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

THESES ON THE QUESTION OF A SEPARATE PEACE447But the question whether it is possible to carry on arevolutionary war now, immediately, must be decided exclusivelyfrom the point of view of whether material conditionspermit it, and of the interests of the socialist revolutionwhich has already begun.13. Summing up the arguments in favour of an immediaterevolutionary war, we have to conclude that such a policymight perhaps answer the human yearning for the beautiful,dramatic and striking, but that it would totally disregardthe objective balance of class forces and material factors atthe present stage of the socialist revolution now under way.14. There can be no doubt that our army is absolutelyFROM MARXTO MAOin no condition at the present moment, and will not be forthe next few weeks (and probably for the next few months),⋆to beat back a German offensive successfully; firstly, owingto the extreme fatigue and exhaustion of the majority of thesoldiers, coupled with the incredible chaos in the matter offood supply, replacement of the overfatigued, etc.; secondly,owing to the utter unfitness of the horses and the consequentinevitable ruin of our artillery; and, thirdly, owingto the absolute impossibility of defending the coastlinefrom Riga to Revel, which affords the enemy a very certainchance of seizing the rest of Lifland, and then Estland, andof outflanking a large NOT part of FOR our forces, and finally, ofcapturing Petrograd.15. Further, there is not the slightest doubt that thepeasant majorityCOMMERCIALof our army would at the present junctureunreservedly declare in favour of a peace with annexationsand not in favour DISTRIBUTIONof an immediate revolutionary war; thesocialist reorganisation of the army, the merging of theRed Guard detachments with it, and so on, have only justbegun.With the army completely democratised, to carry on warin defiance of the wishes of the majority of the soldierswould be a reckless gamble, while to create a really staunchand ideologically stable socialist workers’ and peasants’army will, at the very least, require months and months.16. The poor peasants in Russia are capable of supportingthe socialist revolution led by the working class, but theyare not capable of agreeing to fight a serious revolutionarywar immediately, at the present juncture. To ignore the