Did Lenin really call his opponents political prostitutes?

Often the author of the expression “political prostitute” is called Vladimir Lenin. We decided to figure out whether he used this phrase to determine the changeable political position of certain figures.

An indication of the authorship of Lenin can be found both in newspaper articles and in blogs. So, politician and journalist Maxim Shevchenko in interview Radio "Kommersant FM" assured that Lenin called the political prostitutes of the Social Democrats. Mentioned Lenin's authorship in the newspaper "Tomorrow"And its editor -in -chief Alexander Prokhanov:" Lenin called the Trotsky political prostitute. " Such an attribution is found in social networks. In the community in "VKontakte", Created to support the candidate from the Communists Pavel Grudinin, supposedly criticism of opponents from Lenin with a quote from Lenin. Also, this expression with reference to Lenin comes across Livejournal and in the Ukrainian media, for example, in "Ukrainian truth"And on the site"Commander in chief".

In the works and published speeches of Lenin, oddly enough, the phrase “political prostitute” is not found. However, he often calls his opponents prostitutes, but without definition “political”. For example, c article 1905 “Two Tactics of the Social Democracy in the Democratic Revolution” is the following quote: “We are present with a highly committed and high-comic spectacle. Prostitutes of bourgeois liberalism are trying to put on a toga of revolutionary on themselves. ”

Another famous article, already 1915, the “collapse of the II International”, replete with references to prostitution. In it, Lenin smashes European Social Democrats who supported the war. And the main goal of his criticisms is one of the most striking representatives of the German Social Democrats Karl Kautsky. “Kautsky brought Marxism to unheard of prostitution,” writes Lenin. This word is found in the text several more times. In addition, Lenin also cites the opinions of German comrades: “Franz Minging and Rosa Luxembourg, calling the Kautsky prostitute for this, are quite right.”

The words "political prostitute" were said not by the real Lenin, but by cinematic. In 1937, on the 20th anniversary of the revolution, the film of Mikhail Romm “Lenin in October” was released. The first part of the picture is devoted to preparations for an armed uprising. In one of the episodes, Lenin (actor Boris Schukin) is brought by newspapers, and he sees an article signed by one of the leaders of the Bolsheviks Kamenev.

Lenin turns to the worker Vasily (his role is played by Nikolai Okhlopkov) with a fiery tirade: “What the meanness, what an immense meanness! Where are the boundaries of shamelessness? Comrade Vasily, here, admire, like these saints, these political prostitutes betrayed us! ”

This episode is quite accurate: Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev really did not support the idea of ​​an armed uprising, and Kamenev published an article “On the current moment” in the newspaper “New Life”. After that, almost Excluded From the Central Committee of the party. However, documentary evidence that Lenin called his associates by political prostitutes is not in his Worksnor, for example, in memoirs Leo Trotsky.

But in 1937, when the film “Lenin in October” was released, the attack on Kamenev and Zinoviev was not even desirable, but mandatory. Having received the fullness of power, Stalin hastened to get rid of the party opposition. In 1934, Kamenev and Zinoviev were arrested, and in 1936 They accused In the creation of the Trotsky-Zinovievsky terrorist center, they shot.

Even earlier than the film “Lenin in October”, the propaganda cliche “Trotsky is a political prostitute” appeared. The first mention of Trotsky next to this unflattering definition is found in 1934, in the March issue of the magazine "Under the banner of Marxism." In the article “Social-Fascist and fascist“ regulation ”of capitalism, Leo Trotsky is mentioned, along with the objectionable German communist-opposition Augustus Talgamer:“ It is not for nothing that political prostitutes as Talgeimer, protested against the Bolshevik, supposedly “slandering” characteristics Social-fascists. "

Not Lenin also came up with called political enemies prostitutes. He himself is in "The collapse of the II International" Curses The German analogue of this expression: “Mädchen für alle”, that is, literally - “Girls for everyone”. This is what opponents in the social democratic movement called each other. Well, the exact example of the expression “political prostitutes” is found even earlier-and not among the Social Democrats, but with a conservative publicist and philosopher Konstantin Leontyev. IN article 1888 “National Politics as an instrument of the World Revolution”, he defines the foreign policy of Italy: “Italy Can't Do not try to assure everyone that she is really a great power; Can't To abandon the role of the political prostitute, which she, clinging everywhere for the strongest, was used to playing from the time of this even in appearance of the nasty Kavur, the count of rank, Ham in political tastes. ”

Thus, there is no documentary evidence that Lenin has ever pronounced the phrase “political prostitute”. And the most Early The mention of this phrase that we managed to find belongs to the pen of the Russian philosopher Konstantin Leontyev.

Photo on the cover: Trotsky, Lenin and Kamenev. 1919. Wikimedia Commons

Incorrect attribution of quote

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