V. I. Lenin

Source: ru:PSS/v47; en:CW/CW43;es:MT
Translated: machine translation (DeepSeek) from the Russian; AI-translated.

Dear Comrades, The International Socialist Bureau has sent me a letter from Vaillant setting forth a proposal of the Socialist Revolutionary Party of France. The Bureau asks me to submit this proposal for discussion by the central body of my party and to give a reply as soon as possible. Vaillant’s letter reads:

“The question raised in my letter, which you sent out as a circular, should have contained a definite proposal. Today I am sending you this proposal. I could not do so earlier because, to give it sufficient weight, it had to come from a whole party, from the Socialist Party (French Section of the International Working Men’s Party), which adopted it unanimously through its representatives at a meeting of the National Council on Sunday, September 24 (September 11), in Paris. Here is the proposal for a decision to be taken after discussion by the International Socialist Bureau: ‘As soon as events, open or secret, may give cause to fear a conflict between governments and make war possible, the socialist parties of the countries concerned shall, at the invitation of the I.S.B., immediately enter into direct relations with each other with a view to determining and concentrating the means of action of the combined forces of the workers and socialists in order to prevent and stop war.

At the same time, the parties of other countries will be invited by the I.S.B. to a meeting to be held as quickly as possible to decide what action by the whole International and the organised workers is most suitable to prevent and stop war.’”

Together with Jaurès, I ask you to send a new circular letter immediately to all parties. You understand, as will the socialists of all countries if they agree with us, how important it is, in view of possible events, not to postpone discussion of this question until a distant meeting of the Bureau, but to send their consent directly to the Bureau; thus, if the proposal is accepted, as we hope, it can be put into effect at once in the event of a conflict.”

For my part, I will add that, in my opinion, this proposal is somewhat naive, since the only thing that can have any effect in the event of a conflict between governments is the dictatorship of the proletariat.