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

2ND CONGRESS OF SOVIETS OF PEASANTS’ DEPUTIES359You will perhaps say that the Bolsheviks also brought thatabout. No, comrades, that is a universal law. Always andeverywhere, the people are slowly and painfully dividinginto two camps—that of the dispossessed and downtrodden,of those who are fighting for a brighter future for allworking people, and that of those who in one way or anothersupport the landowners and capitalists. When the electionstook place the people did not elect those who expressedtheir will and their desires. You say that we have declaredthe whole Cadet Party enemies of the people. Yes, we have.And thereby we expressed the will of the Second Congressof Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies. And now thatFROM MARXTO MAOwe are on the threshold of peace and the cessation of theterrible slaughter that has lasted three years, we are con-⋆vinced that this is the demand of all the working people inall countries. The overthrow of imperialism in Europe isproceeding slowly and painfully, and imperialists in allcountries will now see that the people are strong, and intheir strength will overthrow all who stand in their way.We shall not be deterred when people who are organisingrevolt against the workers and peasants, against the Soviets,with the other hand show us their credentials to the ConstituentAssembly. In July we were told that we should beproclaimed enemies NOT of the people. FOR And we answered, “Tryit”. If the bourgeois gentlemen and their followers hadonly tried to say that to the people openly! But they didnot; they resortedCOMMERCIALto insinuation, slander and mud-slinging.When the bourgeoisie began the civil war (we witnessedit), they incited DISTRIBUTIONthe officer cadets to revolt. And we, thevictors, were merciful to them, the vanquished. More thanthat, we even spared their military honour. And now, whenthe Constituent Assembly is being convened, we say: Weshall open the Constituent Assembly as soon as four hundredof its members arrive. We see that the conspiracy of theCadets is continuing, we see that they are organising arevolt against the Soviets in the interests of the money-bags,of greed and riches, and we publicly proclaim them enemiesof the people. At a time when the terms of peace will shortlybe known, when we are about to have an armistice, when themembers of the land committees will be immune from arrest,when the landed estates are being confiscated, and when