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

THIRD ALL-RUSSIA CONGRESS OF SOVIETS461crats means, know that we cannot leap straight into socialism.There remained the bourgeoisie, capitalists, who hopeto restore their rule and who defend their money-bags. Thereremained vagabonds, a section of corrupt people who areabsolutely downtrodden by capitalism and who are unableto grasp the idea of the proletarian struggle. There remainedoffice employees, bureaucrats who believe that it is in theinterests of society to protect the old system. How can anyoneimagine that the victory of socialism can come aboutexcept by the complete collapse of these sections, except bythe complete destruction of the Russian and European bourgeoisie?Do you think the Ryabushinskys do not understandtheir class interests? It is they who are paying thesaboteurs not to work. Or do they operate disunited? Arethey not operating in conjunction with the French, Britishand American capitalists by buying up securities? It remainsto be seen whether they will get much out of these transactions.Will not the heaps of securities they are now buyingup turn out to be merely useless heaps of scrap-paper?That is why, comrades, our reply to all the reproachesand accusations hurled against us of employing terror,dictatorship, civil war, although we are far from havingresorted to real terror, because we are stronger than they—we have the Soviets, it will be sufficient if we nationalisethe banks and confiscate their property in order to compelthem to submit—our reply to all these charges of instigatingcivil war is: yes, we have openly proclaimed what noother government has been able to proclaim. The firstgovernment in the world that can speak openly of civilwar is the government of the workers, peasants and soldiers.Yes, we have started and we are waging civil war againstthe exploiters. The more straightforwardly we say this,the more quickly will this war come to an end, the morequickly will all the working and exploited people understandus, will understand that Soviet power is fighting forthe real, vital cause of all the working people.Comrades, I do not think we shall achieve victory inthis struggle quickly, but we are very rich in experience:we have managed to achieve a great deal in the course oftwo months. We have experienced Kerensky’s attempt tolaunch an attack against Soviet power and the complete