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

20V. I. LENINThe Democratic Conference is deceiving the peasants;it is giving them neither peace nor land.A Bolshevik government alone will satisfy the demandsof the peasants.* **Why must the Bolsheviks assume power at this very moment?Because the impending surrender of Petrograd will makeour chances a hundred times less favourable.And it is not in our power to prevent the surrender ofPetrograd while the army is headed by Kerensky and Co.Nor can we “wait” for the Constituent Assembly, for bysurrendering Petrograd Kerensky and Co. can alwaysfrustrate its convocation. Our Party alone, on taking power,can secure the Constituent Assembly’s convocation;it will then accuse the other parties of procrastination andwill be able to substantiate its accusations. 5A separate peace between the British and German imperialistsmust and can be prevented, but only by quickaction.The people are tired of the waverings of the Mensheviksand Socialist-Revolutionaries. It is only our victory in themetropolitan cities that will carry the peasants with us.* **We are concerned now not with the “day”, or “moment”of insurrection in the narrow sense of the word. That willbe only decided by the common voice of those who are incontact with the workers and soldiers, with the masses.The point is that now, at the Democratic Conference,our Party has virtually its own congress, and this congress(whether it wishes to or not) must decide the fate of therevolution.The point is to make the task clear to the Party. Thepresent task must be an armed uprising in Petrograd andMoscow (with its region), the seizing of power and theoverthrow of the government . We must consider how toagitate for this without expressly saying as much in thepress.