Collected Works of V. I. Lenin - Vol. 13 - From Marx to Mao

114REVOLUTION AND COUNTER-REVOLUTIONIn October 1905, Russia was at the peak of the revolutionaryupsurge. The proletariat swept away the BulyginDuma and drew the mass of the people into an open struggleagainst the autocracy. In October 1907, we are apparentlyat the lowest ebb of the open mass struggle. But the periodof decline that set in after the defeat of December 1905brought with it not only a flowering of constitutional illusions,but a complete shattering of these illusions. Afterthe dissolution of the two Dumas and the coup d’état ofJune 3, the Third Duma, which is to be convened, clearlyputs an end to the period of belief in peaceful cohabitationbetween the autocracy and popular representation andushers in a new epoch in the development of the revolution.At a moment like the present, a comparison between therevolution and counter-revolution in Russia, between theperiod of revolutionary onslaught (1905) and that of counter-revolutionaryplaying with a constitution (1906 and1907) suggests itself as a matter of course. Such a comparisonis implicit in any attempt to define a political linefor the immediate future. Contrasting “errors of the revolution”or “revolutionary illusions” with “positive constitutionalwork” is the keynote of present-day political literature.The Cadets shout about it at their pre-electionmeetings. The liberal press chants, howls, and rants aboutit. We have here Mr. Struve, vehemently and spitefullyventing his annoyance on the revolutionaries because hopesof a “compromise” have totally collapsed. We have hereMilyukov, who, for all his mincing manners and Jesuitism,has been forced by events to arrive at the clear, accurateand—above all—truthful statement: “the enemiesare on the left”. We have here publicists in the vein ofTovarishch, such as Kuskova, Smirnov, Plekhanov, Gorn,Yordansky, Cherevanin, and others who denounce theOctober-December struggle as folly, and more or less openly