[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.On the other hand, if we aredestined to live through a really great revolution, if history prevents a "miscarriage" thistime, if we are strong enough to carry the revolution to a successful conclusion, to adecisive victory, not in the Osvobozhdeniye or the new Iskra sense of the word, then itwill be a revolution in which the peasant and proletarian element will preponderate.Some people may, perhaps, interpret our admission that such a preponderance is possibleas a renunciation of the view that the impending revolution will be bourgeois incharacter.This is very likely, considering how this concept is misused in the Iskra.Forthis reason it will not be at all superfluous to dwell on this question.Next: When is the Proletariat threatened.against the incosistent Bourgeoisie?Footnotes1)The Socialist-Revolutionaries are a terrorist group of intellectuals rather than theembryo of such a party, although the objective significance of this group's activities canbe reduced to this very task of achieving the aims of the revolutionary and republicanbourgeosie.2)We are not referring here to the special peasant slogans which were dealt with inseparate resolutions. Two Tactics of Social-Democracy in the Democratic Revolution Vladimir LeninTwo Tactics of Social-Democracy in the Democratic RevolutionFrom what Direction is the ProletariatThreatenedwith the Danger of Having its Hands Tiedin the Struggle Against the InconsistentBourgeoisie?Marxists are absolutely convinced of the bourgeois character of the Russian revolution.What does this mean? It means that the democratic reforms in the political system and thesocial and economic reforms, which have become a necessity for Russia, do not inthemselves imply the undermining of capitalism, the undermining of bourgeois rule; onthe contrary, they will, for the first time, really clear the ground for a wide and rapid,European, and not Asiatic, development of capitalism; they will, for the first time, makeit possible for the bourgeoisie to rule as a class.The Socialist-Revolutionaries cannotgrasp this idea, for they are ignorant of the rudiments of the laws of development ofcommodity and capitalist production; they fail to see that even the complete success of apeasant insurrection, even the redistribution of the whole of the land for the benefit of thepeasants and in accordance with their desires ("Black Redistribution" or something ofthat kind), will not destroy capitalism at all, but will, on the contrary, give an impetus toits development and hasten the class disintegration of the peasantry itself.The failure tograsp this truth makes the Socialist-Revolutionaries unconscious ideologists of the pettybourgeoisie.Insistence on this truth is of enormous importance for Social-Democracy,not only from the theoretical standpoint but also from the standpoint of practical politics,for from it follows that the complete class independence of the party of the proletariat inthe present "general democratic" movement is obligatory.But it does not at all follow from this that a democratic revolution (bourgeois in its socialand economic substance) is not of enormous interest for the proletariat.It does not at allfollow from this that the democratic revolution cannot take place in a form advantageousmainly to the big capitalist, the financial magnate and the "enlightened" landlord, as wellas in a form advantageous to the peasant and to the worker.The new-Iskraists thoroughly misunderstand the meaning and significance of thecategory: bourgeois revolution.Through their arguments there constantly runs the idea that a bourgeois revolution is a revolution which can be advantageous only to thebourgeoisie.And yet nothing is more erroneous than such an idea.A bourgeoisrevolution is a revolution which does not go beyond the limits of the bourgeois, i.e.,capitalist, social and economic system.A bourgeois revolution expresses the need for thedevelopment of capitalism, and far from destroying the foundations of capitalism, it doesthe opposite, it broadens and deepens them.This revolution therefore expresses theinterests not only of the working class, but of the entire bourgeoisie as well
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
