mem

LENIN'S
F I G H T AGAINST
REVISIONISM AND
OPPORTUNISM
Compiled

by

CHENG YEN-SHIH

FOREIGN L A N G U A G E S PRESS
P E K I N G 1965

CONTENTS

PREFACE
1.

REPUDIATING

1
ECONOMISM

A N D BERNSTEINISM

The Strategic Revolutionary Task of , the Proletariat

2.

Printed

in the People's

Republic

of China

The Fight Against Economism w i t h Its Worship of

Spontaneity and Its Obsession w i t h Economic
Struggles

11

The Opportunists of A l l Countries Praise Each Other

and Come Out Together Against M a r x i s m

17

T H E S T R U G G L E FOR T H E C R E A T I O N OF A R E V O L U T I O N A R Y P R O L E T A R I A N P A R T Y OF A N E W
TYPE .
'

24

The T w o Diametrically Opposed Lines w i t h

to the B u i l d i n g of the Party

3.

Regard
24

The Gross Interference of the Second International Is

Rebuffed and the Bolshevik Party Maintains Its I n dependence and Purity

32

T H E F I G H T A G A I N S T T H E OPPORTUNIST T A C T I C A L L I N E I N T H E 1905 R U S S I A N R E V O L U T I O N

35

The Outbreak of the Revolution and the Differences

over the Tactical Line

35

Should the Proletariat Strive for Leadership of the

Democratic Revolution?

30

What Should Be Our A t t i t u d e Towards Revolutionary

Violence b y the People?

41

To Continue the Revolution or to Stop Half-Way?

44

Two Appraisals of the Revolution of 1905

40

MM

4.

T H E STRUGGLE A T T H E S T U T T G A R T CONGRESS
The German Social-Democratic Party Uses Its Prestige to Manipulate the Congress and Spread Its
Erroneous Ideas
The Adoption of a Correct Resolution on A n t i - M i l i t a r i s m as a Result of Struggle
The Fight Against "Socialist Colonial Policy" and the
Theory of Trade U n i o n Neutrality
The Least Creditable Features of German SocialDemocracy Should Not Be Held U p as a Model
W o r t h y of I m i t a t i o n

5.

T H E T H E O R E T I C A L S T R U G G L E A G A I N S T T H E REVISIONISTS D U R I N G T H E EBB T I D E OF T H E REVOLUTION

The Revisionist Philosophy of " M u t i n y
Knees"
F r o m K a n t to H u m e and Berkeley

on

T H E STRUGGLES A G A I N S T T H E L I Q U I D A T O R S ,
T H E OTZOVISTS A N D TROTSKY
Liquidators Make a Fetish of Bourgeois Legality
"Liquidationism on the
Veered w i t h the W i n d

Left"

and

52
55
9.
58

60
60
63

T H E COPENHAGEN A N D B A S L E CONGRESSES
The Struggle Against Reformism on the Question of
Co-operative Societies
On the Question of War the Opportunists Show
Themselves as Renegades
The Basle Manifesto a Famous Document Against
Imperialist War

T H E STRUGGLE A G A I N S T

SOCIAL-CHAUVINISM

The Social-Chauvinists Help Reaction to Send

Workers to Slaughter Each Other

50

10.

89

the
89

U p h o l d i n g the Basle Manifesto and Exposing the

Reactionary Slogan of "Defence of the Fatherland"

91

Social-Chauvinism Is a Ripe "Bourgeois Abscess I n side the Socialist Parties"

95

EXPOSING AND REFUTING KAUTSKYISM

98

The Philistine Does Not Understand That W a r Is a

"Continuation of Politics"

99

I m p e r i a l i s m Is Monopolistic, Decaying, M o r i b u n d Capitalism

103

" U l t r a - I m p e r i a l i s m " an Opportunist Theory i n the

Service of Monopoly Capital

107

THE STRUGGLE A G A I N S T SOCIAL-PACIFISM

111

65

Peace Propaganda Unaccompanied by the Call for

Revolution Serves O n l y to Fool the Masses

111

66

Imperialist Peace Is the

perialist Policy of W a r

113

68

W h i l e There Is S t i l l Class Oppression, the Demand

for "Disarmament" Amounts to the Abandonment
of A l l Revolution

115

T H E S T R U G G L E A G A I N S T OPPORTUNISM O N T H E
N A T I O N A L QUESTION A N D T H E N A T I O N A L A N D
C O L O N I A L QUESTION

118

The Division of Nations into Oppressing and Oppressed Nations, and the T w o Historical Trends on
the National Question

119

72
73

Trotsky, Who

U n i t y w i t h the Liquidators Is Impossible

7.

8.

One's

Can New Discoveries i n Natural Science Negate the

Philosophical Basis of Marxism?
Y o u Cannot Judge a M a n , or a Philosophical School,
b y the Outside L a b e l
The Struggle Between M a r x i s m and Revisionism Is
the Prelude to the Great Revolutionary Battles of
the Proletariat
6.

50

76
79

11.

Continuation of the I m -

81

The Great Significance of the National-Liberation

Movement of the Colonial and Dependent Countries 121

81
83

Supporting the National-Liberation Movement of the

Oppressed Nations and Opposing Reactionary Nationalism

123

85

Refuting the Fallacy of the Opportunists on the Nat i o n a l Question

127

li-UED

12.

U N I T I N G THE LEFT A N D HOLDING A L O F T THE

. B A N N E R OF P R O L E T A R I A N I N T E R N A T I O N A L I S M
A t the International Conferences of Women and Y o u t h
The Z i m m e r w a l d Conference an Immense Achievement i n U n i t i n g the Revolutionary Groups
.Some Kinds of Compromises May Be Concluded w i t h
the Kautskyites, but the Political and Ideological
Struggle Must Never Cease
I t Is Not a Question of Numbers, but of G i v i n g Correct Expression to the Ideas and Policy of the T r u l y
Revolutionary Proletariat

13.
:

14.

15.

131
132
16.
134

U P H O L D I N G T H E D I C T A T O R S H I P OF T H E PROL E T A R I A T A N D CLASS STRUGGLE D U R I N G T H E

PERIOD OF T R A N S I T I O N
The Chief Criterion Distinguishing the Marxists from
the Opportunists
K a u t s k y Distorts the Dictatorship of the Proletariat
Concept, Ruling Out the Use of Revolutionary V i o lence

183

T H E E S T A B L I S H M E N T A N D C O N S O L I D A T I O N OF
T H E T H I R D I N T E R N A T I O N A L ON T H E B A S I S OF
T H E SURGING R E V O L U T I O N A R Y M O V E M E N T '

192

136

The Heroic, Resolute Struggle of the Proletariat

the Shameless Betrayal b y the Opportunists

139

The New, Revolutionary International and the Rotten,

Y e l l o w International

196

Only Parties Which H a d Broken w i t h the Opportunists Could Affiliate to the T h i r d International

201

C R I T I C I S M OF T H E " L E F T - W I N G " I N F A N T I L E D I S ORDER I N T H E C O M M U N I S T M O V E M E N T

205

T H E STRUGGLE FOR T H E GREAT OCTOBER SOCIALIST REVOLUTION

141
The Bourgeois-Democratic Revolution Must Be Turned
into a Socialist Revolution
141
The Old State Machine Must Be Smashed and a New
One B u i l t
145
The W o r k i n g Class W o u l d Prefer to Take Power
Peacefully but the Bourgeoisie W i l l Never V o l u n t a r i l y Retire f r o m the Stage of History
151
Those Who Refuse to Undertake A r m e d Insurrection
When the Decisive Battle Has to Be Fought Are
"Miserable Traitors to the Proletarian Cause"
156
T H E EFFORT W H I C H W A S M A D E T H R O U G H
S T R U G G L E TO A C H I E V E PEACE A N D PEACEFUL
CO-EXISTENCE
Gaining a Respite to Consolidate Soviet Power
There A r e No Obstacles on Our Side to Peaceful Coexistence
The Only Road to Lasting W o r l d Peace

Failure to Carry' On the Class Struggle to the End

Presents the Danger of the Restoration of Bourgeois
Rule

17.

The T w o Erroneous
Movement

The Leaders, the Party,

Party Discipline

18.

174
174

176

i n the

192

Working-Class
205

The Combination of Universal Laws and

Characteristics

159
159
166
169

Trends

and

National
208

the Class, the Masses and

210

I t Is Necessary to Master A l l Forms of Struggle

214

The Compromises of a Revolutionary and the Compromises of a Traitor

219

Revolutionary Fervour and Coolness of M i n d

222

T H E PERIOD OF T R A N S I T I O N TO T H E N E W ECONOMIC
P O L I C Y ; T H E STRUGGLE
AGAINST
T H E OPPORTUNIST F A C T I O N S OF TROTSKY,
B U K H A R I N A N D OTHERS

227

The Situation and Tasks D u r i n g the Period of Nat i o n a l Economic Restoration

227

The Debate over the Question of the Trade Unions

230

Refuting the Anarcho-Syndicalist Deviation

233

Getting the Peasants to Take the Socialist Road via

Co-operation
335

If

19.

R E S O L U T E SUPPORT FOR T H E P R O L E T A R I A N
REVOLUTION AND T H E NATIONAL-LIBERATION
MOVEMENTS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
The Socialist Countries Must Support W o r l d Revolu'' t i o n '
Workers and Oppressed Nations of the W o r l d , Unite,
Oppose the Common Enemy!
'
The Proletariat Must Lead the National-Democratic
Revolution
-'
The Future of the W o r l d W i l l Be Deqided by the People, the Great M a j o r i t y of Its Population

238
238
243
245
248

CONCLUSION

252

BIBLIOGRAPHY;

Lenin's P r i n c i p a l Writings Against Revisionism and Opportunism

259

INDEX

265