Date: 1911-10-30
Source: ru:LS/v38

26193
LETTER TO K. ZETKIN
Paris, October 30, [19]11
Dear Comrade!
I hope you were not offended by the dry tone of my official letter. You know full well how highly I regard you—one of the leading figures of international revolutionary social democracy, and in our movement, your resolute stance against the liquidators and Trotsky².
But I am compelled, since you served as an arbitrator, to address the purely legal aspects of the matter. There is no other way. The law is unequivocal—both in France and in Germany—that an arbitration agreement becomes null and void if one of the arbitrators withdraws from their duties.
What could I do? There could be no question of a new arbitration agreement.
I am firmly convinced that if you were to seek advice from any comrade who is a lawyer, he would tell you the very same thing.
As for Kautsky and Mehring, their entire conduct was nothing short of a mockery—I cannot speak of it calmly. But we are all deeply grateful to you for fulfilling your duties as an arbitrator. Today, our party has reached a point where—in Russia, of all places!—an Organizational Commission³ has been established. Fortunately, the end of this temporary phase coincides with the dissolution of both ill‑fated commissions (the Technical Commission and the Organizational Commission) in Paris⁴. To safeguard the interests of the faction, I had no choice but to adhere strictly to the law; otherwise, the opposing side would undoubtedly have turned against me—and against the illegitimate arbitration tribunal.
I bear responsibility before our Russian comrades.
With party greetings,  
N. Lenin  
Translated from German  
1 See the preceding document.
2 L. D. Trotsky (Bronstein)—a member of the RSDLP since 1897, a Menshevik. During the years of reaction and the new revolutionary upsurge, while cloaking himself in “non‑factionalism,” he in fact espoused the positions of the liquidators. In 1912, he organized the anti‑party August Bloc.
During the First World War, he adopted a centrist position. At the Sixth Congress of the RSDLP(b), together with the “Interregionalists,” he was admitted into the Bolshevik Party.
After the October Socialist Revolution, he held a number of responsible posts. He repeatedly spoke out against the Party’s Leninist policies. In 1918, he opposed the conclusion of the Treaty of Brest‑Litovsk.