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

STATEMENTS AT THE EVENING SITTING OF THE C.C.523The issue now is that while playing with war we have beensurrendering the revolution to the Germans.History will say that you have surrendered the revolution.We could have concluded a peace which held no threat tothe revolution. We have nothing, we have not even get thetime to blow up anything as we retreat. We have done ourbest to help the revolution in Finland, but now we can dono more. This is not the time for an exchange of notes, andthis temporising must stop. It is too late to put out feelers,because it is quite clear now that the Germans can launchan offensive. We cannot argue against the advocates of arevolutionary war, but we can and must argue against theFROM MARXTO MAO2temporisers. An offer of peace must be made to the Germans.⋆we want we should not have demobilised the army. It isComrade Lenin. Bukharin failed to notice how he wentover to the position of a revolutionary war. The peasantsdo not want war and will not fight. Can we now tell thepeasants to fight a revolutionary war? But if that is whata utopia to want a permanent peasant war. A revolutionarywar must not be a mere phrase. If we are not ready, we mustconclude peace. Since NOT we have FOR demobilised the army itis ridiculous to talk of a permanent war. There is no comparisonat all with a civil war. The muzhik will not have arevolutionaryCOMMERCIALwar, and will overthrow anyone who openlycalls for one. The revolution in Germany has not yet started,and we know DISTRIBUTIONthat over here, too, our revolution didnot win out all at once. It has been said here that theywould take Lifland and Estland; but we can give them up forthe sake of the revolution. If they should want us to withdrawour troops from Finland, well and good—let themtake revolutionary Finland. The revolution will not be lostif we give up Finland, Lifland and Estland. The prospectswith which Comrade Ioffe tried to scare us yesterday do notat all spell ruin to the revolution.I propose a declaration that we are willing to concludethe peace the Germans offered us yesterday; should theyadd to this non-interference in the affairs of the Ukraine,Finland, Lifland and Estland, we should unquestionably