V. I. Lenin

Plan for a Lecture on “Two Internationals” {16}

Two Internationals rpt.

1.

| Subject: not an assessment of the war (>1 year ago and outdated), but (two) basic lines in the develop ment of the working-class movement and socialism. | |
| --- | --- |
| Alias : not an assessment of the war or tactical principles , || but an assessment of the course the
working-class movement has taken.

|| Accordingly, the main thing: facts (on a broad scale) of the working-class
movement and socialism, and comparison of various countries. | Subject : [BOX ENDS:] [[

You might say the world working-class and socialist movement
as the touchstone of theory.

]] |

2.

| Introduction . Huysmans in Arnhem and in Rotterdam vs.
Wijnkoop et Henriette Roland-Hoist in Berner Tagwacht . {17} | |
| --- | --- |
| [BOX ENDS:] [[

?+cf. Avanti! (February 12, 1916)? {18} [BOX:] Vorwärts {1} ]] | NB : In the 0. C.: (1) blaming the workers; (2) forgetting the ties with the liquidators. |

2a. Etwa :

| 1. Russia: Patriots (Plekhanov & Co.) | __ O.C. and Trotsky __ Nashe Slovo ) | —C.C. |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2. Germany: Majority | —K. Kautsky & Co.— | —minority. I.S.D. {2} —( Rühle )— Winnig |
| 3. France: Majority | —Longuet & Co.— | —Bourderon & Co. ||

Bourderon’s resolution || Reports in “Labour Leader ” {19} | —Bourderon & Co. | ||

Bourderon’s resolution | || Reports in “Labour Leader ” {19} |
| —Bourderon & Co. | ||

Bourderon’s resolution | || Reports in “Labour Leader ” {19} |
| 4. Britain: Majority | (Fabian Society, Labour Party, {20} | Hyndman) — Askew (?) — Forward . {21} Glasgow [BOX:]

[[

NB: “Merthyr” {22} NB

]] Socialist {23} |
| | | {{

Ornatsky in Nashe Slovo {24} }} (( break with the Labour Party

)) [BOX ENDS:] [[ Letters in Labour
Leader ]] __ __ __ __ __ __ |
| 5. Italy: Minority (Bissolati)— | Italian official party. ( Avanti! Feb. 12, 1916) |
| 6. Austria : Majority (Pernerstorfer) | — Adler — minority. (( report in Berner Tagwacht {25} )) |
| 7. America: Russel — (Hillquit) | — — — Debs
( Debs’ s articles {26} ) (( “bombs and

)) _ _ _ _ _ _ |
| 8. Australia. Majority (government party) | —?— — socialists. |

3.

| Russia . Elections to War Industries Committees. First elections to C. C. (+the vacillating)
+ defencist

bloc (Larin).

Indignation of the bourgeoisie and the government. Gvozdev’s
denunciation. Second elections. Victory of chauvinists. | [BOX ENDS:] [[ “... Not for defence, but for organisation....”

]] |
| --- | --- |
| [BOX ENDS:] [[ Nashe
Dyelo {27} + Nash
Golos {28} + Rabocheye
Utro {29} O.C.

]] |
| Trotsky and Nashe Slovo (Chkheidze group?) C.C. |
| [BOX ENDS:] [[

Martov’s evolution: from “Vorwärts is dead” and “we will not go into the International”— t o defence
of alliance with Nashe Dyelo (Boretsky).

]] | Social-chauvinist mockery of Martov (Boretsky in Nashe
Slovo ). |
| This may well be brilliant “diplomacy”,
but there is notabit of socialism in it. | N B : Stolypin “ Khvostov labour party ” {30} |
| Result: two lines in the working-class movement in Russia. Only two (the rest has passed away). |
| Their class basis : |
| (α) in alliance with domestic bourgeoisie == | = for strengthening “domestic” bourgeoisie (= for war) |
| (β) in alliance with international proletariat == | = for international proletarian revolution. |
| Their ideas : for “defence” (“defence of country”);, (“defencists”); against “defence of country”...

(cf. Zimmerwald Manifesto) {3} | [BOX END:]

[
“Europa und die Revolution” in here? {31} |

4. Germany .

| Struggle within group: Liebknecht und Rühle 2 and 20 (their inconsistency). {32} | {{ Fall Liebknecht {4} pamphlet “regeneration” “national-liberal party”.

}} |
| --- | --- |
| Borchardt and Lichtstrahlen {33} Winnig . Rühle and reply of Vorwärts (Analysis). {34} |
| {{ (α) Circulation of illegal literature and
illegal organisation. (β)
Helping the government.

}} | Demonstration in Brunswick. {35} (Strike in Hannover.) |

5. France .

| (1) Vaillant in L’Humanité (letters?) {36} (“stopped their ears with blood-soaked cotton
wool”, “doctrinaires”, etc., etc.) | Saumoneau’s leaflet. {37} |
| --- | --- |
| {{ (2) Merrheim’s words at Zimmerwald:

“le parti, le gouvernement et los
Jouhaux ne sont que trois têtes sous un bonnet”. {5} }} | (Brizon & Co. at Kienthal). {6} |
| (3) Bourderon’s resolution ((analysis of its text)). |
| (4) Report in Labour Leader on the split . |

6. Britain .

| Majority (participation in ministry) defence. |
| --- |
| The New Statesman {38} (and its attitude) |
| (Labour Party + Fabian Society). | Lloyd George in Glasgow and workers’ reply. |
| [BOX ENDS:] [[

contra— B. S. P. , where 3/7 are internationalists

]] |
| Glasgow Socialist ((statement at Zimmerwald {39} )) | British Socialist Party (Hyndman’s walk-out {40} ) {7} . |
| Letters in Labour Leader . |
| Article on betrayal . |
| Merthyr . |

7. Italy .

| Bissolati—party (Treves and his speech {41} ) |
| --- |
| {{ Italy : Bissolati and the labour party Bulgaria :
Tesnyaki {42} and Shiroki Sweden : Branting and Höglund Holland : Troelstra and Tribune . {43} }} {8} |

8. Austria .

Pernerstorfer in Neue Zeit {44}

—V. Adler— internationalists ...

{{

idem:

resolution of V. Adler and “15”. {9}

9. United States of North America .

(“Wait and see”. . .)

Russel (V. Berger & Co.) for “preparedness”. “Jingo”

Hiliquit=diplomat {10}

Debs and his articles.

10. Australia .

Report in Berner Tagwacht . {45}

Article in New Statesman (I. K. {46} ). {11}

11. Results .

| {{

K. Kautsky in a letter to Bukvoyed.... {{ “There are˜˜
no two directions”

}} id. in Neue Zeit many times. Falsehood and lies. I rr K. Kautsky in Breitscheid report (“either
the old International or half a dozen”). Two and only two. Throughout the world. | Diplomacy—hypocrisy—vacillation—delusion? {{ It is not the word that matters. Axelrod and Martov [...] in Russia Kautsky and Haase in [...] in Germany Longuet et [...] in France Pressemane Hiliquit in America Askew and others in Britain ΣΣ= Huysmans . {12} [ALL NAMES ABOVE GROUPED BY:] one type }} |
| --- | --- |
| ((

Montagne and Gironde (Plekhanov in Iskra No. 2, 1901, “On the Threshold of the 20th Century”). |
| ((

“Boys with $2” and with capitalist “brains” in Appeal to Reason . {47} |
| Not diplomatic cover-up (“St. Petersburg slush”— Kautskian Vaut mieux dire {13} ), but explanation to the masses. Inevitability of split. |

| Revolution | (( cf. L’information +Europa und die Revolution

)) {14} |
| --- | --- |
| Iskra No. 2 (1901): | Montague and Gironde. |
| Struggle against
opportunism | {{ Bernstein. Millerandism and Jaurèsism. British liberal labour policy. Split in a number of Countries.

}} |
| The war has accelerated the development— —of the break-up both ways. |
| Quid est Kienthal ? {15} |

---
Notes:
{1}
The word Vorwärts appears to have been pencilled in later— Ed .

{2}
["*" IN ORIGINAL; TABLE SPANS VERSO/RECTO.]

Internationale Sozialisten Deutschlands.— Ed .

{3}
Points 2 and 3 are crossed out in pencil in the MS.— Ed .

{4}
["*" IN ORIGINAL; TABLE SPANS VERSO/RECTO.]

The Liebknecht Case.— Ed .

{5} “The party, the government and the Jouhaux are nothing but three heads
under one cap.”— Ed .

{6}
["*" IN ORIGINAL; TABLE SPANS VERSO/RECTO.]

The text from the word “regeneration” to the words “(Brizon & Co. at
Kienthal)” is in pencil and appears to have been written
later.— Ed .

{7}
["**" IN ORIGINAL; TABLE SPANS VERSO/RECTO.]

The text was apparently pencilled in later.— Ed .

{8}
Point 7 is crossed out in pencil in the MS.— Ed .

{9}
Apparently pencilled in later.— Ed .

{10}
The text from the word “Jingo” to the word “diplomat” is crossed out
in pencil.— Ed .

{11}
The text from the ward “article” to "(T.K.)” was apparently
pencilled in later.— Ed .

{12}
["*" IN ORIGINAL; TABLE SPANS VERSO/RECTO.]

The text from the word “diplomacy” to the word “Huysmans” is crossed
out in pencil.— Ed .

{13}
Better to say.— Ed .

{14}
The text from the word “boys” to the word “revolution” is crossed out
in pencil.— Ed .

{15}
What is Kienthal? The text from the words “ Iskra
No. 2” to the end appears to have been pencilled in later.— Ed .

{16}
Lenin gave a lecture on the subject of “Two Internationals” in Zurich
on February 4 (17), 1916. He gave the same lecture under a slightly changed
name, “Two Trends in the International Working-Class Movement”, in
Lausanne between May 19 and 21 (June 1 and 3) and in Geneva on May 20
(June 2).

The manuscript of the plan for the lecture, which is at the Central
Party Archives of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism of the C.P.S.U. Central
Committee, also reflects Lenin’s preparation for the second lecture in
Lausanne and Geneva. In connection with the new data available after the
Second International Socialist Conference at Kienthal, Lenin made
additions, crossed out some points and changed their numeration. All the
changes made by Lenin in the plan are indicated in the footnotes.

p. 359

{17}
A reference to the report by Henriette Roland-Holst in “Beilage zur
Berner Tagwacht ” (Supplement to the Berne Sentinel )
No. 18 of January 22, 1916, concerning the speech by the Secretary of the
International Socialist Bureau, C. Huysmans, at the Extraordinary Congress
of the Social-Democratic Party of Holland on January 8-9; Huysmans also
spoke at Rotterdam on February 2. He was opposed by the Left
internationalist D. Wijnkoop, who said that since Huysmans had voted, for
the war credits, socialists could no longer regard him as Secretary of the
International Socialist Bureau. “We shall set up another International,”
said Wijnkoop.

At the Central Party Archives of the Institute of Marxism–Leninism of
the C.P.S.U. Central Committee there is a cutting from “Beilage zur
Berner Tagwacht ” No. 18 of January 22, 1916, with Lenin’s
markings; on Huysmans’s speech at Rotterdam, Lenin made an extract from
L’Humanité of February 9, 1916. Both documents were published in 1931 in Lenin Miscellany XVII .

Berner Tagwacht (Berne Sentinel)—an organ of the
Social-Democratic Party of Switzerland, published in Berne since 1893. From
1909 to 1918, it was edited by R. Grimm. At the beginning of the First
World War, it carried articles by K. Liebknecht, F. Mehring and other
Left-wing Social-Democrats. From 1917 on, the newspaper openly supported
the social-chauvinists. At the present time, the paper takes the same stand
on the main domestic and foreign policy issues as the bourgeois press.

p. 358

{18}
A reference to the editorial article in No. 43 of Avanti ! of
February 12, 1916, “Intorno all’organizzazione socialista internazionale”
(Around the Socialist International). The Central Party Archives of the
Institute of Marxism-Leninism of the C.P.S.U. Central Committee has Lenin’s
extracts from this article with his remarks.

Avanti ! (Forward!)—a daily, the Central Organ of the Italian
Socialist Party, founded in Rome in December 1896. During the First World
War, the paper took an inconsistent internationalist stand without breaking
up with the reformists. In 1926, it was closed down by Mussolini’s fascist
government, but continued irregular publications abroad; resumed
publication in Italy in 1943.

p. 358

{19}
A possible reference to reports from Paris about the Congress of the
French Socialist Party of December 25-29, 1915, published in No. 52 of
The Labour Leader on December 30, 1915, and in Nos. 2 and 4 on
January 13 and 27, 1916.

The Labour Leader —a weekly published since 1891. From 1893,
organ of the Independent Labour Party of Britain. From 1922, it was
published under the name of New Leader ; and since 1946, carries
the name of Socialist Leader .

p. 359

{20}
The Labour Party of Britain was founded in 1900 as an association of trade unions, socialist organisations and groups to seat
labour representatives in Parliament (the Labour Representation
Committee). In 1906, the Committee took the name of Labour Party. Trade
union members are automatically members of the Labour Party provided they
pay party dues. The Labour Party is headed by an Executive Committee which
together with the General Trades Union Council and the Executive of the
Co-operative Party makes up the National Labour Council. Closely allied to
the Labour Party are the Co-operative Party, which is a collective member,
and the Independent Labour Party.

The Labour Party, which was initially a party of workers (many members
of the petty bourgeoisie joined the party later), is opportunist in
ideology and tactics. During the First World War its leaders took a
social-chauvinist stand.

The Labourites have repeatedly formed governments (1924, 1929, 1945 and
1950), which conducted the policy of British imperialism. The
dissatisfaction of the British working people with the reactionary policy
of the Labour Party leadership has resulted in the formation of a Left-wing
trend in the party aimed against the official policy of its leadership.

p. 358

{21}
Forward —a newspaper published in Glasgow since 1906. During
the First World War it supported the policy of the Independent Labour Party
of Britain. It was banned by the authorities after it carried a report on
the so-called 1915 “Christmas events” in Glasgow (the centre on the Clyde
area and of the shop stewards’ movement), when Lloyd George, at the time
Minister of Munitions, was shouted down by workers, who then staged an
impressive demonstration in the heart of the city carrying anti-war and
anti-government slogans.

They threatened to strike and the ban on the paper was lifted.

p. 359

{22}
Merthyr —a district in Southern Wales. Lenin apparently
refers to the by-elections in the district, when the representative of the
British Socialist Party mustered the votes of the Liberals and the
Conservatives against the candidate of the Independent Labour Party. No. 46
of The Labour Leader of November 18, 1915, carried a report on the
electoral struggle in Merthyr.

p. 359

{23}
An apparent reference to the newspaper The Socialist , the
official organ of the Socialist Labour Party of Britain, published in
Glasgow in 1904, 1909–10, 1916, 1918–23.

p. 359

{24}
Nashe Slovo (Our Word)—a Menshevik-Trotskyite newspaper
published in Paris from January 1915 to September 1916, in place of
Golos .

p. 359

{25}
A possible reference to the report in the form of an appeal, “Die
Internationalen in Oesterreich an die Internationalen aller Länder” (The
Internationalists of Austria to the Internationalists of All Countries),
carried in “Beilage zur Darner Tagwacht ” Nos. 283 and 284 on
December 3 and 4, 1915.

p. 361

{26}
A reference to Eugene Debs’s articles “When I Shall Fight”,
“‘Preparedness’ I Favour”, “The Only War I Will Fight in” and
“Never Be a Soldier”, published in the newspaper Appeal to Reason on August 25, September 11, December 11 and 25, 1915
(Nos. 1032, 1045 and 1047).

Cuttings from Appeal to Reason with Lenin’s markings are at the
Central Party Archives of the institute of Marxism-Leninism of the
C.P.S.U. Central Committee.

p. 381

{27}
Nashe Dyelo (Our Cause)—a Menshevik liquidator monthly,
first published in January 1915 in place of Nasha Zarya , which was
closed down in October 1914. Nashe Dyelo was the man organ of the
social-chauvinists in Russia, and had contributions from Y. Mayevsky,
P. P. Maslov, A. N. Potresov and N. Cherevanin, among others. There were
six issues.

p. 360

{28}
Nash Golos (Our Voice)—a legal Menshevik newspaper published
in Samara in 1915-16; it took a social-chauvinist stand.

p. 360

{29}
Rabocheye Utro (The Workers’ Morning)—a legal Menshevik
paper published in Petrograd from October to December 1915 in succession to
Utro which appeared in August 1915. The newspaper used internationalist phrases to cover up its social-chauvinism and defencism.

p. 360

{30} “ Khvostov labour party ”—named after A. N. Khvostov,
Minister for the Interior and Chief of the special gendarme corps in 1915
and 1916. In the manuscript Lenin wrote the word “Stolypin” over the word
“Khvostov”.

p. 381

{31} “ Europa und die Revolution ” (Europe and Revolution)—the
title of an editorial item carried in No. 35 of Volksrecht en
February 11, 1916, in connection with an article signed I. S. in the
Lucerne chauvinist newspaper Vaterland , whose author said that the
continuation of the war could cause revolution which was more dangerous
“for the throne and the altar” than the war itself. An extract made by
Lenin from Volksrecht with his remarks is at the Central Party
Archives of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism of the C.P.S.U. Central
Committee.

p. 361

{32}
Lenin is comparing the voting against the war credits by the 20
Social-Democratic deputies of the German Reichstag on December 21, 1915,
and the voting on March 20, 1915, when only two (Karl Liebknecht and Otto
Rühle) voted against the war credits. The voting of 20 deputies against
the war credits testified to rowing pressure from the masses on the
leadership of the Social-Democratic Party of Germany and its Reich stag
group. However, the majority of the C.C. (Vorstand) and of the Reich stag
group censured the December 21 vote as a breach of party discipline.

Speaking of the inconsistency of the 20, Lenin is referring to a
statement made by F. Geyer on behalf of the members of the
Social-Democratic group who had voted against the war credits on
December 21, which gave no characteristic of the war as imperialist, made
no mention of proletarian internationalism, and assumed that German plans
of conquest were of a very recent development.

p. 360

{33}
Lichtstrahlen (Rays of Light)—a monthly, organ of the group
of Left-wing Social-Democrats of Germany (Internationale Sons listen
Deutschlands), published under the editorship of J. Borchardt. It was
published in Berlin with interruptions from 1913 to 1921. Among those who
took part in the magazine were A. Pannekoek and A. Balabanova.

p. 362

{34}
No. 11 of Vorwärts of January 12, 1910, carried a statement
by Otto Rühle, “Zur Parteispaltung” (On the Party Split), In which he
said a split in the Social-Democratic Party of Germany was inevitable, The
editors of Vorwärts said in the editorial that although the
article was being published verbatim, they believed that the controversial questions raised in it were not only premature, but
altogether irrelevant.

p. 362

{35}
A reference to the May Day demonstration and a strike by the young
workers of Brunswick in early May 1916. The strike was staged in protest
against the government’s deduction of part of the young workers’ wages for
a war loan. More than 1,500 men took part in the strike and the
demonstration. Following a stubborn struggle, the government was forced to
rescind its order on deductions on May 5, 1916.

p. 363

{36}
A reference to E. Vaillant’s editorial article “Formalistes
doctrinaires” (Doctrinaire Formalists) in L’Humanité
No. 3827 on October 9, 1914, in which Vaillant, who went over to
social-chauvinist positions at the very beginning of the war, was forced to
admit that he was receiving letters from French socialists protesting
against the policy of the French Socialist Party leadership. Lenin’s
extracts from Vaillant’s article are in Lenin Miscellany XIV ,
p. 97.

p. 362

{37}
A reference to the appeal “To the Women of the Proletariat”, signed
by Louise Saumoneau on behalf of the French Socialist Women’s Action
Committee calling for the struggle for peace and against chauvinism. A copy
of the appeal with Lenin’s markings is at the Central Party Archives of the
Institute of Marxism-Leninism of the C.P.S.U. Central Committee.

p. 363

{38}
The New Statesman —a weekly of the Fabian Society, founded in
London in 1913. Since 1931, it has been published under the name of The New Statesman and Nation . At present, it expresses the views of the
Labour Party’s Left wing.

p. 362

{39}
A possible reference to the approval of the Zimmerwald Manifesto by the
Executive Committee of the British Socialist Party. At the end of 1915, it
decided to poll local organisations about adhering to Zimmerwald; an
overwhelming majority of local party organisations came out in favour of
adherence. A report on the poll was published in the
I.S.O. Bulletin No. 3 of February 29, 1916.

p. 362

{40}
A reference to the walk-out of H. Hyndman and his supporters from the
annual conference of the British Socialist Party held at Salford on
April 23 and 24, 1916. The conference marked the break-away of the British
Socialist Party from the social-chauvinists. The conference adopted a
number of anti-war resolutions of a general democratic character and a
resolution urging the use of the party’s full influence to put an end to
the war. By an overwhelming majority, the conference adopted a resolution
saying that the socialists recognise only a class war. In early June 1916,
Hyndman set up the National Socialist Party which in 1918 took the name of
the Social-Democratic Federation.

p. 363

{41}
A reference to the speech of C. Trèves in the Italian Chamber of
Deputies on December 2, 1915. A report on the speech was published in
Avanti! No. 335 on December 3, 1915.

p. 362

{42}
Tesnyaki —a revolutionary trend in the Bulgarian
Social-Democratic Party, which took shape in 1903 as an independent
Bulgarian Social-Democratic Labour Party. The founder and leader of the
Tesnyaki was D. Blagoev. He was succeeded by his followers G. Dimitrov,
V. Kolarov and others. From 1914 to 1918, the Tesnyaki opposed the
imperialist war. In 1919, they joined the Communist International and set
up the Communist Party of Bulgaria.

p. 362

{43}
Tribune , De Tribune —a newspaper founded in 1907 by the Left wing of the Dutch Social-Democratic Labour Party. In 1909,
following the expulsion of the Left-wingers from the party and their
establishment of the Social-Democratic Party of Holland, it became the
organ of the latter. From 1918, it was the organ of the Dutch Communist
Party, published under the name until 1937.

p. 362

{44}
A possible reference to the items by

E. Pernerstorfer,

“Russland und wir” (Russia and We) and “Nochmals Russland und wir”
(Once again Russia and We), published in Nos. 13 and 20 of Die Neue Zeit on December 24, 1915, and February 11, 1916.

p. 364

{45}
A reference to the article “Die Stellung der Sozialdemokraten
Australiens zum Krieg” (The Attitude of Australian Social-Democrats to the
War) published under the initials J.K. in “Beilage zur Berner Tagwacht ” Nos. 32 and 34 of February 8 and 10, 1916.

p. 364

{46} “ I.K. ”, “ Internationale Korrespondenz ” (International Correspondence)—a weekly of the German social-chauvinists
dealing with international affairs and the labour movement. It was
published in Berlin from the end of September 1914 to October 1, 1918. An
apparent reference to the article “Hughes und die australischen
Gewerksschaften” (Hughes and the Australian Trade Unions) published in
Internationale Korrespondenz No. 15 on May 23, 1916. A copy of
this magazine with Lenin’s markings on the article is at the Central Party
Archives of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism of the C.P.S.U. Central
Committee.

p. 364

{47}
Appeal to Reason —the newspaper of the American socialists,
founded at Girard, Kansas, in 1895. It was not officially connected with
the Socialist Party of America, but conducted propaganda of socialist ideas
and was very popular among the workers. The paper had contributions from
the American Socialist Eugene Debs.

p. 364