Translated from: ru/1917/1917-08-16_rechi_pri_obsuzhdenii_rezolyutsii_o_politicheskom.txt

Comrades, the resolution introduced at one of the previous sessions has been revised in the resolution commission. I present it to you in its amended form.

1. The development of the class struggle and the interrelationship of parties, in the setting of the imperialist war, in connection with the crisis at the front and the increasing dependence of Russia on Allied capital, have led to the dictatorship of the counter-revolutionary imperialist bourgeoisie, resting on the military clique drawn from the officer corps and screened by the revolutionary facade of the leaders of petty-bourgeois socialism.

2. With the overthrow of tsarism, power passed to the bourgeoisie owing to its economic strength and political organization. But, striving for the continuation of the imperialist war and for the preservation of the plunderous high profits of capital and landlord land ownership, the bourgeoisie could not retain power in conditions of the full political freedom and arming of the masses which the revolution had brought. The proletariat and the peasantry, organizing themselves into Soviets of Workers', Soldiers', and Peasants' Deputies, inevitably strove to end the imperialist slaughter of nations for the sake of capitalist interests and to curb their profiteering, chiefly from war contracts, as well as to transfer the landlords' land to the peasants.

The very first crisis, which broke out on 20-21 [3-4 May] April, would inevitably have led to the fall of the bourgeois Provisional Government and to the peaceful transfer of power to the Soviets, had not their leaders, the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, saved the government of the capitalists by tying the fate of the Soviets to it under the guise of a coalition ministry.

3. The dominance of the petty-bourgeois parties of the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks among the representatives of the peasantry and small proprietors in general, as well as of a section of the workers who had not yet freed themselves from the influence of the bourgeoisie, arose naturally from the petty-bourgeois character of the predominant mass of Russia's population. Given the trusting-unconscious attitude of this mass toward the capitalists, it was natural for a time to indulge the dream of replacing the acute class struggle with the peaceful compromise of workers with capitalists, peasants with landlords.

4. Under the dominance of these parties, the Soviets inevitably sank lower and lower, ceased to be organs of insurrection or organs of state power, and their decisions inevitably turned into powerless resolutions and innocent wishes. Meanwhile, the bourgeoisie, playing with the "socialist" ministers, delayed the elections to the Constituent Assembly, obstructed the transfer of land to the peasants, sabotaged any struggle against the economic dislocation, prepared -- with the approval of the majority of the Soviets -- the offensive at the front, i.e., the resumption of the imperialist war, thereby organizing the forces of counter-revolution.

5. The growing discontent of the masses with the high cost of living, the economic dislocation, and the prolongation of the war found expression in the sharpening of the struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, which was pushing the revolution forward and remaining implacably hostile to the imperialist war. Confronted with this sharpening of the class struggle, the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, entangled in their compromise with the bourgeoisie and in their support of the policy of the offensive, inevitably went over to supporting the counter-revolutionary Cadets against the proletariat.

Already during the crisis of 9 [22] June, Tsereteli proposed disarming the Petrograd workers and revolutionary regiments. The demonstration of 18 [1 July] June showed with particular clarity that the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks had finally parted ways with the aspirations of the masses. And when the spontaneous movement of 3-4 [16-17] July flared up, when the party of the proletariat, fulfilling its revolutionary duty, took the side of the justly indignant, outraged masses, the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, faced with the necessity of breaking with the bourgeoisie but fearing this break above all, responded with a resolute transition to open struggle against the revolutionary proletariat and revolutionary troops: they summoned politically unconscious troops to Petrograd, approved the destruction and closure of internationalist newspapers, the disarming of revolutionary troops and workers, the death penalty at the front, the arrests of Bolsheviks, and so on and so forth.

6. As a result of this course of events, state power at the present time is in fact in the hands of the counter-revolutionary bourgeoisie, supported by the military clique. It is precisely this imperialist dictatorship that has carried out and is carrying out all the above-enumerated measures of destruction of political freedom, violence against the masses, and ruthless persecution of the internationalist proletariat -- amid the utter impotence and inaction of the central institution of the Soviets, the Central Executive Committee.

7. The slogan of the transfer of power to the Soviets, advanced by the first upsurge of the revolution, which our party propagated, was a slogan of the peaceful development of the revolution, of the painless transfer of power from the bourgeoisie to the workers and peasants, of the gradual outgrowing by the petty bourgeoisie of its illusions.

At the present time, the peaceful development of the revolution and the painless transfer of power to the Soviets have become impossible, for power has in fact already passed into the hands of the counter-revolutionary bourgeoisie.

The correct slogan at the present time can only be the complete liquidation of the dictatorship of the counter-revolutionary bourgeoisie.

8. The success of this upsurge depends on how quickly and firmly the majority of the people becomes aware of the utter ruinousness of the hopes for compromise with the bourgeoisie -- hopes expressed and sustained by the parties of the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks. The course of events is refuting these hopes with extreme cruelty.

The party must assume the role of the foremost champion against the counter-revolution; vigorously defend all conquered freedoms and the rights established by revolutionary initiative; defend against counter-revolutionary encroachments all mass organizations (Soviets of Workers', Soldiers', and Peasants' Deputies, factory-plant committees, soldiers' and peasants' committees); exert every effort to preserve and strengthen the positions won in these organs by the internationalist wing; vigorously fight for influence in them, rallying around itself all elements that are adopting the standpoint of consistent struggle against the counter-revolution. The proletariat must not succumb to the provocation of the counter-revolution, which would very much like at the present moment to lure it into premature battle. It must direct all its efforts toward organization and preparation of forces for the moment when the nationwide crisis and the deep mass upsurge create favorable conditions for the urban and rural poor to go over to the side of the workers -- against the bourgeoisie.

9. The task of these revolutionary classes will then be to exert all their forces for the seizure of state power and for directing it, in alliance with the revolutionary proletariat of the advanced countries, toward peace and toward the socialist reorganization of society.

Chairman [Ya.M. Sverdlov -- Ed.]. Inasmuch as the resolution as a whole has been subjected to detailed consideration, I propose that the present session discuss it point by point. Are there any objections? We proceed to read it point by point.

Stalin reads Point 1.

[The point is read aloud and adopted without amendments.]

Stalin reads Point 2.

Ioffe. I move the following amendment. The words should be added: "owing to the voluntary renunciation of power by the leaders of the proletariat," which was noted by Milyukov.

Stalin. The renunciation did in fact occur, but for us the important thing is the objective fact -- the insufficient consciousness of the masses, led by the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks -- and not the subjective motive: the unwillingness of the leaders to take power. I therefore propose that this amendment be rejected.

[The amendment is rejected. Another amendment by Pavlovich, to insert "chiefly" before "war contracts," is accepted. Point 2 is adopted.]

[Points 3 and 4 are adopted with a minor amendment replacing "supported by the Soviets" with "with the approval of the majority of the Soviets." A proposed amendment to replace "organs of insurrection" with "organs of revolution" is rejected.]

Stalin reads Point 5.

[The point is adopted without amendments, after Pavlovich's and Yurenev's amendments are withdrawn or rejected. Stalin defends the word "unconscious" before "troops," explaining that specifically politically unconscious, reactionary troops composed of Cossacks, cadets, and the like were summoned, as was officially stated in the Soviet.]

Stalin reads Point 6.

[Stalin proposes adding to this point a passage removed by the commission: "The Soviets are undergoing an agonizing death agony, disintegrating because they did not take all state power into their hands in time." Over objections that this does not apply to provincial Soviets, Stalin insists: "Not only in Petrograd but also in the provinces the Soviets have lost their power. Let them now try to arrest or remove some official, as used to happen before! That could be followed by the dispersal of the Soviets." The addition is adopted. Yurenev proposes to delete the word "disintegrating." Stalin replies: "Comrades, the disintegration of the Soviets is an objective fact, and it is not for us Bolsheviks to conceal facts." Yurenev's amendment is rejected. Point 6 is adopted.]

Stalin reads Point 7.

[Smilga proposes to add a sentence from the former Point 8: "Only the revolutionary proletariat, on condition that it is supported by the poorest peasantry, is capable of fulfilling this task, which is the task of a new revolution in Russia." The addition is adopted. Point 7 is adopted.]

Stalin reads Point 8.

[Yurenev proposes inserting "Soviets of Workers', Soldiers', and Peasants' Deputies" at the head of the list of mass organizations. Stalin accepts. Solovyev proposes deleting the word "nationwide." Stalin objects: "We can speak of a crisis at the front, or an economic crisis, but here we specifically want to indicate the scale of this crisis, its nationwide scope." Solovyev's amendment is rejected. Point 8 is adopted.]

Stalin reads Point 9.

Preobrazhensky. I propose a different wording for the end of the resolution: "for directing it toward peace and, given the existence of a proletarian revolution in the West, toward socialism."

If we accept the commission's wording, it will create a contradiction with the resolution already adopted by Comrade Bukharin.

Stalin. I am against such an ending to the resolution. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that Russia will be the very country that blazes the trail to socialism. Until now, no country has enjoyed such freedom as has existed in Russia, none has attempted to realize workers' control over production. Moreover, the base of our revolution is broader than in Western Europe, where the proletariat stands face to face with the bourgeoisie in complete isolation. Here, the workers are supported by the poorest strata of the peasantry. Finally, in Germany the apparatus of state power functions incomparably better than the imperfect apparatus of our bourgeoisie, which is itself a tributary of European capital. We must discard the outmoded notion that only Europe can show us the way. There is dogmatic Marxism and there is creative Marxism. I stand on the ground of the latter.

[Preobrazhensky's amendment is rejected.]

Yurenev. I propose replacing the word "battle" with "action," since the meaning will remain the same, but the incriminating nature of the point will disappear.

Stalin. I am against this amendment. Amendments should be made on substance. The congress cannot proceed from the "incriminating nature" of one or another expression. If we replace the word "battle," it creates the impression that we are renouncing all actions (demonstrations, strikes, etc.), whereas we wish to restrain the proletariat only from battle, to which the bourgeoisie wants to provoke it.

[Yurenev's amendment is rejected. Skrypnik's amendment to replace "these revolutionary classes" with "the proletariat" is rejected. Point 9 is adopted. The resolution is adopted unanimously, with 4 abstentions.]

Stalin. Comrades, I propose nominating for the Constituent Assembly the candidacies of Comrades Lenin, Zinoviev, Kollontai, Trotsky, and Lunacharsky. (Loud applause.)

Nogin. I propose confirming all the resolutions of the April Conference. (Applause.)

Stalin. Comrades, the commission for drafting the manifesto to the workers of the entire world did not have time to complete its work. I propose that the CC publish it in the name of the congress.

Protocols of the Sixth Congress of the RSDLP(b). Moscow, 1934. pp. 14-21, 27-29, 107-111, 117-120, 138-140, 226-234.