V. I. Lenin

Afterword To The Theses On The Question Of The Immediate Conclusion
Of A Separate And Annexationist Peace

I read the above Theses to a small private meeting of Party
functionaries on January 8, 1918. The discussion on them showed
three opinions in the Party on this question—about a half
those present spoke in favour of revolutionary war (this was
sometimes called the §Moscow¨ point of view because the Moscow Regional Bureau of our Party adopted it earlier than
other organisations); then about a quarter were for Comrade
Trotsky who proposed to declare the cessation of hostilities,
demobilise the army, send the soldiers home but refrain from
signing a treaty¨, and, lastly, about a quarter supported
me.

The state of affairs now obtaining in the Party reminds me very
strongly of the situation in the summer of 1907 when the
overwhelming majority of the Bolslieviks favoured the boycott of
tile Third Duma and I stood side by side with Dan in favour of
participation and was subjected to furious attacks for my
opportunism. Objectively, the present issue is a complete
analogy; as then, the majority of the Party functionaries,
proceeding from the very best revolutionary motives and the best
Party traditions, allow themselves to be carried away by a
§flash¨ slogan and do not grasp the new socio-economic and political situation, do not take into
consideration the change in the conditions that demands
a speedy and abrupt change in tactics. The essence of my
argument, today as then, is to make clear that Marxism demands
the consideration of objective conditions and their changes,
that the question must be presented concretely as applicable to
those conditions, that the most significant change that has
occurred is the foundation of the Russian Soviet Republic, and
the preservation of the republic that has already begun the
socialist revolution is most important to us and to the
international socialist movement; that at the moment the slogan of revolutionary war proclaimed by Russia would
either be an empty phrase and an unsupported demonstration, or
would be tantamount, objectively, to falling into the trap set
for us by the imperialists, who wish to inveigle us into
continuing the imperialist war while we are still a weak unit, so that the young Soviet Republic might be crushed as
cheaply as possible.

§I stand by Lenin¥s old position,¨ exclaimed one young Muscovite (youth is one of the greatest virtues
distinguishing that group of speakers). And that samespeaker
reproached me for repeating the old arguments of the defencists
about the improbability of a revolution in Germany.

The whole trouble is that the Muscovites want to stick to the
old tactical position, and stubbornly refuse to see the change
that has taken place, the new objective situation that has arisen.

The Muscovites, in their zealous repetition of old slogans, have
not even taken into consideration the fact that we Bolsheviks
have now all become defencists. Having overthrown the bourgeoisie, having denounced and exposed the secret treaties,
having proposed peace to all peoples, actually... Here the manuscript breaks off .— Editor.