contact with a group of Russian revolutionary exiles who shared news of the revolution with him. Following the Bolshevik seizure of power also enabled him to send a letter to Vladimir Lenin wishing him luck and offering him help (23 December 1917). Lenin's two replies arrived in February 1918. One wished him well with his health, the second requested him to find a some socialist experts, whether in Holland or Switzerland who could help in the restructuring of the banking system and setting up a state trading company. Gorter replied that month in a letter explaining that he had such people, but also raised political concerns over the direction of the Russian Revolution: Lenin had sanctioned the granting of concessions to the peasantry as regards establishing small scale agricultural production through land reform, whereas Gorter saw Communist Revolution in Western Europe, particularly in German and England arising from the seizure of power by the industrial working class, and saw extending property rights to small peasant businesses as undermining this. He also thought that the right to national self-determination should and could only be realised in Western Europe as part of a socialist revolution. In September 1918, he wrote to Lenin again concerning the failure of the Dutch Social-Democratic Party to oppose the imperialism of America, France and Britain with the same vigour they opposed German imperialism. He implored Lenin to write something in support of this view. Lenin responded sending a copy of State and Revolution, which Gorter offered to translate. Gorter also complained that the 4 members of parliament elected by the had voted in favour of relief aid from the United States, and thus were siding with an imperialist faction. In 1918, the Social-Democratic Party changed its name to the Communist Party of Holland (Communistische Partij Holland), and in 1919 Gorter left the party. In 1921 he was a founding member of the Communist Workers Party of Germany, joining its Essen Faction and becoming a leading supporter of the Communist Workers International. Death Gorter died in Brussels in 1927. References External links Herman Gorter archive on Marxists Internet Archive Poems of 1890 A Selection translated by Paul Vincent 1864 births 1927 deaths People from Zaanstad Communist writers Dutch communists Dutch male poets Social Democratic Workers' Party (Netherlands) politicians Communist Workers' Party of Germany politicians Marxist writers Communist Party of the Netherlands politicians Council communists Communist Workers' Party of