Collected Works of V. I. Lenin - Vol. 26 - From Marx to Mao

104V. I. LENINthe oppressed classes can elevate, train, educate, and leadthe entire vast mass of these classes, which has up to nowstood completely outside of political life and history. Sixthly,it makes it possible to combine the advantages of theparliamentary system with those of immediate and directdemocracy, i.e., to vest in the people’s elected representativesboth legislative and executive functions. Comparedwith the bourgeois parliamentary system, this is an advancein democracy’s development which is of world-wide, historicsignificance.In 1905, our Soviets existed only in embryo, so to speak,as they lived altogether only a few weeks. Clearly, underthe conditions of that time, their comprehensive developmentwas out of the question. It is still out of the questionin the 1917 Revolution, for a few months is an extremelyshort period and—this is most important—the Socialist-Revolutionary and Menshevik leaders have prostituted theSoviets, have reduced their role to that of a talking shop,of an accomplice in the compromising policy of the leaders.The Soviets have been rotting and decaying alive underthe leadership of the Liebers, Dans, Tseretelis and Chernovs.The Soviets will be able to develop properly, to displaytheir potentialities and capabilities to the full onlyby taking over full state power; for otherwise they havenothing to do, otherwise they are either simply embryos(and to remain an embryo too long is fatal), or playthings.“Dual power” means paralysis for the Soviets.If the creative enthusiasm of the revolutionary classeshad not given rise to the Soviets, the proletarian revolutionin Russia would have been a hopeless cause, for the proletariatcould certainly not retain power with the old stateapparatus, and it is impossible to create a new apparatusimmediately. The sad history of the prostitution of theSoviets by the Tseretelis and Chernovs, the history of the“coalition”, is also the history of the liberation of the Sovietsfrom petty-bourgeois illusions, of their passagethrough the “purgatory” of the practical experience of theutter abomination and filth of all and sundry bourgeoiscoalitions. Let us hope that this “purgatory” has steeledrather than weakened the Soviets.