Reval, June 7
Lenin has his own way with interviewers. Trotsky, Radek, Rykov, like most people, use interviews as phonographs, as means of getting their views abroad. Lenin, in the most disconcerting manner, turns the tables on his interlocutor, who finds, much to his own surprise afterwards, when it is too late, that Lenin has done at least as much questioning as he, and that it is a question for mathematicians to decide, who was interviewing whom.
Thus, from my notes of an interview with Lenin just before leaving Moscow, I find that I was myself cross-examined on certain questions of English politics on which I am quite incompetent to speak (he should have kept his questions for the English Labour Delegation), whereas the subjects I had come to discuss were exclusively concerned with Russia. I must apologise for recording some of my answers, which I do merely for the sake of recording Lenin’s questions and commentary, both very characteristic of the man, who, as it will be seen, is very different from the narrow-minded fanatic some of his English admirers suppose him.
Mr Lloyd George had then just made what seemed to be a move towards the formation of a definitely Anti-Labour party. Lenin asked when I thought the next election would be. I told him that though I really had small means of judging, I imagined it would be as soon as the Prime Minister could face the country with a clear issue, for or against nationalisation.
“And what will be the result?”
I told him I thought there would be a perfectly certain majority against nationalisation.
“Then you do not think there will be a Labour Government in the near future?”
“No.”
He then asked whether “all the Labour parties,” mentioning by name the Labour party, the ILP, the BSP, and the Socialist Labour party, would unite in a block for elections, and, further, whether in the apportioning of seats to contest the Labour party would allot any such seats to Communists in exchange for their support. He said: “I consider it foolish in England for Socialists to refrain from voting. The revolution in England will be very different in manner from revolution elsewhere, and I should be entirely in favour of voting and, at least temporarily, of forming a block with the Labour party.”
I said I thought it quite likely that the Labour party would have nothing to do with the extreme Socialist parties. He replied: “In that case it would be very good for the Socialist parties that the refusal should come from the official Labour parties and not from themselves.”
On the general international situation from the point of view of Russia Lenin said: “You must remember that the rest of Europe is composed of States of different kinds, of different social colour. The moment when they could have formed a single united coalition for our destruction has passed. I think we can say definitely that that moment has passed.”
I said that though in a military sense that might be so, it did not affect the question whether Russia could extricate herself from her economic crisis without Western help, and pointed out that if the next fire years were to be years of disturbance and growing revolution Russia would get very little, and that if there were a revolution in England Russia would get nothing at all.
Lenin: “In that sense, no. The shock of revolution in England would be felt at once throughout the world, and would temporarily have that effect, although it would ensure the final defeat of capitalism. But it is clear that revolution in England is not coming so quickly.” (This is a complete change from Lenin’s estimate of the situation a year ago.)
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion