Page:Karl Kautsky - Ethics and The Materialist Conception of History - tr. J. B. Askew (1906).pdf/14

viii October, because I thought there were going to be a few months of quiet for the party, which might be devoted to theoretical work. The Jena Congress had run harmoniously, so that I did not expect to see a conflict in our party so soon. On the other hand, it looked at the beginning of October as if there had come in the Russian Revolution a pause for gathering together and organising the revolutionary forces.

As is well known, however, everything turned out quite differently. An unimportant personal question was the occasion of a sharp discussion, which, indeed, did not for a moment disturb the party, but all the same cost the party officials, and especially those in Berlin, a considerable amount of time, worry and energy. What, however, certainly demanded even more time and energy was the Russian Revolution, which unexpectedly, in the course of that very October, received a powerful impetus, and regained its previous height. That glorious movement naturally absorbed, even outside of Russia, all the interest of thinking people. It was a magnificent time, but it was not a time to write a book on Ethics. However, the subject had captivated me, and I could not free myself, and so I concluded my work, despite the many distractions and interruptions which the Berlin storm in a tea cup and the hurricane on the Russian ocean brought with them. It is to be hoped that this little work does not bear too obviously on its face the marks of its stormy birth. When, however, I had brought it to a conclusion, another question arose. Far beyond the limits of an article had it grown, and yet was hardly fitted for a