Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

Draft Resolution on the Convocation of the Second Socialist Conference^[1]

Written: Written between January 23 and 26 (February 5 and 8), 1916
Published: Published for the first time. Published according to the manuscript.
Source: Lenin Collected Works, UNKNOWN, 19xx, Moscow, Volume 22, page 121.
Translated: UNKNOWN UNKNOWN
Transcription\Markup: D. Walters
Public Domain: Lenin Internet Archive 2000 (2005). You may freely copy, distribute, display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works. Please credit "Marxists Internet Archive" as your source.

The Bureau (I.S.C.^[2]), having conferred with a number of representatives of several countries, resolves:

to convene the second conference of socialists supporting the Zimmerwald decisions.

Agenda:

(1) struggle against war;

(2) international unification of socialists opposing war and nationalism;

(3) practical measures of organisation, propaganda and struggle against governments;

(4) development of Zimmerwald decisions.

To set the date of its convocation for April 15, 1916.

To publish the present decision (altering the date to March 15 in the notice).

To call on all socialist organisations supporting the Zimmerwald decisions to discuss all the items on the agenda and the draft = resolutions.^[3] The drafts (signed by 2-3 delegates) to be published in Berner Tagwacht.

Notes

[1] Written by Lenin for the enlarged meeting of the International Socialist Commission (I.S.C.) in Berne which was held on February 5-8, 1916. It adopted several of Lenin’s points but under the pressure of the Right-wingers rejected his proposal for “international unification of socialists opposing war and nationalism”. It set the Second International Socialist Conference for April 24, 1916. The document had no title, the present one having been supplied by the Institute of Marxism-Leninism, C.C., C.P.S.U.

[2] The I.S.C. was the executive of the Zimmerwald group elected at the Zimmerwald Conference in September 1915.

[3] The R.S.D.L.P. Central Committee submitted proposals to the Second Socialist Conference on all the key items of the agenda. For the draft proposals written by Lenin, see pp. 169-79 of this volume.