In the initial phase of its development, the Russian Revolution handed power over to the imperialist bourgeoisie and, alongside this ruling class, established Soviets of Deputies—whose majority was composed of petty-bourgeois democrats. On the second stage of the revolution (May 6), the authorities formally removed from power the cynically blatant representatives of imperialism, Milyukov and Guchkov, while in practice transforming the parties that held the majority in the Soviets into government parties. Our Party remained, both before and after May 6, in the position of an opposition minority. This was inevitable, for we are the party of the socialist proletariat, grounded in the principles of internationalism. The socialist proletariat, adopting an internationalist stance during a war of imperialist aggression, cannot fail to oppose any authority that wages such a war—whether that authority is monarchical, republican, or the “socialist” defense-oriented regime. And the party of the socialist proletariat will inevitably rally around itself ever-larger masses of a population impoverished by the protracted war, a population that has lost faith in the “socialists,” who, like the imperialists of old, have become bound to the service of imperialism. The struggle against our Party began, therefore, from the very first days of the revolution. And no matter how vile and repulsive the forms this struggle might take—whether waged by the Cadets or by the Plekhanovites against the Party of the Proletariat—their underlying essence remains clear: it is the same struggle that imperialists and Scheidemannites once waged against Liebknecht and F. Adler (both of whom were, after all, declared “madmen” in the central organ of German “socialists,” not to mention the bourgeois press, which branded these comrades as nothing less than “traitors” working for England). It is the struggle of all of bourgeois society—including, despite their ostensibly revolutionary rhetoric, even the petty-bourgeois democrats—against the socialist, internationalist proletariat.

In Russia, this struggle has reached a point where the imperialists are attempting, through the intermediaries of petty-bourgeois democratic leaders like Tsereteli, Chernov, and others, to deliver a sharp and decisive blow aimed at crushing the rising power of the proletarian party. And as a pretext for this resolute strike, Minister Tsereteli has once again resorted to a tactic long employed by counterrevolutions: the accusation of conspiracy. Yet this accusation is but a pretext; the real issue lies in the imperative faced by the petty-bourgeois democrats—those who follow the lead of Russian and allied imperialists—to put an end, once and for all, to the socialist, internationalist movement. They see the moment for action as long overdue. Trembling with agitation and fear, spurred on by their masters’ lash, they have resolved: now—or never.

The socialist proletariat, and our Party in particular, must summon all their composure, display the utmost steadfastness and vigilance: let the coming Cavagnari make the first move. Our Party had already warned of their arrival at its own conference. The proletariat of Petrograd will not allow them to evade responsibility. It will wait, conserving its strength and preparing for resistance—ready to strike back when these gentlemen finally decide to move from words to deeds.

“Pravda,” No. 80, June 26 (13), 1917

Printed according to the text of the newspaper “Pravda.”