On the Question of Struggling Against War
To Comrades Bukharin, Zinoviev, and Molotov (for the Members of the Politburo)
In light of yesterday’s report from Hanover that the International Metalworkers’ Union has placed the question of combating war on its agenda and adopted a resolution calling for a strike in response to war—No. 164—I propose the following:
1. Publish a series of articles in Pravda and Izvestia, reminding readers of the fate of the Basel Manifesto and offering a detailed exposition of the childish folly—or outright social betrayal—repeated by the metalworkers.
2. At the next expanded meeting of the Executive Committee of the Comintern, raise the issue of the struggle against war and adopt comprehensive resolutions explaining that only a revolutionary party that has been thoroughly prepared and rigorously tested, equipped with a robust underground apparatus, can successfully wage the fight against war. Moreover, the proper means of struggle is not a strike against war, but rather the establishment of revolutionary cells within the warring armies, and the systematic preparation of these cells for the unfolding of revolution.
Lenin
Dictated over the telephone on February 4, 1922.
First published on January 20, 1929, in Pravda, No. 17.

Printed from a typewritten copy.