The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1930-12-29
LENIN CORNER
Turn the Imperialist War Into
Civil War

The European War, which the governments
and the bourgeois parties of all countries were
preparing for decades has broken out. The
growth of ornaments, the sharpening of the
struggle for markets in the epoch of the latest,
the imperialist stage in the development of cap
italism of the foremost countries the dynastic
interests of the most backward East European
monarchies, were inevitably bound to bring about
and did bring about, the present war. To seize
lands and to conquer foreign nations, to ruin
competing nations, to pillage their wealth, to
divert the attention of the laboring masses from
the domestic political crises of Russia GERMANY
England and other countries to dsunite the
workers and fool them with nationalism to an
initiate their vanguards in order to weaken the
revolutionary movement of the proetariat such
is the only real essence, the significance and
meaning of the present war.
Upon Social-Democracy, in the first place
devolves the duty to make clear this real mean
ing of the war, and mercilessly to unmask the
falsehoods, the sophism and the patriotic phrases
which are spread by the ruling classes, the land
owners and the bourgeoisie, in defense of the
war.
"One OF the belligerent groups of nations is
headed by the German bourgeoise 1t has
fooled the working class and the laboring masses
by asserting that it wages the war for the de-
tense of the fatherland, liberty and civilization,
Tor the liberation of the peoples that are OPP
pressed by czarism, for the destruction of reac-
tonary czarism. In reality, that same bourgeoi-
sic, servile in face of the Prussian Junkers with
Wilhelm II at their head, has always been the
most faithful ally of czarism and the enemy of
the revolutionary movement of the workers and
peasants in Russia. In reality, that bourgeoisie
will, together with the Junkers, direct all its
efforts, no matter what the outcome of the war
h.
revolution in Russia.
In reality, the German bourgeoisie undertook
predatory campaign against Serbia with the
aim OF subjecting it and throttling the national
revolution of the Southern Slavs at the same
time directing the bulk of its military forces
against freer countries, Belgium and France, in
order to pillage the richer competitor. The Ger
man hogeoisie, -preading the fable of de-
fensiye war on its part, in reality chose the
moment which was most propitious for its war
fare, utilizing its latest improvements in military
technique and forestalling the new ornaments
that had already been mapped out and approved
OF by Russia and France.
cat the head of the ether group of belligerent
nations are the English and French bourgeoisie
which fool the working class and the laboring
masses by asserting that this group leads war
for the fatherland, freedom and civilization
many In reality, this borgeoisie has long been
buying for its billions, and preparing for an
attack on Germany, the armies of Russian car
ism, the most reactionary and barbarous mon
archy of Europe.
TN reality, the task of the struggle of the
English and French bourgeosie is to seize the
German colonies and to ruin competing nation
which is distinguished by more rapid economic
development. For this noble aim the advanced"
democratic nations are helping ferocious czarism
still more to choke Poland, the Ukraine, etc,
still more to throttle the revolution in Russia
Neither of the two groups of beigerent coun-
tries is behind the other in robberies bestialities
and endless brutalties Of war. But in order to
fool the proletarians and detract their attention
from the only war for real freedom, namely,
civil war against the bourgeoisie both of their
own" and foreign" countries in order TO further
this noble aim the bourgeoisie of each country
strives by means Of patriotic phrases, to extol
the significance of "its own" national war and
to assert that 1T strives to vanquis the adversary
not for the sake of robbery and seizure of lands,
but for the sake of "liberating" all the other
peoples except its own.
/. But the greater the efforts of the governments
and the bourgeoisie of all countries to dsunite
the workers and to pit them one against the
other, the more ferociously they use for this
lofty purpose system Of martial law and mill
tary censorship (Which measures even now in
time of war, arc more successful against the
enemy within" than against the enemy without,
the more urgent is the duty of the class -consci-
Gus proletariat to defend its class solidarity its
its Socialist convictions against
the orgy of chauvinism of the patriotic" bour-
geois cliques Of all countries. To repudiate this
task would. on the part OF the class-conscious