Page:The Spirit of Russia by T G Masaryk, volume 1.pdf/198

172 mainly among the peasantry, the social democrats, too, for the nonce recognised terrorist attacks as permissible in exceptional circumstances. Throughout the various revolutionary parties there was manifest a tendency to unite for common measures, and seeing that all revolutionary parties are socialistically inclined there was general agreement that in Russia political revolution was to pave the way for social revolution. The Russian Marxists, and above all the revisionists, were busily at work. Orthodox Marxism and economic materialism were tempered by revisionism, so that the state was recognised as possessing equal rights side by side with the conditions of economic production. Marxist aloofness from "mere" politics came to an end; the economic campaign against the bourgeoisie was abandoned; operatives, capitalists, and great landlords were unanimous in their demand for political reform.

The bourgeoisie and the liberal aristocracy took the lead, pushed forward by the working class and by the peasantry. Struve, the revisionist social democrat, founded at Stuttgart in the year 1902 the periodica "Osvoboždenie" (Deliverance), whose publication was continued until October 1905. In January 1904 the constitutionalists established the "Sojuz Osvoboždenija" (League of Deliverance), which was to organise for joint action all the radical and revolutionary parties of Russia. The task was far from easy, for in Russia each nationality has its special program; but for a time at least community of need enforced community of effort.

In September 1905 the League of Deliverance was transformed into the Constitutional Democratic Party.

War against the tsar opened in 1901 with the assassination of Bogolěpov, minister for education. In 1902. followed the