Two Tactics of Social-Democracy in the Democratic Revolution

1.

An Urgent Political Question

At the present revolutionary juncture the question of the
convocation of a popular constituent assembly is on the order of
the day. Opinions are divided on the point as to how this
question should be solved. Three political trends are to be
observed. The tsarist government admits the necessity of
convening representatives of the people, but it does not want
under any circumstances to permit their assembly to be a popular
and a constituent assembly. It seems willing to agree, if we are
to believe the newspaper reports on the work of the Bulygin Commission , [2] to an advisory assembly, to be elected without
freedom to conduct agitation, and on the basis of restricted
qualifications or a restricted class system. The revolutionary
proletariat, inasmuch as it is led by the Social-Democratic
Party, demands complete transfer of power to a constituent
assembly, and for this purpose strives to obtain not only
universal suffrage and complete freedom to conduct agitation,
but also the immediate overthrow of the tsarist government and
its replacement by a provisional revolutionary government. Finally, the liberal bourgeoisie, expressing its
wishes through the leaders of the so-called “ Constitutional-Democratic Party ”, [3] does not demand the
overthrow of the tsarist government, does not advance the slogan
of a provisional government and does not insist on real
guarantees that the elections will be absolutely free and fair
and that the assembly of representatives will be a genuinely
popular and a genuinely constituent assembly. As a matter of
fact, the liberal bourgeoisie, the only serious social support
of the Osvobozhdeniye trend, is striving to effect as peaceful a deal as possible between the tsar and the
revolutionary people, a deal, moreover, that would give a maximum of power to itself, the bourgeoisie, and a
minimum to the revolutionary people—the proletariat and the
peasantry.

Such is the political situation at the present time. Such are
the three main political trends, corresponding to the three main
social forces in contemporary Russia. We have already shown on
more than one occasion (in the Proletary , Nos. 3, 4,

5) [1]

how the
Osvobozhdentsi use pseudo-democratic phrases to cover up their half-hearted, or, to put it more bluntly and plainly,
their treacherous, perfidious policy towards the revolution. Let
us now see how the Social-Democrats appraise the tasks of the
moment. Excellent material for this purpose is provided by the
two resolutions that were passed quite recently by the Third
Congress of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party and by
the “Conference” of the section which has seceded from the
Party. The question as to which of these resolutions more
correctly appraises the political situation and more correctly
defines the tactics of the revolutionary proletariat is of
enormous importance, and every Social-Democrat who is anxious to
fulfil his duties as a propagandist, agitator and organiser
intelligently, must study this question with the closest
attention, leaving all irrelevant considerations entirely
aside.

By the Party’s tactics we mean the Party’s political conduct, or
the character, the direction and methods of its political
activity. Tactical resolutions are adopted by Party congresses
in order precisely to define the political conduct of the Party
as a whole with regard to new tasks, or in view of a new
political situation. Such a new situation has been created by
the revolution that has started in Russia, i.e., the complete,
resolute and open rupture between the overwhelming majority of
the people and the tsarist government. The new question concerns
the practical methods to be adopted in convening a genuinely
popular and genuinely constituent assembly (the theoretical
question concerning such an assembly was officially settled by
Social-Democracy long ago, before all other parties, in its
Party program).

Since the people have broken with the government, and the masses realise the necessity of setting up a
new order, the party which set itself the object of overthrowing
the government must necessarily consider what government to put
up in place of the old, deposed government. A new question
concerning a provisional revolutionary government arises. In
order to give a complete answer to this question the Party of
the class-conscious proletariat must make clear:

1) the significance of a provisional revolutionary
government in the revolution that is now going on and in the
entire struggle of the proletariat in general;

2) its attitude towards a provisional revolutionary
government;

3) the precise conditions of Social-Democratic participation in
this government;

4) the conditions under which pressure
is to be brought to bear on this government from below , i.e., in the event of there being no
Social-Democrats in it. Only after all these questions are
made clear, will the political conduct of the Party in this
sphere be principled, clear and firm.

Let us now consider how the resolution of the Third Congress of
the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party answers these
questions. The following is the full text of the resolution:

“ Resolution on a Provisional Revolutionary Government “Whereas:

“1) both the direct interests of the proletariat and the
interests of its struggle for the final aims of socialism
require the fullest possible measure of political liberty and,
consequently, the replacement of the autocratic form of
government by a democratic republic; “2) the establishment of a democratic republic in Russia is
possible only as a result of a victorious popular insurrection
whose organ will be a provisional revolutionary government,
which alone will be capable of ensuring complete freedom of
agitation during the election campaign and of convening a
constituent assembly that will really express the will of the
people, an assembly elected on the basis of universal and equal
suffrage, direct elections and secret ballot; “3) under the present social and economic order this democratic
revolution in Russia will not weaken, but strengthen the rule of
the bourgeoisie, which at a certain moment will inevitably try,
stopping at nothing, to take away from the Russian proletariat
as many of the gains of the revolutionary period as possible:

“The Third Congress of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour
Party resolves that:

“a) that it is necessary to disseminate among the working class
a concrete idea of the most probable course of the revolution
and of the necessity, at a certain moment in the revolution, for
the appearance of a provisional revolutionary government, from
which the proletariat will demand the realisation of all the
immediate political and economic demands contained in our
program (the minimum program); “b) that subject to the relation of forces, and other factors
which cannot be exactly determined beforehand, representatives
of our Party may participate in the provisional revolutionary
government for the purpose of relentless struggle against all
counter-revolutionary attempts and of the defence of the
independent interests of the working class; “c) that an indispensable condition for such participation is
that the Party should exercise strict control over its representatives and that the independence of the
Social-Democratic Party, which is striving for a complete
socialist revolution and, consequently, is irreconcilably
hostile to all bourgeois parties, should be strictly maintained; “d) that irrespective whether the participation of
Social-Democrats in the provisional revolutionary government
prove possible or not, we must propagate among the broadest
masses of the proletariat the necessity for permanent pressure
to be brought to bear upon the provisional government by the
armed proletariat, led by the Social-Democratic Party, for the
purpose of defending, consolidating and extending the gains of
the revolution.”

---
Notes:
[1]
“Revolutionary Struggle and Liberal Brokerage”, 1905: “The Democratic
Tasks of the Revolutionary Proletariat”, 1905 and “The First Steps of
Bourgeois Betrayal”, 1905. See present edition, Volume 8, pp. 486-94,
511-25– Ed .— Lenin

[2]
PLACEHOLDER

[3]
PLACEHOLDER

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the Third Congress of the R.S.D.L.P. on a Provisional Revolutionary Government? | |