Page:Lenin - The Collapse of the Second International - tr. Sirnis (1919).pdf/71

 countries to overcome this antagonism. It regards as the best means of attaining this aim the conclusion of an agreement between Germany and England in regard to the limitation of naval armaments and of the right of capture at sea. Congress proposes to the Socialists of England and Germany to continue their agitation in favour of such an agreement.

If the antagonisms between Germany on the one side and England and France on the other were overcome, this would do away with the greatest menace to peace and would also weaken the power of Tsarism which exploits this antagonism; it would also render impossible Austria-Hungary's attack upon Serbia and would guarantee peace to the world. Consequently all efforts of the International must be directed to this end. The Congress places upon record that the whole of the Socialist International is unanimous as regards these fundamental principles of foreign policy. It proposes that the workers of all countries oppose to capitalist imperialism the power of the international solidarity of the proletariat. It warns the ruling classes of all states in regard to the consequences that will arise if the wretched condition of the masses, brought about by the capitalist mode of production, be rendered still worse by military action. It makes a most peremptory demand for peace. Let the governments not forget that with the present state of Europe and together with the frame of mind of the working class they cannot let loose the fury of war without creating a danger for themselves; let them remember that the Franco-German war was followed by the Commune, that the Russo-Japanese war put in motion the revolutionary forces of the peoples of the Russian Empire, and that the growth of military and naval armaments has rendered the class conflicts in England and on the Continent extremely acute and has led to colossal strikes. The governments must be totally blind, or mad, if they have not yet grasped the fact that the mere suggestion of a monstrous world-war must call forth the indignation and revolt of the working class. The proletarians regard as a for the sake of increasing the profits of the capitalists, satisfying the ambitions of dynasties, or doing it for the glory of the secret treaties of diplomacy.

If the ruling classes, by destroying every possibility of a normal development, impel the proletariat to take desperate steps, they themselves will bear the whole responsibility for the crisis provoked by them.

The International will double its efforts to prevent the advent of this crisis; its protest will resound with ever greater force; it will carry on its propaganda with greater energy and on an ever-increasing scale. The Congress entrusts, therefore, the International Socialist Bureau to watch events more and more closely, and, come what may, maintain and strengthen the link which unites the proletarian parties.

At this moment the proletariat is conscious of being the bearer of the future of all mankind. To prevent the destruction of the flower of all the nations―threatened by the horrors of mass-murders, hunger, and epidemics―the proletariat will apply the whole of its energy.

The Congress appeals to you, proletarians and Socialists of all countries―let your voice be heard at this fateful hour! Announce your will everywhere and in every possible form