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

MEETING OF THE ALL-RUSSIA C.E.C., DECEMBER 1 (14)355only a few days remain before the Constituent Assembly issummoned, the bourgeoisie are organising civil war, intensifyingsabotage and undermining the armistice. We shallnot let ourselves be deceived by formal slogans. The bourgeoisiewould like to sit in the Constituent Assembly and at thesame time organise civil war. Let them examine the substanceof our accusation against the Cadet Party; let them provethat the Cadet Party is not the general staff of the civil war,an obviously hopeless war that is drenching the country inblood. Comrade Steinberg has not attempted to prove that.He has forgotten all that has been revealed about the contactsbetween the Cadets and Kornilov; it was not we, butChernov, our political opponent, who revealed those contacts.It is proposed that we catch the little men, but weshall not hunt for particular individuals in order to hide ourpolitical accusation against the general staff of a whole class.”Comrade Lenin then dealt with the remark that the Bolshevikshad also been proclaimed enemies of the people.“They threatened to proclaim us enemies of the people,”he said, “but they did not do so. They did not dare. We saidto them at that time, ‘Well, try it, if you can; try to tellthe people that the Bolshevik Party, as a party, as a trend,is the enemy of the people’. They did not dare; they hunteddown individuals, they resorted to slander. We said, ‘Youcannot proclaim us enemies of the people; you have not asingle objection in principle to bring against the Bolsheviks;all you can do is to spread calumnies.’ Our accusationagainst the Cadet Party puts an end to petty manoeuvres inthe political struggle. We shall tell the people the truth.We shall tell the people that their interests are superiorto the interests of a democratic institution. We must notreturn to the old prejudices, which subordinate the interestsof the people to formal democracy. The Cadets cry,All Power to the Constituent Assembly. But what they meanin fact is, All Power to Kaledin. The people must be toldthat, and the people will approve our action.”Published in Pravda No. 207,December 19 (6), 1917Published accordingto the Pravda text