Date: 1905
Source: ru:PSS/v47

Source: PSS vol 47

Copenhagen, September 2* 1910.
Dear Comrades!
In the August 28 issue of Vorwarts, an anonymous article appeared on the state of affairs within the Russian Party—a scandal of unprecedented magnitude.281 At the very height of the International Congress, when all participants are united in their fervent commitment to safeguarding socialist unity, carefully deliberating internal party disputes in each individual country, striving as much as possible to refrain from interfering in these disputes, and tirelessly promoting the strength, grandeur, and moral prestige of social democracy across the globe—precisely at this moment, the Central Organ of the German Party suddenly publishes, without any apparent cause or pressing need, an article that…

* In the original text, there is a typographical error: “August.” Ed.

…contains utterly outrageous attacks on Russian social democracy. The aforementioned article unabashedly criticizes the entire social democratic movement in Russia; it seeks to portray, in the darkest possible hues, the decline, impotence, and disintegration of social democracy within Russia for the eyes of the international community. Furthermore, every single faction and tendency currently active within the Party is subjected to scathing criticism from top to bottom; finally, the article levels crude and vicious accusations against the Party’s official central bodies—the Central Committee and the Central Organ—accusing them of factional bias and the like; indeed, individual members of these central institutions are slandered in an unprecedented manner.

Such an article appearing in the Central Organ of the German Party, penned by an anonymous author whose sole aim was to satisfy a petty personal grievance out of sheer spite, will only serve to undermine the interests of the social democratic movement in Russia. It represents an unparalleled breach of international solidarity and fraternal camaraderie toward Russian social democracy. While the Russian Party, which boasts numerous well-known literary figures, has for many years refrained from bringing its internal affairs before the pages of the German party press, this was precisely because it does not regard foreign media as an appropriate arena for settling its disputes. The task of forging unity within the Russian Social Democratic Party remains—and always will remain—the most complex and most vital challenge facing all comrades in Russia, especially the Party’s central organs. Clearly, in the interest of preserving unity, it is imperative to avoid anything that might hinder the resolution of internal differences. Of course, no one should object to calm, objective, and impartial coverage of the issues confronting Russian party life. However, we firmly and vigorously oppose the malicious, petty, and treacherous criticism directed at the movement itself, at the Party, and at its central institutions—as is evident from the aforementioned article—especially since the anonymous author, in his capacity as a self‑proclaimed omniscient outsider to the Party, is presented as a correspondent for the Central Organ of the newspaper Vorwarts, thereby lending this article an air of official editorial authority.

Delegates of the Central Organ of the Russian Social Democratic Workers’ Party—“Social Democrat”
G. Plekhanov

A. Varsky
Delegate of the Central Committee, Member
of the International Socialist Bureau
N. Lenin (Vl. Ulyanov)

First published here, based on the text handwritten by A. Varsky and signed by V. I. Lenin.
Translated from German