Date: 1915
Source: ru:LS/v30

# Draft Resolution on the Attitude Toward War. August 1915, Zörenberg
Source: Lenin Collected Works XXX
Page: 95

POLISH S.D. OPPOSITION AT THE CROSSROADS*
[After July 17, 1914. Poronin]
The Polish S.D. opposition's shift to the liquidators at the Brussels conference seemed unexpected to many and struck all party members as extremely heavy. It was thought that the Polish S.D. opposition was no less close to the Pravdists than the Latvians. And suddenly — the Latvians are against the liquidators, and the Polish S.D. have betrayed!!

What is the matter?

The matter is that there are two currents among the Polish S.D.: one wants to accommodate Tyszka and Rosa Luxemburg in order to continue Tyszka's policy. This is a policy of unprincipled diplomacy and "play" between be-camps and me-camps, between the party and its liquidators. Today vote for one, tomorrow for another. Under the guise of "impartiality," betray everyone in turn, bargaining for "advantages and privileges." The federal character points in the Stockholm (1906) agreement between the Polish S.D. and the Russian S.D. are a convenient tool for this dirty policy, which Tyszka and Rosa Luxemburg conducted like virtuosos.

The other current is for a complete break with the liquidators, with Federalism, with the "game" of playing the role of a "pendulum" between two warring sides; — for an honest and close alliance with the Pravdists, with the party.

In Brussels, the first current among the Polish S.D. won. It is clear that from our side, the most complete distrust towards the Polish S.D. is inevitable. We will see if the second current can unite, raise a clear, precise, and definite banner of consistent, principled politics, a policy not only against Tyszka's clique but also against the essence of Tyszka's methods. It goes without saying that the unification of the Polish S.D. proletariat is possible only on the basis of such a policy.

The upcoming steps to create such a unification will finally reveal the truth about the actual state of affairs in the Polish S.D. and thus determine our attitude toward it.

* Title by Lenin. Ed.
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94
LENIN COLLECTED WORKS
and against the essence of Tyszka's methods. It goes without saying that the unification of the Polish S.D. proletariat is possible only on the basis of such a policy.

The upcoming steps to create such a unification will finally reveal the truth about the actual state of affairs in the Polish S.D. and thus determine our attitude toward it.

1 The note "Polish S.D. Opposition at the Crossroads" was not published. Materials for the Brussels Conference, convened by the International Socialist Bureau of the Second International on July 16-17, 1914, see Lenin, Collected Works, XVII, 541-571.

SEPARATE WRITINGS IN CONNECTION WITH THE IMPERIALIST WAR 1914-1916
20401
DRAFT [RESOLUTION ON THE ATTITUDE TOWARD WAR]1
[August 1915, Zörnenberg]
The present war is engendered by imperialism, i.e., the highest stage of capitalism, when the development of productive forces and the growth of capital have outgrown the narrow confines of individual national states and urge the "great" powers to strive for the enslavement of other nations and the seizure of colonies as sources of raw materials and markets for capital export.

The objective conditions for socialism are fully ripe, and the great powers in the present war are fighting for an artificial postponement of the death of capitalism by preserving and strengthening the dependence of the colonies, seizing privileges in the world market, splitting and suppressing the international revolutionary struggle of the workers.

Social democrats fully recognize the necessity of freedom for all nations. In the era of the struggle against feudalism, absolutism, and foreign national oppression, they recognized the defense of the fatherland, and at present, they recognize the legitimacy of the war of oppressed nations (especially colonies) against their oppressors, the "great" powers.

But the present war between the great powers is a war of slaveholders for the intensification and consolidation of slavery, for the extension of colonies, for the "right" to oppress other nations, for the privileges of great-power capital, for the reactionary suppression of the labor movement. Therefore, phrases about the "defense of the fatherland" from both groups of warring states are a deception of the people by the bourgeoisie. Neither the victory of any of the present governments nor the status quo ante bellum* can protect the freedom of nations from the imperialist great powers or give

* state before the war. Ed.
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