Quiz: “Left-Wing” Communism: An Infantile Disorder

14 questions drawn at random. Score 80% for a silver medal.

1. Which newspaper published the interview with Turati that Lenin quotes? Avanti!, the Socialist daily The Times of London Il Soviet The Manchester Guardian
2. Which “left” Communists does Lenin say admitted their mistake over the Brest Treaty? Trotsky and Zinoviev Kamenev and Rykov Bogdanov and Lunacharsky Radek and Bukharin
3. What does Lenin say Gallacher fails to take into account? That the British bourgeoisie is far weaker than the German and could be overthrown without Parliament That the Parliament at Westminster can never be captured by working-class votes That the Labour Party is already Communist in all but its name and programme That politics is an art, and the proletariat needs its own politicians
4. After which event does Lenin say the revival of 1910–1914 became more rapid? The events in the Lena mines in 1912 The assassination of Stolypin in Kiev in 1911 The founding of the Third International The amnesty for the Romanov tercentenary in 1913
5. Why, according to Lloyd George’s speech, would a crash in Britain be greater than elsewhere? The Liberals and Conservatives are divided over Ireland and cannot govern Britain has the largest army in Europe The monarchy has lost all authority Britain is overwhelmingly industrial, without a large agricultural population to steady it
6. Which boycott does Lenin consider to have been correct? The boycott of the Constituent Assembly in 1917 The boycott of the Third Duma elections in the autumn of 1907 and 1908 The boycott of the consultative Duma proclaimed in August 1905 The boycott of the legal trade unions and insurance funds in 1912
7. Which Italian paper does Lenin cite as evidence of an approaching split in Italy? Il Soviet L’Ordine Nuovo Avanti! Il Popolo d’Italia
8. When, Lenin says, did the party last open its doors wide to workers and peasants? When Yudenich was near Petrograd and Denikin was in Orel When the Civil War had been won and the Whites were driven out After the signing of the Brest Peace with Germany in March 1918 On the day of the October insurrection in Petrograd in 1917
9. What did Sylvia Pankhurst conclude from her expectation that the Labour Party would soon come to power? Communists should abstain from all politics and work only in the workshops and factories Communists should support the Liberals against Labour at the next general election in every constituency Communists should not add to Labour’s strength but prepare to attack its government Communists should join the Labour Party at once and fight from within for its leadership
10. What share of the vote does Lenin say the Bolsheviks had at the First Congress of Soviets in June 1917? 13 per cent 3 per cent 25 per cent 51 per cent
11. On what condition does Lenin propose an electoral bloc with Henderson and Snowden? That Labour adopt the Soviet system as its programme That Labour leave the Second International before the elections That the Communists keep full freedom of agitation and criticism That the Communists receive half the seats contested by the bloc
12. How does Lenin describe the revolution of 1905 in relation to October 1917? As a mistake the Bolsheviks should never have joined, since it was led by liberals As a purely bourgeois revolution, irrelevant to the events of 1917 As a peasant revolt with no working-class role As a general rehearsal without which October would have been impossible
13. What does Lenin conclude from Lloyd George’s speech? That he is clever, has learned from the Marxists, and Communists can learn from him That his speech proves revolution impossible in Britain for a generation at least That the Liberals will win the next election That he is a secret Socialist who will soon go over to the Labour Party
14. What comparison does Lenin use to explain the error of Kautsky and Otto Bauer? Politics is a game of chess against a stronger player Politics is a war of position, not of manoeuvre Politics is like the weather Politics resembles algebra more than arithmetic

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