Among such parties in Russia, two may be mentioned. First of Constitutional Democrats; from the initials of its name (C. D.) its members are generally spoken of as the “Cadets.” Secondly there are the Octobrists, who have now almost disappeared. Members of the industrial bourgeoisie, capitalist landlords, bankers, and the champions of all these (the major intelligentsia — university professors, successful lawyers and authors, factory managers, etc.) form the nuclei of these parties. In the year 1905 the Cadets were murmuring against the autocracy, but they were already afraid of the workers and the peasants; after the revolution of March, 1917, they became the leaders of all the forces that were marshalled against the party of the working class, against the communist bolsheviks. In the years 1918 and 1919 the Cadets took the lead in all the plots against the Soviet Government, and they participated in the administrations of General Denikin and Admiral Kolchak. In a word, they led the bloody reaction, and finally they even formed a coalition with the landowners’ parties. For under the pressure of the working-class movement all groups of wealthy proprietors unite in a single camp of reactionaries, led by the most energetic section among them.
The urban Petty Bourgeoisie. To this group belong the independent artisans, the small shopkeepers, the minor intelligentsia comprising the salariat, and the lesser officialdom. In reality they do not constitute a class, but a motley crowd. All these elements are exploited more or less by capital, and they are often overworked. Many of them are ruined in the course of capitalist development. The conditions of their work, however, are such that for the most part they fail to realise how hopeless is their situation under capitalism. Let us consider, for instance, the independent artisan. He is as industrious as an ant. Capital exploits him in various ways: the usurer exploits him; the shop for which he works, exploits him; and