547. To INESSA ARMAND

Written February 2, 1917 · First published in 1964 in Collected Works, Fifth (Russian) Ed., Vol. 49. Sent from Zurich to Clarens. Printed from the original. · page 607

Dear Friend,

It was very interesting yesterday at Olten. Non-attendance of the French and Italians enabled Radek+Levi+Grigory+Münzenberg to tell Grimm the whole truth to his face. Radek told me this today, and Grigory will probably write to you about it.

Re Arbeiterpolitik, write to Radek—he has already left (Herrn Sobelsohn. Zur Stelle. Davos-Dorf).

On what “central point” I did not answer you, I cannot even guess.

Am waiting for you to explain.

I know about Marx’s English works; they are special things that I shall have to read in due course (I bought some of them in London and started to read them, but did not finish), but now I have no time.

That Grimm “does not want a mass movement”, or rather does not want revolutionary work, you are quite right. His article is generally and wholly Kautskian, Centrist, fraudulent.

That Berne Kautskyite and 0. C. man Spectator has issued a small pamphlet in Berne on Vaterlands-Verteidigung[1] (25 cts) in which he tries to play off Radek and me against each other (I haven’t read it all yet. I have only seen this),[2] as Martov tried to do yesterday (defending!!! Grimm). A futile, vain attempt!

All the best,
Lenin

Notes

[1] A filthy Kautskian-O. C. thing! Will I answer him! He’ll be pleased! —Lenin

[2] This refers to the pamphlet by Spectator (M. I. Nakhimson) Vaterlands-Verteidigung und auswärtige Politik der Sozial-demokratie (Defence of the Fatherland and the Foreign Policy of Social-Democracy).