V. I.

Lenin

The Seventh (April) All-Russia Conference of the R.S.D.L.P.(B.)

APRIL 24–29, 1917

11

Report on the Question of Revising the Party Programme

April 28 (May 11) [1]

Comrades, this is how the question of revising the Party
Programme now stands. The first draft of proposed changes in the
doctrinal part of our programme and in a number of basic points
in its political part was submitted to the committee. The whole
programme must be revised as being utterly obsolete—a fact
that was pointed out in Party circles long before the war. It
appears, however, that there is not the slightest hope for
discussing the proposed changes of the programme as a whole. On
the other hand, the committee has come to the unanimous
conclusion that a revision of the programme is absolutely
essential, and that in a number of questions it is possible and
necessary to indicate the direction in which such revision
should be made. We have therefore agreed on the following draft
resolution which I am going to read to you now, making brief
comments as I go along. We have decided not to put forward
precisely formulated theses at the present time, but merely to
indicate along what lines this revision should be carried out.

( Reads the resolution. )

“ The Conference considers it necessary to revise the Party
Programme along the following lines:

“1. Evaluating imperialism and the epoch of imperialist wars in
connection with the approaching socialist revolution; fighting
against the distortion of Marxism by the ‘defencists’, who have
forgotten Marx’s slogan—‘The working men have no country’.” [2]

This is so clear that it requires no explanation. As a matter of
fact our Party’s policy has advanced considerably and, practically speaking, has already taken the stand proposed in
this formulation.

“2. Amending the theses and clauses dealing with the state; such
amendment is to be in the nature of a demand for a democratic
proletarian-peasant republic (i. e., a type of state functioning
without police, without a standing army, and without a privileged bureaucracy), and not for a bourgeois parliamentary
republic.”

Other formulations of this point had been proposed. One of them
mentioned the experience of the Paris Commune and the experience
of the period between the seventies and the eighties, but such a
formulation is unsatisfactory and too general; another spoke
about a republic of Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’, and
Peasants’ Deputies, but this formulation, too, was considered
unsatisfactory by most of the comrades. A formulation, however,
is needed; the point is not what an institution is called, but
what its political character and structure is. By saying
“proletarian-peasant republic”, we indicate its social content
and political character.

“3. Eliminating or amending what is out of date in the political
programme.”

Practically speaking, our general political activities in the
Soviets have gone along these lines; therefore, there can hardly
be room for doubt that the change in this particular point of
the programme and the precise formulation of our estimate of the
moment in which the revolution found our Party, is not likely to
provoke any disagreements.

“4. Altering a number of points in the political minimum
programme, so as to state more consistent democratic demands
with greater precision.

“5. Completely changing the economic part of the minimum
programme, which in very many places is out of date, and points
relating to public education.”

The main thing here is that these points have become out of
date; the trade union movement has outstripped them.

“6. Revising the agrarian programme in accordance with the
adopted resolution on the agrarian question.

“7. Inserting a demand for nationalisation of a number of
syndicates, etc., now ripe for such a step.”

A careful formulation has been chosen here, which can be
narrowed or widened, depending upon what drafts will appear in
print.

“8. Adding an analysis of the main trends in modern socialism.”

An addendum like this was made to the Communist Manifesto.

“ The Conference instructs the Central Committee to work out,
within two months, on the basis of the above suggestions, a
draft for the Party Programme which is to be submitted for
approval to the Party congress. The Conference calls upon all
organisations and all Party members to consider drafts of the
programme, to correct them, and to work out counter-drafts.”

It has been pointed out that it would be desirable to set up a
scientific body and create a literature dealing with this
subject, but we have neither the men nor the means for this. This is the resolution that should help in the speedy
revision of our programme. This resolution will be forwarded
abroad to enable our internationalist comrades to take part in
revising the programme, which our Party has undertaken on the
basis of the experience of the world war.

The new Party programme draft was completed after the October
Revolution. The programme was adopted at the Eighth Congress of
the R.C.P(B.) in March 1919.

| A brief report published May 13 (April 30), 1917 in Pravda No. 45 | Published according to the typewritten copy of the Minutes |
| --- | --- |

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Notes:
[1]



[2]
See Marx and Engels, Selected Works , Vol. I, Moscow, 1962, p. 51.