V. I. Lenin

Speech Delivered at a Meeting Organised by the Moscow Committee of the R. C. P. (B. ) [1]

In Honour of Lenin’s Fiftieth Birthday

April 23, 1920 ( Stormy applause ) Comrades, I must naturally begin by
thanking you for two things: firstly, for the congratula-tions
addressed to me today, and secondly, even more for having spared
me congratulatory speeches (Applause. ) I think that perhaps in this va we may gradually, not all at once, of course,
devise a more suitable method of celebrat-ing anniversaries than
the one hitherto in vogue, which has sometimes formed the subject
of remarkably good car-toons. Here is one such cartoon drawn by a
prominent artist in celebration of such a jubilee. I received it
today with an extremely cordial letter. And as the comrades have
been kind enough to spare me congratulatory speeches, I will hand
this cartoon round for all to see, so as to save us in future from
such jubilee celebrations altogether. [2]

Next, I would like to say a few words about the present status
of the Bolshevik Party. What brought these thoughts to my mind was
some lines written by a certain writer eight-een years ago, in
1902. This writer is Karl Kautsky, with whom we have now had to
part ways very definitely, and whom we have to fight, but who in
the struggle against German opportunism used lobe one of the
leaders of the proletarian party, and with whom we at one time
collaborated. There were no Bolsheviks then, but all the future
Bolsheviks who collaborated with him appraised him very
highly. Here is what this writer wrote in 1902:

“At the present time [in contrast to 18481 it would seem
that not only have the Slays entered the ranks of the revolutionary nations, but that the centre of revolutionary
thought and revolutionary action is shifting more and more to the
Slays. The revolutionary centre is shifting from the West to the
East. In the first half of the nineteenth century it was located
in France, at times in England. In 1848 Germany too joined the
ranks of the revolutionary nations. . . . The new century opens
with events which induce us to think that we are approaching a
further shift of the revolutionary centre. , namely, to
Russia . . . . Russia, who has borrowed so much revolutionary initiative from the West, is now perhaps herself
ready to serve as a source of revolutionary energy for the
West. The Russian revolutionary movement that is now flaring up
will perhaps prove to he a most potent means of exorcising that
spirit of flabby philistinism and temperate politics which is
beginning to spread in our midst, and it may cause the thirst for
battle and the passionate devotion to our great ideals to flare up
in bright flames again. Russia has long ceased to be merely a
bulwark of reaction and absolutism in Wemem Europe. It might be
said that today the very opposite is the case. Western Europe is
becoming a bulwark of reaction and absolutism in Russia
. . . . The Russian revolutionaries might perhaps have settled
with the tsar long ago had they not been compelled at the same
time to fight his ally, European capital. Let us hope that this
time they will succeed in settling with both enemies, and that the
new ’Holy Alliance’ will collapse more quickly than its predecessors. But no matter how the present struggle in Russia
ends, the blood and happiness of the martyrs, whom, unfortunately,
she is producing in too great numbers, will not have been
sacrificed in vain. They will nourish the shoots of social
revolution throughout the civilised world and cause them to grow
more luxuriantly and rapidly. In 1848 the Slays were a black frost
which blighted the flowers of the peoples’ spring. Perhaps
they are now destined to be the storm that will break the ice of
reaction and will irresistibly bring a new and happy spring for
the nations.” (K. Kautsky, “The Slays and
Revolution”, Iskra No. 18, March 10, 1902. )

That is what a prominent socialist, with whom we have now had
to break so drastically, wrote about the revolutionary movement in
Russia eighteen years ago. These words lead me to think that our
Party may now find itself in a very dangerous position—the
position of a man with a swelled head. It is a very stupid,
shameful and ridiculous position. We know that the failure and
decline of political parties have very often been preceded by a
state of affairs in which a swelled head is possible. And, indeed,
what was expected of the Russian revolution by the man I have
quoted and who is now our bitterest enemy, was immense beyond
measure. But after all, the brilliant successes and brilliant
victories we have gained so far were gained at a time when it was
still impossible to grapple with our main difficulties. It was a
time when we were confronted by war tasks, the tasks of waging a
most profound and most energetic struggle against the landowner
and tsarist reactionaries, and against reactionary generals. And
so, the tasks that are the substance of the socialist revolution
had to be postponed in order to grapple with the task of
organising the struggle against the common, everyday manifestations of petty-bourgeois instincts, division and
disunity, that is, against everything that would drag us back to
capitalism. These tasks were postponed both in the economic and
political spheres; we were unable to tackle them properly. And
therefore the danger suggested to us by the words I have quoted
should be seriously borne in mind by all Bolsheviks both severally
and as an integral political party. We must realise that the
decisions of our last Party Congress must he carried out at all
costs, and this means that a tremendous job faces us, and that a
far greater exertion of effort will be demanded than hitherto.

Let me conclude with the hope that under no circumstances will
we allow our Party to contract swelled head. ( Applause

Endnotes

[1]
On April 23, 1920 the Moscow Committee of the R.C.P.(B.) organised a meeting in honour of Lenin's fiftieth birthday. It was attended by Moscow Party functionaries. People who knew Lenin well, who had worked with him before the October Revolution, spoke at the meeting, Gorky, Lunacharsky, Olminsky and the proletarian poets Kirillov and Alexandrovsky spoke of Lenin with great warmth and deep respect. Lenin was given an ovation when he appeared.

[2]
Lenin refers to a cartoon by the well-known artist Karrik who drew
it in 1900 on the birthday of the Narodnik
N. K. Mikhailovsky. Yelena Stasova sent the cartoon to Lenin on
his fiftieth birthday. The drawing depicted Marxists as children
who came to congratulate Mikhailovsky. Stasova wrote on the
cartoon that at the time of Mikhailovsky's birthday the Party had
been in its childhood, had few members, whereas it had since
grown, “and this is the result of your work, this is thanks
to your mind and talent”.