V. I.

Lenin

The Fifth Congress of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party

April 30-May 19 (May 13-June 1), 1907

Objections to Martov’s Amendments to the
Bolshevik Resolution on the Attitude to Bourgeois Parties

May 16 (29) [1]

I

Everyone realises that Martov’s amendment is highly important. “Technical agreements” is an extremely elastic
conception. It seems that under “technical”, a “Duma with full
powers” is also included. If Martov thinks that our agreements with the
Trudoviks are anything but technical, he is mistaken. Our resolution does not
say that technical agreements with the liberal bourgeoisie are
impermissible. There should be no place for sanctions or interdictions in a
resolution; it should indicate an ideological political line. If, however, you
are dissatisfied with this absence of inter diction and introduce your notes
about “sanction”, you are thereby destroying the entire spirit, the
entire sense, behind our resolution. And if such an amendment were accepted, we
could do nothing but withdraw our resolution.

II

When Martov goes so far as to say that we are refusing to introduce into our
resolution any mention of our antagonism towards the revolutionary Narodniks,
he is by this open and glaring untruth defeating his own purpose and showing
that his own amendment is pure invention. No, it is not we who are refusing to
fight against the ’pseudo-socialist nature of the Narodniks, but you Menshevik comrades, who have refused to support
revolutionary democracy, and prefer the liberals (the
Cadets). The majority of the Narodnik groups (Popular Socialists and Trudoviks)
have not only failed to adhere in any special way to the terrorism of the
Socialist-Revolutionaries, but, on the contrary, have erred on the side of
pliancy in dealing with the liberals. The genuine revolutionism of all
Narodniks is expressed in the endeavour to destroy landlordism. In this alone do the liberals see “adventurous gambles and
utopianism”. Martov is, in point of fact , helping the liberals.

---
Notes:
[1]
Amendments to the resolution on the attitude towards bourgeois parties proposed by the Mensheviks Martov and Martynov were
rejected by the Congress.