V. I. Lenin

Letter to I. I. Skvortsov-Stepanov

December 16, 1909

Dear Colleague, I have received your answer and take up my pen to continue our
discussion.

You want to shift the question more to the theoretical (not tactical)
ground. I agree. I shall only remind you that your point of
departure was a tactical one: certainly you rejected the “classical
presentation” of the basic tactical proposition. You indicated this
tactical solution (without drawing the final tactical conclusions
from it) in connection with the rejection of the “American
possibility”. Therefore, I do not regard as correct the account of our
differences of opinion that you give in the following words: “You [i.e.,
I] emphasise the existence of a movement of the peasantry . I
recognise the existence of a movement of the peasantry that is becoming proletarianised ." But this is not the point of difference. Of course I
do not deny that the peasantry is becoming proletarianised. The point of
difference is whether the bourgeois agrarian system has taken root in
Russia to such an extent as to make a sharp transition from the
“Prussian” development of agrarian capitalism to the “American”
development of agrarian capitalism objectively impossible. If it has, the
“classical” presentation of the basic question of tactics falls to the
ground. If not—it is preserved.

Well, I maintain that it must be preserved. I do not deny the
possibility of the “Prussian” path; I recognise that a Marxist must not
“vouch” for either of these ways, nor must he bind himself down to one of them only ; I recognise that
Stolypin’s policy {8} is another step along the “Prussian” path and that
at a certain stage along that path a dialectical change may set in which would abolish all hopes and
prospects for an “American” path. But I assert that at the present time this change has certainly not yet come and that, there
fore, it is absolutely inadmissible for a Marxist, absolutely wrong
theoretically, to renounce the “classical” presentation of the
question. That is where we differ.

Theoretically these differences reduce themselves, if I am not
mistaken, to two chief points:

1) I must destroy your “ally”,

V. Ilyin, {9} in order to justify my position. In other words, this
position contradicts the results of the Marxist analysis of the
pre-revolutionary economics of Russia.

2) The “classical” presentation may and must be compared with the
agrarian opportunism of the revisionists (David and Co.), for there is no
substantial, radical difference in principle between the presentation of
the question of the workers’ attitude towards the “muzhik” in Russia and
in Germany.

I consider both these propositions to be radically wrong.

Ad {1}
1) (In order not to touch on “tactics” I shall set aside Martynov’s
attack on

Ilyin {10} and take up only your presentation of the theoretical
question.)

What did Ilyin argue and prove? In the first place, that the
development of agrarian relations in Russia is proceeding on capitalist
lines both in landlord and in peasant economy, both outside and within the “village commune”. In the
second place, that this development has already irrevocably
determined that there will be no other path than the capitalist path,
no other grouping of classes than the capitalist grouping.

This was the subject of the dispute with the Narodniks. This had to be
proved. It was proved. It remains proved. At the present time
another , further question is raised (and was raised by
the movement of 1905-07), which presupposes the solution of the
problem that was solved by Ilyin (and, of course, not by him alone), but
which presupposes not only this, but something bigger, more
complex, something new. Apart from the problem that was finally
and correctly solved in 1883-85, in 1895-99, the history of Russia in the
twentieth century has confronted us with a further problem, and theoretically there is nothing more erroneous than to recede from it,
dismiss it, or wave it aside by a reference to what has previously been
solved. That would mean reducing problems of, so to say, a second, i.e.,
higher, order to problems of a lower, first order. We cannot halt at a
general solution of the problem of capitalism when new events (and events that are of world-historic importance such as those of
1905-07) have raised a more concrete problem, of a more detailed nature,
the problem of the struggle between the two paths or methods of
capitalist agrarian development. When we were fighting against the
Narodniks to prove that this path was inevitably and irrevocably a
capitalist one, we were quite right and we could not but
concentrate all our strength, all our attention on the question: capitalism
or “people’s production”. This was natural, inevitable and
legitimate. Now, however, this question has been settled both in
theory and in reality (for the petty-bourgeois character of the Trudoviks
en masse has been proved by recent Russian history), and another,
higher question has taken its place: capitalism of type α or
capitalism of type β. And, in my humble opinion, Ilyin was right when,
in the preface to the second edition of his book, he pointed out that it
follows from the book that two types of capitalist, agrarian development are possible, and that the historical struggle
between these types has not yet come to an end. {2}

The special feature of Russian opportunism in Marxism, i.e., of
Menshevism in our time, is that it is associated with a doctrinaire
simplification, vulgarisation and distortion of the letter of Marxism, and
a betrayal of its spirit (such was the case with both Rabocheye Dyelo -ism and Struve-ism). While fighting Narodism as a wrong doctrine
of socialism , the Mensheviks, in a doctrinaire fashion, overlooked
the historically real and progressive historical content of
Narodism as a theory of the mass petty-bourgeois struggle of
democratic capitalism against liberal-landlord capitalism, of “American”
capitalism against “Prussian” capitalism. Hence their monstrous, idiotic,
renegade idea (which has also thoroughly permeated The Social Movement ) that the peasant movement is reactionary, that a
Cadet is more progressive than a Trudovik, that the “dictatorship of the proletariat and the
peasantry” (=the classical presentation) contradicts “the entire course of economic development” (p. 661 of the Menshevik Social Movement). “Contradicts the entire course of economic
development”—is this not reactionary?

I maintain that the struggle against this monstrous distortion of
Marxism was the basis of the “classical presentation” and a
correct basis, although unfortunately, owing to the natural
conditions of the time, this struggle was very zealously conducted as
regards tactics, and not zealously enough as regards theory. By the way,
“unfortunately˜˜ is not the right word here and should be
struck out!

This agrarian question is now the national question of bourgeois development in Russia, and in order not to fall into
the error of a mistaken (mechanical) application of the German model, which
in many respects is correct and in all respects very valuable, to our
conditions, we must clearly understand that the national question of the
fully established bourgeois development of Germany was unification, etc.,
and not the agrarian question; whereas the national question of
the final consolidation of bourgeois development in Russia is
precisely the agrarian (and even narrower: the peasant) question.

Such is the purely theoretical basis of the difference in
application of Marxism in Germany in 1848-68 (approximately) and in Russia in 1905??

How can I prove that in our country the agrarian question, and
not some other, has assumed national significance for bourgeois
development? I do not even know that it requires proof. I think it is
indisputable. But this is precisely the theoretical basis and all
the partial questions must turn on this . If this is disputed, I
shall briefly point out (briefly for the time being) that it is precisely
the course of events, the facts and the history of 1905-07 that
have proved the importance I have indicated of the agrarian
(peasant, and of course petty-bourgeois peasant, but not village-commune
peasant) question in Russia. The same thing is being proved now by
the law of June 3,1907, and by the composition and activity of the Third
Duma, and—a detail—by November 20, 1909, {11} and (what is especially important) by the government’s agrarian
policy.

If we agree that the recent history of Russia; the history of
1905-09, has proved the fundamental, prime, national significance
(national in the above sense) of the agrarian question in establishing a
definite type of bourgeois evolution in Russia, then we can proceed futher ; otherwise we cannot.

By 1905 the bourgeois development of Russia had already matured
sufficiently to require the immediate break-up of the antiquated
superstructure—the antiquated medieval system of land tenure (you
understand, of course, why, of the entire superstructure, I take
here land tenure alone). We are now living in the period of this
break-up, which various classes of bourgeois Russia are
trying to complete, to consummate in their own way: the peasants
(+the workers) by means of nationalisation (I am very glad you agree
with me on the absolute absurdity of municipalisation: I have already
quoted passages from Theorien über den Mehrwert {3} in favour of nationalisation in one of my works printed in part in

Polish) {4}

;

the landlords (+the old bourgeoisie, the Girondist bourgeoisie) by the
method of November 9, 1906, etc. Land nationalisation the break-up of the
old system of land tenure by the peasants is the economic basis of the
American path. The law of November 9,1906 =the break-up of the old system
of land tenure in the interests of the landlords, is the economic basis of
the Prussian path. Our epoch, 1905–??, is the epoch of the revolutionary
and counter-revolutionary struggle between these paths, just as 1848–71 in Germany was a period of the revolutionary and
counter-revolutionary struggle between two paths of unification (=of the
solution of the national problem of bourgeois development in
Germany), the path through the Great-German Republic and the path
through the Prussian monarchy. It was only in 1871 that
the second path was finally (that is where my “completely” comes
in) victorious . It was then that Liebknecht gave up the boycott of
parliament. It was then that the dispute between the Lassalleans and the
Eisenachers died down . It was then too that the question of a
general democratic revolution in Germany died down —and
Naumann, David and Co. start ed in the nineties (twenty years
later! ) to revive the corpse.

In our country the struggle is still going on. Neither of the
agrarian paths has won so far. In our country, in every crisis of
our epoch (1905–09–??), a “general democratic” movement of the “muzhik” will arise , is bound, to arise, and to
ignore it would be a fundamental mistake which, in practice , would
lead to Menshevism, although in theory the dispute may be placed
on a different plane. It is not I who “reduce” the dispute to
“Menshevism”, it is the history of our epoch that reduces to Menshevism the ignoring by the proletariat of the
national task of the bourgeois development of Russia, for this is precisely
the essence of Menshevism.

Nebenbei. {5}
Have you read, in Cherevanin’s The Contemporary Situation , about
the opportunism of the “classical presentation” of the question
by the Bolsheviks? Read it!

Ad 2) I have really said almost all there is to be said about this. In
Germany the support by the workers of the desire of the “muzhik”
to get for himself (i.e., for the muzhik) the land of the big
landlords—the Junkers —is reactionary . Isn’t that so?
Is it not true? In Russia in 1905–09–?? the denial of that
support is reactionary. Hic Rhodus hic salta . {6}

Here it is a question of either renouncing the entire agrarian programme
and going over ... almost to Cadetism ... or of recognising the
difference in principle between the presentation of the question
in Germany and that in Russia, in principle—not in the sense that the
epoch is non-capitalist in our country, but in the sense that these are two
altogether different epochs of capitalism, differing in
principle: the epoch preceding the final consolidation of the
national path of capitalism, and the epoch succeeding such
consolidation.

I conclude for the time being. I shall try to send you news paper
cuttings on the subject of our discussion. Write when you can spare
time. Warm greetings.

Yours,

Starik . {7}

---
Notes:
{1}
With regard to.— Ed .

{2}
See present edition, Vol. 3, pp. 31–34.— Ed .

{3}
Theories of Surplus Value .— Ed .

{4}
See present edition, Vol. 15, pp. 157–80.— Ed .

{5}
By the way.— Ed .

{6}
Here is Rhodes, leap here!— Ed .

{7}
The Old Man.— Ed .

{8}
This refers to Stolypin’s agrarian policy, which aimed at establishing
strong kulak farms as a bulwark of tsarism in the countryside. On November
9 (22), 1906, Stolypin issued a law allowing peasants to withdraw from the
village communes and settle on farmsteads; it proposed that the peasant
should take his land holding into his personal possession and leave the
village commune. The peasant could sell his allotment, which was previously
forbidden. Stolypin’s land law benefited the kulak top section in the
countryside and ’finally ruined the village poor.

{9}
V. Ilyin —a pseudonym of V. I. Lenin.

{10}
This refers to A. S. Martynov’s attacks in the organ of the
liquidators, Golos Sotsial-Demokrata , on the book by V. I. Lenin
(V. Ilyin) The Development of Capitalism in Russia .

{11}
Lenin is referring to an incident at the sitting of the Third Duma on
November 20 (December 3), 1909, during the discussion of the Bill on
inviolability of the person. The Bill was, in the words of the Duma Left
deputies, “a legitimisation of all forms of tyranny that have existed or
are in existence in Russia”. The out-and-out Black-Hundred speech of
Markov (the Second) on November 20 (December 3) in defence of the Bill
evoked indignation even from the Cadets, who walked out of the Duma chamber
as a sign of protest. The debate on the Bill in the Duma meeting of
November 20 (December 3) particularly exposed the Black-Hundred character
of the Third Duma.