EDITORIAL CORRECTIONS IN V. VOROVSKY'S ARTICLE diplomacy used
all efforts to spare the self-esteem of the Russian autocrat and the disgrace of the peace
is far from corresponding to the disgrace of defeat.
Now the ruling clique breathed a sigh of relief: one mountain has fallen from
its shoulders___
... The development of political self-awareness in broad strata
of the people has reached such a high degree and such intensity that the people
began to recognize itself as a sovereign force in the state.
The idea of a constituent assembly
... as a political expression of the sovereignty of the people, has
become a common slogan of the day ... But two sovereign
authorities cannot exist in one state.
They can only exist in it under the condition of merciless
struggle...
The people ...
waged this struggle, relying on the awareness of their supreme right,
on the burning need for freedom, on the strength of their solidarity... And every
new blow struck against the military force of Tsarism breaches a gap
into which the threat of revolutionary fire in
Europe, uprisings of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie, rushes. The ruling clique of tsarist servants
breathes a sigh of relief:
one more mountain has fallen from its shoulders.
The development of political self-awareness in the working class and in broad strata of the
people in general has proceeded in recent years of Russian
life with unprecedented speed.
The people have begun to recognize themselves as the supreme
sovereign power in the state. The idea of a constituent
assembly... as a political expression of the autocracy of the people, has become a
common slogan of the day... But two autocratic sovereign powers cannot exist
in one state. Either the autocracy of the Tsar, or the autocracy of the people.
Between the two, a merciless struggle is inevitable...
The people...
waged this struggle, imbued with the awareness of their supreme
right, a burning need for freedom...
And every new blow struck against the military force of Tsarism,
breached a gap, into which new waves of the revolutionary
torrent rushed.
Lenin Collection XVI.

LENIN COLLECTION.
the forces of revolution...
...We pointed out in our time (see
Forward "No. 13 "European
Capital and Autocracy"), that the slogan put forward by Iskra, plays into the hands
of reaction... The slogan of European reaction has become — "peace
at any cost"...
... Peace has now been concluded — and concluded as Iskra
wanted...
... The war was a very important and very strong support
for the Russian revolution, it more than any other war deserves
the name of revolutionary, but all the same it was only
a support, only external assistance.
History knows even stronger defeats of autocratic states, causing
however not a revolution, but on the contrary an outburst
of patriotism.
Consequently, the main social fact is not war, but the ripe
need for a political revolution....
... There is reason to expect that in the near future the revolution may receive
a new impetus.
We pointed out in our time, see Forward No. 2 "The Fall of Port Arthur" and No. 13
"European Capital and Autocracy"),1 that the slogan put forward by Iskra plays into the
hands of reaction.........the slogan of European reaction, the European bourgeoisie, became — "peace
at any cost"...
Peace has now been concluded — and concluded, in exact accordance with Iskra's slogan...
The war was a very important and very strong support for the Russian revolution,
it in some respects fully deserves the name of a revolutionary war,—
but all the same it was only a support, only external assistance. History knows
even stronger defeats of autocratic states, causing however not a revolution,
but on the contrary an outburst of patriotism. Consequently, the main social fact
is not war, but the internal economic conditions of the country's life, the development of which
is incompatible with the existence of autocracy.
...there is reason to expect that in the near future the revolution may receive
a new impetus. Firstly, the impetus
This impetus should
EDITORIAL CORRECTIONS IN V. VOROVSKY'S ARTICLE
275
This impetus should be expected from the return of the Manchurian army
and soldiers from Japanese captivity___
... a new defeat of the tsarist government will only remove
the chains from millions of as yet unborn
Russians, when millions of already living Russians reinforce this
defeat, launching an attack on the autocracy__
Japan did not finish off the tsarist power— this task falls
to the revolutionary people. ...
will necessarily be the agitation against the State Duma, regarding the elections to the Duma,
regarding the constitutional conflicts within the Duma, if it does convene after all. Secondly,
the severe economic consequences of the war will begin to be felt with particular
force, only some time after the conclusion of peace, when the burden of paying for the war becomes clearer and clearer. Thirdly,
This impetus should be expected from the return of the Manchurian army and soldiers from Japanese
captivity.
...a new defeat of the tsarist government will only remove the chains from millions of un-
born Russians, when millions of oppressed Russians are able to take advantage
of this defeat, launching an attack on the autocracy....
Japan was not allowed to finish off the tsarist power— this task entirely falls
to the revolutionary people.

Both articles from Forward No. 2 and 13 were written by Lenin. Articles in
the newspapers "Forward" and "Proletarian" mostly appeared without signature. All
members of the editorial board, including Lenin, often resorted to such references,
saying: "we pointed out", "we wrote", when it came to articles not
their own, but belonging to any member of the editorial board.
Lenin's letter to Lunacharsky contains editorial instructions
with a proposal for him to revise his article "Parliament
and its significance." The letter was written when No. 24 of "Proletarian"
was already largely compiled. The newspaper was published
once a week, and in order for the article to appear in
22 (dated October 24 (44) 4905), Lunacharsky had to send it back to the editorial board in revised form
a week before the issue came out, i.e. 47 (4) October. This is precisely the number
that Lenin named as the deadline for returning the article.

A. Lunacharsky for some reason failed to introduce the edi-
torial changes required, and the article was printed (without
signature) in its original form much later, already on November 46 (sic)
in No. 25 of "Proletary." Lenin had left Geneva for
Stockholm at this time. M. Olminsky followed him, and
V. Vorovsky remained the sole de facto head of the Central Organ. Without Lenin, it was necessary to put the available supply of material
into the remaining Nos. 25 and 26.
21120
* LETTER TO A. V. LUNACHARSKY REGARDING HIS
ARTICLE "PARLIAMENT AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE."
October 11 [1905. Geneva].
Dear Anatoly Vasilyevich]! Your article takes on an extremely
interesting topic, extremely timely. Recently, the Leipzriger
Yioljkszeitung in an editorial ridiculed the zemstvo members for their IX*-th
congress, for "playing at constitution," pretending to be
parliamentarians etc. etc. Parvus's and Martov's mistake urgently
requires analysis from this perspective. But your analysis didn't work out.
In my opinion, the article needs to be redone in one of two directions:
either shift the center of gravity to our "playing at parliamentarianism"
New-Iskrists, show the detailed, conditional temporary significance
of parliamentarianism, the vulgarity of "parliamentary illusions" in an era of revolutionary] struggle, etc., explaining this from
the basics (very useful for Russians!) and involving Hilferding1 only
for illustration, very slightly. Or take Hilferding as the
basis, and then you will have to redo the article less, giving it
another title, but outlining more clearly the very posing of the question
by Hilferding. Of course, may be you will find another plan for redoing it, but please be sure to take it on
immediately. There is time, because the article could not have appeared in this "No
(The Moscow] events + old material have filled everything). So,
the deadline for its sending is Tuesday, October 17. I urge you to make a
thorough article and send it by October 17. It would be better to redo it in the 1st
direction, perhaps it will come out as an editorial!
If we already had a parliament, we would definitely support
the Constitutional Democrats, Milyukov and Co. contra the Moscow] Vedomosti]. E.g.,
— September. Ed.