V. I.

Lenin

The Petrograd City Conference of the R.S.D.L.P. (Bolsheviks)

APRIL 14–22 (APRIL 27–MAY 5), 1917

Draft Resolution on the Attitude Towards the

Parties of the
Socialist-Revolutionaries, the Menshevik Social-Democrats, the
“Non-Faction” Social-Democrats and other Kindred Political Trends

Taking into consideration:

(1) that the parties of the Socialist-Revolutionaries, Menshevik
Social-Democrats, etc., have, in the great majority of cases, adopted the stand of “revolutionary defencism” and
voted for the loan, that is, in support of the imperialist
war waged by the imperialist government of the capitalists—Guchkov, Lvov and Co.; (2) that these parties are supporting the Provisional
Government, which represents the interests of Capital and
which has taken a counter-revolutionary stand in domestic as
well as foreign policy; (3) that these parties have allowed themselves to be deceived by
the capitalists, and, in their turn, are deceiving the people with false hopes of being able, by means of “demands”
and “control” of the Provisional Government, and without
wielding state power, to change the class nature of the
government of the capitalists and wean it away from the
imperialist policy now needed by the capitalists and from
counter-revolutionary attempts against liberty; (4) that the resultant attempt to obscure the class
consciousness of the proletarians and semi-proletarians,
which these parties are encouraging, is, in view of the
general attitude of unreasoning trust on the part of the
masses to wards the capitalists, who are now acting chiefly
by deception and flatterys the principal reason for the
revolution hanging fire and for its possible defeat by the
forces of the landowner and bourgeois counter-revolution, the Conference resolves that:

(1) the voting in favour of the loan and advocacy of revolutionary defencism ill general be considered a gross
betrayal of socialism, of the proletarian class struggle and
of the principles of internationalism, i.e., the fraternal
union of the workers of all countries against the capitalists of all countries; (2) the above-named parties be considered as acting in the
interests and upholding the point of view of the petty bourgeoisie and corrupting the proletariat with bourgeois
influence; (3) unity with parties, as a whole, which are pursuing a policy
of support for the Provisional Government, are advocating
revolutionary defencism, etc., be considered absolutely
impossible in view of the fact that these parties have abandoned the proletarian class position for a
petty-bourgeois position; (4) in regard to certain local groups of workers who are aligned
with the Mensheviks, etc., but who strive to uphold the
position of internationalism against “revolutionary defencism” and against voting for the loan, etc., the policy
of our Party should be to support such workers and groups,
to seek closer relations with them, and support unity with
them on the basis of a definite break with the petty-bourgeois betrayal of socialism.

| First published in 1925 in the book The Petrograd City and the All-Russia Conferences of the R.S.D.L.P. (Bolsheviks), April 1917 | |
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| Published according to the typewritten copy of the Minutes | |

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