Date: 1909-12-02
Source: ru:PSS/v47

Source: PSS, Volume 47

We must work long and tirelessly to ensure that this resolution is not “rotten,” not German in character, but French—i.e., modeled on the 30–48–71 pattern, rather than the 63–65 type (which, after all, was merely a “constitutional” crisis). It is impossible to guarantee whether our own 63–65 will end in failure or success; yet it is our task—the task of the workers’ party—to do everything in our power to transform a “rotten” outcome into a successful one, to turn Germany’s Verfassungsstreit into a neat little French imbroglio. There are no laws of history that dictate that a rotten crisis cannot be transformed into a pleasant skirmish. No such laws exist. Everything depends on the circumstances: on the impoverished masses of peasants—whom Stolypin crushed, yet failed to satisfy—on the strength of the workers’ party, on the conditions, frictions, and conflicts between Guchkov and the “circles,” and so on and so forth. We must strive to become stronger—and we shall be stronger by the time of our 63–65 than the Germans were then—so that the peasants will heed us, rather than the liberals. Only struggle will determine how far we succeed in this endeavor. Let us demand “the whole” in the spirit of a broad-based, democratic offensive: if we prevail, we shall gain everything; if we fail, we shall secure at least a portion—but when we go into battle, we cannot afford to limit ourselves to demands for only a part. To reorganize from the ground up, to restructure anew, to approach the crisis with a fresh outlook—such is the essence of the moment—but we must also uphold and develop, indeed reinforce, all the old slogans, the demand for “the whole.” I shake your hand firmly, with heartfelt warmth, and wish you good health and unwavering vigor.

Yours ever,  
The Old Man  

In the journal  

Copies (censored)

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Written on December 2, 1909.

Sent from Paris to St. Petersburg.

First published in 1922.

“Proletarian Revolution,” No. 5

Printed from typewritten copy