Dear friend! A huge thank you for the news from Geneva. I wrote a very heated letter to Olga, which Karpinsky called abusive. Perhaps she took offence.

I’ll write her a letter of apology.

It was hard to bear that Brillant “beat off” Guilbeaux.

But from your letter I see that it was inevitable: given the combined influences of Lunacharsky (a poet!) + Brillant (he has money, Grigory writes me) + Naine + Graber, we, of course, could not have fought against it, with Guilbeaux’s weakness.

Let us wait and see what sort of organ they get.

If you receive *l’Humanité*, please, if you don’t need them, after reading send me clippings (the text of the congress resolutions; articles about it; speeches by Longuet and Co.; their resolutions; interesting articles, which are generally rare. Etc.) 419.

What a shameful resolution Longuet + Renaudel united around (2,800 against 120!!) and Bourderon + Raffin-Dugens went over to them!! And Merrheim? Why, he voted together with Jouhaux for the pacifist resolution of the C.G.T.!!

Shame!

I link this with Kautsky’s 5 articles on peace (the same vulgarity) + the Italian Socialist Party and Turati’s speech of 17/XII 1916 (the same vulgarity*).

*—of mind!—Ed.

The victory of Kautskyite pacifism over Zimmerwald, which Grimm (the I.S.C. appeal of 30.XII.1916) 420 glosses over with rrrrevolutionary phrases!! Just as in the Second International: a revolutionary signboard + a reformist essence.

I am launching (or rather: want to launch) a campaign to expose this lie.

And what a disgrace in the Swiss party! Ten days ago the military commission (specially elected by the Central Committee of the party) drew up 2 resolutions: 5 votes against defence of the fatherland and 4 for.

To this day not a single one has been printed!!

The opportunists (and Grimm!) are working with all their might to shelve this question and postpone the congress (the workers, they say, are not ready! while in fact it is they, the opportunists, who are dragging out the preparations...). They don’t want to conduct the elections to parliament (autumn 1917) under the slogan of not defending the fatherland!!

The utmost shame and debauchery...

I clasp your hand firmly, firmly, firmly and wish you cheerfulness and all the very best for the new year.

Yours, Lenin

1917

Clarens (Switzerland)