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

82V. I. LENIN“revolutionary democrats” are patiently tolerating its suppressionby military force!The Bolsheviks would be traitors to democracy and tofreedom, for to tolerate the suppression of the peasantrevolt at such a moment would mean allowing the electionsto the Constituent Assembly to be fixed in exactly the sameway as the Democratic Conference and the “Pre-parliament”were fixed, only even worse and more crudely.The crisis has matured. The whole future of the Russianrevolution is at stake. The honour of the Bolshevik Partyis in question. The whole future of the international workers’revolution for socialism is at stake.The crisis has matured....September 29, 1917.Everything to this point may be published, but whatfollows is to be distributed among the members of the CentralCommittee, the Petrograd Committee, the Moscow Committee,and the Soviets.VIWhat, then, is to be done? We must aussprechen was ist,“state the facts”, admit the truth that there is a tendency,or an opinion, in our Central Committee and among theleaders of our Party which favours waiting for the Congressof Soviets, and is opposed to taking power immediately, isopposed to an immediate insurrection. That tendency, oropinion, must be overcome. 48Otherwise, the Bolsheviks will cover themselves witheternal shame and destroy themselves as a party.For to miss such a moment and to “wait” for the Congressof Soviets would be utter idiocy, or sheer treachery.It would be sheer treachery to the German workers.Surely we should not wait until their revolution begins.In that case even the Lieberdans would be in favour of“supporting” it. But it cannot begin as long as Kerensky,Kishkin and Co. are in power.It would be sheer treachery to the peasants. To allow thepeasant revolt to be suppressed when we control the Soviets