Lenin pre-justified any Bolshevik compromise as obligatory

Evidence

If, in order to survive, the party acting as the state compromised with Germany, Austro-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey (the Quadruple Alliance) at Brest-Litovsk, it could not be accused of compromising in general. The alternative had been continued war and defeat. One must distinguish, Lenin argued, between “obligatory” compromises (preservation) and those compromises that transformed one into “accomplices in banditry.” The Bolshevik Party made only obligatory compromises … except when it made “minor and easily remediable” errors. With a bit of sophistry, Lenin declared: What applies to individuals also applies-with necessary modifications-to politics and parties. — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 1035

Categorization

• CANDY: The ‘except when it made minor and easily remediable errors’ is a wry, citable formulation of rationalized expediency.