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

341SPEECH AT THE FIRST ALL-RUSSIA CONGRESSOF THE NAVY 130NOVEMBER 22 (DECEMBER 5), 1917MINUTESOn behalf of the Council of People’s Commissars ComradeLenin greeted the army of sailors, assembled in congress,who have proved themselves to be dedicated fighters forthe liberation of the working classes.Lenin went on to analyse the current situation. He saidthe Kerensky government’s collapse had been inevitable inview of its policy of conciliation, which was not aimed atsatisfying the needs of the broad masses, and was basedon the principle of safeguarding all the interests of the bourgeoisie,the oppressor class. He continued:“But alongside the Provisional Government were theSoviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies, which wereproduced by the revolutionary initiative of the insurgentpeople, and which, as time goes on, are rallying ever widersections of the working masses. In Russia the people haveproduced and given support to a truly popular government,something no other European revolution has achieved, andthe credit for this accrues to the Soviets alone. The oppressedmasses were confronted with a highly difficult task, thatof building a new state on their own. You can see how mucheffort the bourgeoisie has thrown into its resistance to us,how attempts are being made to sabotage our activity, andwhat a flood of lies and slander is being poured on us in andout of season.“Accusations of terrorism and violence are being heapedon us, but we take these in our stride. We say we are notanarchists, and are committed to establishing a state. However,the capitalist state has to be smashed and the powerof the capitalists destroyed. It is our task to build a new