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

346V. I. LENIN“When the Germans gave an evasive reply to our demandnot to transfer any troops to the Western and Italian fronts,we broke off the talks and shall resume them in a littlewhile. And when we do tell this to the world, no Germanworker will remain ignorant of the fact that the peace talkshad been broken off through no fault of ours. In the hypotheticalcase of the German working class siding with theirgovernment of imperialist plunderers and confronting uswith the need to continue the war, the Russian people—whohave always shed blood without a murmur, and have donethe will of an oppressive government when quite ignorantof its aims and purposes—will undoubtedly throw theirweight into the struggle with so much more courage andvigour when it came to fighting for socialism and freedomthreatened with the bayonets of the world bourgeoisie. Butwe put our trust in the international solidarity of the workingmasses, who will surmount every obstacle and barrier in thestruggle for socialism.” (Stormy applause.)Izvestia No. 235,November 25, 1917Published according to a typewrittentext of the Minutes verified withthe text of the newspaper Izvestia