Clarification of Answer by
pinkfreud-ga
on
31 Dec 2003 12:44 PST
As noted in the comment below, the Russian word for "defeatism" is
?????????????.
Rambler
http://www.rambler.ru/dict/ruen/00/86/b7.shtml
I've found numerous mentions of the term "revolutionary defeatism" as
used by Lenin, with 1904 as the earliest date:
"Lenin does not appear, therefore, to have introduced anything new
with his 'revolutionary defeatism' in 1904. However, when he
introduced the same formula again, in 1914, in relation to World War
One, he did introduce something new. To be sure, his characterisation
of this war as an 'imperialist' war had its roots deep in the whole
heritage of ideas of the Second International and, especially, in the
Stuttgart and Basel decisions. But differences emerged on this common
basis when it came to action. The celebrated amendment which Lenin,
Rosa Luxemburg and Martov presented at Stuttgart, requiring the
socialists to make use of the crisis created by the war in order to
rouse the masses and thereby to hasten the downfall of capitalist
class rule, expresses in reality the opinion of the international left
rather than that of the organisation as a whole.
This was the basis on which Lenin formulated the policy which he
called 'defeatist' ' He intended it, at first, for Russia alone, at
the time when the war was declared, and based it on the principle,
'when two thieves fall out, let them both perish!' He wrote on 24
August 1914 that the duty of Russian Social Democrats was to wage a
pitiless struggle against Great Russian chauvinism, and that the
defeat of the Russian armies would be the lesser evil."
Revolutionary History: Revolutionary Defeatism
http://www.revolutionary-history.co.uk/backiss/Vol1/No3/RevDeft.html
From a description of "War and Revolution: Lenin and the Myth of
Revolutionary Defeatism," by Hal Draper:
"What did 'revolutionary defeatism' mean?... Hal Draper demonstrates
that the slogan coined by Lenin in 1914 was based on a myth that Marx
and Engels would have supported a war against tsarist Russia, even one
waged by a bourgeois government."
Prometheus Books
http://www.prometheusbooks.com/site/catalog/book_1135.html
Although it is evident that Lenin popularized the words "defeatism"
and "defeatist" and coined the phrase "revolutionary defeatism," I
have found no sources which give a Russian origin for "defeatism" and
"defeatist."
From Merriam-Webster's Third New International Dictionary (Unabridged):
"de·feat·ism...
French défaitisme, from défait defeat (from Middle French
deffaite, desfaite, from feminine of deffait, desfait, past
participle) + -isme, -ism"
"de·feat·ist...
French défaitiste, from défait defeat + -iste -ist"
~pinkfreud
