capitalist reality puts the issue bluntly: either submit to the imperialists of one of the
two groups, or wage a revolutionary struggle against all
imperialists.

Have we any allies for this struggle? Yes. The oppressed classes
of Europe, primarily the proletariat. The peoples oppressed by
imperialism, primarily our neighbours in Asia.

The Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries, who call themselves “revolutionary democrats”, are in fact
pursuing a counter-revolutionary and anti-democratic foreign
policy. Were they revolutionaries, they would advise the workers
and peasants of Russia to march at the head of all peoples
oppressed by imperialism and of all the oppressed classes.

“ But in that event the capitalists of all other countries
would rally against Russia,” the frightened philistines
object. That is not impossible. No “revolutionary” democrat has the right to
renounce revolutionary war in advance. But the practical
likelihood of such a war is not very great. The British and
German imperialists will not be able to “come to terms” against revolutionary Russia.

The Russian revolution, which as early as 1905 led to revolutions in Turkey, Persia and China, would have placed the
German and British imperialists in a very difficult position if
it had begun to establish a truly revolutionary alliance of the
workers and peasants of the colonies and semi-colonies against
the despots, against the khans, for expulsion of the Germans
from Turkey, the British from Turkey, Persia, India, Egypt, etc.

Social-chauvinists, both French and Russian, like to refer to
1793. By this spectacular reference they try to cover up their betrayal of the revolution. But people here refuse to
think that the truly “revolutionary” democrats in Russia could and should act in the spirit
of 1793 towards the oppressed and backward nations.

The foreign policy of the capitalists and the petty bourgeoisie
is “alliance” with the imperialists, that is, disgraceful dependence on them. The foreign policy of the
proletariat is alliance with the revolutionaries of the
advanced countries and with all the oppressed nations against
all and any imperialists.

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