April abstract

After the victory of the February Revolution, under the prevailing " dual power ", a conflict arose between representatives of the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet regarding the further participation of the Russian Empire in the World War. Representatives of the RSDLP (b) (“Bolsheviks") in the Petrograd Soviet did not have significant influence and supported the political position of the left majority - seeking to resolve the conflict with the Provisional Government through political dialogue. At that time, V.I. Lenin, the head of the RSDLP (b), who was abroad, based on an analysis of the current situation of “dual power” in the context of the ongoing war, concluded that the method of political dialogue would inevitably develop into a method of political pressure on The Provisional Government on the part of the left majority of the Petrograd Soviet will ultimately lead to the suppression of the left majority in the Petrograd Soviet by force, and thereby, first weaken the position of the left majority in the Petrograd Council, and then completely eliminates the democratic gains of the February Revolution. Lenin believed that the political conflict between the Provisional Government and the Council, in the context of the ongoing war, would be long and disastrous for the state’s economy, would contribute to the development of anarchy in the Russian army, which would inevitably lead to defeat on all fronts, with Russia's subsequent withdrawal from the war at the most disadvantageous for her, up to the loss of the status of a World Power. Lenin concluded that the contradiction between the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet on the military issue is irreconcilable - antagonistic in nature, and can only be resolved by transferring all state power to the Petrograd Soviet. Analyzing the strategic and tactical methods of political struggle of the democratic parties representing the left majority in the Petrograd Soviet — Lenin concluded that these methods are ineffective under the current conditions, and to strengthen the political influence of the RSDLP (b) —a fundamentally new strategy is needed to ensure the transfer of full state power to the Petrograd Soviet exclusively in a revolutionary way (preferably peaceful). Thus, Lenin concluded that the next - the third revolution (the first revolution of 1905) was necessary, which he classified as “socialist,” and classified the past February revolution as “bourgeois,” given that this (second revolution) fully satisfied only the demands of the minority (bourgeoisie), but completely did not satisfy the demands of the majority of working people (workers and peasants) in war.

“April Abstracts” include 10 provisions:

1. A harsh criticism of the war (“ending a war with a truly democratic, non-violent, peace cannot be without overthrowing capital”), an absolute rejection of “revolutionary defensiveism”;
2. The "bourgeois-liberal" stage of the revolution is completed, and we should proceed to the "socialist" revolution, during which power should pass into the hands of the proletariat and the poorest peasantry;
3. “No support to the Provisional Government ”;
4. The need to confront the bloc of petty-bourgeois opportunist elements while promoting the slogan on the need to transfer all state power to the Soviets of Workers' Deputies;
5. Not a parliamentary republic, but a republic of Soviets of workers, laborers and peasants' deputies throughout the country, from top to bottom, with the abolition of the police, army and bureaucratic apparatus and the replacement of the standing army with the general armament of the people; The pay to all officials, with the election and turnover of all of them at any time, is not higher than the average pay of a good worker.
6. Agrarian reform - the confiscation of all landlords' lands and the nationalization of all lands in the country;
7. Banking reform - the merger of all banks in a country into one nationwide bank, controlled by the Soviets of Workers' Deputies;
8. Supervision of Councils for social production and distribution of products;
9. "Party Tasks" of the RSDLP (b) (including renaming to the Communist Party );
10. "Renewal of the International."

Lenin accompanied the publication of the theses themselves with a brief introduction and lengthy commentary ending with a criticism of Plekhanov .

In fact, the April Theses formulated the foundations of Leninism . They became the program of action of the Bolsheviks in the pre-October period, served as an ideological basis for the activities of the Communists after the seizure of power and the justification of their dictatorship in the USSR . Studying the April Theses in Soviet times was an important part of ideological education.

The leading figures of the Bolshevik faction at the beginning of the February Revolution were mainly in exile or in exile, and therefore the Bolsheviks did not take an organized part in it. The Bolshevik leaders who returned from exile, who, along with the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries joined the Petrosoviet , were inclined to cooperate with the Provisional Government. Lenin, from the very beginning, while still abroad, insisted on the immediate breakup of the Petrograd Soviet with the Provisional Government in order to actively prepare for the transition from the bourgeois-democratic to the next "proletarian" stage of the revolution, seizing power in the interests of the proletariat and the poorest peasantry and ending the imperialist war. The “April Theses,” in which Lenin confirmed his rejection of the parliamentary republic and the democratic process, “were greeted by the Petrograd elite of the Bolsheviks with amazement and hostility” ^[1] .

For the first time, Lenin announced the April Theses, theses of his future report On the Tasks of the Proletariat in this Revolution, on the night of April 3–4 at a meeting of the Bolsheviks in the Kshesinskaya Palace . Speech, according to the testimony of N. N. Sukhanov , made a strong impression on those present. However, the speaker rather surprised the audience than he admired: Lenin did not find support for his ideas.

Then, on April 4 ( 17 ), 1917, at about 12 o’clock, Lenin arrived at the Tauride Palace at a meeting of Bolshevik participants in the All-Russian meeting of Soviets of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies , who were preparing for a joint meeting with the Mensheviks to discuss the question of unification. Here for the first time he completely read his report “On the Tasks of the Proletariat in this Revolution”, which differed sharply from the already well-known position of Kamenev-Stalin, but again not only did not receive support, but ran into harsh comments from the Mensheviks present — B.O. Bogdanov , I. P. Goldenberg and Izvestia editor Yu. M. Steklov . A substantive discussion, however, did not follow.

Gathering on April 6 ( 19 ), 1917, the Bureau of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) discussed Lenin's April Theses. G. Zinoviev, A. Shlyapnikov, L. Kamenev , who declared that Russia was not ripe for a socialist revolution, opposed the theses. He suggested that if Lenin's theses were accepted, the party would turn into a group of communist propagandists. On April 7 ( 20 ), 1917 , Pravda, despite the opposition of the editorial council, under pressure from Lenin, nevertheless published its article On the Tasks of the Proletariat in this Revolution, which contained the April Theses, but the very next day in Pravda against Kamenev came up with the article “Our differences” as the “corrupting influence” of Leninist theses. Stressing that the “April Theses” express exclusively “personal opinion” of Lenin, he declared: “With regard to Comrade Lenin’s general scheme, it seems to us unacceptable, since it proceeds from the recognition of the bourgeois-democratic revolution as completed and counts on the immediate degeneration of this revolution into the socialist revolution. " The discussion on the theses took place on the same day at a meeting of the St. Petersburg Committee of the Bolsheviks, with a vote of 2 for, 13 against, and one abstained. It was decided to continue the discussion in the district party organizations. “Both the theses and my report,” admitted Lenin, “caused disagreement among the Bolsheviks themselves and the editorial board of Pravda.”

Nevertheless, Lenin did not give up: persistently explaining the ideas of the April Theses, he achieved in the short term their support by the majority of party organizations. In the course of the debate on the possibility of socialism in Russia, Lenin rejected all the critical arguments of the Mensheviks, Socialist Revolutionaries and other political opponents about the country's unpreparedness for the socialist revolution because of its economic backwardness, weakness, insufficient culture and organization of the working masses, including the proletariat, about the danger of a revolutionary split -democratic forces and the inevitability of a civil war. “April Theses” were approved on April 6 ( 19 ), 1917 at the general meeting of the Bolsheviks of the Petrograd region, on April 9 ( 22 ), 1917 - at the meeting of the Bolsheviks of the Narva region, on April 10 ( 23 ), 1917 - at the meeting of the Bolsheviks of the Vasileostrovsky district, the Second city district, etc. I.V. Stalin spoke out in support of the Leninist program on April 11 ( 24 ), 1917 , and on April 14 ( 27 ), 1917, the Petrograd City Conference of the Bolsheviks approved Lenin's theses and laid them the foundation of his work. After some time, local party organizations also approved the theses.

After a heated discussion at the VII All-Russian (April) Conference of the RSDLP (b) (April 24–29), with the participation of 133 delegates with a decisive and 18 with an advisory vote, the April Theses received the support of most delegates from the field and formed the basis of the entire party’s policy . This policy caused a sharp rejection of both liberal circles and the Mensheviks, who launched an active struggle against it.

• “The history of the international communist movement has relevant examples of strategy correction during a revolutionary situation. The most outstanding of them is the example of the Bolshevik party and Lenin, under whose leadership in the April Theses in 1917 the party’s strategy was adjusted. This served as the preparation and successful conduct of the October Socialist Revolution in Russia ”(From a speech by the Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece Aleka Papariga , 12/14/2011 ) ^[2] .

• “On the theses of Lenin and why delirium is sometimes interesting” - a polemical article by G. V. Plekhanov .

• April theses of V.I. Lenin / Gimpelson E.G. // Angola - Barzas. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1970. - ( Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [30 vol.] / Ch. Ed. A. M. Prokhorov ; 1969-1978, vol. 2).