Letter to Ivan Radchenko, July 22, 1902

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Dear Friend,

The news you sent us recently about the release of Vanya’s friends—the “allies” (=supporters of Rabocheye Dyelo)—again gives rise to some doubts in our mind. Will Vanya hold out now? At all events, put the question to him squarely, get a direct reply, and if it is in the negative make him feel ashamed of himself, using no uncertain language; in any case, let us know immediately how matters stand. If Vanya has again got (or even is about to get) out of our hands, it is all the more imperative that you devote trebled efforts to Manya, if possible to her directly; if not, through your new friends, the conversation with whom you have described to us in such detail and so interestingly.

You should make it your business (if Vanya shows even the slightest signs of unreliability or evasiveness) to prepare the St. Petersburg Iskra-ists for war on the remnants of “economism.” Naturally, there is no need to say anything to them about this war, but all efforts must be put into preparing for it, and as far as possible on both flanks. That is, firstly, try to maintain your established personal relations with our friends in the intellectual half of Vanya, try to see them, influence them, make them feel ashamed, meet the young people among them, and prepare the Iskraists to break with the waverers. The second flank—the workers—is far more important. Your study circle is excellent vantage-ground, and you must above all see to it that this circle develops, becomes conscious of and gives expression to its hostility towards Vanya. Try to supply this circle with What Is to Be Done? and to achieve (judging by your letter, this is not at all difficult) complete unanimity; moreover, you must particularly and emphatically stress the fact that What Is to Be Done? is levelled precisely and mainly against just this “St. Petersburg” type of people. Dot your i’s in your discussions with them, constantly referring to Vanya as a bad example, an example of what should not be done. I am more than ready to help you in any way I can—for instance, through a series of letters to the circle. First, let this circle become Iskra-ist consciously and in full, become consciously and unreservedly hostile to all of the old “St. Petersburg truck,” to Rabochaya Mysl, to Rabocheye Dyelo, and to all shilly-shallying. Then (and only then) we shall do the following: the declaration you advised Vanya to make and I wrote to you about in detail will be made, in somewhat altered form of course, by the circle, which will raise the “banner of insurrection” against Vanya’s “economists,” and announce a direct campaign for the purpose of winning all of Manya over to its side.

I do not doubt for a moment that this, campaign will end in complete and rapid victory, and I consider that it is not this campaign which constitutes the main difficulty, but the matter of getting people to the point of embarking on an open campaign, of not slipping into compromises with Vanya once more, into making concessions to him, into procrastination, etc. Absolutely no compromises whatever, and ruthless war against the slightest remnants of “economism” and amateurishness—that, in my opinion, is the task you should set yourself in the circle. Better lose three months, half a year, or even more on preparations, and create a militant Iskra-ist circle rather than unite unprepared people with Vanya’s diplomats and cunctators.

Make use of the fact that you have a free hand in the circle and pursue your policy resolutely, keeping people who are not entirely with you well at a distance.

If you manage matters in this way, you will be independent of Vanya’s waverings and vacillations; you will have y o u r o w n foothold. And if you occasionally have to manoeuvre in your dealings with Vanya, you must not resort to the slightest attempt at manoeuvring in the circle, but at all times maintain an attitude of irreconcilability towards Vanya there. Your tactics will then be quite simple: if Vanya comes closer to you, pat him on the head, but keep tight hold of the stick in your other hand, i.e., don’t conceal from him the fact that this is not enough, that it is necessary to come over the whole way and come in, and that a little will not satisfy you. If Vanya drifts away, don’t let him get away with a single mistake, with a single misstep. It should be one of your main tasks to fasten on to each of Vanya’s blunders, and make it a subject of merciless exposure and condemnation in the circle (and as far as possible in Iskra too from time to time).

In a word, in your relations with Vanya hold steadfastly to the principle: I want peace with you and to that end I am preparing thoroughly for war against you.

A piece of practical advice in conclusion. By nature Vanya is a diplomat and a pedant. He has now raised the question of alterations in the hovel and it is most likely that on the plausible pretext of this “revision of structure” he will drag things out, invent thousands of compromises, etc. Don’t fall for this bait. Mercilessly deride love of compiling rules. It is not a matter of rules, and whoever thinks it possible to draw up model rules on the basis of certain tactical and organisational ideas understands absolutely nothing at all and must be thoroughly hounded for this lack of understanding. If Vanya imagines that they will discuss the new rules from all angles, rewrite forty para graphs out of the fifty, and then “to a good feast and the wedding,” i.e., that the new work will then begin in accordance with the new rules—if he (as is obvious from everything) imagines this, then it means that he has discarded his old prejudices only in word and that actually he still retains hundreds of stupid ideas against which we must fight and fight again. Castigate pedantry and formalism, and point out that it is not a matter of rules but of 1) coming to an agreement on views, thinking them over thoroughly, and 2) of reaching mutual understanding in the practical work itself.

With this as our standpoint, we snap our fingers at your (Vanya’s) game of rules and state flatly—who we are, what we want and how we work is something you know, and should know, not only from our publications, but also from personal meetings in Russia and abroad (such meetings are unavoidable in the revolutionary movement). If you do not care to go hand in hand with us, say so outright, don’t hedge, and bear in mind that we will wage a real war against all hedging. Don’t imagine that you will be able to conceal your hedging from us behind revisions of rules, and the like. But if you want to go hand in hand with us, get down to work at once, and then you will see that this work in connection with an all-Russian newspaper, on the paper and with it as a basis, will itself show what new forms are required, and will probably (and even undoubtedly) show that, given a genuine and live movement, these forms will take shape of themselves, without any rules. And when we are strong, we shall organise meetings and conferences four times a year in Russia and twice abroad (or vice versa, depending on circumstances), and all rules will be determined at these conferences (to put it more plainly—we shall send all rules to the devil).

I warmly shake your hand, and I am waiting impatiently for your reply. Do my letters hit the nail on the head, i.e., do they give you what you want?

Yours,

Lenin