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

THE TASKS OF THE REVOLUTION67PEACEFUL DEVELOPMENT OF THE REVOLUTION7. A possibility very seldom to be met with in the historyof revolutions now faces the democracy of Russia, theSoviets and the Socialist-Revolutionary and Menshevikparties—the possibility of convening the ConstituentAssembly at the appointed date without further delays, ofmaking the country secure against a military and economiccatastrophe, and of ensuring the peaceful development ofthe revolution.If the Soviets now take full state power exclusively intotheir own hands for the purpose of carrying out the programmeset forth above, they will not only obtain thesupport of nine-tenths of the population of Russia, theworking class and an overwhelming majority of the peasantry;they will also be assured of the greatest revolutionaryenthusiasm on the part of the army and the majority of thepeople, an enthusiasm without which victory over famineand war is impossible.There could be no question of any resistance to theSoviets if the Soviets themselves did not waver. No classwill dare start an uprising against the Soviets, and thelandowners and capitalists, taught a lesson by theexperience of the Kornilov revolt, will give up their powerpeacefully and yield to the ultimatum of the Soviets. Toovercome the capitalists’ resistance to the programme ofthe Soviets, supervision over the exploiters by workers andpeasants and such measures of punishing the recalcitrantsas confiscation of their entire property coupled with ashort term of arrest will be sufficient.By seizing full power, the Soviets could still today—andthis is probably their last chance—ensure the peacefuldevelopment of the revolution, peaceful elections of deputiesby the people, and a peaceful struggle of parties insidethe Soviets; they could test the programmes of the variousparties in practice and power could pass peacefully fromone party to another.The entire course of development of the revolution, fromthe movement of April 20 to the Kornilov revolt, showsthat there is bound to be the bitterest civil war betweenthe bourgeoisie and the proletariat if this opportunity is