Lenin CW-Vol. 23.pdf - From Marx to Mao

A SEPARATE PEACE131bourgeois and opportunist chatterboxes, the Milyukovs,Plekhanovs, Guchkovs and Potresovs.If no more can be obtained in Europe even after Rumaniaand Greece (from which “we” have taken all we could)have joined in, then let us take what can still be had!England cannot give “us” anything just now. Germany willperhaps return to us Courland and a part of Poland, certainlyEastern Galicia—which “we” particularly need forthe purpose of throttling the Ukrainian movement, themovement of historically hitherto dormant people numberingmany millions, for freedom and the right to usetheir native-language—and, very likely, Turkish Armeniaalso. If we take this now, we may emerge from the warwith increased strength, and tomorrow we may, with theaid of Japan and Germany, with a wise policy and withthe further aid of the Milyukovs, Plekhanovs and Potresovsin “saving” the beloved “fatherland”, get a goodslice of Asia in a war against England (the whole of Persiaand the Persian Gulf with an outlet to the ocean muchbetter than Constantinople, which is an outlet only tothe Mediterranean and is guarded by islands which Englandcan easily take and fortify, thus depriving “us” ofevery outlet to the open sea), etc.This is exactly how tsarism argues, and, we repeat, itargues correctly, not only from the narrow monarchistpoint of view, but also from the general imperialist point ofview. It knows more and sees farther than the liberals,the Plekhanovs and the Potresovs.It is quite possible, therefore, that tomorrow, or theday after we shall wake up and hear the three monarchsproclaim: “Hearkening to the voices of our beloved peoples,we have resolved to endow them with the blessings of peace,to sign an armistice and to convene a general EuropeanPeace Congress.” The three monarchs may even displaytheir sense of humour by quoting fragments of the speechesof Vandervelde, Plekhanov and Kautsky, such as: we “promises”—promisesare the only thing that is cheap, even inthis period of soaring prices—“to discuss the question ofreducing armaments and of a ‘lasting’ peace”, etc. Vandervelde,Plekhanov and Kautsky will run along andarrange their “socialist” congress in the same city