Whom to Elect to the State Duma

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V. I. Lenin

WHOM TO ELECT
TO THE STATE DUMA

Published November 23, 1906
in leaflet form as a supplement
to Proletary, No. 8

Published according to
the leaflet text
 

From V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, 4th English Edition,
Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1965

Second Impression

Vol. 11, pp. 326-31.

Translated from the Russian
Edited by Clemens Dutt


Prepared © for the Internet by David J. Romagnolo, djr@marx2mao.org (January 2002)


 

WHOM TO ELECT TO THE STATE DUMA[139]

CITIZENS! SEE TO IT THAT THE WHOLE PEOPLE CLEARLY UNDERSTANDS WHAT
THE CHIEF PARTIES ARE THAT ARE FIGHTING IN THE ELECTIONS
IN ST. PETERSBURG AND WHAT EACH OF THEM STRIVES FOR!


WHAT ARE THE THREE CHIEF PARTIES?
 

The Black
Hundreds

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The Cadets
 

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The Social-
Democrats

 They are - the Union
of the Russian Peo-
ple, the monarchists,
the Party of Law and
Order, the Union of
October Seventeenth,
the Commercial and
Industrial Party, the
Party of Peaceful
Renovation.
 

 They are - the party
of "people's" freedom
or Constitutional-
"Democratic" (in real-
ity liberal-monarch-
ist) Party, the Party
of "Democratic" Re-
forms, the radicals,
etc.
 
 

 The Russian Social-
Democratic Labour
Party. It is the party
of the class-con-
scious-workers of
all the nationalities
of Russia, of Russ-
ians, Letts, Poles,
Jews, Ukrainians, Ar-
menians, Georgians,
Tatars, etc.

<"s1">
 
WHOSE INTERESTS DO THE THREE CHIEF PARTIES DEFEND?

 The Black Hundreds
defend the present
tsarist government,
they stand for the
landlords, for the
government officials
for the

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 The Cadets defend
the interests of the
liberal bourgeois,
the liberal landlords,
merchants and capi-
talists. The Cadets
are a

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 The Social-Demo-
crats are the party
of the working class,
defending the inter-
ests of all the work-
ing and exploited
people.


 
page 327

power of the police,
for military courts,
for pogroms.
 

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party of bourgeois
lawyers, journalists,
professors and such
like.

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WHAT DO THE THREE CHIEF PARTIES STRIVE FOR?

 The Black Hundreds
strive for the pre-
servation of the old
autocracy, the lack
of rights of the peo-
ple, the unlimited
rule over it of the
landlords, officials
and police.
 
 
 
 

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 The Cadets strive
for the transfer of
power into the hands
of the liberal bour-
geoisie. The monar-
chy, by preserving the
police and military
regime, is to safe-
guard the capitalists'
right to rob the work-
ers and peasants.
 
 

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 The Social-Demo-
crats strive for the
transfer of all power
into the hands of the
people, i.e., a demo-
cratic republic. The
Social-Democrats
need complete free-
dom in order to fight
for socialism, for the
emancipation of la-
bour from the yoke
of capital.

 
WHAT KIND OF FREEDOM DO THE THREE CHIEF PARTIES WANT TO GIVE THE PEOPLE?

 The Black Hundreds
do not give the peo-
ple any freedom, any
power. All power is
for the tsarist gov-
ernment. The rights
of the people are: to
pay taxes, to toil for
the rich, to rot in
gaol.
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 The Cadets want the
kind of "people's free-
dom" which will be
subordinated, firstly,
to the Upper Chamber,
i. e., to the landlords
and capitalists; se-
condly, to the monar-
chy, i.e., the tsar with
the irresponsible po-
lice and armed forces.
One-third of the pow-
er to the people, one-
third to the capital-
ists and one-third to
the tsar.

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 The Social-Demo-
crats want complete
freedom and all pow-
er for the people, all
officials to be elect-
ed, the soldiers to be
freed from barrack
servitude, and the or-
ganisation of a free,
people's militia.
 
 
 
 
 
 


 

 HOW DO THE THREE CHIEF PARTIES REGARD THE PEASANTS' DEMAND FOR LAND?
 

 The Black Hundreds
defend the interests
of the feudal land-
lords. No land for the
peasants. Only the
rich to be allowed to
buy land from the
landlords by volun-
tary agreement.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 The Cadets want to
preserve the landlord
system of agriculture
by means of conces-
sions. They propose
redemption payments
by the peasants which
already once before
in 1861 ruined the
peasants. The Cadets
do not agree that the
land question should
be settled by local
committees elected
by universal, direct
and equal suffrage by
secret ballot.

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 The Social-Demo-
crats want to abol-
ish our landlord sys-
tem of agriculture.
All land must be
transferred to the
peasants absolutely,
without redemption
payments. The land
question must be
settled by local com-
mittees elected by
universal, direct and
equal suffrage by se-
cret ballot.
 
 

 
WHAT CAN THE THREE CHIEF PARTIES ACHIEVE IF THEIR WHOLE STRUGGLE IS SUCCESSFUL?

 The Black Hundreds,
using every possible
means of struggle,
can cause the people
and all to be finally
ruined Russia sub-
jected to the savage-
ry of military courts
and pogroms,
 
 
 
 
 

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 The Cadets, using
only "peaceful" means
of struggle, can cause
the pogrom-mongers'
government to buy off
the big bourgeoisie
and the rich in the
countryside at the
cost of petty conces-
sions, while it will
chase out the liberal
chatter-boxes for in-
sufficiently servile
 

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 The Social-Demo-
crats, using every
possible means of
struggle, including
an uprising, can, with
the aid of the politi-
cally conscious peas-
antry and urban poor,
win complete free-
dom and all the land
for the peasants. And
with freedom, and
with the help of the
class-conscious


 


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speeches about the
beloved, blameless,
inviolable, constitu-
tional monarch.
 

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workers of all Eu-
rope, the Russian So-
cial-Democrats can
advance with rapid
strides to socialism.

 
CITIZENS! VOTE AT THE ELECTIONS FOR CANDIDATES OF THE RUSSIAN SOCIAL-DEMOCRATIC LABOUR PARTY! 
 
SOCIAL-DEMOCRATS AND THE TRUDOVIK PARTIES

    Citizens! Anyone who wants to take an intelligent part in the
elections to the State Duma must first of all clearly understand
the difference between the three main parties. The Black Hundreds
stand for pogroms and the violence of the tsarist government. The
Cadets stand for the interests of the liberal landlords and
capitalists. The Social-Democrats stand for the interests of the
working class and all the working and exploited people.

    Anyone who wants to uphold intelligently the interests of the
working class and all working people must know which party is
really able most consistently and resolutely to defend these
interests.

 
WHICH PARTIES CLAIM TO DEFEND THE INTERESTS
OF THE WORKING CLASS AND ALL WORKING PEOPLE?

 The party of the
working class, the
Russian Social-Dem-
ocratic Labour Par-
ty, based on the
standpoint of the
class struggle of the
the proletariat.

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 Trudovik parties, i.e., parties based on
the standpoint of the small proprietor:

 The Socialist-Revo-
lutionary Party
 
 
 
 

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 The Trudovik (Pop-
lar Socialist) Party
and the non-party
Trudoviks.
 
 

 

 WHOSE INTERESTS DO THESE PARTIES ACTUALLY DEFEND?

 The interests of the
proletarians, whose
conditions of life
deprive them of all
hope of becoming
proprietors and
cause them to strive
for completely
changing the whole
basis of the capital-
ist social system.

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 The interests of the petty proprietors, who
who struggle against capitalist oppression,
but who, owing to the very conditions of
their life, strive to become proprietors, to
strengthen their petty economy and to enrich
themselves by means of trade and hiring
labour.
 
 
 
 


HOW STEADFAST ARE THESE PARTIES
IN THE GREAT WORLD-WIDE STRUGGLE
OF LABOUR AGAINST CAPITAL?

 The Social-Demo-
crats cannot allow of
any reconciliation of
labour and capital.
They organise the
wage-workers for a
ruthless struggle a-
gainst capital, for
the abolition of pri-
vate ownership of
the means of produc-
tion and for the
building of socialist
society.

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 The toilers' parties dream of abolishing the
rule of capital but, owing to the conditions
of life of the petty proprietor, they inevit-
ably waver between fighting jointly with the
wage-workers against capital and striving
to reconcile workers and capitalists by the
conversion of all the working people into
petty proprietors, with equal division of
land, or guaranteed credit, and so on.
 
 
 
 
 

 
WHAT CAN THESE PARTIES ACHIEVE BY COMPLETELY FULFILLING THEIR ULTIMATE AIMS?

 The conquest of po-
tical power by the
proletariat and the
conversion of capi-
talist into social,
large-scale, social-
ist production.

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 The equal distribution of land among petty
proprietors and small peasants, in which
case there will inevitably be a struggle be-
tween them again, giving rise to a division
into rich and poor, workers and capitalists.
 
 


 

WHAT KIND OF FREEDOM FOR THE PEOPLE ARE THESE PARTIES TRYING TO ACHIEVE IN THE PRESENT REVOLUTION?
 

 Complete freedom
and full power for
the people, i.e., a de-
mocratic republic,
officials to be sub-
ject to election, the
replacement of the
standing army by
universal arming of
the people.
 
 

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 Complete freedom
and full power for the
people, i.e., a demo-
cratic republic, offi-
cials to be subject to
election, the replace-
ment of the standing
army by universal
arming of the people.
 
 
 

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  A combination of
democracy, i.e., full
power of the people,
with the monarchy,
i.e., with the power
of the tsar, police
and officials. This
is just as senseless
a desire and just as
treacherous a policy
as that of the liberal
landlords, the Cadets.

 
WHAT IS THE ATTITUDE OF THESE PARTIES
TO THE PEASANTS' DEMAND FOR LAND?

 The Social-Demo-
crats demand the
transfer of all the
landlords' land to
the peasants without
any redemption pay-
ments.
 
 
 
 
 

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 The Socialist Revo-
lutionaries demand
the transfer of all the
landlords' land to the
peasants without any
redemption payments.
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 The Trudoviks de-
mand the transfer of
all the landlords' land
to the peasants, but
they allow redemp-
tion payments, which
will ruin the peas-
ants, so that this is
just as treacherous a
policy as that of the
liberal landlords, the
Cadets.


 
CITIZENS! VOTE AT THE ELECTIONS FOR CANDIDATES OF THE RUSSIAN SOCIAL-DEMOCRATIC LABOUR PARTY!

 

NOTES

  <"en139">[139] The leaflet "Whom to Elect to the State Duma " was written prior to the elections to the Second Duma. In the article "The Government's Falsification of the Duma and the Tasks of the Social Democrats", Lenin called this leaflet a poster "about the three chief parties" which took part in the Duma elections. The leaflet was printed in Vyborg by the editorial board of Proletary as a supplement to No. 8; it appeared in three editions (one in full and two abridged) in St. Petersburg in 1906. In the abridged form it was also published by the Ivanovo-Voznesensk, Kostroma and Kharkov committees of the R.S.D.L.P., by the Ob group of the R.S.D.L.P., the Central Committee of the Social-Democrats of the Lettish Territory and the Central Committee of the Latvian Social-Democrats.    [p. 326]