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

LECTURE ON THE 1905 REVOLUTION253an even greater degree, on the one hand, that only sternbattles, only civil wars, can free humanity from the yoke ofcapital, and, on the other hand, that only class-consciousproletarians can and will give leadership to the vast majorityof the exploited.We must not be deceived by the present grave-like stillnessin Europe. Europe is pregnant with revolution. Themonstrous horrors of the imperialist war, the suffering causedby the high cost of living everywhere engender a revolutionarymood; and the ruling classes, the bourgeoisie,and its servitors, the governments, are more and moremoving into a blind alley from which they can never extricatethemselves without tremendous upheavals.Just as in Russia in 1905, a popular uprising againstthe tsarist government began under the leadership of theproletariat with the aim of achieving a democratic republic,so, in Europe, the coming years, precisely because of thispredatory war, will lead to popular uprisings under the leadershipof the proletariat against the power of finance capital,against the big banks, against the capitalists; andthese upheavals cannot end otherwise than with the expropriationof the bourgeoisie, with the victory of socialism.We of the older generation may not live to see thedecisive battles of this coming revolution. But I can, Ibelieve, express the confident hope that the youth which isworking so splendidly in the socialist movement of Switzerland,and of the whole world, will be fortunate enoughnot only to fight, but also to win, in the coming proletarianrevolution.Written in German beforeJanuary 9 (2), 1917First published in PravdaNo. 18, January 22, 1925Signed: N. LeninPublished according tothe manuscriptTranslated from the German