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

342V. I. LENINsocialist state. We shall be working tirelessly towards thatgoal, and we shall be neither intimidated nor deterred byany obstacles. Evidence of this is to be seen in the newGovernment’s first steps. But the transition to a new systemis an extremely involved process and requires a firm governmentto make it easier. Until recently, power has been in thehands of monarchs and the henchmen of the bourgeoisie. Alltheir efforts and policies have served the purpose of coercingthe masses. By contrast we say: there must be firm power,coercion is necessary, but we shall direct it against the handfulof capitalists, the bourgeois class. We shall always retaliatewith coercion against any attempts—hopeless and madattempts they must be—to resist Soviet power. In everycase, responsibility for this will fall upon those whoresist.”Comrade Lenin then discussed the establishment of a statemachine which, in the interests of the people, should befree from red tape and should leave a lot of room for theoperation of the nation’s creative forces. He went on:“The bourgeoisie and bourgeois intellectual sections of thepopulation are subverting the people’s power in every possibleway. The working masses have no one to look to butthemselves. There is no doubt that the great tasks facingthe people are tremendously difficult. But there is need forself-assurance, there is need for all the elements awakenedamong the people and capable of action to join existingorganisations and those that will be set up by the workingmasses. Divided the masses are helpless; united they arestrong. They have gained self-assurance and, refusing to beput out by the bourgeoisie’s badgering, they have set aboutrunning the state on their own. Difficulties may crop up atthe start, due to inadequate training. But the art of practicalgovernment, which has been monopolised by the bourgeoisie,must be mastered. In this respect the Navy has shown itselfto be well to the fore, offering a brilliant example of thecreative capacity latent in the working masses.”Comrade Lenin then went on to discuss in detail the majorquestions of the current situation: land, workers’ policy,the nationalities problem, and peace.The Second All-Russia Congress of Soviets of Workers’and Soldiers’ Deputies adopted the Decree on Land, in