30.11.1995

Lenin on communist tactics in Britain

From 'The Communist', paper of the Communist Party of Great Britain, December 2 1920

LENIN ... proceeded to discuss the attitude of the Communist Party towards the Labour Party in view of the much talked of forthcoming general election ... Lenin looks upon every weapon as necessary in the conflict with capitalism ... He clearly realises the value of revolutionary parliamentary action, but also understands its limitations ...

Talking on the Labour Party, Lenin said he was very glad to learn that it had refused to accept the affiliation application of the Communist Party. It was a good move to have applied for affiliation, because the refusal of the Labour Party to accept communists in its ranks showed the masses exactly where the Labour Party stood.

... Lenin advises the communists to help the Labour Party get a majority at the next election in order to facilitate the general decadence of the parliamentary system ... The task of the revolutionary communist is not only to preach his Marxist theories; he must prove that his theories are correct by compelling his opponents to act in such a way that they provide the practical lessons which enable the communist to test his theories before the eyes of the masses ... So far as Henderson, Thomas and the Labour Party are concerned, they only differ from Lloyd George in that they have never had the opportunity to control the government ...

At this point, I interposed, and said that ... it was just possible that the indignant masses, remembering that we had urged them to vote for the Labour Party, might sweep us away too when the social crash took place. Lenin pondered over this for a moment, and said that, the Communist Party, in assisting the Labour Party to capture the government, must make its own case very clear to the masses ... The manifesto should frankly state that the Communist Party is most emphatically opposed to the Labour Party, but asks it to be supported in order that Henderson, MacDonald and co may demonstrate to the masses their sheer helplessness ...

Lenin was continually interrupted by the arrival of cables, despatches and messages. He was frequently called to the ’phone. Despite these things he could return quite serenely to the point under discussion ... Bad news had arrived from the various fronts; Poland was acting strangely at the Riga conference; France had been indulging in one of her bullying outbursts; and Finland was on the point of signing peace. All these things, I imagined, would make it impossible for Lenin to settle down and have a quiet talk ... on communist tactics, which, to some people, might have seemed almost trivial ... To him every aspect of the movement is important.

William Paul