جمہوری انقلاب میں سوشل ڈیموکریسی | ولادیمیر لینن

What can we learn about the provisional revolutionary government from the resolution of the Third Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party? 

As the title of the resolution of the Third Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party indicates, it is entirely and specifically devoted to the question of the provisional revolutionary government. Therefore, the participation of Social Democrats in the provisional revolutionary government is a part of this question. On the other hand, the resolution is exclusively about the provisional revolutionary government and nothing else. Thus, the question of seizing power in general does not arise here at all. Was the Congress justified in separating this latter question and other similar questions? Undoubtedly, it was justified because the political situation in Russia does not make such questions immediate in any way. On the contrary, the entire populace has now raised the question of abolishing autocracy and convening a constituent assembly. Party congresses should not decide on issues that some writers might present at any given moment, but rather should take up issues that have great political significance due to the objective course of the times and social development.

 What is the significance of the provisional revolutionary government in the current revolution and in the general struggle of the proletariat? The Congress resolution, by emphasizing the need for the greatest possible political freedom at the very beginning, has clarified it from the viewpoints of both the immediate interests of the proletariat and the ultimate goals of socialism. The demand for complete political freedom requires that the Tsarist autocracy be replaced by a democratic republic, as has been acknowledged in our party program. The emphasis placed by the Congress in its resolution on the slogan of a democratic republic is necessary both logically and in principle, because it is for the attainment of this complete freedom that the proletariat, the greatest champion of democracy, is striving. Furthermore, it is more reasonable to emphasize this at this time because, at this very moment, the monarchists, i.e., the so-called Constitutional "Democratic" or Osvobozhdeniye party, are waving the banner of democracy in our country. For the establishment of a republic, an assembly of people's representatives is necessary, which must necessarily be a constituent assembly elected by the entire people—that is, on the basis of universal and equal suffrage, direct election, and secret ballot. Exactly this is what is acknowledged later in the Congress resolution. However, the resolution does not stop there. To establish such a new system that truly expresses the will of the people, it is not enough to call a representative assembly a constituent assembly. Such an assembly must have the authority and power to establish the new system. Realizing this, the Congress resolution does not limit itself to the formal slogan of a constituent assembly but adds the concrete conditions under which this assembly will have the opportunity to properly fulfill its duties. Specifying these conditions, under which a merely nominal constituent assembly can truly become a constituent one, is absolutely necessary because, as we have said many times, the liberal bourgeoisie represented by the Constitutional Monarchist Party is deliberately distorting the slogan of a constituent assembly for all the people and turning it into an empty phrase.

 The Congress resolution states that only a provisional revolutionary government, and one that is an instrument of a victorious popular uprising, can guarantee full freedom for conducting an election campaign and can convene an assembly that truly expresses the will of the people. Is this idea correct? Anyone who opposes it must prove that it is possible for the Tsarist government not to support reaction, that it can remain neutral during the elections, and that it can care about the true expression of the will of the people. Such claims are so absurd that no one would openly support them. But they are being spread secretly under liberal banners by our "Osvobozhdeniye" folks. Someone must convene the constituent assembly, someone must guarantee the freedom and honesty of the elections, and someone must give such an assembly full power and authority. Only a revolutionary government that is an instrument of the uprising can be sincere in its desire and capable of doing everything necessary for this. The Tsarist government will necessarily oppose it. A moderate government that compromises with the Tsar and does not rely at all on the popular uprising cannot sincerely desire this, and even if it very sincerely desired it, it could not fulfill it. Therefore, the Congress resolution has provided the only correct and entirely reasonable democratic slogan.