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

THE THIRD DUMA127turn an overwhelming majority of either Octobrists orCadets.The government considers itself master of the situation.The liberal bourgeoisie apparently takes this to be a fact.In these circumstances the deal is bound, more than everbefore, to bear the stamp of a most disgusting and treacherouscompromise, to be more exact—the surrender of allliberal positions that have the slightest democratic tinge.Obviously, no local governing or central legislative bodiescan be at all democratically constituted by means of sucha deal without a new mass movement. An Octobrist-Cadetmajority is not able to give us that. And can we expect anyat all tolerable solution of the agrarian question or any alleviationof the workers’ situation from a Black-Hundred-Octobrist majority, from the savage landlords in leaguewith the capitalist robbers? The only answer to that questioncan be a bitter laugh.The position is clear: our “chambre introuvable” is incapableof accomplishing the objective tasks of the revolutioneven in the most distorted form. It cannot even partly healthe gaping wounds inflicted upon Russia by the old regime—it can only cover up those wounds with wretched, sour,fictitious reforms.The election results only confirm our firm belief thatRussia cannot emerge from her present crisis in a peacefulway.Under these conditions the immediate tasks confrontingSocial-Democrats at the present time are quite clear.Making the triumph of socialism its ultimate aim, beingconvinced that political freedom is necessary to achievethat aim, and bearing in mind the circumstance that thisfreedom at the present time cannot be achieved in a peacefulway, without open mass actions, Social-Democracyis obliged now, as before, to put democratic and revolutionarytasks on the immediate order of the day, without for amoment, of course, abandoning either propaganda of socialismor defence of proletarian class interests in the narrowsense of the word. Representing as it does the mostadvanced, most revolutionary class in modern society—the proletariat, which in the Russian revolution has provedby deeds its fitness for the role of leader in the mass struggle—