V. I.

Lenin

The Tasks of the Proletariat in Our Revolution (Draft Platform for the Proletarian Party)

THE PECULIAR NATURE OF THE TACTICS

WHICH FOLLOW FROM THE ABOVE

7. For the Marxist, who must reckon with objective facts, with
the masses and classes, and not with individuals and so on,
the peculiar nature of the actual situation as described
above must determine the peculiar nature of the tactics for
the present moment.

This peculiarity of the situation calls, in the first place, for
the “pouring of vinegar and bile into the sweet water of
revolutionary-democratic phraseology” (as my fellow member on
the Central Committee of our Party, Teodorovich, so aptly put it
at yesterday’s session of the All-Russia Congress of Railwaymen
in Petrograd). Our work must be one of criticism, of explaining the mistakes of the petty-bourgeois
Socialist-Revolutionary and Social-Democratic parties, of
preparing and welding the elements of a consciously proletarian, Communist Party, and of
curing the proletariat of the “general” petty-bourgeois
intoxication.

This seems to be “nothing more” than propaganda work, but in reality it is most practical revolutionary work;
for there is no advancing a revolution that has come to a
standstill, that has choked itself with phrases, and that keeps
“marking time”, not because of external obstacles, not because of the violence of the bourgeoisie (Guchkov
is still only threatening to employ violence against the soldier
mass), but because of the unreasoning trust of the people.

Only by overcoming this unreasoning trust (and we can and should
overcome it only ideologically, by comradely persuasion, by
pointing to the lessons of experience ) can we set ourselves free from the prevailing orgy of revolutionary phrase-mongering and really stimulate the consciousness both
of the proletariat and of the mass in general, as well as their
bold and determined initiative in the localities – the independent realisation, development and consolidation of
liberties, democracy, and the principle of people’s ownership of
all the land.

8. The world-wide experience of bourgeois and landowner
governments has evolved two methods of keeping the people in subjection. The first is violence. Nicholas Romanov
I, nicknamed Nicholas of the Big Stick, and Nicholas II, the
Bloody, demonstrated to the Russian people the maximum of
what can and cannot he done in the way of these hangmen’s
practices. But there is another method, best developed by the
British and French bourgeoisie, who “learned their lesson” in
a series of great revolutions and revolutionary movements of
the masses. It is the method of deception, flattery, fine
phrases, promises by the million, petty sops, and concessions
of the unessential while retaining the essential.

The peculiar feature of the present situation in Russia is the
transition at a dizzy speed from the first method to the second,
from violent oppression of the people to flattering and
deceiving the people by promises. Vaska the Cat listens, but
goes on eating. [1] Milyukov and Guchkov are holding power,
they are protecting the profits of the capitalists, conducting
an imperialist war in the interests of Russian and Anglo-French
capital, and trying to get away with promises, declamation and
bombastic statements in reply to the speeches of “cooks” like
Chkheidze, Tsereteli and Steklov, who threaten, exhort, conjure,
beseech, demand and proclaim. . . . Vaska the Cat listens, but
goes on eating.

But from day to day trustful lack of reasoning and unreasoning
trust will be falling away, especially among the proletarians
and poor peasants, who are being taught by experience (by their social and economic position) to distrust the
capitalists.

The leaders of the petty bourgeoisie “must” teach the people to
trust the bourgeoisie. The proletarians must teach the people to
distrust the bourgeoisie.

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Notes:
[1]