V. I. Lenin

To the Communist Comrades Who Belonged to the United “Communist Party of Germany” and Have Now Formed a New Party

October 28, 1919

Dear Comrades, Only today have I learned of the split from the brief wireless
message of the German Government (from Nauen). My article,
“Greetings to French, Italian and German Communists”, was written before the news of the split arrived.

In that article I tried, from the standpoint of interna tional
communism, to appraise your position, insofar as I could acquaint
myself with it in some issues of the Berlin Rote Fahne. I
am convinced that the Communists who are agreed on the basic issue
(the fight for the dictatorship of the proletariat and for Soviet
government) and are implacably hostile to the Scheidemann and the
Kautsky groups in all nations, could and should have acted in
unison. In my opinion, differences on less important issues can, and
unfailingly will, vanish; this will result from the logic of the
joint struggle against the really formidable enemy, the bourgeoisie,
and its overt (Scheidemann) and covert (Kautsky) servitors.

I am not a member of the Executive Committee of the Third
International, but I believe it will offer the German Communists its
good services in restoring German communist unity. It is not
surprising that the furious persecutions, which have made the Party
illegal, impeded its work and hindered a proper exchange of ideas
and the elaboration of common tactics. A careful discussion of
differences and an exchange of views on an international scale could
assist in advancing the cause of German communism. and in mustering
its forces.

I shall be very glad if we manage to exchange opinions on these
questions.

With communist greetings,

N. Lenin