CREEDS OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN RUSSIA

New Zealand Tablet, 16 May 1918, Page 9

CREEDS OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN RUSSIA

(By Manuel Komkoff, formerly Editor of The Russian Daily News, Petrograd.)

The Monarchists.

i In spite of the - present revolutionary chaos, the Monarchists as a party are not to be ignored. Their numbers are few but powerful. The party is made up of the members of the old nobility, the clergy of the old Greek Orthodox Church, the lords of the land, the great capitalists, and some of the old officials. All desire the return of the old regime. Rodzianko, the former president of the Duma, is one of the leaders of this party; his last public appearance was at the Moscow Conference. Pourishkevitch is the other notable leader of the Monarchists. He was a member of the Duma and leader of the famous Black Hundred which instigated the Jewish massacres.' When arrested by the Bols'heviki he said, “I am a Monarchist by principle and hope to remain one, but since the Revolution 1 have taken no active steps to carry out any of my ideas, but hope to do so if elected to the Constituent Assembly.” He was released and was head of a special Red Cross division at the front. In connection with Pourishkevitch it is interesting to note that he was one of those who took part in the murder of Rasputin.

The Cadets.

• The word Cadet comes from the letters C and D, which stand for Constitutional Democrat. The party comprises a majority of the land proprietors, capitalists, factory owners, many of the professional classes, and a good part of the students. The platform includes a Constitutional Monarchy with political reforms. The Cadets believe in the development of the country with capitalism as a basis and industry as a power, similar to the governments of Europe prior to the war. They are also in favor of dissolving the peasant communities existing in Russia and providing for individual ownership of land. They are very much pro-war, even to the extent of aggressive warfare, desiring the occupation of Constantinople and the Dardanelles ; they also oppose the secession of any part of Russia into separate states. Their most brilliant leader is Milliukoff, former member of the Duma and Minister of Foreign Affairs during the first Provisional Government ; Macklakoff, Shingeroff, Lvoff, and others belong to this group,.

Social Democrats.

At the second Convention of the Russian SocialDemocratic Labor Party held in Switzerland in 1903, the party divided into twoi.e., the Mensheviki (the word “Mexxsheviki” meaning those who are in the minority) and the Bolsheviki (those 'holding the majority) ; it is also interesting to note that Plakhanoff and Lenin were the leaders of the different sides at the Convention. The programme of the Mensheviki is one of Karl Marx Socialism. They believe in the centralisation of capital in all countries under the -theory that its concentration will in time make the producer the consumer;; then through Parliamentary action Capitalism can easily be abolished. They also follow the Karl Marx doctrine of the capitalisation of the land in the hands of a few, but realising the present' needs of the people they compromise their programme and favor, for the time, being, the division of the land among the peasants, the land owners being compensated by the State. hey stand for wide reforms in industrial law, and desire State, control for State industry and municipal ownership in cities and towns.' But when it comes to the question of war the party differs in opinion and divides into the two following branches: 1. Pro-War Party (or “Party Unity”), with Plakhanoff, the author and idealist at its head. Plakhanoff was the former leader of the entire party. This party favor? the continuation of the war, but only as a defensive.measure, and desires no annexation and no indemnity. ’ •The-Tute rnationalists, with Martuff, thp scientist, at their. Gorky, the brilliant wpityp, p spoils •

man. They are against militarism, but they are also strongly opposed to any separate peace.

Social Revolutionists.

The Social Revolutionists, sometimes called the “Peasants’ Party,” differ from the Social Democrats by being non-Marxists and stand for the further development of the old existing .peasant communes. They also desire the confiscation of land from the large land holders. In the industrial field they are collectivists. From this party emerge such table figures as Catherine Breshkovsky and Kerensky. Chernoff, the former Minister of Agriculture in the Kerensky Government, is leader of the party. Here, again, there is a division on the question of war; the two branches are the Minimalists and the Extreme Social Revolutionists. The Minimalists are content with the Revolutionary gains on hand and make the best of the situation favoring a defensive war, similar to the Mensheviki. The Extreme Social Revolutionists, however, are not content with the present strides of the Revolution, and therefore desire the Revolution to continue to its logical conclusion ; they are Internationalists and anti-Mili-tarists, but are also against any separate peace.

Bolsheviki.

The word Bolsheviki, as we have already pointed out, originated at the split of the Social Democrats in 1903. The word meant nothing more than majority till the end of last year when they became the party in power. The Bolsheviki differed very little from the Social Democrats at the time of the division of the party, ecxept, perhaps, that they were a little more radically inclined. As time passed this became more and more evident, and as the party developed it became more and more extreme, and now there seems to be an unfathomable gulf between the two. Their aim is communistic Socialism, which they hope to accomplish by control of the State. The main point in their present tactics is to continue the Revolution to its fullest extent toward the ideal of Communism and not to stop at anything until the fullest development possible is accomplished. They favor the confiscation and distribution of the land among the workers and peasants, with but one condition, i.e., that those who hold the land must work it. They want municipalisation and nationalisation of industry. They are anti-Militarists and Internationalists ; they have tried to force peace upon the world by all the methods and means in their power, resting their main hopes on the synchronous action of the worker's of all warring nations. They would not accept the German peace terms, which favored the German capitalists; and according to their programme will only make peace with the workers on the principle of no annexation and no indemnity. The Bolsheviki also desire the self-determination of nations, and one of their first acts was to separate the Church from the State. Their leaders, Lenin, Trotzky, and Krilenko, are so much written about at present that no comment on them is called for. Although the Bolsheviki now hold the centre of the stage they are by no means the most radical of the parties in Russia. In January last a protest meeting was held in Petrograd against the Bolsheviki. The Anarchists at this meeting called the Bolsheviki “the new bourgeoisie.” ,

The Anarchists.

The philosophy and ideals of these most radical of the radicals are much misunderstood. Briefly, the Anarchists differ from the Socialists and Bolsheviki by not believing in Government, and therefore refuse to take part in politics. They do not seek political power and object to those who do. They desire to form a social society in which “each will receive according to his needs and contribute according to his ability.” The Anarchists are all Communists in principle and a part of them also Syndicalists. The Anarchist Syndicalists in Russia follow the example of the French Syndicalists and the Welsh miner Syndicalists. They take over and work their own factories and in this way directly share. the profits of their own labor. They want productive and consumptive : co-operation, doing away with

both capitalist and middleman. ' They do , not enter into politics and are therefore little spoken about, but they control and run more factories in Russia to-day than most of its imagine, and therefore their power must not be ignored.

The Maximalists.

Finally, the Maximalists consist of all the parties which desire the maximum from the Revolution, and include the Bolsheviki, the Mensheviki, Internationalists, the Extreme Social Revolutionists, and the Anarchists.