V. I.

Lenin

Letter to Members of the Politbureau of the C.C., R.C.P.(B.) with Remarks to The Draft Resolution for the First Extended Plenary Meeting of the Comintern Executive on Participation in a Conference of the Three Internationals [1]

To Comrade Molotov (for members of the
Politbureau)

I move the following amendments to the draft resolution sent in by Zinoviev
concerning the Comintern’s participation in the planned conference of all
the workers’ parties of the world. After the words:

“unity of action among the working class masses which could be achieved
immediately, despite fundamental political, differences,” the phrases
following this should be deleted up to the words:

“that the working-class masses demand unity of action”. The phrase beginning with these last words should be recast as
follows:

“the class-conscious workers, who are perfectly well aware of these
political differences, nevertheless, together with the vast majority of the
workers, desire and demand unity of action on practical issues most urgent and
close to the interests of the workers. There can be no doubt about this now in
the mind of any conscientious person” and so on.

My second amendment is that the phrase beginning with the words:

“all controversial issues to be avoided and questions that are not open to
argument to be brought into focus” should be amended as follows:

“and while postponing for a time the more controversial questions and
bringing into focus the less controversial, both sides, or rather all three
international organisations taking part in the conference, will naturally
count on the ultimate victory of their points of view.”

My chief amendment is aimed at deleting the passage which calls the leaders of
the II and II 1/2 Internationals accomplices of the world bourgeoisie. You might
as well call a man a “jackass”. It is absolutely unreasonable to risk wrecking an affair of tremendous practical importance for the sake of
giving oneself the extra pleasure of scolding scoundrels, whom we shall be
scolding a thousand times at another place and time. If there are still
people at the enlarged meeting of the Executive who have not grasped the
fact that the tactic of the united front will help us to overthrow the
leaders of the II and II 1/2 Internationals, these people should have an
extra number of popular lectures and talks read to them. It may be
necessary to have a specially popular pamphlet written for them and
published in French, say, if the Frenchmen have not yet grasped Marxist
tactics. Finally, it were better to adopt this resolution, not unanimously,
but by a majority (those who voted against we would afterwards put through
a special, thorough and popular course of enlightenment) than run the risk
of spoiling a practical affair for the sake of a few political youngsters
who tomorrow will be cured of their infantile disorder.

Lenin

---
Notes:
[1]
The first extended plenary meeting of the Comintern Executive was held
in Moscow from February 21 to March 4, 1922. It was attended by 105
delegates from 36 countries. The highlight of the meeting was the question
of the tactics of the united front. In addition, the meeting heard a report
on the situation within the various sections of the Comintern, and other
questions. The meeting adopted the theses on the struggle against war and
the war menace, the theses on the New Economic Policy, a decision on the
tactics of the united front, a resolution on the participation of the
Comintern in the proposed conference of the three Inter nationals, and a
number of other documents.

Lenin did not sit in at the meeting owing to ill-health, but he took an
active part in preparing the meeting and elaborated the tactics for the
Comintern delegation to the conference of the three Internationals (see
pp. 393–94, 406, etc. of this volume).

Lenin’s proposed amendments to the draft resolution on participation in
the conference of the three Internationals were adopted by the Politbureau
of the C.C. on February 23, 1922.

A resolution on this point was adopted by the first plenary meeting of
the Comintern Executive on March 4, 1922.