V. I. Lenin

Source: ru:PSS/v26; en:MT;es:MT
Translated: machine translation (DeepSeek) from the Russian; AI-translated.

The undersigned representatives of the Social-Democratic organisations of Russia (England, etc.) proceed from the conviction that the present war is an imperialist war not only on the part of Germany and Austria-Hungary, but also on the part of England and France (acting in alliance with tsarism), i.e., a war of the epoch of the last stage of capitalist development, the epoch when bourgeois states within national boundaries have outlived their time, a war directed exclusively towards the seizure of colonies, the plunder of competing countries, and the weakening of the proletarian movement by setting the proletarians of one country against those of another.

Hence the absolute duty of the socialists of all belligerent countries is immediately and resolutely to carry out the Basle resolution, namely:

1) a break with national blocs and the Burgfrieden[16] in all countries;

2) a call to the workers of all belligerent countries for energetic class struggle, both economic and political, against the bourgeoisie of their own country, the bourgeoisie which is making unheard-of profits out of war supplies and is taking advantage of the support of the military authorities to gag the workers and intensify the oppression over them;

3) resolute condemnation of any voting of war credits;

4) withdrawal from the bourgeois ministries of Belgium and France, and recognition that entry into ministries and voting of credits is as much a betrayal of the cause of socialism as is the whole conduct of the German and Austrian Social-Democrats;

5) immediately to extend a hand to the internationalist elements of German Social-Democracy who refuse to vote war credits, and to form together with them an international committee for agitation to end the war, not in the spirit of the pacifists, Christians and petty-bourgeois democrats, but in indissoluble connection with the preaching and organisation of mass revolutionary action by the proletarians of each country against their own governments and bourgeoisie;

6) support for all attempts at rapprochement and fraternisation in the army and in the trenches between the socialists of the belligerent countries, despite the prohibitions of the military authorities of England, Germany, etc.;

7) a call to the socialist women of the belligerent countries to intensify agitation in the above-indicated direction;

8) a call to the entire international proletariat to support the struggle against tsarism and those Social-Democratic deputies of Russia who not only refused to vote credits, but did not stop short of the danger of persecution, carrying on their socialist work in the spirit of international revolutionary Social-Democracy.