V. I.

Lenin

THE STATE OF AFFAIRS IN THE PARTY

Our Party has undoubtedly arrived at one of the critical
points of its development. All Bolsheviks must do their
utmost to fully clarify their principles, to unite, and once
again lead the Party out on to the high road.

The events that have just taken place abroad (June and
July 1911) are a sign of crisis in the Party centres. These
events, described and commented upon in a number of leaflets of nearly all groups and trends, amount to this, that
the liquidators (through the Central Committee Bureau
Abroad [1] —C.C.B.A.) have finally prevented the convocation of a plenum. The Bolsheviks have broken with this
C.C.B.A., which has outlawed itself, and jointly with the
“conciliators” and the Poles have set up a Technical
Commission and an Organising
Commission [2] for the convocation of a conference.

What are the principles involved in these events?

The break with the liquidators, who had broken with the
R.S.D.L.P., but continued to obstruct all its work from
inside the centres (like the C.C.B.A.), means the elimination of this obstruction and the possibility of unanimously
setting about the restoration of the illegal and really
revolutionary Social-Democratic Party. That is the first and
main thing. The second is that the break with the C.C.B.A.,
which had violated all Party laws (and the consequent resignation from the C.O. editorial board of Martov and Dan,
who since February 1910 had taken no part in the C.O.),
means putting right the mistake of the plenum (in January
1910) owing to which it was not the pro-Party Mensheviks
but the
Golosists [3] (i.e., liquidators) who turned out to be in
the central bodies. The principle laid down by the plenum (cleansing the workers’ party of the bourgeois trends of
liquidationism and otzovism [4] ) has now been divested
of the liquidationist centres concealing it.

Fortunately, a court of arbitration has now assessed the hypocritical outcries of the Golos people and Trotsky
in defence of the C.C.B.A. Three German Social-Democrats
(Mehring, Kautsky and Clara Zetkin) were to decide the question of the Bolshevik funds conditionally handed over
to the C.C., and they decided provisionally , pending the
conference, to give the money to the Technical Commission
and not to the C.C.B.A. This decision is tantamount to the court of arbitration’s recognition that the C.C.B.A.
was in the wrong .

What is the attitude of the other factions abroad? Trotsky,
of course, is solidly behind the liquidators, the
Vperyodists [5] also (they have not yet said as much in the press,
but it is known from their official negotiations with the
Organising Commission). Plekhanov is “on the fence”, while
preaching agreement with the C.C.B.A. (see Plekhanovites’
resolution).

The C.C.B.A. is itself trying to set about the calling of a conference, with the help of Trotsky, Vperyod and Co.
Whether anything will come of such an “alliance”, no one
knows. A collapse of principle is there inevitable. Nothing
even resembling Party work can result from this bloc.
The “bloc” which is being organised by the former C.C.B.A.
means nothing but intrigue to cover up the anti-Party and
anti-Social-Democratic activity of the group of Messrs.
Potresov, Mikhail, Yuri, Roman and Co.

The Bolsheviks’ task now is to unite, beat off the attack
of all the enemies of Social-Democracy, give a lead to all
who are wavering, and help the illegal R.S.D.L.P. to get
on its feet.

Some say this is a split. The hypocrisy of these outcries
from the gentry in the C.C.B.A. has been recognised even
by the Germans, who are not familiar with Russian affairs.
Martov’s pamphlet in German, delivered to the holders of the funds, caused Clara Zetkin to make this comment:
“A disgusting production.”

In Russia, there is no split among the illegal organisations, there are no parallel Social-Democratic organisations.

There are Party people, and liquidators who have broken
away and set up a separate group. Groups abroad, like those
of Golos , Trotsky, the Bund, and Vperyod , want to cover
up the break-away of the liquidators, help them to hide
under the banner of the R.S.D.L.P., and help them to thwart
the rebuilding of the R.S.D.L.P. It is our task at all costs
to rebuff the liquidators and, despite their opposition ,
recreate the R.S.D.L.P. To say that rebuilding and reinforcing the illegal party, despite the opposition of the
breakaway legalists, is “a split” means to make a mockery of the
truth and (unconsciously or hypocritically) stretch out a
hand to the liquidators. There are some who say that the
Bolsheviks want a faction of their own. On this point the
“conciliators” (in Paris) have now separated into a faction
of their own. Without desiring “factionalism”, they have
set up a new faction (with representatives of its own in the
Technical Commission and the Organising Commission—and that is the basic symptom of a faction, the “conciliators’”
internal discipline among themselves).

How does the question of factionalism stand? In January
1910 the Bolsheviks dissolved their group on condition that
all the other factions would also be dissolved. This condition has not been carried out, as everyone knows. Golos ,
Vperyod , and Trotsky and Co. have intensified their factional activity. And on December 5, 1910, we Bolsheviks
publicly declared that the stipulation had been violated
and that our agreement on the dissolution of all factions
had been broken , and demanded a return of our group’s funds.

Not only the anti-Party trends, but also the Plekhanovites
have remained a separate faction: they have their own organ
( Dnevnik ), their own platform, their factional nominees to
the central bodies, their internal faction discipline.

In these circumstances, the shouts against “factionalism”
are so empty, especially when coming from those who have
just formed their own faction. Surely it is time to understand that shouts against factionalism are meant to distract attention from the really important question, that of the
Party or anti-Party content of the activity of the various
factions. We Bolsheviks set up the T.C. and the O.C. in a
bloc with the factions of the “conciliators” and the Poles.

The Poles are for the “conciliators”; we are in the minority,
we are not responsible for the conciliatory errors of the T.C.
and the O.C. The whole history of “conciliationism” (which
we shall recount in the press, directly the conciliators force
us to do it) is crying evidence of its erroneous nature. The
Bolsheviks must understand this, so as not to repeat these
errors.

The “conciliators” have not understood the ideological roots of what keeps us apart from the liquidators, and have
therefore left them a number of loopholes and have frequently been (involuntarily) a plaything in the hands of the
liquidators. At the January 1910 plenum, the “conciliators”
(together with the Poles) got through an idiotic clause
in the resolution: “For the first time”, etc. (see Lenin’s
article in Diskussionny Listok
No. 2, [6] or Plekhanov’s
Dnevnik , which admitted that the clause was blown up, integralist, i.e., nonsensical). The conciliators put their
trust in the Golos people; in return, Golos publicly disgraced
the conciliators with its greasy kisses.

The conciliators put their trust in Trotsky, who has clearly executed a full turn towards the liquidators. The
conciliators in Russia (having had control of the C.C.
Bureau, i.e., all the authority and all the money, for more
than a year) haggled with the liquidators, invited them,
“awaited” them and, for that reason , have done nothing .

Now, by entering the T.C. and the O.C., the conciliators
have reached the parting of the ways. On the one hand, the
fact of the break with the C.C.B.A. is recognition and correction of conciliationist errors. On the other, the formation
of a separate faction against the Bolsheviks, and the alliance with the least steady Poles, is a step in continuation
of their old errors.

It is our duty to warn all Bolsheviks of this peril, and
to call on them to unite all their forces and to fight for the
conference. One and all must be mobilised for this struggle.
The Bolsheviks must win, in order to take the Party on to
the high road.

Since the revolution, the Bolsheviks, as a trend, have lived through two errors—(1) otzovism-Vperyodism and
(2) conciliationism (Wobbling in the direction of the liquidators). It is time to get rid of both.

We Bolsheviks have resolved on no account to repeat (and
not to allow a repetition of) the error of conciliationism
today . This would mean slowing down the rebuilding of the R.S.D.L.P., and entangling it in a new game with the
Golos people (or their lackeys, like Trotsky), the Vperyodists
and so forth. But this is a critical time, and there can be no
delay.

All Bolsheviks must unite, organise the conference speedily and at all costs , win a victory at it or go over to open
and straightforward opposition based on principle. Only
Bolshevism, which is alien to waverings either to the left
or to the right, can bring the Party out on to the high road.