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

THESES ON THE QUESTION OF A SEPARATE PEACE443be required, a certain period of acute economic dislocationand chaos, which accompany all wars, and civil war in particular,is inevitable, before the resistance of the bourgeoisieis crushed.3. Furthermore, this resistance, in its less active and nonmilitaryforms—sabotage, the hire of declassed elementsand agents of the bourgeoisie, who worm their way into theranks of the socialists in order to ruin their cause, and so onand so forth—has proved so stubborn and capable of assumingsuch diversified forms, that the fight against it willinevitably require some more time, and, in its main forms,is hardly likely to end until several months have passed.And unless this passive and covert resistance of the bourgeoisieand its supporters is definitely crushed the socialistrevolution cannot succeed.4. Lastly, the organisational problems of the socialisttransformation of Russia are so immense and difficult thattheir solution—in view of the numerous petty-bourgeoisfellow-travellers of the socialist proletariat, and of the latter’slow cultural level—will also require a fairly long time.5. All these circumstances taken together are such as tomake it perfectly clear that for the success of socialism inRussia a certain amount of time, several months at least,will be necessary, during which the hands of the socialistgovernment must be absolutely free to achieve victory overthe bourgeoisie first in our own country and to launch farreachingmass organisational work on a wide scale.6. The position of the socialist revolution in Russia mustform the basis of any definition of the international tasksof our Soviet power, for the international situation in thefourth year of the war is such that it is quite impossible topredict the probable moment of outbreak of revolution andoverthrow of any of the European imperialist governments(including the German). That the socialist revolution inEurope must come, and will come, is beyond doubt. Allour hopes for the final victory of socialism are founded onthis certainty and on this scientific prognosis. Our propagandaactivities in general, and the organisation of fraternisationin particular, must be intensified and extended.It would be a mistake, however, to base the tactics of theRussian socialist government on attempts to determine